Back In Austin

I now understand what Cooley meant when he sang the line about the sun not rising in Vegas (see my previous post).  It is a place stuck in a perpetual noon of neon where the rhythms of nature lose all meaning.  Everything is designed to keep you indoors and gambling.  It made me appreciate hearing the birds outside my window as the sun came up over Austin this morning.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it – I did.  Las Vegas was an absolute blast and the guys that were part of this bachelor party were all really great guys.  There were the two California kids, the three Colorado boys, and then our three Lone Stars (The Bachelor, Texas R, and me).  I roomed with Texas R and The Bachelor’s Brother, which worked out well.  Most of them were Sin City veterans (The Bachelor’s Brother and I were the only first timers), so I had some guidance on how things worked.  Which is good – I think I would have been a little overwhelmed on my own.  It is a disorienting kind of place.  I ended up lost and on the ass-end of nowhere at one point because I strayed from the group to see the rest of the Strip… my legs are still trying to recover from that little excursion.

Things stayed pretty tame.  The closest we got to debauchery were the “escort” cards that people throw at you as you walk down the street.  There were some dancers above the tables in the Luxor casino but it was nothing you couldn’t see at your local Hooters.  We relaxed, gambled, and relaxed some more.  Some of us won, some of us lost (I came out on the losing end but not enough to worry me).  There was a friendly drunk who could have been a Dane Cook impersonator.  He and his wife were from Canada, and while he was joking around with everyone in a ten foot radius we found out his wife was a teacher.  So The Bachelor and I (being teachers ourselves) talked shop a little bit before parting ways.  We managed to take in a couple of clubs and one of the Colorado boys won there… sort of.  I never saw the girl but the nickname given to her was “Roly Poly”.  If this were a different kind of blog I would recount the full story as I heard it, but feel free to imagine whatever you like.  If it helps, I’ll let one more detail in – her roommate stayed in the room while this went down.  (Sorry Colorado B, I had to tell that part)

Saturday morning I was up before anyone else was stirring so I walked at random until I found myself at the MGM Grand, where I won back some of what I had lost.  Everyone except the California kids met up for breakfast (they ran a lot harder and longer than the rest of us during the night and couldn’t get up), then the six of us headed for the airport since our flight times were all close together.  The Lone Stars said goodbye to the Colorado boys and boarded our flight for El Paso.  There we killed two hours with Mexican food and basketball before taking off for Austin, where The Fiancee picked us up at the airport.

The Bachelor said he really enjoyed himself, was glad to see his old friends (he’s known the California kids since elementary school), and nobody got arrested.  So I’d call it a successful trip.  I was only disappointed by two things:

A)  I only saw one Elvis impersonator

and

B) I didn’t see any regretful, hungover newlyweds.

Maybe next time.  For now it’s good to be back in Texas, and especially back to my guitars.  My fingers haven’t touched strings since Thursday morning.  I think I’ll go correct that now.