Great Vegas Weekend

We had a blast this weekend in Las Vegas. Drove north from Phoenix to Las Vegas. We began to see "Hoover Dam Delays" electronic signs over the freeway, and I was all excited to see Hoover Dam. Then the traffic hit. I guess since it was Thanksgiving weekend, there were a bazillion people headed to Vegas as well. Going through the Dam area was high security, with checkpoints on either side. The traffic slowed to almost a standstill, with us going about 1-2 miles an hour. YUCK.

Finally past it, we got to Vegas late Friday afternoon and checked into the hotel. Had some fantastic pho at a restaurant and then began our trek at Mandalay Bay. Saw "Red Square" -- the bar made of ice. Somehow we were expecting more than just a foot wide strip of ice along the bar... I had envisioned a full "ice bar" there with people freezing! So much for that. Headed further down and caught the tram from there to Luxor and Excalibur, and then walked all the way down to the Bellagio that night before hiking back to Excalibur to tram it to Mandalay where we parked.

Saturday - STIFF and SORE were the words for the day after all the walking we did on Friday. But after a fabulous breakfast at Tropicana's buffet, we went to Bellagio, got our tickets for "O", and watched the fountains during the day. The sunshine beamed through the fountains in such a way that it created a beautiful rainbow while the waters danced. Then we headed up the strip to Caesar's Palace and the shops there at the Forum. Beyond that it was Mirage to see the white tigers and Treasure Island to watch a really hoky "pirate show" -- they revamped it (ha ha vamped is a good word) so now it was basically chicks in lingerie with really bad dialogue jumping around on the pirate ship. /yawn.

That night we got to see "O" at Bellagio -- which is a Cirque du Soleil show done in water. The acts were spectacular. Platforms raised and lowered out of the water, there were divers doing incredible flips, there were carousel horses that circled in the air above the water, it was magical to watch. We had great seats -- they were really high up but that ended up being perfect because we could see everything and were centered in the auditorium.

Sunday after an awesome $6.75 prime rib dinner (for breakfast ha ha) at Hooter's Hotel, we got in the car and headed back to Phoenix, this time fighting the Hoover Dam traffic from the opposite side. It wasn't as bad as Friday, so we stopped to take a few pictures and check out the dam. It was a fantastic weekend, but we're pretty worn out. Sitting all day at work today doesn't even sound half bad. And luckily we left plenty to do in Vegas for the next time we decide to do a Vegas weekend. :)

Weekend in Tulsa

We spent the last four days in Tulsa, and attended a surprise birthday party for Chuck's mom on Saturday. It was nice to stay with a few friends, but all in all it was a busy weekend of family stuff. Tulsa was typical. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday == no sun whatsoever. Gray, gray, gray. Cold. Rainy. A constant reminder of why I love Arizona so much.

I was MORE than happy to touch down in Phoenix last night around dusk and watch the mountains turn melted-crayon orange with the sunset. Even the coyotes greeted me with their high-pitched yipping as they hunted rabbits on the golf course shortly before midnight.

All in all I did get to finish a few Steinbeck short stories (The Pearl and The Red Pony) and made a half-hearted stab again at Lisey's Story, the new Stephen King novel. (Don't bother, it stinks so far).

We worked on teaching ourselves to play the WoW trading card game. Relatively similar to Magic: The Gathering, but it does have enough quirks to confuse me a little. And I still don't have any loot cards yet *grumble*.

Sony Reader PRS-500

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. It's been a sweltering, seemingly endless summer here in Arizona, but it's beginning to wind to a close, replaced by crisp, cool mornings and cloudless, warm afternoons. The sunsets here are remarkable -- the sky explodes with a gradient palette of pale pink to burnt sienna. And I'm reading my Sony Reader constantly. :)

After waiting about ten months for the latest piece of gadgetry, finally Sony has released the Sony Reader PRS-500. It uses something known as e-ink technology, which is able to reproduce that ink on paper look. No glare, no backlighting to strain the eyes, just gorgeous text. Even more wonderful is that it only uses the battery when you turn the page. Once that new page is rendered, you could leave it sitting there and no charge is being drained from the battery.

It's not for everyone, it does come with a hefty price tag (Sony retails the new Reader for $350), but for avid book fans, it's SUCH a wonderful alternative to reading on a PocketPC, Palm, or SmartPhone. It holds 64mb of RAM and also takes SD cards and Sony mem sticks. I have an extra 512mb Magic Gate Pro Duo from my PSP, but I still haven't needed to use it, because I have about a year's worth of reading material just from the core 64mb in the Reader.

By the way, Ed and Diane got married October 13th. Sorry we weren't able to fly to Tulsa for it, neither of us has been able to get any vacation time for trips yet :( But congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful, happy marriage. You two are so great together!