Three things to be happy about:
(1) Joshua trees in the desert
(2) an enormous lunch
(3) getting over jet lag
Well, I'm back from my trip to Las Vegas, and I have to say the most impressive part of my vacation was our trip to the West Rim (as opposed to the South Rim) of the Grand Canyon!
I was waaaaay back from the edge when I took this shot, but you can still see how majestic the Canyon is - words just can't describe it! What looks like trees in the distance? It's all rock!
We visited the Hualapai Ranch where they offered horse rides, covered wagon rides, etc., but our best view of the Canyon was from Eagle Point, which is 4000 feet above the Colorado River.
We saw Native performers at the Eagle Point Amphitheater who performed a prayer dance. I found it interesting that the men danced in the middle, while the ladies walked sedately in a counter-clockwise circle around them.
As we posed for a picture I asked one of the ladies what was the significance of their position but I don't think she understood what I was trying to ask. Either that, or she was tired of tourists asking the same stupid questions every day, every single time they did the same dance in those hot costumes in all that heat.
Whatever...
On the way to the Canyon we stopped at the Hoover Dam for a few minutes since we were passing close to it. I took this shot from the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge that was built in 2010, spanning the Colorado River and connecting Arizona and Nevada - now I can add Arizona as a state visited!
During our bus ride there was a really good taped presentation about Las Vegas, the Canyon and the Dam, the history surrounding its construction. You are allowed free access to the bridge, but tours inside the Dam go through a security check (thanks LizA!).
On Monday we went to Television City at the MGM Grand, where we got a chance to preview and rate a new tv sitcom that will premier this fall, "The McCafferty's" (I hope I spelled it right).
A group of us were taken to a small studio where we saw very brief trailers of 5 different shows; I hadn't heard of any of them, but The McCafferty's is the pilot they showed us. It's about a manipulative mother, basketball coach father; three sons (one gay) and a daughter all adult but living close to each other in the same Boston neighborhood.
In my opinion, it's just another sitcom that the world could probably do without, but hey - stay tuned for it this fall! You might like it - a lady in the row behind me was cracking up the whole time.
Another thing I absolutely loved was the nightly volcano show at The Mirage!
They had shows every half hour between 8 pm and midnight - the picture on the right was taken at 8 pm. Our room on the 27th floor at Harrah's had the perfect view, I think it was probably better than at street level.
There would be a groaning whump-whump-whump-whump-whump sound, then the coals would light up atop the volcano, then you'd hear music and a rhythmic drum beat!
The picture at the left was taken at a later eruption, to show how impressive the fire and lights were after dark.
Water and fire erupted from the sides and top of the volcano - what a sight!
The finale included a large gush of fire from the side, and little jets of fire representing hot coals rushing down towards the plaza.
Of course we visited Fremont Street after dark; what can I say about Fremont Street... nuff said!
I think this year there were even more animated statues and super heroes/villians on the strip than I've seen before. On Fremont Street there was a "snake man" who did all kinds of contortions, and stuffed himself into an 18" box as a finale. I started not to post this picture because the full length of Fremont Street is covered by a canopy of lights showing animated music videos, and it's impossible to get a good shot, but here it is...
trust me, he got all the way down into that box - and closed the lid!
We were there for a week and had a wonderful time! OMG, the food at the Rio! Michelle had a platinum card and it felt great bypassing the long line for the buffet - and, they served us free champagne! But... it's always good getting back home, isn't it?
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| My sister Michelle, friend Sandy and me at Flamingo Hotel. |
Sew forth and sew on til later!
