I am going to skip all the touristy, “we did this and then we did this” tales of our trip to Las Vegas in 1997, and just tell you about the city bus driver.

After Hoover Dam, Fremont Street is probably the next most popular must-see place in Las Vegas. It is where the original casinos were located and where the huge neon cowboy sign, an icon of Vegas, resides. In 1994, four blocks of Fremont Street were enclosed with a gigantic neon-light canopy. Throughout the night, the light displays change to the beat of the music. Himey insisted we had to go downtown to see it.

Not realizing how big Vegas is, we tried convincing him that we should walk. On the map, it only looked like Fremont Street was nine or ten blocks from the Excalibur, on the far end of the Strip. Himey, the seasoned Vegas veteran that he is, assured us that we would want to take motorized transportation. So, we hopped a bus.

Big mistake.

The bus was crowded and smelly, but we seemed to be approaching our destination post-haste. Then, at one stop, someone touched the rearview mirror.

No big deal, you and I would say. Keep driving, bus driver, you can still see what’s behind you, nobody moved the mirror, they only touched it.

Well, no. The bus driver announced that she would have to call her boss and that she would hold us hostage until she spoke to him. We don’t know what the boss had to say, but at the end of the conversation, the bus driver once again made an announcement.

“I can’t drive this bus no further ‘til someone from my company comes down to adjust my mirror.”

Himey, Pat, Jeff, Amy and I all looked at each other and said, “what?” Then we looked at all the other passengers, and they were saying, “what?” as well.

Realizing we were ready to mutiny, the bus driver let us off the bus. “But I ain’t goin’ give you no refunds if you get off and ya’ll will have to pay to get back on.”

Like there was any way in the world we would get back on her bus.

Fremont Street was now only a couple blocks away and we walked there in just a few minutes. The light show in the canopy was worth it. And the taxi cab ride back to the hotel was well worth the cost.