Washington, D.C.

April 12, 2013 - "Washington, D.C."

So, in spite of a rather crazy couple of days at work (related to an employee issue, not the merger), tonight we boarded a plane and headed to Washington, D.C. for the weekend.  Joe worked Saturday and Sunday last weekend (and, yes, we still managed to go to the rodeo AND a movie!) so that we could take a weekend trip.  We chose D.C. for 2 reasons:  1) We had a free night at an Intercontinental Hotel that was about to expire and I have long wanted to stay at the Willard in Washington, D.C.; and 2) We have visited lots of the monuments in D.C., but it was before we had our NPS passport, so I thought we could get our stamps.  We were halfway there - at 30,000 feet in the air when I realized I had forgotten the passport book.  Geez....  Oh, well...  We'll have to make due.  I couldn't really expect the pilot to turn around so I could go get it.

We arrived and quickly exited the airport and hopped a cab to the hotel.  We opted not to take the Metro since we arrived late (scheduled at 10:00 PM, I think we actually landed at 9:40).  Check-in was lovely, as was the bellman that brought our bags to the room.  So far, the Willard gets 2 solid thumbs up from me.  AND, we even got upgraded!!  We're on the 11th floor and have a lovely view of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial out our window.

The scaffolding on the Washington Monument is to repair earthquake damage from a quake last year.

Now, we just have to decide what to do while we're here...

April 13, 2013 - "Day 1 of our 1st weekend trip in a YEAR!!!"

I woke up about 7:00 or 8:00, but decided that I would let Joe sleep since it's been a really long time since he got to sleep in on a Saturday.  We didn't get moving until about 10:00.  By then, of course, I couldn't stand it anymore.  We headed downstairs and started our day with brunch at the Occidental (part of the Willard).  First, we had a bread basket and then I had biscuits & gravy with eggs (sunny side up) and Joe had a crab & asparagus omelet.  The food was yummy, but a little pricey (not surprising!).

Heading out a bit after noon, we decided we would go to Ford's Theatre.  However, in true Joe & Lori travel style, we didn't know the entirety of Pennsylvania Avenue would be blocked off for the Cherry Blossom Festival.  And not only was it blocked off, but you could not cross it.  Period.  Strike One.  If we would have headed straight down Pennsylvania from our hotel, we would have been okay, but we crossed the street to take a picture of the hotel.  So, we walked and walked and walked looking for the end and finally gave up and headed to the Holocaust Museum.  Since Joe is a map wizard, we had no problem finding it, but by the time we arrived they had already distributed all the tickets for the day.  Strike Two.  We did go ahead and visit the parts of the museum that you didn't need a ticket for - the Hall of Remembrance and Daniel's Story, which tells the story of the Holocaust through the eyes of a child.  Both were sobering.

Not wanting to strike out, we decided to head to the memorials for our passport stamps.  First up was the Jefferson Memorial.  We went ahead and walked through even though we've seen it a couple of times.  There were wreaths of flowers around the base of the statue and so I wondered why.  Then Joe asked, "Is it his birthday or something?"  I knew it wasn't the anniversary of his death because he died on July 4th.  So, I whipped out my trusty iPhone and sure enough.  Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13th.  He would have been 270.  At the stamp station, I also got a stamp of the George Mason Memorial, even though I had no idea where, or what it was.  As we left the Jefferson Memorial and headed to the FDR, I saw a sign that pointed across the street.  So, I consulted the map I had picked up at the Jefferson Memorial and found out that the George Mason Memorial was, indeed, just across the street.  So, we went back and checked it out.  While I was there, I read up on George Mason on my NPS National Mall app and found out that he was a lesser known Founding Father, but did not sign the Declaration of Independence because it did not prohibit slavery.  What do you know?  You really do learn something new every day.

