Dee Three (Dee-One, Dee-Two) of my stay for Dee-Va Las Vegas started with getting sporty to play Pickleball, the official sport of Kandi’s Land! Unlike our hostess, who will ‘fess up to being a Pickleball addict in both presentation modes, I don’t play very often, but I do enjoy it when I play.
My outfit was a sports bra top and shorts combo I had bought a few weeks prior at Dick’s Sporting Goods. I had previously received a gift card from my golfing group–thanks for the work I do for the group–and I’m sure the group figures I would use it for golf gear. As I have enough golf gear, but was planning to do a Halloween 10K as Dee right after DLV, I used the remaining value for the bra and shorts. Pickleball was my chance to test drive the new outfit (and hope my bare midriff wasn’t too revealing).
The Pickleball courts were about two miles away. Others had offered to drive, but I wanted to get some exercise and walk, as did another one of the participants. As the other participant is somewhat private, I’m not going to use her name here. We met my first time at DLV in 2023, and we relate to each other. Walking there and back gave us a chance to walk and talk, and a chance to hear more of her story and circumstances. Her chances to get out are more limited than mine–but it helped show why events like DLV are still important to individuals like us.
We had five Pickleball combatants, although our expert was mostly on the IL and watched/supervised more than played. The three others were limited in experience but enthusiastic to play, although for one a bit too enthusiastic. She tumbled onto the court and into the fence at one point, almost joining the growing ranks of Pickleball players ending up in the ER with injuries. Fortunately, other than some red marks on a shoulder, she avoided further damage. We played for about 90 minutes, then adjourned. We two walkees strolled back to the hotel, stopping for lunch along the way.
The afternoon activity was a pool day, although the weather was seasonably cool by LV standards; sunny but maybe hitting 70, if that. The chillier than usual (but not chilly) temperatures did not determine our group (nor I). The pool at our hotel was not one of the LV extravagant ones (the hotel, about a block off the Strip, was pretty low key, and I was good with that), but it was good enough. There was also a large circular hot tub, which was appealing with the tepid temperatures.
I didn’t do an exact count, but about twenty donned their swimsuits and lounged poolside. I chose the first bikini I ever bought (I brought three bikinis and two two-piece swimsuits to LV) and braved both the pool (it wasn’t too bad of a temperature, and I have what I call “natural insulation” against the cold–the medical term is bodyfat) and enjoyed the hot tub. I also just enjoyed lazing on the lounges, enjoying the sensation of wearing a bikini.
I’ve been going out in bikinis/swimsuits for a couple of years now, from Atlantic City to Australia (and Hawaii in between), but for others it’s a chance they don’t normally get. One of the Pickleball group had been coming to DeeLV for several years, but this was the first time she decided to buy a swimsuit and join the fun (and she was happy enough she came out to the pool with me on Thurs-Dee too).
The Wednes-Dee night outing was a 60’s theme party (the 1960’s; not that many of us are in our 60’s, although we are). Some dressed for the theme, while I did not–unless you consider my red sequin dress a throwback to Diana Ross and the Supremes. I came to Dee-LV to wear my fun dresses, not to necessarily match the theme.
The event was at the Phoenix Bar & Lounge, a gay bar located a couple of miles from the Strip. It was a joint production of the Dee-LV organizers and a couple of local CD groups, and maybe twenty-five were in attendance. The bar had a nice ambience and good food and drinks (I had two, pretty much my maximum, as alcohol and heels don’t mix well for me) at reasonable prices (by LV standards).
My table mates (or should I say Shelia’s?) and I played “guess that tune” to the music in the bar (mostly 60’s and 70’s music), although one at our table of four–my fellow Pickleball walkee–plays bass in a cover band and sings lead on about a third of their songs. Earlier in the day, while walking back from Pickleball, I was trying to nudge her to dressing up for a gig the Satur-Dee before Halloween. She was not quite ready to be that open, but I knew the idea appealed.
Our other challenge was to try to find an Absolut vodka sign in the bar. A mutual (digital) acquaintance from our CD board had messaged me about seeing whether the sign was still there, as she had taken a picture in front of it during a visit several years ago. At the time, a few of the letters in Absolut had burned out, and I’ll leave it to your imagination to decide which letters were still lit. However, the sign was not to be found.
After about three hours, our gang of four at our table returned to the hotel. I changed into my matching blue sequin dress (I have four of the exact same style in four different colors) and met the others at the karaoke bar at the hotel. Several in our group sang, including the resident bassist, but I definitely did not (I was not blessed with a singing voice). After about an hour or more (it took a while for the karaoke DJ to get organized), I bid the others good night and headed back to my room, to get some sleep for day four, Thurs-Dee.
