Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

I’ve posted a lot of our trips to Las Vegas on this blog, but we started going to Vegas long before I started it. Our first trip was with Jerry’s parents when I turned 21. I guess we liked it enough to keep going back. And we did.

Then when Jerry started working for PBI we did the California Grocers Association trade shows every year for probably 20 of those 25 years he worked there. Most of those were in Las Vegas but we did several other cities too. The employees spouses weren’t allowed to go, but after one time Jerry said he wouldn’t do them anymore without me. As warehouse supervisor he was responsible for loading a big truck with all the market equipment from his warehouse. Drive it to Las Vegas. Make sure our booth had its carpet and electricity before unloading it. He put everything in its place from the diagram he made, then plugged it in to make sure they worked. Then five days later, load the truck up again, and drive it home and unload it again, then put it back in the warehouse. Whew! They agreed to let me go along.
It turned out good for them because I was doing all the prep work the salespeople would have had to come a day early to do. They saved the money for up to five rooms for one night. We had a generous allowance, even taking in shows in the budget. And we saw some great ones. We ate at the best restaurants, we did share and I didn’t drink cocktails back then so that saved them money right there. It was hard work-but good times. Also I came home with bags of samples because I got to walk the show. And they were at big convention centers. Plus we got to see Ted when the show was in Reno. Remember all the food we would give you at the shows end from the booth Ted? The company distributed everything a supermarket needs to operate; ovens, slicers, wrappers, refrigerators, shelving, etc. They used real food to demonstrate and they didn’t want to bring the leftovers home. Celia got to go when it was in Long Beach too.

I kind of got carried away there. Anyway this was a good trip. Tracy flew in from North Dakota and met us at Planet Hollywood where we were staying. I had a Birds Eye view of the Belliago fountains from our window

We had concert tickets to see Kelly Clarkson after dinner.

and she didn’t disappoint, she belted out her oldest, her newest, and everything in between. It looked like it was a sold out crowd. She has a huge variety or fans.

We put a few dollars in the machines and went on up to our room. We were pooped. No bathtub tonight.

the next day we were going to walk across the street to see the flowers in the conservatory at the Belliago, and don’t worry Ray, to take pictures of the fountains.

so stay tuned

🩷jilly