Vegas baby Vegas

9 october 2007- Back from our long weekend in Vegas. Chad and I indulged a bit too much on Friday night but that served for scaring us straight the rest of the time. About 35 friends, family showed. It is easy to get big numbers when you are a Nickell family member. It was great to see everyone before we "bon voyage" off to France. I hope you all intend on taking us up on the couch offer. Fremont was a right choice. The Strip had 2 shootings on Saturday night. Good thing we were safe in the old school haven of the Fremont Street Experience. It makes for shorter trips from casino to casino and has the same freaks, Elvises and general over the top-ness without the lines.

We did hit the official Strip on Sunday nite. Saw the Bellagio to Treasure Island and across the street over to the Venetian and back. The Treasure Island show was heavy on the skin. The "sirens" were singing about getting some while parading around in hotpants. Vegas is definitely not for kids anymore. Patrick Lik photography studio and david and goliath were the only stores we ventured in. We figured the rest would run a credit check on us to even let us in to the other shops. Plus in our downsize to go Parisian, we certainly don't need any other stuff.

We have decided to start trying to converse with each other in French just to get into the swing of things. French is pretty intimidating especially for Spanish and German speakers. Those languages you pretty much pronounce every letter and the gender is very obvious. French is a language for the subtle. a simple stress or other minor effect changes the meaning a ton. But on the bright side, one of the wedding presents was a book on Paris written by a man who moved there with no knowledge of Paris or any French. He seems to be doing okay so I think Chad and I will do fine.

Still a lot on our to do list. Getting the house ready, selling cars, closing accounts, setting up new and the list continues. Hopefully we can get to most of them before the official date is set. This week is Drivers licenses. Colorado is one of few states that grants French driving rights reciprocity. If we showed up with our Texas licenses, we would be taking driving school in French and paying a couple thousand euros and may not pass. Show up with a CO license and trade right away. To save a lot of hassle and money, Colorado here we come. Bonus I get to cheer on my Dbacks in Denver. I love being "that fan". Plenty experience in that.

We are off to our new home for househunting next weekend. I guess there is a World Rugby match in Paris which made it difficult to get hotel. Paris could be full of hooligans and lots of public drunkeness. Sounds a lot like Vegas...