Dorothy Piotrowski’s blog

Many of you know that I’m a huge Bon Jovi fan and have been since 1986.  It’s been a 21 year love affair.  When Bon Jovi announced that they were going to do a Canadian arena tour, I knew I was going.  As it stands right now, we’ll be seeing Jon and the boys on December 6 & 7, March 10 in Toronto and November 19 in London.

For those of you who are curious, here is the breakdown of the Bon Jovi shows that I have seen.

Concert Dates:

1. July 12, 1987
2. June 2, 1989
3. February 25, 1993
4. December 7, 1993
5. September 3, 1995
6. November 27, 2000
7. July 17, 2001
8. February 20, 2003
9. July 17, 2003
10. April 30, 2005 - parking lot of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
11. January 24, 2006
12. January 30, 2006

Today is the day we have to go back home.  Since our flight is at 11:35am, we had to get up early.  We said our goodbyes to Darren, Allison, Darla and Deliah and headed for the airport.  We gave ourselves an hour to get there but it only took about 1/2 hour.

When we got to the airport, we asked if they had any big, comfy seats.  Karen and I decided that if there were any, our maximum price would be $50.  Unfortunately, there were no seats but they did tell us that we were at the very back of the plane.  Yipee!

The security line was long but we mananged somehow to get through it and have just enough time to pick up a snack for the flight.  The flight was full and let me just say that it’s no fun sitting in the last row.  The seats don’t recline and everybody has to walk past you on the way to the washrooms.

We landed in Detroit at 6:40pm and once we got off of the plane, we zipped by the other people who were waiting for their luggage.  We got our shuttle bus, picked up the car and managed to get home before midnight.

Thanks again Darren and Allison.  We love you guys.

Since today was our last day here, we decided to go and visit the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  It seems that you are thousands of miles away from Las Vegas but in reality, it’s only about 1/2 hour away.  The scenery was spectular and lots of photos were taken.  After driving the 13 mile loop, we headed to Bonnie Springs.  Bonnie Springs is a replica of an 1880’s mining town.  It’s very cool.

After enjoying our afternoon in the desert, we headed back to the hustle of Las Vegas.  Since it’s our last night here, Darren was kind enough to let us into his show.  As you all know, he is one of the headliners in “American Superstars” at the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino.  I will say it again … it gives me a thrill each time that I see him on stage.

We did some research before our trip and discovered that there was a Maggiano’s in Las Vegas.  We thought that since there was four of us, we could try dining family style.  Yippee.  Darren and Allison’s good friend Johnny joined us and we had an awesome Italian feast with lots of laughs and lots of food.  We were all stuffed and there was lots of leftovers to take home.  We waddled our ways back to the car and spent the rest of the evening playing on the Wii. 

We decided just to hang around the house this morning and relax.  We wanted to check out a wedding that Chad Givens aka “Tim McGraw” had at the Belleza Wedding Chapel.  Allison, Karen and I headed over to the chapel.  Deliah and Phil (bride and groom) were kind enough to let us witness their wedding.  It was very beautiful.

We met Darren at Kung Fu and had great Thai food.  After dinner, we made a stop at Freed’s Bakery new location in Henderson.  The displays were full of wonderful goodies and we were able to fill up a large box of various cake slices.

We dropped the cake back at the house and then headed over to Meadows Mall for some shopping.  Once Darren got home, we finished off the evening with cake and Wii.

I got up early (6:30am) … my body has not adjusted to the time difference yet.

After enjoying a quiet morning around the house, we headed out with Darren to catch a three weddings.  We arrived at Little White Wedding Chapel to see the first of 3 weddings.  Couple #1 was Ben and Amy from Australia.  They were a cute couple.  We didn’t catch Couple #2’s names but they had the Elvis and the Pink Cadillac wedding package.  The couple is married in the drive thru tunnel of love at the chapel.  That was a fun ceremony as well.  We headed over to Cupid’s to witness Couple #3’s (Alec and Julia from Toronto) wedding.  Before the ceremony, we learned that Alec went to school at the University of Waterloo.  What a small world.

We met up with Allison at Cozymel’s for some great Mexican food.  Darren went to work and we made our way to Primm, Nevada to see Three Dog Night.  We decided to just pick up the tickets at Buffalo Bill’s since Ticketmaster wanted almost $25 in service fees.  Allison dropped me at the door and I went inside.  I didn’t know where the theatre was so I just went to the hotel’s check in desk.  I asked the man there where the box office was and he told me that he thought the show was sold out.  I said I didn’t think so.  He then leaned over the counter and then said that he had tickets and that I could have them for $10/tickets.  I quickly paid the man and walked back out to the car.  That was so cool.

We had about 1-1/2 hours before the show, so we decided to do a little bit of shopping at Fashion Outlet Las Vegas.  There are over 100 stores but the best by far was the Bath & Body Works outlet store.  Yes … you heard me correctly … an actual outlet store.  We did a little bit of gambling at the Primm Valley Resort and then headed to the show.

Three Dog Night put on a great show and we knew many of the songs including “Joy To The World” and “Mama Told Me Not To Come”.

We met up with Darren at the IHOP near the house and had a late night snack before calling it a night.