Back in August 2003 Earl and I drove to Wisconsin on an extended vacation. We made the drive in mid-August and had a wonderful time visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and other touristy type places. While the trip was wonderful, this trip is memorable because every hotel we stayed at had a twist – the fire alarm would go off in the middle of the night and we would have to evacuate our room. This happened several times on the trip, once during a violent thunderstorm, another time due to rowdy college kids pulling fire stations and the third time was a fire alarm system malfunction.
It’s been several years since we’ve had to evacuate our hotel room and we chuckle when we think about that adventure.
We’ve been in Las Vegas for six hours. The power is currently out on one end of the strip, including several casinos: Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. Generators are keeping the slot machines and elevators running, but the restaurants, common areas, retail establishments and bathrooms are completely dark.
I guess this hasn’t happened in a long time in Las Vegas, but folks are just going about their business and making the most of it. Earl called me (I was walking on the strip at the time, he was in a poker tournament) to make sure I was o.k. and once he heard my voice he went back to his hand. He doesn’t get excited about these things. I made my way down the darkened strip and found him and we rode a generator powered elevator back to our room. The hall lights were out but the vending machines worked.
Time to toast a diet pop.
