America the Beautiful

We were excited to have Jordan and Ari visit us last week for a few days.  Our first adventure was to the Valley of Fire, Nevada's first state park.  

We hiked a little, out to "The Wave".

Jordan having fun with his new selfie stick. lol

When possible, a pilgrimage to the Grand Canyon is a must.  It is a four and a half hour drive from Las Vegas.  And there are really only two small cities between the two locations.  It was cold and windy when we arrived at the south rim of the canyon.  We walked along the rim for a couple of miles, had a picnic with a spectacular view and then hopped on a shuttle that took us to various lookout points. What a great day!

Elk were in several locations.

Friday morning we headed out to show Ari Red Rock Canyon.  

During my Red Rock training on Monday I learned about the Petroglyph Wall Trail.  I don't know how I missed it so many times before!

Friday night we all attended our first Cirque du Soleil show.  Beatles Love. It was amazing. An hour and a half of nonstop music and movement.  We were in the upper balcony but there really aren't any bad seats in the house. 

Dan and I want to see Michael Jackson One next.  Maybe for our anniversary!

After the show we headed to Caesars Palace.  Ari's family is from Greece so this was a must.  We hadn't been inside yet either and we were all blown way by the sheer size! 

curved escalator!

photo op

painted ceilings

We had to laugh at the bathroom entrances! If you can't read the signs the Gentlemens room is the tiny doorway on the left! haha  Apparently Dan felt slighted!

Saturday we spent time at home and at the pool. 

This photo was actually taken their first day here. Very bright out!

Saturday evening we made a trip to Fremont Street before the kids caught the red-eye back east.

What a great visit we had.  I will be seeing them both soon, as we finally have results on Jordan's knee he hurt back in February.  He re-injured his ACL and meniscus.  Surgery is scheduled for May 6. 12 hours a day for 4 weeks on the knee bending machine.  Poor Jordan.  I will go to Vermont to help out for a couple of weeks.  

It's all about the Journey!

Enjoying Spring! 

Nancy and Dan

It's April - No fooling!

We have had a busy two weeks! To busy to even blog last week. Dan turned 55, oh my! We celebrated his birthday by eating dinner at Dickeys Barbecue Pit. Very yummy.  Back to Linda's house for some cake and a few gifts. Perhaps there was a celebratory shot as well.

A nice wine from Auntie.

A shot of schnapps. 

From the Vermonters.

Since Red Rock Canyon (RRC) is only a short drive away I have decided to volunteer at the Visitor Information Desk and at the Tortoise Habitat.  This involves some training which I am loving so far. Learning all about my new state. On April 4th I went to Tortoise training.  Such fun.  The habitat holds 10 desert torts, 8 females and 2 males. It was feeding day.  They are fed a vegetarian diet twice a week.   I will be helping with the torts one morning each week.

Yummy pellets and water.

This is Maxine the largest female. She likes to block the burrow entrance so the others can't come out!

She is a bit of a bully.

This is Hugo who was abandoned in California.

Hugo having some lunch.

A second day of training was about the trails of RRC.  My former computer work came in handy as the presenter was having trouble with his PowerPoint presentation.  We made it work. Dan and I have been going to RRC regularly since we got to Las Vegas and I still learned a ton from his presentation and the field trip to some of the trails.

We had a little more work done on the house.  Our patio had a very nice lattice type of covering but it didn't help with sun or occasional downpours. So we replaced it with a solid cover.

Before.

During.

After.

I want to add cabana curtains for extra shade this summer. Only a couple of more things to do until the house is perfect!

Lots of flowers out in the area. Here are just a few. No wild flowers this time. Roses do very well here.

There will be another blog in a couple of days.  Our son, Jordan and his girlfriend, Ari are in town for a few days. Fun times.

It's all about the journey!

Nancy and Dan