Dumb Things I Did in Las Vegas

Photo Credit:  Stephanie Karfelt

What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas if you’re a blogger, especially if you use that fact as an excuse to fly your freak flag a bit. If you like to gamble, you might think it is dumb that I didn’t. All those miles of casinos were just in my way. Granted the bulk of the dumb things might have happened anywhere. Like going to Starbucks too much to drink decaf espresso, buying a sparkly new key-chain every day, or worse, staring at a giant poster of a certain show and interrupting your husband to shout, “Heeey!  We should go see a show!”   

I didn’t go!  I didn’t really want to even. Not really. Shut up, I went to a Titanic exhibit. There was a real iceberg, it was cold, and I bought Titanic luggage tags which I thought were funny. There was no thunder.

After walking an enormous conference my legs felt like numb stumps, so I decided to try an Aqua Massage. 

I didn’t even care that it was in the busy corridor connecting two hotels. A massage sounded so good. From the outside it looked like a carwash, from the inside it felt like a rubber coffin inside a carwash. The problem was that apparently I’m claustrophobic inside rubber coffins, that, and I didn’t take my shoes off like you’re supposed to. Trapped inside with alternating jets of water either blasting or vibrating hard, I told myself I was enjoying it and I tried to take my shoes off. You can’t maneuver in there, not with the water attacking you, but my shoes were just flip-flops. Normally I can tug them off with my toes, except I caught a foot cramp. You know the kind that you need to jump up and down on to alleviate?  That kind. So while the water was battering me mercilessly, and my flip-flops were moving around beneath the rubber matting, spanking me, I was trying my best to put weight on a cramping foot. It was very low-grade torture. Yes I could have hit the panic button, but I’m no quitter. I may have been the only one who didn’t like that thing.

Have you seen an Oxygen Bar?  I passed these things all over Vegas, and I admit I was intrigued by the colorful bubbly contraptions. Maybe they're everywhere, remember I spend most of my time holed up writing. People stood around them, with plastic tubes rammed up their noses, and it didn’t look like fun. But after surviving the Aqua Massage I was offered a deal on the Oxygen Bar, only $10 for air. The whole idea of breathing in aromatherapy-scented straight-up oxygen seemed ridiculous, so of course I had to try it. Hey I don’t gamble, I don’t drink, I couldn’t afford sky-diving - you make do with what you have. 

Photo Credit:  Stephanie Karfelt

There were several machines to choose from, each had different flavors. I started with the mints, and soon plugged into exotic fruits. Sitting at a bar with a pink plastic tube up my nose felt about as stupid as I’d thought it would. I tried some mouth breathing to avoid the flavored air at first, but finally decided to cooperate to see if it really gave me more energy. I was exhausted from a day at the conference, so I was hopeful it would work. I went straight to dinner after the oxygen, and I had more energy after that, but I didn’t notice any difference I could be certain came from the oxygen. Also couldn’t get that fruity air taste out of my lungs for awhile.

We’re not going to count the photo op I took Epic Slinky Dog on as a dumb thing. It was fun, and I just avoided eye contact with people. Besides, it surely wasn’t the oddest thing anyone saw that day. Vegas. Dumb was everywhere. Did you notice Slinky in the top photo with the Egyptian dog Anubis?  All in all probably the dumbest thing I did in Vegas was to ignore the sunshine beckoning, and spend my spare time editing a novel in my hotel room. That and I may have possibly taken my part-time vegetarian self out for a hamburger. How about you?  What is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in Vegas?  Or anywhere for that matter?  Something fun, folks, this isn’t a confessional. I’m not a Priest, and I may or may not use your story in a novel, but I’m all ears. Especially if you went to Thunder Down Under. Dish.

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As always I’m giving out Epic Slinky Dogs. I just ask that you follow my blog and leave a comment if you’d like one. Let’s make it someone who hasn’t won one yet. Easy breezy, isn’t it?  

Photo Credit:  Stephanie Karfelt