Vega$ Baby!

This is a view of the Strip from our room at the Mirage. The volcano out front is going off (as it does hourly) and you can see the Venetian and Bally's in the background. We got a great deal on a two night package and two tickets for Cirque du Soleil's The Beatles LOVE. We HIGHLY recommend it if you're in Vegas and even just like Beatles' music. Each song is a little vignette and the Cirque performers portray the characters from each song -- Eleanor Rigby or Mr. Kite or the Octopus in her garden, for example.

Crossroads of No and Where

Can you see the vast nothingness behind Dan? No kidding - that is the town of Vidal Junction, CA. From Phoenix, we rented a car to drive up to Las Vegas for two nights. On the way there, we decided to head west from Phoenix on I-10 and then turn north in California. This photo was taken during our lunch stop in Vidal Junction. Lunch, you understand, was rather loosely defined as a "ham" sandwich from the cooler, a bag of Cheetos and a diet Coke. I honestly think that the Cheetos were about the healthiest thing in the gas station.

This was our scenic view from the picnic table - the dumpster in the foreground and the abandoned cafe in the background.

Dan here--Have you ever heard it said "It's not the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there"? Well, this is the place you see when you're in that place that's not the middle of nowhere, let me tell you. There's a bridge over from Arizona, so there's a produce inspection station, and there's the gas station. Period. It wouldn't be so god-awful if it at least had something more to look at than the chicken on top of the defunct cafe and the old wagon on top of the gas station! Phew! What was really funny though, was the folks pulling over in front of the 'cafe' and discussing whether or not to go back over to AZ for lunch, and if it was worth going through CA 'customs' again!

Wild Blue Yonder

While we were in Phoenix we went to the model airplane airfield to watch my dad fly his radio controlled airplanes.

The airfield is in eastern Phoenix near Superstition Mountain.

He builds them himself and flew them very regularly when I was a little girl. He gave it up for 25 years or so (but kept all of his planes and radios) and then when he retired he started flying again. My parents live in Iowa from April to November and then winter in Arizona from December to April. My dad doesn't fly much in Iowa when he's there (he's busy with other hobbies) but he flies a couple times a week in Arizona. Here's Dad in the "hanger" at the airfield.

My parents reconnected with several of my dad's Air Force buddies in Arizona. Danny and his wife, Sylvia, came out to watch my dad fly while we were there. Here's my mom (on the left) with Sylvia.

It was a team effort...

Dan and I went down to Phoenix last week to visit my snowbird parents and my aunt and uncle (Maggie and Don) and my cousin and her family (Micki, Bear and Kasey). Micki and I are only 4 months apart and we were in the same grade in school so we were very close growing up. We aren't as close as we once were but we seem to be able to pick up where we left off when we do get to talk on the phone or see each other. Facebook has also become handy for keeping us updated on each other's daily lives. We stayed with Micki and Bear during our visit and we arrived the day before the Super Bowl in which their hometown team would be playing.

Here's the cake that Micki, Dan and I made for the Super Bowl. I had much grander design plans when I started but we just ran out of time. I ended up roping them in to help with the final decorating when my hands and wrists wore out.

Here's Micki checking the crock pot and a few of her guests with ALL the food for the party.

Here's my dad talking to Micki's parents. Aunt Maggie is my dad's sister (he has six others!).
By the fourth quarter, it was a close game and it looked like the Cardinals might win but the Steelers were tough and came back at the very end. That was day one in Phoenix - more posts on our trip to follow.