Archive for the ‘las vegas’ Category

Holiday pet

Thursday, December 31st, 2015

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Here’s the Loyal Pet standing guard over our Christmas tree this year. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken on December 30, 2015, and part of my famous Event, Las Vegas and Pet series.

Note my new famous Pet series. I think it was time.

Wonders of WordPress once again. After this post, I’ll be caught back up. Of course, I still need to post for January IN January. But that might happen.

First, a quick recap of our travels.

On December 9-10, I went by myself to Los Angeles to attend an Apple tech talk about the new Apple TV. There was lots of information on the device’s capabilities and how to access them programatically. I’m pretty enthusiastic about it and currently looking for a Killer Idea. I’ll let you know if/when something comes to mind.

On December 18-22, we went to Windsor, California to visit Joanne’s kids and mine. Paul and Mark went with us, which was great! Sadly, Melissa had to work (WORK!), so she couldn’t come. Kristina spent most of that time with us, as did Katy and Cliff (Mia was away with her dad). We saw Ryan only briefly, but it was a very nice visit. All in all, a nice time was had by all.

Before we got home on the 22nd, Andy and JaNell arrived in Las Vegas for Christmas! Actually, Andy came alone; JaNell was supposed to go to southwestern Colorado to spend the holiday with her mom. However, the weather there got ugly and plans had to be canceled. We were able to get her a ticket and she flew to Vegas and spend the holiday weekend here. It was great!

In the meantime, Katy and Clifford left us in Windsor to go to Los Angeles for something (I can’t remember right now exactly what it was), and then they drove over to Las Vegas to spend Christmas with us! So we saw them twice in two locations in one week. Amazing!

We had a great Christmas with all of my kids and their partners. Then, to top it off, Mia’s other grandparents dropped her off here the day after Christmas. She was only with us for a couple hours, but we loved it. She gets more fun every time I see her.

I’m so, so glad everybody was here. Thank you, Loyal Family!

Andy and JaNell went home on the 27th and Christmas was over.

On December 31-January 3, we went to Ontario, California with members of the Porsche club. We had a great time! Because of an early morning departure on New Year’s Day (and possibly the average age of the group, of which I think we were some of the younger members), we celebrated the New Year on Eastern time and went to bed. That worked for me. Of course, this post only covers what happened through the 31st, but I can predict that we went on an amazingly fun drive in the Los Angeles canyons on New Year’s Day, another fun drive to Big Bear on the 2nd, and came home mid-day on Sunday the 3rd. I further predict that I got sick on Saturday afternoon with something that was going around the group all weekend and had a pretty miserable time of things for a few days. I’m glad not to have missed any of the group events, though. Feeling fine as this is written.

Now to a topic that has been much on my mind lately. To wit: has Facebook taken the place of the Morrowlife blog? I find myself posting less and less frequently here and more and more frequently there. I’ve been reading for quite some time that blogs are dead, particularly as the term refers to personal journal-style writing. I’ve resisted that trend, especially during the days when this space served a much-needed cathartic purpose during the days before and -especially- after Shannon’s death. But now I need to decide whether this should continue. So a few thoughts:

  • Will Facebook be a lasting journaling platform?
  • If not, will I want to follow the crowd to the next thing?
  • One of Facebook’s strengths is that it lends itself to immediate, short-form writing. I’ve been using it as kind of a travelogue and an outlet for humorous musings. Is that the direction I really want to take with my personal writing? In other words, does this blog serve a purpose that Facebook really doesn’t? Is Facebook good enough to keep a record of what I’m doing, where I’m going, and who I’m with? Are those the most important things to capture?
  • The Morrowlife blog demands that I sit down and think about what I want to say. That’s also a strength because I think it leads to higher-quality thoughts (stop laughing! You know who you are!). That has been worthwhile to me. But there’s definitely a valid place for quickly-written here-I-am things.
  • Do I have enough bandwidth to do both? Admittedly, Facebook doesn’t really take any effort, but my presence there seems to make posting here even more difficult.
  • Tell me what to do, Loyal Readers!

Brilliant thoughts, each one.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: dog-impersonating bear!

See you on Monday.

Packing pet

Monday, November 30th, 2015

  
Here’s the Loyal Pet helping me get ready for a recent trip. I’m not sure exactly which one I was packing for, but he’s reliably helpful. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken in my room prior to a recent trip, and part of my famous Las Vegas and Vacation series.

Wonders of WordPress. I’m quite sure I’ve never let so much time go by before. Hopefully, never again. So let’s see what I was up to in November, shall we?

First, of course, we spent Halloween quietly at home. Several adorable little tykes came by begging for candy. We have it to them, lest some terrible misfortune overtake us.

I went solo to see Katy and Cliff on November 3-4. There was a threefold purpose to the trip: to see my Loyal Family, to celebrate Mia’s birthday, and to get enough flights for A-list status on Southwest Airlines. All missions accomplished. It was a nice visit. Katy and Cliff are always such fun hosts.

