I visited Las Vegas again from 09/18/09 to 09/21/09.  It was a quick visit mainly to check out the UNLV vs Hawaii football game.  There were 10 of us from Hawaii who went up.  We met with a friend who lives in Las Vegas and another friend who drove up from San Diego.

Although we went up to watch the game, there was plenty of time to gamble and shop as well!  I left Hawaii on Friday afternoon with a friend.  We arrived late Friday night and met up with everyone at the California Hotel in downtown Las Vegas.  We stayed in downtown all night (actually early morning).  I did well gambling wise, so it was a good start to my vacation.

On Saturday, we did a little shopping during the day.  We went to buy beef jerky from a shop in downtown Las Vegas.  We also made a Trader Joe’s run and bought some other stuff to bring home.  We all met at the California Hotel for a tailgate party before the game.  We had Hawaiian food and Hawaiian entertainment, then caught the bus to the game.  It was a great game.  Hawaii had their chances to win, but ended up losing by 1 point.  Oh well, at least they made the spread!  I put some money on Hawaii, so I was already up headed back to the casinos.  We ended up going to the Orleans Hotel after the game.  We gambled a bit, but we went back to our hotel around 3:00 am because we were pretty tired.

On Sunday, we did some major shopping during the day.  We visited a couple of outlet malls.  I bought some gifts for my daughters.  I bet with my friend who lives in Vegas on the Rams vs Redskins game.  I’m a Rams fan, but I didn’t have high hopes.  Unexpectedly, the Rams made the spread and I won dinner from my friend.  We ended up at the Red Rock Casino, which is a newer casino in northeast Vegas.  Although the dinner was free, the gambling was a losing proposition.  I ended up losing all the money I made in the first two nights.

I can’t complain, though.  It was a quick, fun vacation.  I broke even gambling.  I got my fill of shopping.  The only thing that would have made the vacation perfect was if the Warriors won the football game.