George Mason Memorial

We walked around the Tidal Basin and on to the FDR Memorial.  From our direction of travel, you actually enter the end of the Memorial, but again, we had seen it a couple of times.  We made our way to the front and got our stamp there.  While there, we also got a National Mall stamp and the WWII Memorial stamp.  Oh, and we got a Cherry Blossom Festival stamp and a District of Columbia War Memorial stamp, the latter being another memorial that I had no idea about.

Our next stop was a new one - the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.  There are inscriptions along a wall with many of his quotes and the Memorial itself faces the Tidal Basin.  It's actually pretty cool.  He is sculpted as though emerging from the rock.  It was pretty nice to see a new memorial, although oddly, we never could find a stamp for this one (I later read there is a bookstore there, but we didn't see it.)!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

As we were walking to the Lincoln Memorial, we saw a dome that looked like a grandstand, but I didn't think much of it.  But then, somewhere between there and the Lincoln Memorial, I - again - turned to my handy dandy National Mall app and realized it was the District of Columbia War Memorial that I had gotten the stamp for at the FDR Memorial.  Sigh...

Before we hit the Lincoln Memorial, we stopped just to the southeast to take a few more pictures of the Korean War Memorial.  We've seen this one a couple of times, too, but I didn't think I had many pictures, so we walked around and took some more.

At the Lincoln Memorial we decided to take a break for a snack.  I had a hot dog and Joe had a tuna salad sandwich from a little kiosk in the park.  We chatted and rested a bit before heading to the Lincoln Memorial.  While I was holding a table waiting for Joe to arrive with the snack, I, yet again, consulted my National Mall app.  There was a listing for the "I Have a Dream" Inscription, so I checked it out.  I knew the speech had been made from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, so I wondered if it was there.  It is!  But, it wasn't easy to find!

Over at the Lincoln Memorial, we took a potty break where I noticed (as I have many times in our travels) that people are pigs.  There was a line to women's restroom (as always) and when I finally got my turn, there was a pile of dirty diapers and trash in the corner of the stall.  Really?  People can't carry their trash a few feet to the trash cans???  It was disgusting!

We wandered around the Lincoln Memorial and at their bookstore, we hit the stamp mother-lode:  Lincoln Memorial, Constitution Gardens, Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and the John Ericsson Memorial.  I did fail to realize (even with all my "app-ing") that the John Ericsson Memorial was just across the street from the Lincoln Memorial so even though we got the stamp, we didn't see it.  Oops...  After all the stampage, we set out to find the "I Have a Dream" Inscription.  We walked down the steps, up the steps, down the steps.  Finally, I had to consult the app again (and still failed to look up the John Ericsson Memorial, but I swear, I'm over it), which said it was halfway up the steps.  So, we went back up.  Finally, we saw 3 people standing on the steps, looking down and I figured that must be it.  And, it was!  I think it was a little more than halfway up, but honestly, it's not very prominent.  You have to know it's there and you have to look for it!

Inscription

View of the Reflecting Pool from the "I Have a Dream" Inscription

On the way to Constitution Gardens, we did go back to the District of Columbia War Memorial (it wasn't really too far out of the way anyway).  They had just had a wedding there, but I managed to snap a few photos.  The Memorial commemorates all who served during "The Great War" (World War I) or "The War to End All Wars" (World War II).

District of Columbia War Memorial

We went through the World War II Memorial, but it is under repair, so the fountains are dry. I found it interesting that it is under construction already when it just opened in 2006 or 2007.  But, oops...  I consulted my app (this could be a commercial for the National Mall App!!!) and it actually opened in 2004!!  I guess it is 9 years old, but still... 

Constitution Gardens has a nice lake with ducks and such.  We made our way to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial.  The sun was really low in the sky, so most of my pictures have my shadow, but it's actually a really cool memorial.  We found out that Josiah Bartlett signed the Declaration of Independence, which we thought was interesting.  We thought he was just POTUS on West Wing!

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial

Josiah Bartlett!!!

