...................will be shared here!

I'm afraid. Very very afraid.

So our son arrived safely in Phoenix yesterday, and his sister picked him up at the airport. They went back to her apartment, where my son called to let me know that he'd survived the flight. Of course, there's a three-hour time difference now, and he'd already been up since the wee hours of the morning, in order to drive up to Baltimore for his flight, so while he was looking forward to their little adventure, he was also already tired! At that point, he and his sister weren't completely sure just what time they were going to hit the road, but they'd let me know, and keep in touch along the way.

Uh-huh... Not a peep!

Our daughter had programmed the preferred route into her GPS, and she's a great driver. Not to worry. Well, several hours after they SHOULD have been in Vegas, I got email word, through Jim in Chicago, that the selected route had taken an extra two hours, and they'd had some detours. And some tension in the car. Soon afterwards, my son called to say that they'd finally arrived, tired and hungry, at the security gate for the community where their hosts live. Here's the thing: the very kind woman (Tina) who offered to put my kids up had let them know that she and her husband wouldn't be home when they arrived, but that she would leave her door unlocked for them. So Son and AZ-D arrived at the security gate, but the host and hostess apparently had forgotten to alert the guard to let them through. Our son had Tina's home phone number, but already knew that they weren't there. The guard tried the number anyway. They weren't there. Then my son called here to give me his email password so that I could hack into his mail, and get Tina's cell phone number which he'd forgotten to write down.

So I retrieved the phone number for him, and told him to let me know when everything was straightened out.

About thirty minutes later, AZ-D called, and there was a lot of noise in the background. She said that Tina wasn't answering her cell phone either, so she and her brother decided to give up on getting into the house, and go search for some food. They wound up in a nearby sushi restaurant, and that's where she was calling from. She acknowledged the noise, which was related to part 2 of their story.

There were lots of families and children in this sushi restaurant, and the noise level was such that it prompted a woman, who was sitting nearby with her husband, to say to our son and daughter, "Not such a great atmosphere for your romantic dinner out, is it?" Our daughter replied, "Ew. Not romantic. He's my brother." They struck up a conversation with this couple, and explained all of their trials and tribulations with the trip so far. The woman asked which gated community they were trying to crash. When our daughter explained which one, the woman said, "WE live there! We'll get you in..."

WHAT were the odds??

If it hadn't been for all the noise that precipitated their conversation in the first place, this information wouldn't have surfaced!

So the woman contacted the guard, and left our children's names, verifying that it would be okay to let them through.

In the meantime, our daughter had been receiving constant text messages from two of her girlfriends who announced that they, too, were in Vegas, and wanted to play. Thank God our son is there, that's all I have to say!! Girls gone wild... As you know, our son doesn't drink, so he's the perfect chaperone for his sister and friends because he's also young enough (24) to be a part of their group. Additionally, he hovers somewhere around 6' 3", so others wouldn't be too inclined to mess with a totally sober guy of that size.

My last words to AZ-D were to let me know when they finally connected with hostess Tina, and to have a good time.

I never heard another word.

I'm presuming that they ultimately made it through the gate, and into their hosts' house, and that they're both still alive, or I would have heard something by now.

So you understand now why I'm afraid.