Day 1 - Arrival in Aruba!!

So I got up at the crack of dawn… 3 AM this morning… and I was off to Pittsburgh International Airport. Today's the day I begin my vacation! I hadn't even gotten to the airport and I was already missing my babies…

Once on the plane and spent the rest of my flight time watching episodes of The Office. I was laughing out loud the entire trip!  I swear that show gets funnier the more you watch it! 

Next thing I knew we were getting ready to land… This is the flight tracker that was on my screen on the plane…

 And this is the view out my neighbors window… I had the aisle seat and he was kind enough to let me snag a picture out the window.   My neighbor on the plane also travels for work and he paid for his trip with his points also. We both determined that it's a pretty good trade off… LOL! 

 I had to post these pictures. My rental car the first two days is with National because I had two free days rental that I wanted to make sure that I used. On Monday I return it and swap it out with Hertz. The car that National gave me is almost too scary to drive… LOL!  Before I even put the car in drive it said it needed an oil change and then it was giving me a tire pressure air. It's covered in dings on the outside. I ran back in to make sure that this was not a problem and they said no it's fine to drive. I have to say I'm really happy that in two days I will take this back and get a real rental from Hertz!

Ugh...seriously?! Ha

 I saw this beautiful home on my drive from the airport to the hotel. Could you imagine how amazing this place can look if someone bought it and fixed it up! It is amazing looking now… I'm in love with Aruba! 

Apparently it is fashion weekend here in Aruba! They are here doing runway is on the pier through Sunday. I kept looking for the Kardashians  but I did not see them LOL!

I  walked across the street after I checked into my hotel and had dinner at a super cute restaurant on the water called The Paddock! This was my view for my meal.   Just a little trivia… The ship in the background is called Aida Perla (it is owned by Carnival) and it has a nudist only pool on the 18 floor of the ship.  Don't ask me how the people here know that but it is a fact. I googled it to see if it's true! Ha!

This was dinner! Ribs were the special with a delicious pasta salad and side of potato something. I can't remember what the waiter called them.

This little crab was walking down the pier as I ate and then he slipped back into water!!! Sooo cute!!! I am glad I got ribs and not seafood! 

Here us a tour of my room… This is the view when you open the door.

This is a view of my bathroom… Love the shower!

Super awesome toiletries are always a plus!

And this is a really great mixture of complementary toiletries!

 Two robes in my closet… I think I'll be swapping these out! Anyone else like to wear the robe in a hotel? Just makes me feel fancy - ha ha! 

This is the view out my balcony… I can look at other peoples balconies and the hallway. Can't complain when you're getting your room comped for hotel points.

 My bed and my little sitting area… Please excuse the mess I had already moved in. 

 And the view of the other side of the room which is the TV in the dresser…

 So Saturday night after I got settled in the room and went to dinner; I came home to review my day tomorrow. I found a note they had put under my door inviting me to spend a free $25 in slot play at the casino. It was early so I've ventured over… I came across this tree on my way in our lobby.   So pretty… There's my Christmas tree! 

 I gave them my name and got my $25 in free slot play and guess what? After about 10 minutes of playing my machine had me up $126. Then it started going down again.  I kept thinking it was going to get lucky again so I kept playing until I got down close to 100. I finally forced myself to cash out at  $100.75!!!

So I quit while I was ahead and left a winner! I really made $100 because it was their $25 in free play and I spent! I'll probably lose it by the end of the week but I feel like a winner tonight!

 I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday! I'm exhausted and I am off to bed… Hopefully I'll be able to sleep in  A little before breakfast tomorrow! Tomorrow morning depending on when I get up I plan to go to the island and I have the catamaran and snorkeling tomorrow. I'll get lots of pictures! 

 Have a great night y'all! Thanks for reading! 

 Do you gamble and play slots? Do you quit while you're ahead or just play until it's gone? Do you have a favorite machine?