Constitution Gardens

We decided that our snack would not get us through the night, so we headed to the Metro (we were getting pretty tired of walking) to the Capitol South station to check out Goodstuff Eatery.  We both had burgers, but the highlight was definitely the shakes!!  Joe had vanilla, but I had a Salty Caramel Kiss and it was OUTSTANDING!!!

YUMMY!!!

We were pretty exhausted, even after sleeping late.  We headed back to the hotel and hit the sack a bit early.  It was a really beautiful day in our Nation's Capitol!

April 14, 2013 - The Holocaust Museum

We opted to head back to the Holocaust Museum this morning.  We got up fairly early and made it to the line by about 9:30 (the museum opens at 10:00 and that's when they start handing out tickets).  At 10:00, we got our tickets, but our entry time was 10:45, so we decided to hit the cafe for a bite of breakfast (we had actually planned it this way - so, kudos to us!).  At the cafe, we had bagels and bananas.  The bagels were hard and dry, but we felt like complaining about the food at the Holocaust Museum was inappropriate.  At least it was food.

I'm not sure how many people they let in the museum, but it was, of course, really crowded even with our timed entry.  You start out on the top floor, which is all about the rise of Hitler and how he came to be in power.  We spent an incredible 2 1/2 hours on this floor - reading, watching the movies, and learning about Hitler.  The next floor was all about the camps and the treatment of the Jewish people.  First they were made to live in ghettos.  From the ghettos, they were transferred to work camps.  Their final destinations were the concentration camps.  The majority of people were taken from the trains to the gas chamber immediately.  This was something that I did not realize.  But, a few were put in hard-labor where they were, literally, worked to death.  So, once they ended up in the concentration camps, their fate was death - one way or the other.  The only ones who survived were those still alive at liberation.  The pictures are just incredible.  The people that were still alive were so skinny from malnutrition that they barely looked like human beings.  And then the piles and piles and piles of dead bodies, were - literally, incomprehensible.  They also had a model of a gas chamber.  One of the most sobering things in the museum was the shoes.  You walk through a room that has shoes piled up on both sides.  It's just dozens and dozens of shoes - and they were all removed from the Jews at the concentration camps.  The Nazi's removed everything that people were wearing and sold much of it for cash.  After they died, they even removed the gold fillings in their teeth to melt down for cash.  It's so incredibly hard to image that this really happened - that people could really treat other people this way.  Sobering.  Depressing.  Sad.  Those are just a few words to describe how the museum makes you feel.  But, it's also moving, fascinating, and shocking.  We spent another 2 1/2 hours on the 2nd floor.  The last floor is dedicated to what happened to the Jewish people after liberation.  Many people continued to die after liberation because they were in such poor health and so malnourished that they couldn't recover.  Those that survived were mostly alone - their families had all died and they had nowhere to go.  It was another sobering reality of the war.

We had thought that we would head to Ford's Theatre after our visit to the Holocaust Museum, but we ended up spending 6 hours at Holocaust.  By then, we were hungry again, so we decided to walk back to the same area where we had been the night before and have dinner at the Tune Inn.  It was featured on Triple D and we happened to notice it was on the same block as Goodstuff.  Joe had the Joe's West Virginia and I had the Beer-Batter Burger.  Joe really liked his sandwich - even better than the burger the night before, he said.  The burger was interesting.  It mostly tasted like a regular burger, but with a breading.

From dinner, we walked back to the hotel.  I had never seen the Supreme Court building, so we wanted to walk by there.  Unfortunately, it is being renovated and it was draped in a cover, so I still haven't really seen the Supreme Court Building.  However, I'm sure the renovation is much needed and will be beautiful when it's done.  And, it gives us one more reason to return to D. C.!!!  The court is just across the street from the capitol building, so we walked around there a bit.  By the time we were done, it was starting to get dark so we headed to our hotel.  We did pass the hotel and walk by to see the White House at night, which was lovely, of course.

