grass stains: Vegas: Day 6

All right, Internet ... Buckle up!

Time for the last of our Vegas stories.

We were flying home on whatever Sunday that was back in March, but our flight wasn't until around 5:30 or 6 in the evening, so that gave us most of the day to hang around and do a few things before we went to the airport.

Grayson really wanted to try the indoor skydiving thing, and there happened to be an outfit just a few blocks from our hotel.

While Grayson was doing his prep session and getting fitted for a suit, I watched the previous flight from the observation deck. This one guy in particular was really great ... he could do flips and spins, and he even went about 25 feet up to the ceiling, smacked it with his hand and came right back down.

As you might expect, it's a little harder than you'd think, but Grayson got the hang of it pretty quickly.

During my time in the observation area, I watched three different instructors work with groups, and they were all great. They really handle all ages of participants very well.

Grayson loved every minute of it. They let you fly for about 60 seconds of a time, then toss you to the mats on the side -- you have to roll out of the air, which is an art in and of itself.

Then they pull the next person in for 60 seconds, and they go all the way around the circle, then come back to you. I think Grayson got to fly three or four times during his flight. But really, that wasn't THAT much time in the air, when you think about it.

I think he'd definitely do it again, though. The better you are at it, the longer they let you fly. The guy who was able to fly all by himself with no assistance from the instructors, for example, was up there for a several minutes at a time.

The facility was so close to The Venetian/Palazzo that we were able to walk back. On our way, though, we stopped in at The Wynn. I wanted to show Grayson the giant Popeye that Vanessa and I had seen earlier in the week that was guarded 24/7 by two uniformed guards -- which we didn't understand and thought was hilarious.

Of course when I mentioned it, Grayson looked it up and discovered that Steve Wynn paid $28 MILLION FOR POPEYE. No wonder the guards. Good Lord. I'm surprised he wasn't encased in BULLETPROOF GLASS.

Well once I knew he was worth $28 million, I had to have a picture with him. I mean COME ON.

And you know what? Apparently Popeye was Steve's SECOND acquisition of a Koons creation. He also bought the tulips, to the tune of $33.8 million.

(I get the feeling I'm not doing something right in life. I don't have any discretionary funds laying around for outrageous colored-glass purchases.)

The very last thing we did before we left the hotel was find a slot machine. I'd never played one ... I'd never gambled a cent.

We figured that the Wheel of Fortune slot would be appropriate for me, The Word Nerd.

Internet. I couldn't figure out how to get it to work. I didn't see where to put my money in. I stood in front of it trying to figure out where to stick my money for probably two minutes. I think I actually walked ALL THE WAY AROUND IT. I asked Grayson, "Do YOU see where I'm supposed to put it?"

And he was like, "Don't ask ME; this is YOUR thing."

I finally found it.

But then I didn't know how to play it. It had a lever, and it had buttons. And it was all just SO CONFUSING. Finally I just decided to hit a button, which worked -- but for the record, I found out later, you can do either.

I'd put in $10, which was all I was going to spend. #risktaker