Las Vegas and a Surprise

One of the things I have not been able to mention on this blog is the surprise. Yes were are here to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday, but there was another BIG reason. One of Sues best friends is Donna Clark. She is one of the Brothel Housewives. Anyway Donna will be 70 on Ground Hog day and they had a big surprise planned. Brothers, Sisters, Family and friends flew in from Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Washington and us from Arizona. Donna knew Sue and I were coming to Vegas when they were here. So Sue was the sneaky one. She has been lying to Donna for a couple months. Her nose has grown :). It all worked. Everybody got into the Reo Hotel All American Grill. Sue and I met Donna and Dick out front and sort of walked them into the dinning room where everybody was sitting. "SURPRISE" It worked. She had no clue. The party was on. More on the evening in a bit.

The day started out with breakfast here at the Oasis RV Park. They have a small restaurant in their bar. Was a very good breakfast. After breakfast we took Charlie for his walk. They have and interesting dog run area here. There are individual fenced areas for dogs. His own private bathroom.

After all that we took off and made our run the the local Camping World for some motor home supplies. We then drove up the strip to Caesar's Palace where we were to meet Sharon and Mary. they were flying in from Seattle. We gambled while waiting. Sue did great made about $80 bucks. I however lost $30. Sharon and Mary arrived hungry so we had lunch in the food court.

After lunch we did more gambling. We stayed the same as before. Sue gave Sharon some pointers. I don't think they worked well. As we were leaving Sharon was digging in her pocket,

We came back to the motor home and walked Charlie again. Then just sort of sat around until we went to the Rio for the above surprise. I got a real cool moon picture as were were waiting.

Back to the party. We all had a really good dinner. Dick fed us all. thank you Dick. Every body had a card for Donna. They were quite funny. Missy, Donnas daughter had a small game. Things you knew about Donna. Sue was first with 10 points. Here are a few pictures of family and friends.

After the dinner party we all ended up on the top floor of the Rio in a place called the Voo Doo Lounge. It is a Steak House and Lounge on the 50th floor of the Rio. It was quite a place. They had an indoor area and an outdoor area. Both with music. The outside had what can be best described as a spectacular view of the Las Vegas Area and especially the Strip. They had all the seating blocked off for I guess private parties. I don't know what drinks cost as Sharon bought. (Thank you Sharon) When we got there, there were not too many people. By the time we left it was full. As more people arrived the volume of the music went up. The boys just talked. The girls talked and wiggled. Here are a few pictures.

Today is Saturday. Another Saturday. All my retired friends say everyday is Saturday. I don't know what we will be doing yet today as we are just getting started. I'll report tomorrow.

On to Las Vegas

We got everything ready this morning for our trip to Las Vegas. After all the routine stuff of dumping the stuff, putting the chairs in the compartments, pulling in slides and unhooking all the other stuff we were ready. Sue took Charlie up to the dog run for a last blast while I moved Snuffy to the street to hook up the car. Happy trails being what it is, I visited with a lot of neighbors as I was hooking up. Sue finally came back with Charlie and we were off.

Trip to Las Vegas is 260 miles from Happy Trails. We chose the US 93 route which took us north across Hoover Dam. We just cruised north until we came to the road construction for the new road and bridge across the river. I think most people I know have seen the stuff on the Internet of the bridge they are building across the river just south of the dam. I would say that this is a big project. We had a few stops for road stuff and the we crossed the dam. Be sure to click on the Hover Dam Link. Good Pictures.

I would guess that a lot of my blog readers have crossed that dam before, but this was my first trip. They have some parking places to stop. We didn't take the time. The guy at the inspection place (Security for the dam, all motor homes have to stop and get inspected....we passed) told me to stop at lot 13. Maybe on the way back.

So, after crossing into Nevada which happens halfway across the dam we went up the hill into Bolder City where we got lost for a little bit. Computer failed. After refinding our way we finally got to Las Vegas and the Oasis RV Park.

The Oasis RV park is very nice. I don't know how I did it but we are just across the street from the pool. Charlie went for a long walk with Sue and liked the place. We went out for dinner at the Rio Casino which is just up the street. I must admit I was in a lot of shock at the price of spaghetti. It was a Italian restaurant inside the Rio named Cafe Martorano. After dinner we went down and donated to the local economy. It was a pretty night.

Now we are back in Snuffy watching Greys Anatomy. Tomorrow will be another day. We keep trying to decide if we are celebrating my birthday again or our anniversary. Anniversary should take pretence. Sue said she was worried that she forgot something when we left Happy Trails, but then remembered that we had everything with us. When we got here we said nice to still be home. That is one of the nice things about and RV. Charlie agrees...

