6-14-13

Me: Bob and I flew back to Phoenix at noon and are currently lounging on the couch. I guess we're worn out from our trip to "Paris". Here is a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Pretty at night.

Travels behind, it's nice to be home. :-)

6-13-13

Me: Bob's parents arrived in Vegas this afternoon.

They and 13 other Model A'ers drove their cars from The Bay. They organized a tour that will take them to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and other fun stops along the way. 

 Here we are sitting in the rumble seat of the Model A and cruising the strip.

We walked through the Bellagio lobby which always has a lovely display filled with flowers.

It featured a large bird house of cute, colorful little chirps. Then off to Ceaser's to eat at Gordon Ramsey's Pub & Grill. The food was excellent.

We passed a thousand slot machines and finally donated a few dollars to one of them.

Vegas is interesting to say the least. You sort of hate the place because of the filth, chaos, and crowds. But if you find the niche that meets your own interests, it can be fun (for a couple days). :-) The Flamingo is the original Las Vegas casino, builit in the 40's by Bugsy Siegel. It's still a happening hotel but is overshadowed by the larger resorts (Venetian, Paris Paris, Ceaser's, The Mirage etc).

Most Vegas trips include spotting Elvis. In our case we found "Texting Elvis" as opposed to Young Elvis or Flying Elvis.

Our day was complete with ice cream. Bob and Bob are chocolate milkshake connoisseurs and gave the Planet Hollywood drink their stamp of approval. 

Though brief, it was great to see Bob's folks!

6-12-13

Me: Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!

Bob and I flew over here around noon today.

Scored a great room at the Tropicana with Bob's hotel points!

Since we traded AZ heat for NV heat we took advantage of their refreshing pool.

 Then it was off to see the sights. Had a delicious dinner at Ceaser's Palace.  

Topped off the night with a Celine Dion concert. No denying that she can really sing.

It was an amazing show, phenomenal orchestra & impressive stage effects.

So glad we went!

6-11-13

Martin: I'll have it back together in no time. Found a whole bunch of spare bits that we don't need.

Me: Ironic that Martin sends a photo of his broken washer at the same time we replaced ours. Our old dryer was overheating and we've had the washer for a long time so decided to get a new matching pair. Nothing fancy but we like 'em!

6-10-13

Martin: Weather for today.

Me: Here are some fun photos from my in-laws Speedster Run in the bay area yesterday. Their club organizes it every year and Bob's dad always races his #44. This year they won it!

The 200 mile route travels scenic dirt roads. Bob has partnered with his dad in past years but we couldn't make it this year.

Congratulations!       

6-9-13

Martin: By this time, the sun was nearer the horizon than I expected as we set off on our search for the best place to cast our lines. We located a small breakwater that appeared to be the local pelican hangout judging by their art work on the pathway. There was no shortage of bites, big and small but the bigger biters were avoiding the pointing end of the hooks. A cold breeze didn't make things all that comfortable but as the sun was setting, it the breeze died away. The water was surprisingly warm and certainly warmer than the air temperature. Adrian called out and pointed to a fin in the water only ten metres away from us. It was a dolphin and within a few moments, a few more broke the surface. There were around ten in the pod and it was obvious that they were playing around with one another as they headed out to sea. A shame they were moving fairly quickly and changed direction towards the deeper part of the channel, as it gave me little time to pull out the compact camera.

Me: Bob got home this evening! Yeah! Here are a couple pics from his recent work travels. Approach into San Juan, Puerto Rico. You can see the airport in the distance.

The pool at the hotel where he stayed in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

I led a beginner cyclist ride at 6:00am this morning. It was a wonderful group of 15 that were eager to learn the basics of cycling. They did great on our 20 mile outing in Ahwatukee.

6-8-13

Martin: We went in search of a fish and chip shop that we had been to a few times before but it had been swallowed up by a fifteen storey apartment. We soon found another candidate over on the lake side. A very good fish meal it turned out to be. We ate it on the grass next to the lake surrounded by about a hundred persistent and very hopeful seagulls. Next was a short walk to one of the many boat rental outlets to purchase some small prawns caught in the lake to use for bait. Daniel asked about doing some fishing when we first mentioned about going up the coast and he got out the fishing gear in the morning. Adrian said that he would watch this time. Funny that when the boys were younger, Adrian was the mad keen fisherboy and Daniel had no patience with the rod. Now, Daniel is the interested party and Adrian just wants to 'watch'.

Photo: A few of the locals waiting outside the shop where we picked up the bait.

 Me: New window shades just in time for the heat!

I ordered this shade from Smith & Noble a couple weeks ago. It's a solar shade fitted for this window and it's controlled with a battery remote. We need the remote since this window is high over the dining table. This window gets direct morning sun and already the shade makes a difference on the heat and bright light. Once the sun has passed I put the shade up to brighten the room. Pretty slick! 

This shade in our master bedroom is also from Smith and Noble. Love the view from this window but sometimes need the privacy. We can get that and a view by lowering the shade down (instead of up). Love that option! Very happy with Smith and Noble and their great representative, Jessica who came to the house with samples. :-)