I dropped Dee off at the airport and then drove back down to the plant I work at to park the car (that's the other perk of flying locally) and walked back up to the terminal.

Checking in here is always quick and easy. Being an American Airlines Citibank credit card holder there is no baggage fee either. In a few minutes we were heading over to security. No issue here and after Dee got her body cavity search (not being able to walk they have to hand search her for contraband) we headed up to the terminal.

When it was time to board they allowed Dee to head out first (you actually walk the tarmac on American here) and she boarded. We took our seats and strapped in. This is a smaller plane so it only takes a few minutes to board. This is flight 4839 heading to Philadelphia. It's scheduled to take an hour and five minutes but it never takes that long. Philly is only about 150 miles from here. The captain came on the PA and told us it was only going to take 40 minutes. The only problem was they didn't have the proper starter and we'd have to wait for them to go get the right one.

We arrived in Philly and had about a ½ hour for the lay over. It was already tight as I watch the ground crew unload her wheelchair and it sat there while he unloaded the rest of the plane. Finally 15 minutes later it was brought up. We had to shuttle from terminal F to terminal A. Not just terminal A but A24, the farthest gate from the shuttle as if it wasn't already tight as it was. We made it to the gate at the end of boarding.

This is flight 0689 non stop all of the way out to Las Vegas. It's scheduled for 5 hours and 9 minutes but the captain told us it was going to take 4:44.

You would think after over 20 years of making this trip that I'd be used to the flight but it's just not the case. I hate it! There's not much out there that's worse than sitting in a tightly crammed tube for 5 hours. I passed the time playing games on my tablet. Dee napped.

We were finally on our final approach and started seeing familiar sites down below. Soon after we touched down and we were finally in Las Vegas! We taxied for a bit and got to the gate. We had to wait a while for Dee's wheelchair to come up and then we were off to baggage claim.

Unlike last time we were here our bag was ready and waiting for us and we were off to the rental car facility.

Rental car prices for this trip have been quite high. They rates for the smaller cars finally started dropping a few weeks ago but, because of Dee's wheelchair and the cousins joining us I needed something a little larger and those rates remained high. I tried everything from using multiple companies and multiple rentals to just one long rental and no matter what I tried, nothing worked.

I originally booked a mini van back in March with a base rate of $564 minus a $25 coupon just to lock something in. I rebooked multiple times as the rates dropped and switched to a standard elite SUV for $530 minus the $25 coupon and then again when they dropped to $500 minus the coupon.

When we arrived at the car barn they had my name up on the scoreboard and I found the car the assigned me in space F6. It was a brand new Dodge Durango with 3 miles on it. I gave the car a quick once over and we headed to the exit. This is where there was a bit of stupidity. The guy in front of us decided he was going to give his car an inspection there. Yes, right in line. Eff everyone else, it was all about him. I had just enough room to squeeze by. Even the gate attendant was like WTF?

Our first stop was for lunch. We went to a place out in Henderson called Crepe Expectation which was featured on the Food Network on Diner's, Drive Ins and Dives. This place is really small and was packed so we decided not to stay. Instead we went to Jack in the Box and got some tacos and Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers.

Next up was a stop at Las Vegas Advisor to pick up Dee's Member Rewards Coupon book. Then off to the grocery store for some survival items.

From the store it was off to the Palms where we would be checking in. Out of the blue I got an offer for 3 free nights (no extras like free play). Having not stayed here in over 10 years and Dee never having stayed here I booked this. When we arrived checking in was too long considering we were 3rd in line . I had booked a Superior King in the Fantasy Tower but we were given room 22103 in the Ivory Tower. This is a king room with nightstands, chaise lounge, coffee table, work desk, armoir, flat screen TV and a view of Gold Coast, Rio, north Strip and west side of town. The bathroom has a vanity, shower stall and toilet.

We got our things situated and rested for a while and then hit the casino. First thing was to get new cards and swipe for 3x points. I also did a swipe kiosk games where I won 2500 points. I hope that Stations doesn't go broke from that $2.50 prize.

We decided to play 9/6 jacks 50 play for 2¢. Not bad but a few $50 swings. Those came when we had a lack of dealt winners. We did get a few dealt full houses, straights and flushes to stay alive. No dealt quads but I did manage to snag a royal on line #12 to get back into it. We played a bit longer and Dee was getting beat up. When we took a break for dinner I was up and Dee was down and we cashed out with a $1.50 win. Not great considering an $80 royal but it works.

For dinner we went to the buffet and used points to cover the bill. Pretty basic with some things really good and others not so good. The dessert section was incredibly bad. I got Dee a cupcake that was hard as a rock, I had some smaller items in shot glasses that were dry and rubbery and a slice of jelly roll cake that was crunchy it was so stale. Come on Stations, you can do better than that.

We hit the casino again after dinner and 5 play jacks for quarters. Dee started out like a ball of fire hitting double quads on one hand and then getting dealt quad sixes on the next. I hit a few quads myself and got some dealt full houses. Dee cooled off a bit but then got dealt a few winners including quad sixes again. I hovered for the whole session and Dee continued to grow her meter. When we finally quit I was even and she was up just over $400!

I went to the players club to turn in the ACG coupon for $50 free play for 15000 video poker points. Then the lady at the booth tells me they have to e-mail corporate to have the free play added. I wasn't amused that I wasn't getting my free play immediately. She said it would be added in a few days and would be on there for 18 months. That's total bullshit. I was actually going to do this same promo on Dee's card but now I won't because of this. That stupidity cost Palms 15k in action.

When we got home there was a message on the answering machine from Mary at Club Palms (Duh, it's no longer Club Palms)telling me that the free play has been added and I should use it right away because it expires on the 22nd. WTF?

We stopped by a roulette table to do a $10 match play. I picked black like I usually do and red 3 came up.

Since we'd been up since 3:30am eastern and it was now 11:00 pacific,2:00 eastern it was time for bed and some much needed sleep. We watched the news for a bit and saw we broke the record today with 117 degrees.

Total Coin In for the day $15,813
Total win/loss for the day $400
Total Comps for the day $108
Room(s) $80
Food $28