Colorado City AZ

All those guys were playing on the golf course while there was smoke and burning brush in the valley.

But you can still see the city in the distance

Just outside of Las Vegas

It is hard to imagine that there are these cool things right outside of the city.

Las Vegas Lake

It is surrounded by HUGE expensives houses.

One of the canyons formed by the wash

The wash down from Las Vegas Lake

The wash down to Lake Mead

The white rock gulch

Why do I love gulches?

Pretty Clouds!

RV Squatters

Lake Mead

What a beautiful day! You can see how low the water level is.

One of the coves on Lake Mead

Lake Mead

I woke up Saturday and went to Lake Mead which is just outside of Las Vegas. It was gorgeous. The water level was really low. Almost all of the boat launches were closed. I met these 2 old ladies who told me about the area. There is a wetlands just outside of Vegas that drains into Las Vegas Lake. From there it washes down to Lake Mead. It is one of the things that feeds Lake Mead.

It was kind of weird to see all the campers and RVs squatting along the lake. I went down to one boat launch and it was sorta scary. Some of those people had been there a long time. It is amazing they let people live in a park like that.

Crazy bamboo furniture

That's me in bed!

My room at the Tropicana

Swanky! A mirrored ceiling.

Blazing Sunset

This was the time I decided to turn back and return to Vegas. I couldn't find a place to stay.

It was a gorgeous drive

The red rock

The canyon was beautiful

Cool Cactus

Mining the rock out of the canyon

Urban Sprawl

This is pretty far outside of Vegas. An they are building houses like crazy out in the desert. I would not want to commute from here.

Let the Fun Begin

The trade show ended, and I had the rest of the evening and saturday to hang out. I rented a car, and I checked out of my hotel. I went to Red Rock Canyon and looked around. I thought I would stay somewhere outside of the city so I could go into Death Valley tomorrow. Well... without an RV... I had nowhere to stay. I ended going back into town and getting a room at the Tropicana Hotel.

One of the guys from work in NY was in town on vacation with his friend and his brother. We ended up hanging out and seeing a comedy show. Afterwards we met up with their cousin who lives in Vegas. He knew all the right places to go. We hit 3 clubs, and somehow I ended up going to bed at 6am. It was a classic "Vegas" night. It was really fun. The bad part was I had to be out of the hotel by 11am... so no time for sleep for me!

Turnberry

This was an exclusive gated community down in the action. These guys own a ton of highrise condo buildings. And they are building even more. $550k - $3million.

The Scary Clown

The front of the CircusCircus Casino

It was very hot outside... and it was sweltering under all the lights at the entrance.

I love the monorail

View from the Hilton

You can see the mountains in the morning

Ahhhh, the Vegas Life

The trade show was fun today... there was SOOO much stuff. Cool stuff I have never even seen or conceived of. It was neat talking to all the different people.

After the trade show I went out again to see the sites... and gamble some more. I lost some... I won some. I went to severa casinosl to try my luck. I went to several and just walked around. I didn't get the "vibe". I finally went to the Sahara and did a couple of slots, I went to CircusCircus and lost some more. Then I went to the Hilton and settled in on some gnome slot machine and won a bunch of money. Again I went back to my hotel really late.

The Stardust

As one guy told me while I was taking this picture... "That's a peice of history!"

Drag Queen Capital of the World!

Indeed! This place was hopping. Some of the guys/ladies are really pretty.

It was right next door to the Asian Cathedral - not a wedding chapel, a real church.

The Beach

A 24 hour/7 days a week sports bar. Yikes!

Barry Manilow is in town!

I probably won't go. This is the hotel the guys are staying in. It was booked when I tried to make reservations. Poo!

A view of the Strip

There are huge LCD billboards and lots of flashing lights.

I've Landed!

Well I had a good flight from Portland. I sat next to a couple who had the cutest 7 month old little boy. He was very entertaining. The view from the plane coming into Vegas was awesome!

