Well, gang, just 2+ weeks to go. :)

I see you shiver with antici ......



PATION !!   :)
. . . . .

As of now, the 21-days-in-advance air prices have expired. I'm currently
showing the following prices on Travelocity.

BWI  $366
JFK  $354
DFW  $266 (Dallas - Ft Worth)
DEN  $230
LAX  $84    <<-- !!
SFO  $143
SEA  $176
ORD  $304 (Chicago, O'hare)

I would strongly suggest that if you have not yet made your air reservations
that you do it now. Although it is possible to fly at the last minute, the
prices will be outrageous. 

One person suggested www.priceline.com for air tickets. I've never used
them, but they supposedly let you name the price for unsold air seats and
will let you know within an hour if they find an airline who will honor
that price. It might be worth a try.
. . . . .

Also, about accommodations. Most travel agents can find you a room in
Las Vegas, even at the last minute, but at a price. If you haven't yet
made your room reservations, please do so immediately to get your
choice of hotels and a good rate. So far we have attendees staying at
Imperial Palace, Stardust, Nevada Palace, Rodeway, Travelodge and
others.

If you have difficulty finding a room at a good rate, you might phone the
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority at 800-332-5333. They usually
know who has vacancies at reasonable rates.

All of the major Strip, Downtown, and off-Strip casino-hotels will have
decent accommodations. All of the members of the major hotel chains will
as well. The independents will run all the way from very classy to very
dumpy.

Personally, I prefer the Riviera and Stardust for rooms in LV. We have
a few staying at the Imperial Palace, and I've stayed there as well and
it's decent. They say that the Riviera and the Tropicana are the two
most GLBT-friendly major properties.

I would suggest that you AVOID the following: Rainbow Vegas, Western,
Continental (but this has supposedly been remodeled), Nevada Hotel (the
one downtown, many others have "Nevada" in their names), Aztec Inn,
Gold Spike (several decent places have similar names), Thunderbird.

It's been said that the Circus-Circus properties (Circus-Circus, Luxor,
Excalibur) are NOT T-friendly.
. . . . .

If you want to share a room with others to save $$$, Melissa has
volunteered to coordinate the effort.

If you would like to share a room, please write to Melissa at:

sfp2@ix.netcom.com

... and describe any important information that a potential roommate
might like to know. (Do you smoke, are you an early riser, do you snore,
etc.) Melissa will then inform potential roommates of the situation.

Please keep in mind that any room-sharing arrangements will be a good-
faith private agreement only between those directly involved, and that
I, Melissa, or any of the others cannot be responsible if there are any
problems.
. . . . .

Here's a rough preliminary schedule of things that are happpening, and
those things that we plan to do as a group. If anybody has a must- do
for the group, please send it in to the list as soon as possible. Of
course, none of these will be mandatory.

Keep in mind that time flies in Vegas.

Friday evening: Informal welcome get-together 
  Meet 8-9pm or so at a location that will be announced to those who
  will be attending.

(Saturday afternoon: Shopping, sightseeing, gaming)

Saturday evening: Tri-Ess meeting. If you want to attend, and have not
  attended before, we will introduce you to an officer of the group in
  advance of the meeting.

Saturday night: Kenny Kerr show at the Debbie Reynolds hotel. This will
  run in the $20-ish range per person. Some local ladies (and maybe some
  gentlemen) will be joining us for this show.

Sunday afternoon: Trip to the Liberace museum. A few $$$ per person.

Sunday evening: Frank Marino's "La Cage" at the Riviera. Again, this
  will be $20-ish per person. Again, some of the locals may be joining
  us for this.

Monday morning/aft: Trip to Hoover Dam. (Best dam tour there is.) This
will run anywhere between free and $25 or so, depending on tour options.
See previous issue for details of an offer of a personal guided tour.
. . . . .

That's about it for now, keep those cards and letters coming. :)

*hugs*

annie :)