The Cat Dish
  • Musings
  • Food
  • #CatTravels
  • #BabyFox
  • #40trails
  • Videos
  • About Me
  • Contact

#VegasGirls: Get me food!

By Catherine Toth Fox • September 23, 2011 • #CatTravels, Food

What could go wrong, went wrong.

Even down to the timeshare where we staying not having wireless Internet access — or a business center that allows the use of thumb drives. (I mean, really?)

Our Vegas adventure started innocently enough.

A group of us decided to take a weekend jaunt to Sin City to use a timeshare one of my girlfriends owns. We found an available weekend — a tiny miracle among five professional women — and booked our flights.

Then it went downhill from there.

First, the Continental Airlines flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles was at capacity, so overhead bin space was at a premium. One of my girlfriends had to rearrange her roller board to pass inspection at the gate.

Then I had to change seats twice to accommodate passengers who wanted to sit together but didn’t book early enough. (Another girlfriend had to move, too, once she was on the plane.)

All that was manageable enough.

It was the plane turning around mid-flight to Los Angeles — then flying in circles for hours to burn fuel before landing — that really sent our vacation spiraling downhill.

Due to some mechanical problem involving the word, “auxiliary,” our plane had to return to Honolulu and its passengers — us — had to re-board another.

We left Honolulu at 8 p.m., returned just after midnight, and boarded a second plane after 1 a.m. It had been five hours since we took off the first time — and we were still in Hawaii!

It just didn’t end. The flight crew on Continental was anything but friendly and sympathetic. (We didn’t get free food much less a smile from these flight attendants.) Then, once we landed in LAX, we were told we were rebooked on separate flights, including one leaving the next day. And my laptop bag broke.

In the meantime, our other girlfriend, who booked a different flight altogether, was waiting in Vegas for us.

It just didn’t end!

But by some stroke of luck — hey, we were heading to Vegas, after all — we all managed to get on the 4:10 p.m. flight — three of us actually sitting together — and made it to our final destination, albeit 20 hours later.

We lost an entire day, much-needed sleep and faith that this trip wasn’t going to continue to be a disaster.

So we avoided slot machines and went straight to the things in Vegas we knew weren’t going to fail us: food and shopping.

Here’s what our first night in Vegas looked like:

The 'before' photo

The 'before' photo
◄ Back
Next ►
Picture 1 of 29

Here we are, before boarding the fateful flight to Las Vegas via Los Angeles that started this whole crazy adventure. Don't we look so happy? (LOL)

airportContinental AirlinesCosmopolitanHawaiiHolsteinsHonoluluLas VegastimesharetravelUnited AirlinesVegasGirls
Tweet
29
#VegasGirls: 4:10 to Vegas
Today's happy shot

About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

You Might Also Like

  • #CatBakes: Super Easy Coffee Cake

  • Go-at with the Flow

  • Why I Decided To Go Vegan — Sort Of

  • I Really Do Eat For a Living

29 Comments

  • Reply M September 23, 2011 at 6:37 am

    Hello Cat!
    I’m glad that you made it safely! Have a Great time!

  • Reply Cody Zamboni September 23, 2011 at 6:56 am

    Have a nice time. Glad you finally made it.

    When you hit the Mega Progressive Jackpot Bazillion, please share your winnings with your website friends

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:07 am

      LOL, sure! Too bad I didn’t win anything!

  • Reply WildeOscar September 23, 2011 at 7:09 am

    I’m in Nashville for the first time. A bit easier time getting here, but Las Vegas looks better. Part of it may be the photographer’s eye and skill. That and you’re a very cute bunch…and…well…I and my work colleagues are old and paunchy.

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:07 am

      Hey, always wanted to check out Nashville. Heard there’s a sizable Hawaii population there!

  • Reply MaxMaxMax September 23, 2011 at 9:43 am

    ٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶

    Yaaaaaay!!!

  • Reply David Jackson September 23, 2011 at 9:49 am

    Freely confess I am not a bug Vegas fan… do love that big ditch to the south though.

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:08 am

      The big ditch to the south…? Grand Canyon…?

      • Reply David Jackson September 26, 2011 at 1:50 pm

        Yes, the Grand Canyon 🙂 As much as you like to hike you should get a group to go down Kaibob across the river and then back out Bright Angel. You can camp by the lodge on the other side of the river. It is about an 18.5 RT with a 2 mile elevation change. It is an awesome hike, beautiful scenery, 30 degree temperature change, lot of wildlife (mostly harmless), and the people you meet along the way are pretty interesting. Thinking about doing it again next year. Started training already.

