Greetings from the Sahara Hotel and Casino on The Strip in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada! The Goodboys’ Vegas Weekend is here, and, while the rest of the lads won’t be making their way here (from the not-quite-as-exquisite Manchester, NH, no less) until tomorrow, ’tis far better to get up here a day early and find a decent place to stay for a night so you don’t have to do any part of the treacherous 6-hour drive from Phoenix to here in the dark.

Why so treacherous, you ask? Well, there’s really only one road from Phoenix to Las Vegas, and that’s Rte. 93, which takes you north through the Arizona high desert from Wickenburg through Wikieup, until you hook onto a brief stretch of I-40 before hopping back onto 93 in Kingman on the way to the Hoover Dam. Now safely in Nevada and in the Pacific Time Zone, pass through Boulder City and hop onto I-515, the road that ultimately takes you to The Strip. What makes this route so dangerous (especially during the Wickenburg/I-40 stretch), is that it’s primarily a two-lane highway with (when you’re traveling north) a bunch of hungover, sleep-deprived people traveling south from Vegas coming at you from the opposite direction. In fact, the road is littered with crosses on both sides of the road – sober reminders that it’s just as important to keep your head as it is to keep your wallet in while you’re enjoying your time in Sin City.

I didn’t bother to head over to The Mirage (where we’ll be staying) upon arriving here late this afternoon because I want to be just as surprised as the boys are gonna be when I see how our favorite muster point, the Kokomo Bar, has been upgraded (significantly so, it seems) since our last visit:

Kokomo’s, the popular flagship restaurant at The Mirage, has reopened with a fresh contemporary look created by premier designer Adam Tihany. Located at the entrance to kokomo’s in the main hotel lobby, this sleek new lounge becomes the focal point of activity. Situated in the Tropical Rainforest, this exotic bar features towering palms and a waterfall. Designs were inspired by tropical weather patterns and forces of nature featuring a field of iridescent silver fish sculptures suspended beneath undulating canopies and an emphasis on natural materials such as stone, wood and a live bamboo planter.

Sounds inviting, doesn’t it? So, after checking in and heading over to Gilley’s at the New Frontier for a bowl of their famous 100% cattle Texas Chili and some hot wings (served with a couple-two-three icy-cold Coronas, of course), it’s back to the hotel room to store up on sleep and await the chaos and hijinks that will surely come with the morning.