November 6-9, Kristina came here. She stayed with her mom at the condo. They had a very nice visit and I was glad to see her too. I don’t remember exactly what we did, but it was enjoyable.

We went to Allen, Texas to visit Desi and his family on November 13-15. Another great visit! I was delighted to meet Andrea’s family. Plus, Desi, Andrea, and Riley are so much fun. I really like them.

Joanne and I went to San Diego on November 21-22. Objective: get enough flights for A-list status on Southwest Airlines. Also to have fun and relax. All missions accomplished.

We had a great Thanksgiving! Andy and JaNell were here. It was great to see them and we had a great few days. Joanne went to the Bay Area for a few days right after the holiday and had another excellent  is it with Ryan and Kristina.

And that’s about all the travel for November. Hopefully, that’s enough for my Loyal Readers. It was certainly enough for us. I don’t really remember what else happened during the month. So it’s time to quit.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this combination exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity and shocking food violence news: pie-stealing bear!

See you tomorrow.

Captive mermaid

Friday, October 16th, 2015

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Here’s a rare mermaid sighting, taken about this time last year. Note the pumpkins in the background. She seems relatively friendly, but those things can turn on you. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at the Silverton Casino, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

Let’s have a look at what’s been going on since the end of September, the post for which was written last night.

We’ve been on two trips this month. On October 2-4, we went to New Mexico for the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was amazing! Lots of fun. You can stand right there next to the balloons as they’re filling them up and flying away. It’s was everything they say and more. Highly recommended. More than highly recommended. Go there next year!

We went to the fiesta on the first morning it was open for the year. Then we moved to a cute little Worldmark in Santa Fe. We were scheduled to take a balloon ride ourselves on Sunday morning, but it was sadly canceled due to rain. Maybe next time. Or maybe next time we’re in Napa/Sonoma. It’s beautiful up there – might be nice to see it from a gondola.

Anyway. On October 8-11, we went to Angels Camp, California and stayed at the very nice Worldmark there. On Friday, Joanne and I drove over to Yosemite and have a wonderful visit there. The skies were sunny, the temperature was warm, and the crowds were small. Perfect! Friday night, Katy, Clifford, and Mia came over and stayed with us until Sunday morning. We spent Saturday morning in Murphys, California doing some wine tasting. It was another perfect day. Murphys is a cute little town and it was truly relaxing.

Kristina arrived on Saturday afternoon and stayed until we left mid-day on Sunday. We visited with Ryan and Kristina over lunch and a walk in an oceanfront park Sunday afternoon, after which we ran to the airport for our flight. It was a great weekend!

And that brings us up to today.

Oh, not quite. I’ve been on quite a vehicular shopping spree lately. Just before the Angels Camp trip, I bought a 1976 BMW R60/6 motorcycle. It’s in beautiful shape for a nearly 40-year-old. Here’s a picture:

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Nice, huh?

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: rampaging elephant!

See you on Monday.

Lazy cat

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

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Here’s lazy, lazy Baymax. This is his normal behavior about 23 hours a day. The remaining hour, he’s complaining about his treatment. Typical. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at the sliding glass door in My Humble Home, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

I considered making it part of my famous Statue series, but he does occasionally move. So that didn’t seem like a perfect fit.

Wonders of WordPress. It’s been quite a long time since I posted and I refuse to miss a month. So I’m posting. So let’s find out where Joanne and I have been I last posted, shall we?

On August 22 & 23, we went to Pahrump. Yes, that Pahrump. The town with the totally legal brothels. We didn’t stop in at a brothel, although I thought it would be fun to take a tour. We DID go to a winery, where they had nice but relatively humble (trailer) lodging and a lovely restaurant. We had bought a package that included lodging and a fancy dinner. Enjoyed it! Would stay again.

On August 28 & 29, we drove up to St. George, Utah, where we stayed in a very nice Worldmark resort. We visited Zion National Park and thoroughly enjoyed it. Recommended. Next time: Bryce. Which I think is probably even more beautiful.

On September 3-7, we visited Vancouver, British Columbia. That was the Labor Day weekend, so Joanne had a vacation day. Interestingly, Canada celebrates Labor Day too, except that they call it “Labour Day.” So strange, huh? We took a bus tour to Victoria. We looked at downtown, went into a bunch of shops, and had lunch with some old friends of Joanne. Then we were off to Butchart Gardens. What a beautiful place! It’s not as big as Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, but it’s truly beautiful. Highly recommended.

Our hotel was near the waterfront in Vancouver and we spent time exploring the area. Then we discovered the float planes. I hemmed and hawed for a while and then finally decided we needed to take a ride in one of those babies. Which we did. It was amazing! Extremely highly recommended.

No other travel. On September 26, we took my new Porsche to Cars & Coffee Las Vegas. It was fun seeing all the interesting cars. We had a nice breakfast and came home. Later that evening, we went to my first event at Sam Boyd Stadium – a UNLV football game. Our team won by a score of 80 to 8. Not much of a close game, but it was fun to watch.

