StoryTime: The Hounds heard about two middle-aged married ladies who went to Vegas to fulfill their fantasy. They were really good friends and prompted by the famous campaign slogan 'What Happens in Vegas...' decided to give it a test. When they got to Vegas, they purchased condoms in case they got lucky. After being married for a long period of time, they were a little rusty and shy in the pickup game. So unfortunately, they did not fulfill their adult fantasies. The Hounds' good book was not yet available.
As they were packing their bags for their return home, one of the ladies, as a joke, hid the condoms in her friend's bag. She was planning on telling her before they left the room but forgot. As they were pulling their bags outside to catch a cab, the lady remembered the condoms that she left in her friend's bag. She whispered this to her friend. So her friend hurriedly opened her bag while waiting in line for a cab, but she could not find the condoms.
So she had to completely open her bag and start removing everything. The condoms fell from the clothes which neither of them noticed. Unfortunately, a couple of guys behind them noticed. They picked-up her condoms and laughingly handed them to her. The ladies had to think fast. So one of them said "It is a good thing it is not a used one." She then stuffed the rest of the clothes in her bag and zipped it up. Now they had an adventure and something to laugh about.
The moral of the story is to beware of any practical jokes that may backfire.
Physical Evidence
Always be aware of physical evidence that could be detrimental to your health, your relationship, and perhaps your life. Always remember that revengeful significant others have been known to be hazardous to your health.
Be sure to check for body evidence such as scratches on the back, hickeys, blisters, carpet burns on your ass, and bite marks on your. . . censored. The Hounds have been known to give and receive a few choice bites.
If you meet a prey, you do not want to take any notes, phone numbers, or any other physical evidence from them. It would be tough to explain why you have another person's phone number on a piece of paper. Remember, when you leave Vegas, you are leaving everything behind that would give any indication on what you have done. As the slogan goes 'What happen in Vegas Stays. . .' The Hounds recommend that you just take home the memories of a lifetime.
Room Check-out
The Hounds will do a complete room check before leaving for the last time. We have even been known to crawl around on the floor just to make sure that we left nothing behind. You will be surprised by what you find. We also make sure that we emptied the safe, that is, our safe.
You need to make sure that you review your final bill for unexpected charges. If you find an unexpected charge, get to the bottom of it now.
There are several ways to check-out of your hotel, such as an online express check-out, the just leave check-out, and then there is the slow check-out. In this case, the Hounds recommend the slow check-out, where you check-out through a real person, because you need to make sure that there is no unexpected evidence on your bill, no hidden fees, and you should have the final receipt in your hands.
Another benefit of the slow check-out is that you can inquire about your comps from your players' card for that casino. You may have qualified for a free gift, free room, or even a free meal which could be your last meal before you leave.
StoryTime: The Hounds heard of 5 friends who went to Vegas. They got player cards at the casino where they are staying. They decided to sign up all the cards under only one member's name. This is a sneaky way to maximize points. Since they had plenty of time before they had to leave for the airport, they checked to see if they could get anything from the player card points. They were shocked to find out that they had earned enough points for a spectacular last meal at the hotels best restaurant. So they went for a Champaign breakfast and spent the entire $300 that they received off the points. They felt that it sure beats the burger joints.
The moral of the story is that you should always check your player card points to see if there are any comps that can be used before leaving for the airport.
Doggy Treat: Make sure that your group does not charge any adult toys or shows to your hotel bill. You don't want any printed evidence?
Doggy Treat: Accumulating a lot of points on your Players card could also prompt the hotel to send you special incentives to return back to their resort for your next trip such as a free room.
Bell Hop
Now, you need to drag your luggage to the bell hop if it's not time to catch your plane. We recommend that each person check-in their own bag and keep their own receipt. We have heard many war stories where one person held all the receipts. If that receipt holder was late getting back to the bell hop, then everyone will be late getting to the airport. Even worse, the receipt holder could lose the receipts.
Doggy Treat: There should be an agreement to leave for the airport at a designated time and place. If you don't make it, you are left to fend for yourself. Remember, you can also use your cell phone to stay in contact.
Souvenir
If a group member decides to purchase a souvenir for their significant other, then that member should tell the other members. You don't want your husband complaining that Joe got a super nice t-shirt from his wife and he didn't.
The Hounds suggest that you have a pre-agreement on souvenirs. The agreement should be 'no souvenirs'. Isn't this a simple solution?
You only want to bring home memories. When we get to the point in life where we cannot live out our fantasies, it would be nice to live out our fantasy adventures in our memories. That is something that only belongs to you and no one can take it away. The Hounds consider this the best souvenir of all.
StoryTime: The Hounds were talking to an old soldier in a nursing home. We were asking him about his travels. He gave us a glimpse of what it was like to fight for our country. When he started telling us about his first Rest and Relaxation (R&R) in Hawaii, all of a sudden he just stopped talking as he was starring at the ceiling with a smile on his face. Then he looked at us and told us that he will not share that memory.
