I wasn't the only person happily surprised to be included in the jaunt to the desert. Newcomers Emily Harper (Fancy) and Dylan Fergus (Ned) admitted they were taken aback when upon hearing that their characters were the center of the big trip. "I didn't believe them at first," chuckled Fergus, who had never been to the city before. "When they said we were going to Vegas, I thought they were going to cheat it in the studio. Then, when we landed in Vegas, I was like, 'They are not playing around!'" Harper noted, "A few of our fellow cast members were teasing us because they haven't gone on location in all these years."

A couple of hours after arriving, Harper and Fergus were put to work downtown on Fremont Street, where they shot several outdoor night scenes. The actress donned an embroidered denim miniskirt, top and jacket by A.B.S., Steve Madden heels and a gold cowgirl hat ("I feel like I'm playing dress up," she smiled), and held Fancy's glamorous Chihuahua, who wore Swarovski crystals from theprincessandthepup.com around her neck. Local extras clad in Elvis gear and wedding garb were brought in to add pizazz to the background. The shoot, directed by Gary Tomlin, attracted a crowd of about 200 tourists. "I thought they weren't going to pay much attention to us, but clearly I was wrong," Fergus grinned.

When a light show interrupted taping every hour for about five minutes, Fergus and Harper privately ran lines. The actors wrapped at about 11:30 p.m. and headed back to their resort. Instead of trying their luck at the slot machines, the newbies took the opportunity to look over their script for the following day.

Monday was big. About 70 extras (including yours truly!) were used at The Green Valley Ranch (the hotel) for the sandy pool scenes with Fancy, her friend Veronica (played by Elizabeth Ann Bennett) and gambling man Ned. After a long day in the sun, Fergus and Harper were happy to slip into new wardrobe for their first gallery shoot with photographer John Paschal. They managed to get in two sexy poolside set-ups before the sun went down. "It was a beautiful day until the time of the shoot, then a big, black cloud rolled in and I got very nervous," admitted Paschal. "But the lighting turned out to be gorgeous."

Tuesday was the final day on location. The crew set up near a smaller, lap pool alongside the resort's gym. Less than half the amount of extras were used for the scenes in which Ned pushed a flustered Fancy (wearing a gold Marciano swimsuit) into the pool. "It was surprisingly cold," noted Harper. "But it was my favorite Vegas scene. It was fun and spontaneous, even though we knew what was going to happen. It was an adventure in itself." Once Tomlin called it a wrap, cast and crew had two hours before heading back to Los Angeles. "I'm happily exhausted," sighed Fergus. "We had a great time. There was good food, good sunshine, a pool, a casino. I'm exhausted, like after a vacation, not like a long work week."

For more details about the location shoot and my experience as an extra, look for my "Behind The Scenes" article in the June 7 issue of Soap Opera Digest.