Pawn stars, Ricks Restorations and day 1 of the WLSFA Conference

Up early and very excited as I was heading to the Pawn Stars shop. (A program on SkyTV). I had heard bad things about it - mainly being really small but it was bigger than I expected. The 'stars were out the back and apparently they don't come out to meet people unless it is just after filming. Alot of the items are ones from the show & they looked to be overpriced and they appear to have been sitting there for ages. I did buy a couple of souvenirs from there though and it was still fun looking around. 

From there we went to Ricks Restorations & the experience could not have been different. Rick Dale is one of the experts on the Pawn Stars show but then he got his own show which according to the History channel we won't be getting in NZ. 

So anyway, we were met by Brett and he gave us a full tour after explaining where we could could & couldn't take photos. They showed us items that they were working on for the upcoming show, and introduced us to all of the crew. after we bought some souvenirs he arranged to get the main 3 stars to come and sign autographs and take pictures. We even got to watch them filming a little bit of an upcoming episode while we were waiting. 

So cool - here are some pics from that. 

After that we (myself, Jeanne & Sean) met up with the rest of the family (Ian, Jessica, Aidan and Sylvia) and a couple of others at another hotel further away from the strip. It was great. After lunch we headed to Walmart & I got some more gifts and also some protein bars to bring home. 

Back to the hotel and then to get ready for the Meet & Greet opening night. A country hoedown with a great country music band. It was great music, but I didn't end up dancing. The dinner at the hoe down was a chilli and it was divine - a great way to have a protein rich meal. Definitely making it at home. 


I was a little disappointed with the Opening night of the Meet & Greet as it seemed that the MC just didn't pull it together and the organiser did not actually introduce me to the community like she had indicated she was going to. However I do remember how hard it is to remember everything you have told people and that everything just goes by in a blur. 


One of the cool things they had for a couple of hours was a professional photographer. So I got a photo of my roommate Rain and also Lynnda from Bariatrictv.com.

After the hoe-down Slyvia and I walked through Paris Hotel & Casino, which is amazing.It really feels like you are walking down a street outside......all the time you are in middle of a casino. 


Next time: the main day at the WLSFA Meet & Greet & Gala Dinner.