The moral of the story is that your most romantic cherished memories can keep the smile on your face even after your body gives out.
Here is an experiment that you can try which should prove the point of our story. When you have some quiet time, just close your eyes and think of the most important thing that ever happened in your life. We bet money and material possessions were not involved.
Transportation to Airport
There are several ways to get public transportation to the airport. You can take an airport shuttle, cab, or limousine.
With a shuttle you normally have to make a reservation 24 hours in advance. You call the dispatcher with your departing time and airline. They will let you know the time that they can pick you up at your hotel. Among the problems that you may have with this arrangement is the pick-up time. For example, your flight departs at 1pm but they can only pick you up at 9am, and your casino is only 10 minutes from the airport. If you miss your flight, you can't blame them. Another problem is that each of your group members will probably be paying the same for that shuttle. If there are 5 in your group and each of you are paying $8, then you will be paying a total of $40. Plus the shuttle may have to make several stops at other hotels and other airlines.
If the shuttle does not suit you, than taking a cab may be your answer. If there are more than 4 in your group, request a van. Each of you will pay only a portion of the cost of the cab. Using the same scenario as above, if there are 5 in your group and the cost is $30, then each of you will be paying $6. Plus you do not have to make a reservation for the cab and the cab will take you directly to the airport but a potential problem is a long line for cabs at your hotel.
Then there is the limousine. This is how the Hounds like to leave Vegas, in style. Let's continue using the same scenario as above. There are 5 in your group and you decide to take a limousine. The cost will probably be a little more than the cab, so
instead of splitting the cost of $30, you may be splitting the cost of $40. A minor problem is that you need to request a limousine at the cab stand. It should only take a few minutes to get your ride.
All of the above scenarios are only examples, but the Hounds give four paws up to the limousine since we like riding in style.
Cell Phones
The Hounds have stated many times that all the group members have cell phones. In this case, if you are separated on the way to the airport, you have a lifeline.
Hounds Airport Recommendation for
Traveling to and from Vegas
Airport Check-in
When you get to the airport, make sure that you have plenty of time to check-in, go through security, and locate your gate. Do not make the mistake of calculating the security line based on the check-in line. Yes, even the Hounds have made that mistake.
It only took us a few minutes to get our boarding pass via check-in, so we felt that we had plenty of time to visit the shops before going to our gate via security. So we had a couple of beers with a few minutes set aside to get to our gate. We were both shocked when we saw the long line for security. Needless to say, we almost missed our flight but we learned an important lesson. Always check the line for security before wasting time. Better still, just go through security and get some beers on the other side.
StoryTime: The Hounds heard of a man who enjoys joking with his friends. At the airport, he noticed a young woman pushing a carriage. He boasted to his friends and others around him that the lady was a terrorist and the baby carriage had explosives. He though that it was funny and everyone laughed with him. Unfortunately, someone with no sense of humor told security. The young woman and the joker were taken to a private room. The joker was eventually arrested and the young lady missed her flight.
The moral of the story is that airport security is not a joking matter.
Doggy Treat: It is never smart to tell jokes about airport security or potential terrorist attacks. It seems these days that airport security people have no sense of humor with good reason.
Watch your Luggage
It is a good idea to never leave your luggage unattended, especially these days with the heightened airport security. Do you want your luggage being involved in a terrorist attack?
Then there is the security line. When you drag your luggage through the security line, you have to place it on rollers and push it toward the moving belt that will take it through the scanner. Be sure to stay with your luggage until it gets through. Then go through the human scanner, so you will meet your luggage on the other side. If you leave your luggage unattended, you could be picked for their next anal probe. Be aware of their big smile and big flashlight.
Luggage in Restroom
As we said before, do not leave your luggage unattended. Even if it means dragging your luggage in the restroom with you, just try not to pee on your luggage. We do not like dragging our luggage over the restroom floors, just imagine what has landed on those floors and most likely still alive.
Here is a question for you. If you take your luggage into the stall with you, are you going to contaminate your luggage? Let us explain. You drag your luggage next to you in the stall. You do your duty and press the flush, if you need too. Then you grab your luggage handle with your contaminated hand and drag it to wash your hands. You wash your hands and then again grab the contaminated luggage handle and drag it to the dryer. After your hands are dry, you grab your luggage handle that had been contaminated and leave the restroom for a fast food restaurant. Do you get the picture?
The Hounds have a suggestion. Why not leave you luggage with a member of your group before adventuring into the restroom. DUH!! If that is not possible, be sure to clean the handle of your luggage before leaving the restroom.
In all our travels, we have never seen anyone clean the handle of their luggage before leaving the restroom. As a matter of fact, we see a lot of people who do not even wash their hands before leaving the restroom. Of course, we are talking only about the men's room. We have no idea about the women's room. Maybe the Hounds should try to get a million dollar government grant to study "How many people wash their hands before leaving the restroom?"
