WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS......


 It was Monday, September 10, 2001. Roger Mucino, Jack King and I were going to Vegas to look at food processing equipment at the Equipment Show. Pam Olroyd was meeting me there so we could all go out to dinner. At LAX, Roger and I were told we could not carry on our pocket knives which we had done many times before. We returned them to the car and caught our flight to Las Vegas. Looking back, this TSA limit of pocket knives seems to be a foreshadowing of things to come.

We got to Vegas in 50 minutes and checked into our rooms at the Venetian. Roger, for some odd reason, was given a massive upgrade to a huge suite. After getting settled, we all went to the bar for drinks. It was just another evening in Vegas. We met Jack King and his wife for dinner and planned to meet in the morning to attend the Equipment Show.

Pam had an early flight out of  McCarran to Boise. She got up, dressed and was gone by 6:00 AM. It was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. At 6:30 Pam called my mobile phone. She said, "Turn on the TV." I said why? She said, "Something is happening in New York." I watched CNN as the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

Pam said all flights are canceled and rental cars are all sold out. I told her to take a cab back to the Venetian. I called Roger and we all met in the Lobby. We checked out of our hotel and wandered around trying to think of what we should do. After a few minutes we ended up at Caesars Palace in the Casinos main bar.

They had TVs on. it was 7:30 AM and everyone was drinking, watching CNN. This was the 'Holy Shit' moment when crazy stuff began to fly around the Casino. Someone said, "This isn't over, there will be more attacks." CNN said there were currently 2200 commercial aircraft still flying all over the US. The idea that one of those planes was aimed at Las Vegas made sense at the time.

We decided we had to get out of Vegas and fast. I called Walter Hernandez in LA. He had been watching TV, like 99% of America. I told him, "We are stranded in Vegas. No plane or rental cars." Walter said, as cool as a morning breeze, take a cab to the State Line Casinos. I will meet you there. So we walked out to the Caesars Cab Line and told the guy we wanted a cab to the California State Line. Nobody even blinked. Roger, Pam and I climbed in and the driver took us to Whiskey Pete's in Primm, Nevada. Walter arrived soon after us in his Explorer. He had his Glock on the seat, just in case.

We drove back to LA. We all expected planes to crash into Vegas or Los Angeles. They did not. Four days later, the LA Police allowed me to walk into LAX Parking and retrieve my car. That was 20 years ago and as vivid today as it was then. 3,000 people died while we watched, like in a David Lynch film, from the Main Bar at Caesars Palace. Pam and I decided there, at Caesar's Bar, that life was too short and we should get married. One year later, September 15, 2002 we all reunited at Caesars for our wedding. Roger and Walter were there. I still owe you Beer for life.

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