Friends and a Birthday

Monday we met Sue and Jim at Macayo's Mexican Grill for drinks and dinner. They are friends from Sues past. Sue use to work for Sears and Jim was from the baseball team. They are staying in a different RV park near Sun City West.

After dinner we all came back to our place for more visiting. They also wanted to meet Charlie. They have a dog named Lu Lu. We are going to go over to their place and visit so Charlie and Lu Lu can have a play date.


Tuesday was my birthday. We decided to play my favorite golf course. Las Sendas. It is across the city out in Mesa. Was about a 60 mile drive, one way. It was worth the trip. I played this course in the 90s when I use to come down here for a Pro Am tournament. It was just a golf course then with no houses. Now there are houses everywhere. They don't interfere with the course. I had to take a picture of this poor cactus. It was in front of the tee box and full of balls. It is really a beautiful course. Tough too!

After golf we got back home, Virginia, Jan, Beau and Ron came over to wish me a happy birthday. We all sat around visited for a while then went to dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill. Being as it was my birthday I got to pick the food. It was a good end to a good day.

Today is project day and getting ready to go to Las Vegas. We head up there for the weekend on Thursday. It will be the first long drive for Snuffy since when we got here in October. We will be back here Sunday. It looks like we will be going to Indio in Palm Springs for Kens southern Memorial on February 7th. That will make another trip.

Good party and Doggles

Saturday night was a gathering at Jan Holt's house. The people there were from the days of the ASGA. There a few that live in the area. Adrianne came from Tuscan. Ron Voss was in town visiting. The rest live in the area for the winter. Jan had Chicken which Ron cooked. There were various h'dourves salad and baked spuds. All was good. Everyone had a good visit.

Today is another day of rest with a bit of football thrown in. We took Charlie for a walk a few minutes ago and ran into his friend Suzy. Suzy is an older dog, 12 years old, that goes to nursing homes and hospitals and gives comfort to those there. She is trained to do this work. Her and Charlie have become friends from walking around the block. It seems that she has eye problems so her mom bought here some doggles. She doesn't like them, but we told her she was cute.



This week the weather is suppose to get better. Thursday we are going to Las Vegas for a couple days to celebrate our anniiversey, which was December 31st. Should be a fun weekend.

The Monster has passed

The great storm of 2010 in Arizona has passed. It was really a rainy week. Tuesday was stormy to get things started. I already mentioned that. But Thursday did it rain. It was just a day to hang out and stay inside. This called for a puzzle. We did a 500 piece this time. Much more easy to handle on our table.

So, it rained and rained and more of the same. Our street out front became a lake for a while. I found it interesting yesterday morning when I went out side it looked like the tide had come in. There was actually a line that showed the water level in the street.

I also have a garbage bucket outside by the motor home door. Now there might have been some run off from the motor home. The can is about one foot from the it, but I doubt there was. There was about 6 inches of water in the bottom. Officially the news says we got about 3 inches in the day. Anyway you put it it was wet.

The most interesting part was the EBS (Emergency Broadcasting Service) that thing that they test on the TV all the time. You know "this is a test of the ....and so on" They actually activated it because of tornado warnings. We have never had that happen to us before. Mostly what the weather did was screw up all the shows we were watching with the cut in reports. So the puzzle got finished.

But all ended up well. Today, Saturday, it is nice and sunny again. Sue is doing the laundry, Charlie is resting and I'm blogging. tonight Jan Holt is having a party for a bunch of old ASGA (American Singles Golf Association) people that hang out down here. I'll report more on that tomorrow.

A rainy day in Arizona

"QUACK"

The last time I put a picture like this on my blog was about two years ago when we were in southern Oregon. It said, like this one "Monster Storm coming" That was the time when we got stuck in Cannon Beach for four days because of the Hurricane that hit. It blocked I-5 for a few days. Now we are waiting to see what comes with the big storm here. It started raining last night and hasn't stooped since. We are comfortable in our rig, but we won't be doing much for the next couple days. This must be payback for a couple weeks ago when we were the only place in the United States not freezing.

Yesterday we played golf. It was between storms. A really nice day. The first two of the three storms had already gone thru. On the golf course there are what aree normally a dry gully areas on the sides of the fairway. Yester day they were lakes. This left the course with a whole more water hazards. We played with Linda Abbott and here friend Kay. Kay was a kick. We all had a good time. After golf we came back here for a drink or two. John came over to pick them up.