  • Reply Justin September 23, 2011 at 10:07 am

    just wanted to say “*like*”!

  • Reply tol September 23, 2011 at 10:10 am

    Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!
    Glad you all arrived safely and I wish you all the best for a wonderful visit.
    I see you checked out the Cosmopolitan. Great start to fun filled weekend!
    Enjoy and take good care!!

  • Reply eddyo September 23, 2011 at 10:14 am

    Cat,

    At least you were not on that Delta flight with that threatening nut case!

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:08 am

      I heard about that! At least that would’ve been more entertaining!

  • Reply rayboyjr September 23, 2011 at 10:16 am

    Hey Cat … I am soooooo fricken jealous!!! … seeing those pics brings back great memories … and a sore wallet too, haha!!! …

    … so I guess we won’t be hearing much back from you … now that you’re firmly engrossed in … “whatever happens in Vegas” …

    … Have a Good One Everyone!!! …

  • Reply Justin September 23, 2011 at 10:24 am

    i like the post and the fact that you’re enjoying vegas… not the air travel experience.

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:09 am

      I’ll be posting the WHOLE airplane experience tomorrow. Separate post. Figured you guys would rather see what I ate than hear me whine. 🙂

  • Reply Makiki September 23, 2011 at 10:58 am

    I didn’t realize the full scope of your travel experience. Hopefully the remainder of your trip makes up for the effort of getting there.

    How many attempts did it take to get picture 7?

    Alan

  • Reply matt September 23, 2011 at 11:05 am

    glad you guys got in safe. at what point, while waiting around in LAX, did you start thinking: we should have rented a car and drove”?

    • Reply DIO September 23, 2011 at 12:14 pm

      matt: It’s too bad there isn’t a way to drive from Hawai’i to Vegas. Given what these folks went through, I think it would’ve been faster. 😀

      • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:09 am

        Oh, we thought about driving, for sure. Just three hours and $40 car rental fee. But we got on the 4:10 and by the time we would’ve rented the car and drove, our plan would’ve been landing. So we waited.

  • Reply DIO September 23, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    Sorry Cat, but looking at picture #2, I can’t help but laugh. We start with picture #1, where everyone is smiling, ready for fun and adventure. We get to picture #2, and there’s a drastic change. I can just imagine the thoughts going through everyone’s minds at that point.

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:10 am

      It was pretty crazy… :/

  • Reply zzzzzz September 23, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Actually, you (and your GF) didn’t really _have_ to change seats; you had the choice to not change.

    This could be the subject of another blog post–when would you ask the airlines to get someone else to move just for your own benefit?

    I think that’s kind of selfish, and wouldn’t do it unless it was something like trying to not be separated from an infant or very young child. Your situation, with a couple wanting to sit together, doesn’t warrant splitting up friends traveling together, IMO.

    If I were in that situation, I might have suggested they look for someone traveling alone. Why is that couple sitting together more important than you and your GF sitting together?

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:10 am

      That’s coming tomorrow! 🙂

  • Reply oldshoes September 23, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    oh my….the lovely Vegas Girls doing the Vegas Vertical Leap have some hang time! or was that a “no-intrusive-pat-down” jump for joy!?

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:10 am

      No pat downs, but I did get the body scan. LOL

  • Reply hawaiiobsessed September 23, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Glad you finally made it! What a good looking group of girls! If you were 3 hours into your flight why couldn’t you just go on to the west coast? It was half a dozen of one and 6 of the other no? That happened to us one time. So frustrating!

  • Reply Tania September 23, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    You’ve brought back some memories, bad ones. Ex hubby and I once sat in the HNL airport for 8 hours. Instead of rescheduling a charter flight due to mechanical problems, they just kept telling everyone, soon, soon. We finally got on the plane and sat there for another few hours. Finally got to Vegas, lost a day of a tour package, tour operator wouldn’t do anything for anyone.

    I’m glad you finally made it! Enjoy, eat plenty ono food, chill by a pool somewhere, dance like there’s no tommorow and shop at The Forum.

    • Reply Catherine Toth September 26, 2011 at 11:11 am

      Hey, we did all of those things! 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

Latest Posts

  • Anyone Else Feeling Like You’re Failing at This?

    March 8, 2022
  • It’s Hard To Say Goodbye—So I Won’t

    January 29, 2021
  • Was 2020 Really That Bad?

    December 31, 2020
  • Here’s What Happened To My Dog Indy

    December 10, 2020
  • I Did Noom For a Month and Here’s What Happened

    October 7, 2020

Made with in Seattle

© 2013 Solo Pine Designs, Inc. All rights reserved.