Oh, have I mentioned that I bought a Porsche? I did. Finally! It’s a 2007 Cayman in beautiful condition and with fairly low mileage. I love it. Behold:

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Pretty nice, says I. I traded in my beloved Ford Taurus for it. I don’t regret that decision. The Taurus was a great car, but this one is greater.

And that pretty much brings us up to date. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: senior-citizen-instigated diner food fight!

See you tomorrow.

Vegas rainbow

Tuesday, August 11th, 2015

 
Here’s a very nice rainbow I photographed during an afternoon walk to the mailbox a few days ago. Very pretty, I think. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken in my neighborhood on July 30, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

It’s been a very eventful few weeks. Foremost in my mind is that we passed the 18 month mark since Shannon’s death on the 2nd of August. That meant it was time to scatter Shannon’s ashes. I had a very difficult time deciding it was okay to do that, but I decided to move forward as planned after consulting with our children.

Accordingly, the kids, their spouses, the granddaughter, and I went up to Angels Camp to stay for a few days. We went further into the Sierra Nevada to Clarks Fork for the scattering. The exact location we had planned to use was very full of people, so we chose a place where the river runs through the campground we visited many times and had our little ceremony there. It was really a nice event in a beautiful location with my beautiful little family. We loved being there together and Shannon’s wishes have been fulfilled.

I wrote down a few thoughts I shared with them because I was afraid I would find it too difficult to speak off the cuff. Here’s what I shared:

I’ve been thinking for the last while about Mom’s legacy, as we prepared to be together for this event. There is much that she left me and each of us, and I just want to offer some thoughts.

For 35 years, she gave me literally everything she had. She used up her life serving me. She made beautiful homes for me and took care of them constantly. She fed me, she bought all my clothes, she helped earn money during the years I couldn’t do that by myself. She gave me our children. She loved and cared for our family ceaselessly. She taught the kids, especially Andy and Mark during all their years together in school. Before she became the teacher, though, she spent countless hours in classrooms, making sure our children got the best education we could possibly provide them. She was immensely proud of each of your accomplishments.

When I was grouchy, she soothed me. When I was sad, she comforted me. When I succeeded, she celebrated with me. When I failed, she grieved with me. And when I was happy, she stood by my side and simply enjoyed life with me. Most of all, no matter what, she loved and loved and loved me.

She taught me how to cook, how to clean, how to take care of my things, how to care for children, how to serve others, and how to love. She didn’t preach much; rather, she just did kind things and we all learned to be like her. I think this is her legacy to each of us.

She never stopped caring for me. During her tremendously difficult last year, she kept doing what she always did as much as possible. And when she couldn’t do things for herself, she taught me the deepest lessons of my life on how to love and serve. That year is precious to me because I have never felt such pure love before or since. All my energy and time was focused on nothing but her comfort and possible recovery from her disease. By allowing me to do that, she helped me learn what it really means to love someone. I will always be grateful for what I learned as we spent that year together and I think I have become a much better man because of it. I think this is her legacy to me.

I miss her terribly. I promised her I would move forward happily and I’m doing my best to accomplish that. It isn’t always easy. I know we have all spent plenty of time crying during the past 18 months. It’s been hard for me to lose my wife, the love of my life, and my best and really only friend. It’s hard for each of you to have to say goodbye to your mother so young. It’s hard to live without her advice, her support, her praise, and her love. I think she gave each of us enough to last the rest of our lives, but it’s still hard and it feels so unfair. But it is our duty to keep that promise to her – to live our lives happily and to be good people. To love and serve each other and the people around us. To savor life and live it to the fullest. To be happy.

I love each of you. Thank you for strengthening me when I needed you. Thank you for the wonderful people you are. I not only love you, I like you. You’re great people and I’m incredibly proud of each of you. I couldn’t ask for a better life, in spite of the heartbreaks. I love you.

Now let’s let Mom’s ashes go and keep her spirit alive inside of us.

I’m really glad we were all together.

Joanne and I have planned a few additional trips over the next few months. Her timeshare put some travel on sale, so she grabbed a few weekends. We’re going back to Angels Camp in October (Joanne didn’t go with the kids and me the first time), the Bay Area in February, and Anaheim in June, on top of the trips we currently have planned. I’m really enjoying traveling with Joanne. I love her.

I took my first glider trip behind a tow plane the other day. Actually, we had three tows last Friday. It’s both very exciting and very difficult. I’m sure ill get good at it, but it’s quite the challenge for me at this point. I fly again tomorrow.

My instructor has invited me to get a commercial license and do some flying of paying passengers. Sounds like fun, so I’m in! It won’t be extremely soon, but it will probably come before I know it.

Joanne’s first golf lesson is this Saturday at 7:00 AM! Why the early hour? Two reasons: (1) it’s when the instructor is available and (2) it’s the only time that won’t be unpleasantly hot. I’m excited for her to start and for us to golf together. While she’s learning, I’ll go to the range and hit a bucket of balls.

Tons more happening, but it will have to wait.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: French-fry-related gun pointing incident!

See you tomorrow.