Doggy Treat: Be sure to eat your final Vegas meal before getting to the airport where food is more expensive.
Doggy Treat: Be sure to bring snacks for the flight, since you would be lucky to get any substantial amount of food tossed in your direction during flight.
Doggy Treat: It may not be a smart idea to get drunk at the airport or you may not be leaving on the flight with your friends.
StoryTime: The Hounds are not immune to problems when traveling. We purchased a bottle of liquor when we got to Vegas. We consumed most of the spirits but there was a little left on the day we had to leave. So we decided to go to the airport early and enjoy the remaining liquor before going through security. Unfortunately, we did not have our normal huddle, so we did not take the time to go through our checklist, which would have reminded us of things to be aware of before going through security. Of course, this would be the one time that security actually paid attention to the scanner and searched one of our bags. It was the one that contained the liquor.
The moral of the story is to have an airport huddle before going through security.
Debriefing Departure Huddle
After your group arrives at the airport, it is time for another debriefing huddle.
This may sound like the Hounds are being anal but it is very important to you, and maybe your relationship. First, go through your checklist and remember things to be aware of before going through security.
Then each member of the group can try to come up with a potential cover up problem that the other members may have missed. The Hounds just want to make sure that everyone covers all bases before leaving Vegas. You want to make sure that everyone still remembers the original agreement on what to say and what not to say.
Such as, if there was someone in your group who won substantial amount of money, the winner should let the others in the group know whether they are going to tell their significant other. For example, you do not want to tell your significant other about Peggy winning an extra $500 in Vegas. Because Peggy may want to put that money toward another Vegas trip and does not want her significant other to know.
Doggy Treat: The final huddle should always be before your Vegas departure. Too many things could interfere with the huddle once you arrive at you home airport.
Boarding the Aircraft
When you checked-in, you should try to get the seat that you want. Do not be concerned about the other group members, it is time to rest. Get a window seat if you want to sleep. Lean against the wall and try not to disturb the person next to you unless nature calls. If you want a lot of leg room, go for the exit seats.
You can try for the bulkhead row. This is the first row of seats in the coach cabin; the big advantage is that you have plenty of leg room since there is no one in front of you to lean their seats back. If you have any carry-on that could fit under the seat in front of you, you are out of luck since there are no seats in front of you. Duh!!
The Hounds highly recommend a noise reduction headset in case there are annoying noises such as loud drunks, such as the Hounds celebrating, or screaming babies. You can also play your favorite music through those headsets and maybe listen to one of the Hounds' audio books. This can get you in the mood for other adventures.
Sometimes the flight is overbooked which could be a benefit to you. You could volunteer for a later flight and get free tickets for another fantasy fulfillment adventure.
Doggy Treat: Remember the Hounds advice from Chapter 3 about the Free Ticket 2-Step dance. This is the time to start dancing.
Arriving at Your Home Airport
You are almost home from your Vegas fantasy adventure. Now it is time to grab your bags and head for the parking lot. If you followed the Hounds' advice, you would only have carry-on luggage. This saves many potential problems
. We also recommended that you should have the parking location written down on a slip of paper next to your keys. You don't want to be one of those fools walking all over the parking lot trying to remember where you parked your car.
Meeting your Significant Other
When you get home, try to be as natural as possible if you had fulfilled your Vegas fantasy. You may have a guilt feeling that can usually be read by people who know you. Just think of that fulfilled fantasy as just a thought among thousands of thoughts that goes through your head on a daily basis. Do not concentrate on it, but think of the funny or interesting things that happened to you during your trip which had nothing to do with fulfilling your fantasy.
Post Trip Huddle
Remember, the Hounds recommend a post trip huddle a few days after your trip with everyone in your travel group. You want to make sure that everyone followed the pre-planned agreements and that there were no unexpected surprises or slip-ups.
You want to relax, relive, and enjoy your group's Vegas fantasy fulfillment memories. This is also a great jump start for planning your next fantasy fulfillment trip, just look for the Hounds' other books in our fantasy fulfillment series.
Now, you have hopefully fulfilled your Vegas fantasy using the guidelines from the Hounds good book. You should be ready for another adventure. It is time to go beyond the book and gear-up for the Hounds Hippie Hoopla parties. This is where you can practice what the Hounds preach with real likeminded people.
Chapter 9
Hounds Hippie Hoopla (HHH) Parties
Celebrating the "Hounds Free Love" Movement Commonly Known as "The Movement”
"The Hounds revival of free love came from the spirit above”
Proverb: Our parties are as close to heaven as you can get without dying.
Fantasy Fulfillment in Vegas - You Can Live Up To Your Imagination (Fantasy Fulfillment Guidebook) Page 13