As these thing go dinner came up for discussion. They chose Chinese. For those who know me, I'm sure you all know how excited I was. The place we went to was sort of a cross between a restaurant and a Safeway deli. You could sit and eat or take it out. Me knowing nothing of Chinese food told Sue to order. I got a chopped salad. It was good. The pot stickers were a bit overdone. I sampled some of the other folks stuff. We all had a good time. Kay's husband was also there. After dinner we came back and waited for the rain to start.

This morning we woke up to the rain. So as I said before it will be a slow rainy day at home. I'm just watching the TV and they keep running stuff across the bottom. "Flash Flood Warning" and the a list of what amounts to most of Arizona. At least I don't have to water the Orange tree. So Quack Quack for now. Say goodnight Donald.

Football with friends

Sunday was suppose to be the day the Arizona Cardinals moved on in the football season. Richard had us over to his house to watch the game. We all gathered and thought we were watching a Seahawk game. They got blown away. So much for Arizona football this year. Even through the game was not up to our hopes the day was good.


Richard barbecued Brauts at halftime. Everybody helped themselves at the kitchen table. Only problem I had was I had eaten more h'dourves than I should have. Wasn't much room for dinner. But I managed to eat my share.

Susan (Richards girl friend) had here grandson there. He was a cute 18 months or so toddler. It took Charlie a little while to get use to him, but he did alright in the end. He also figured out real fast that you hang out around little kids as they spill food a lot. Charlie spent most of the day grazing on the floor.

We all had a good day. After we got home it was Saturday night as usual. Some TV and some computer stuff. Charlie had a long day so he took a nap on moms leg.

Sunday Sue and I played golf here at Great Eagle. Was a really slow day as we were a two some in a field of four somes. We had a chance to play thru on 10 and didn't take it. That was a mistake. At least the weather was nice. Weather down her has changed as we are getting hit with the big west coast storm. They are expecting up to 5 inches of rain in the valley by the end of the week. Now by Seattle standards that's not much rain. But, it will be more rain in one week than they had all of last year. They are predicting flooding and all that sort of stuff. Will be interesting to see if it all happens as predicted. Right now, Tuesday, it is nice and sunny. Suppose to get bad tonight and OK tomorrow. Hope so we have a tee time. Today Sue is dragging me to a movie. Let you know about that later.

A Sleaze Tavern and more golf.

Her is what has been going on in the last few days. Sunday was a big day down here as the Arizona Cardinals were playing the Green Bay Packers in a play off game. Now I have to be a Seahawk fan, but alas they are history. So I did grow up a Packer fan but I'm currently sort of an Arizona resident which means I guess I had to root for the Cardinals. Anyway you look at it, it was a really good game.


We watched most of it at Waddell's Longhorn Corral. This was a find of John Ward. He stumbled on it after a golf thing. John has a good sense of nice sleaze bars. This was a good find. We enjoyed a late lunch early dinner. Good food and beer. We kind of rushed back and watched the end of the game here in Snuffy. We all had a good time. Only picture I got was of Linda. I'm slipping. I'll try and do better.






Tuesday we got together with Virgina and Jan Holt. Jan just got down here last week. We played at Arizona Traditions in the afternoon shotgun. We had a good round and a lot of fun. Traditions is a fun course and I like it because its short which helps my ego.

After golf we went in to the Traditions club house. Traditions is a gated community. We have looked at houses there last year and this year. The major difference between Happy Trails and Traditions is Happy Trails is an RV life and Traditions you own a home. They both have just about anything you want available. They have a nice town center with pool, shuffle board and even a small beer and wine bar. They have the pool and all sort of things. What is interesting is at Happy Trails they want about $150,000.00 to $170,000.00 for a lot like we are sitting on right now. Cement a cover and a small shed. For $179,000.00 you can buy a 1500 sq ft house at Traditions. Here Happy Trails you get water, sewer, garbage and maintenance for you about $110 HOA fee. Over there you don't get water, sewer and garbage for your $109 HOA fee. This picture of Virginia, Jan and Sue in the bar at Traditions. Remember to click on the highlighted stuff.

After our golf event and a trip to the bar we went to Babbo. an Italian restaurant down the street. They had a special on Spaghetti and meat balls. Guess who ate that.

It was a long day as it started out with a hair cut for Charlie. He is so happy now that he has shorter hair. Thursday I played golf with some of the guys from the Ranch. That's the area of Happy Trails we stayed in last year. Weather was great. They are a nice bunch of guys. Friday was lunch and bobbing. Few friends for drinks later. Today, Saturday, w are going over to Richards to watch the football game. We have to be Arizona Cardinals fans. I'll try and get some pictures.