Checking out of the hotel was so painless; I'm not sure what we did right. Of course, it was noon before we were out of the hotel and had dropped off the gals at the airport (2). Breakfast was sorted out to Mimi's in Green Valley, so it was midafternoon before we finally made our way to...where else? The Fashion Show Mall. Our host at Mimi's was on the strange side. His pants were hiked up to armpits and he walked around mumbling instructions to himself. While we were waiting for our table, a family of three walked out. The mother told our host that her daughter had puked in the corner. Well, he communicated this to the hostess but neither of them wanted to get close enough to the spot to find out for sure. He kept saying, "I don't see anything there." Twisting his head a bit to the right, then the left, peering at the bench where they were sitting from 20 feet away. I thought maybe what the mother had said was, "We're leaving because my little girl is feeling sick" and somehow that was interpreted as "my little girl was sick." If I'm wrong, some poor customer during the dinner rush is going to be in for a dry, crusty surprise!

Ah, shopping. My sister had a brilliant idea of going to the Fashion Show Mall. Having been there already once, I wasn't about to hang out or reshop the stores I couldn't afford to begin with. Instead, a friend of mine and I went next door to TI (that's Treasure Island for anyone that doesn't speak super-sexy sophisticated.) We gamed while my sister shopped. The TI, which used to be not so super, sexy or sophisticated but run down and kind of withered the day after its doors opened for business, wasn't so much remodeled as re-advertised as a young, hip destination on the Strip. It's all in the marketing, let me tell you. The interior is virtually intact from the last twenty years, give or a take a new bar, another Starbucks and clean carpets. The outdoor pirate show wasn't trendy enough, so they drowned the men pirates and hired girls for the same roles. The show isn't much changed aside from the cleavage. Yeah. Oh, they did remodel the Strip-side marque to something modern super-sexy sophisticated.

Well, we stayed their long enough for my friend to score 600 quarters on a slot machine and then bounced back next door to find out if my sister was down trying on trousers. In Nordstrom's, my friend and I were clearly the lower class who had come in to use the restroom and a saleslady kept clearing her throat in our direction. We ignored her until her "phlegm" became so persistent, I thought she was going induce laryngitis. It would have been funny except my friend got nervous that they were going to kick us out altogether and she couldn't handle the humiliation. So we left. Whatev. My sister was still shopping for another forty minutes so we had plenty of time to take up space on the cushions outside the 2nd floor entrance.

Sometime late in the day, it was time for the first family appearance this weekend. We gathered the sister, now sufficiently shopped out for the day (though not the weekend - foreshadowing!) Father's house is on the other side of nowhere, out by Red Rocks, which no surprise I'm sure, is also where Red Rocks Casino is. But in any case, far far from the city center. The drive out there consists of driver (that's me!) vaguely recognizing the appropriate streets and without written directions and only my sister's vague recollections to guide us, we set out in search of my father's retirement complex. It's this vast gated community with a community center the size of a small hotel that offers swimming, a rec room, a meeting room, a gym, etc. plus 24-patrols. Despite my father giving us severe warnings about how difficult it was to get inside the gates, we were never carded, never given more than a cursory glance by the guards once we were awarded a parking pass. It did not make me feel particularly overwhelmed with a sense of safety.

Still, mischief we were doing not. My father's house is a single-story, well appointed two bedroom home. As I understand it, some of the furniture came with when they bought it and the rest they brought in. So the decor is a bit of a mash-up.

I made our dinner reservation for Roy's. Roy's is another institution that is a must-try requirement should you ever stumble upon one. It's labeled Hawaiian fusion but that doesn't do justice to the cuisine. It's also pricey but worth every delicious bite. The menu is heavy on fish (thought not exclusively) and the dishes are intricate - lots of flavors and ingrediants and exquisite presentation. We ordered a bottle of Pinot, had an assortment of cut rolls for appetizers. (One was sliced asparagus tempura wrapped in sushi and draped in a slice of salmon, tuna, and yellowtail. It was out of this world.) They had monkfish on the menu, so I ordered it because you don't see it much in Boston and it's my fav.

Our waiter was pitch perfect for our party. We ordered a birthday treat to share around the table (some molten chocolate thing and separately, a cheesecake) and the manager took our photo and put it into a souvenir picture frame for us to take home. It was really cute, a very nice touch. Love Roy's. Here, I'm even stumping for them.

I only vaguely remember the trip to the airport (3) to drop off my friend. It was late when we finally crawled into bed.