I went to a conference/round table discussion that centered around the theology found in CS Lewis's book, Scretape Letters.

Late
The plane was late getting to the gate. I didn't have a layover, and I had about 6 hours before the conference was starting, so it wasn't a big deal

Not too full
The plane was about 60% full or so... The period between Thanksfiving and Christmas have the lowest volumes of people going to Vegas, which is why this timeframe was chosen.

Taking off
After a visit with the deicing station, we rolled out to the runway and headed on our way

In the clouds
Immediately, we were in the clouds.

Clearing
The cloud cover hid everything until we were over southern Oregon.

Mt Shasta
We got a pretty good - although distant - view of Mt Shasta

Red Rocks
Nearing Vegas, we glew over a portion of the Red Rocks

Construction failures
Nearing the airport, I noticed a LOTof construction sites that were abandoned... it seemed to me that the news reports of the effects the housing bust had on Vegas were accurate.

Spendy
Some of the abandoned sites looked pretty spendy

The Strip
Just as we were landing, the plane turned to give my side of the plane a nice vew of the strip.

Welcome to Vegas
The airport wasn't very busy at all.

Heading to the strip
74 and suny... VERY different than what I left in Seattle!

Monte Carlo
We all had reservations in the Monte Carlo... one of the older hotels on the strip. I split a cab with a friend of mine who'd invited me.

Our Hotel
Built in 1996, the Monte Carlo is one of the more reserved Resort Casino's on the strip. Its also one of the oldest, oddly enough.

The Lobby
The lobby was very large, and seemed to be moving a lot of people fairly quickly.

Not too bad
The room I had cost $36 a night... not bad at all! Its the reason the conference was held in Vegas. Its very cheap to stay there if you don't gamble.

View
The view I had was pretty nice! I got a great 'Fly and Stay' deal from Expedia, and got the flight, and a 'high view room' for less than $300... not bad at all!

The view
As I was heading out to the conference, the sun was setting, and the view was very nice!

Meeting room
We met in the Aria, which has several 'board meeting' suites available... we all pitched in for it, along with catered food, so we wouldn't have to head out on the strip to get something, which was a complaint from earlier conferences, apparently.

Board room
The meeting room was very nice, and it was hooked to the flatscreen. It was a very nice set up... except the chairs weren't all that comfortable.

On a break
We had a very good time discussing the nuances of the book, and running down topics that came up. There were several retired pastors, and everyone there had been a Christian for quite some time, which made for a very deep and interesting discussion.

View from the board room
We had a great view from the conference room!

Back at the room
Back in the room, the view at night was considerably different. The hotel doesn't show any of the effects from the fire it had in the mid-90's, shortly after it opened.

Changed view
From the 28th floor, it was pretty quiet, even with the window cracked open... just enough background noise to bring on a good sleep.

 

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