WHEELS 2.0 DOES VEGAS—DAY ONE
Let’s start with our hotel. (Note to self: be sure to research room before you book.) We learned the hard way. After checking into our less-than-luxurious rooms, Jesse’s allergies took a turn for the worse. Thinking that a trip over to check in would relieve his symptoms, we made our way to the first official stop on the tour—Jillian’s.
Festival check-in didn’t get any better, as we were greeted by attitude reminiscent of Kitson employees. Wait a second, are we in Vegas or
It appeared the day was looking up when we successfully maneuvered our way out of our reservation at “Dump Inn” and moved over to the hotel with the coolest water slide south of the Strip. Our new digs restored smiles to our faces and news of upgraded accommodations, complete with flat-screen TVs, made us wish we had more time to spend in the room, but instead, alas, we were off to the next disaster of the day.
Round two: down to Jillian’s for the kickoff party and the first live performance of the fest. The band we’d come to see was pushed from 7:10 p.m. to 9:45, which allowed for some fine hotel dining, followed by Jesse’s first rendezvous with yogurt since he’d been branded lactose intolerant. After countless attempts to find a local yogurt vendor (come on, people, we’re from
With a wrong address but a reasonable sense of direction, the Wheels losers made it happen just in time to get back to see Heavy Mojo perform. We arrived back to an empty, locked-up venue with sparse security. Exceeding expectations, and breaking the mold, security was able to tell us why the venue was black. Apparently, our beloved band had missed their load-in time and the eager crowd had missed the memo.
Our last stop took us to the world-famous Hard Rock Hotel for drinks with one of our favorite local bands, Adelita’s Way. Let’s just say it was a happy ending to a mostly miserable 18-hour day.
Stay tuned for more Wheels adventures.