I got my bags, and found a taxi. It was so weird... when you go to get a taxi you get in a line, and a guide tells you what corral to stand in. There were 20 corrals, and taxis would stream by and pick up people. My driver was this sweet guy from Africa that had lived in Chapel Hill NC for 5 years before coming to Las Vegas.

I got to the hotel, unloaded my stuff, got out the map, and went down to the Strip. I had been told that Vegas truly is a 24 hour city, and it is safe to walk around at all hours. It did feel safe. My hotel is about 1/2 mile off of the main Strip. I got down there and it was just totally overwhelming. I guess the only thing I could compare it to would be Pigeon Forge. The buldings were taller... and instead of mini golf there is real golf. At 9:30 on a wednesday night, the traffic was really dead, and there were tons of people out on the streets.

I milled around for a bit, and then headed for the Stardust Casino. It is one of the more famous ones, and they are closing it down in November. So I thought... I'll give them some money! It was huge, smokey, bright, and loud. There were people of all ages. And waitresses walking around offering drinks. The first machine I sat down in front of was a dollar machine - which I did not know! Whoops! I walked all around before settling into a penny machine.... my favorite - I dream of Jeannie. I called mom, but she did not prove to be a good luck charm! All in all I only lost $20 - not bad for 2 hours of entertainment. The people watching was AWESOME! They had dancers milling around in the room, there was live entertainment, and of course lots of squeeling from the tables. I stuck to the slots! I got in about 12:30 am, and realized I had to be up early for work.

I'm going to Vegas Baby

I got a call at the last minute, and I am leaving for Las Vegas NV tomorrow night. I'm going for work to a trade show, so I get to play with all the other companies' products. It should be cool.

I am going tomorrow night through Saturday night. The airfare was the same price to come back friday or saturday, so I decided to stay the extra day, pay for another night in the hotel, rent a car, and drive out to Death Valley. I have always wanted to go there.

I'm trying not to let Sherman see me pack. No such luck... he just brought me a sock and glared at James. He always blames James when I leave.

Driving back from Mom and Dad's

I like the drive back to Portland. Lots of nice scenery and fun curves.

I think the sunroof makes my car faster.

The stained glass windows are awesome

So was the whole house!

I thought this building looked so cool

A cool alley garden

The big metal Duck

We found this while wandering around downtown Sunday.

The rest of the weekend

James and I did some serious recooperating on Sunday, and then we went for a lovely walk downtown. The weather was awesome. We had coffee and did a little shopping. It was fun!

We did some yard work, yes... more soreness.

Monday I took the day off and went down to McMinnville to help mom organize the kitchen. She and I operate so differently. I think I drove her crazy! I hope I helped though.

My miniature sumo wrestlers... they make me happy

Isn't she lovely!

I stole this photo of Heather from Bryn's flickr, I just love it!

She is looking at her new little niece.

My Sweet Muldoone

He was all flicked with water from drinking furiously. I love that you can see the little white tuft of hair on his chest.

What I miss most about Knoxville!

I'm sure there is something like it here, but we just haven't found one here.

Ahhhh... goat cheese and pesto pizza.

James with the fruit of his labor

As always... when you ask someone to help you move, you have to provide them with beer and pizza.

James was a happy (but mildly sore) camper.

The entryway is cool, it has a skylight so it is really light

It is hard to tell from the photos, but the ceiling is vaulted which makes the space seem even bigger.

The bedrooms are nice too. They have big windows and good closets, but they were very hard to photograph. Sorry.

I love these floor to ceiling windows

So does Arial. She immediately gravitated to them. Between the front windows and the back patio door there is an awesome breeze through the house.

The living room is nice and open

You can't tell how big it is from this angle, but dad is going to have to open wide for mom to furnish this room.

Mom's kitchen

I can't wait for the first mom-made meal outta here! I really like the kitchen... so light and airy.

Daddy the truck driver

And let me tell you... he drove like a scalded dog on the way down to McMinnville.

All the cars were loaded

Well... except mine. We didn't have enough drivers.