AMA Travel Diaries: Is it game time yet?

As I woke up on Friday morning in Las Vegas, I found myself excited about Game 2 because my brain thought incorrectly that it was still game day. Instead, what we got was another day off with the three of us doing what we could to rest up and keep ourselves from getting in too much trouble.

So after the disappointment subsided after I realized there wasn’t actually a hockey game to watch, our plan shifted to being lazy and max relaxation. That meant handling the work we had to get done as quickly and effectively as possible before gearing down and doing nothing at all. As much as it seems as though these trips are just excuses for us to bail on work, the reality is that we’ve actually cranked out a bunch of stuff and I’m actually pretty happy about how productive we’ve been despite where we are. Regardless, getting work done wasn’t the move we were after, we wanted to chill and recharge.

With yesterday’s AMA Travel Diaries done, Oilersnation Everyday wrapped, and Oilersnation Radio uploaded and ready for your ear holes, we grabbed something quick to eat at Crack Shack before making our way back to the hotel to chill by the pool. As it turns out, a couple of hours by the pool was exactly what we needed. Two hours in the sun and a couple of margaritas with a DJ spinning tracks made for the perfect afternoon. We had a few laughs, caught a few Zzzs, and probably didn’t walk more than 15 total steps the entire time. Thinking back, I don’t know that I’ve been that lazy in a while but we all needed it.

Back in the room, Tyler, Jay, and I started thinking about hockey again as we were still somewhat annoyed that Edmonton wasn’t playing. As a result, we decided to spite bet on the Hurricanes/Devils game and wandered down to a sportsbook to lock ourselves in. This was also the first time I’ve ever bet on basketball after Tyler convinced me to jump in on a first quarter bet with him between the Nuggets and Suns. Did I know what I was doing? No. Did I jump in anyway? Your Gord damned right.

After hitting a couple of bets, we felt pretty good about where we were at as it related to the rest of our night. What I never would have expected, however, was what would happen next. Looking for something that would last longer than 15 seconds — a struggle in any Vegas with any of the games — we settled in at the plastic ponies to kill some time and cheer on the horses.

If you’ve ever played the plastic ponies you already know that there’s no rhyme or reason for why a horse wins or why it finishes dead last. Yeah, the odds can give you an idea but by no means is it rocket science. The whole point is some ridiculous fun. So when we went in on a small squad bet between four of us and ended up hitting the bonus? The world didn’t make sense. This wasn’t supposed to happen but we pulled off the impossible. We hit the bonus on those beautiful, incredibly silly-but-spectacular robot ponies. I couldn’t believe it, completely stunned. Normally betting in Vegas goes the other way, ya know?

With some bonus money in our pockets, we decided to do something we wouldn’t normally do on these trips. We went out for a nice dinner at Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House. I had a Creole Sea Food bowl and it was so delicious that I almost wish I could live in the sauce. Anyway, this wasn’t a normal dinner for us by any means — we’re pregaming at Taco Bell before the game tomorrow, which is more of our normal speed — but it was especially fun because it was a freebie from those ridiculous horses.

To cap off the night, we made our way back to the casino to play a few rounds of Craps, a little bit of Blackjack, and rip a few spins on the slots before making our way back to the room and watching Pitch Perfect. Yes, you read that right. When Jay saw that Pitch Perfect was on TV he got so excited. Not only was he into the movie, but he was also telling Tyler and me which parts to pay the most attention to and why we’ll love it. Needless to say, this was about as eventful of a “do nothing and chill” day as you could possibly have in Las Vegas.

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