Supreme Court Drapery

 

April 15, 2013 - "All About Lincoln"

On our last morning, we got up even earlier and headed to Ford's Theatre.  When we walked back to our hotel from the Metro on Saturday night, we noticed a McDonald's, so we decided to have breakfast there - quick and easy.  We made it to Ford's Theatre by 8:30.  The box office opened at 8:30, but the first tour is at 9:00, so we had a little time.  We looked around the gift shop and got in line for our tour.

First they take you to the basement of the theatre through a museum.  They only give you about 35 minutes in the museum before they take you upstairs for a presentation in the theatre.  The theatre, itself, is very small.  I've tried a couple of times to get tickets to shows there and have never been able to.  Now, I understand why.  They have reconstructed the box where Lincoln was sitting.  A lot of the furnishings are original, but the chair Lincoln was sitting in is now in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI (no relation to the Ford's Theatre owners).  Also, we learned that the theatre was turned in to an office building after Lincoln's assassination.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a very well constructed office building and in 1893 part of it collapsed and killed 22 people.

The President's Box at Ford's Theatre

Across the street from the theatre is the Petersen House where Lincoln was taken after he was shot.  Before going there, we actually asked to go back to the museum since we had only seen about half of it.  The ranger was nice enough to let us in, but apparently that is a big no-no in general.  The next time they made their announcement for guests to proceed to the theatre, they made a point to to say that you would not be allowed back in the museum after you went to the theatre.  I was glad we went back because it was on our return to the museum that we saw John Wilkes Boothe boot that was cut off by Dr. Mudd.  We also saw the gun he used to shoot Lincoln, the coat that President Lincoln was wearing when he was shot, and the door into the Presidential box that Boothe went through to commit the assassination.

The gun that shot President Lincoln

From the theatre, we did go across the street to the Petersen House.  As it turns out, Lincoln died 148 years ago on the day we were there - April 15th!!  What crazy coincidences to be at the Jefferson Memorial on his birthday and the Petersen House on the anniversary of the day President Lincoln died!  There are only 2 rooms there - the parlor where Mary Todd Lincoln spent the evening waiting and the room where Lincoln actually died.  The bed, however, is not the actual bed either.  That bed is in the Chicago History Museum - a place we have never even heard of!

From the rooms at the Petersen House, there is another exhibit next door that goes through the days after the assassination and the capture of John Wilkes Boothe and the trial of the accomplices.  One of the most interesting things at this house is actually a tower of books that contain all the books written about Lincoln.  We also learned here that there are no direct descendents of President Lincoln still living.  Also, his son, Robert Todd, was present at the assassinations of two more Presidents - James A. Garfield and William McKinley.

After the museums, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe across the street for lunch.  After lunch, it was back to the hotel to change into our first-class appropriate clothes.  Originally, we were going to cab it back to the airport, but in the end, we decided to take the Metro.  I was a bit worried about getting there late so late because I expected security to be difficult.  To my surprise, we arrived about an hour and 15 minutes before our flight, got our priority verification cards and got through security in a flash.  The TSA agents were even quite friendly and nice!!

Thus ends our fantastic weekend.  We did get first-class on the way home, which was a nice bonus.  We really enjoyed our weekend, but left lots and lots and lots of stuff to do in Washington, D. C.

Busy Weekend...

April 10, 2013

Although it seems like most of our weekends are pretty slow, last weekend, was quite busy!  On Friday night, I picked up Sharon's sister, Kay, from the airport and took her to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.  Sharon's niece (and Kay's daughter) was having her 2nd baby.  She actually had her just before Kay and I left the airport.  I didn't go see the baby (obviously, since she was only minutes old), but I did visit with Sharon and David, which is always fun.  Saturday night, Joe and I went to see the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Competition at the Fort Worth Stockyards.  Tuff Hedeman was Lane Frost's best friend.  Lane Frost was a famous bull rider in the 80s that was killed during a ride in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Tuff was instrumental in getting the PBRC going, but a few years ago, he left under somewhat mysterious circumstances.  Now he has another bull riding association.  Joe said he had wanted to go for several years now and always forgot until it was too late.  He happened to be online one night and saw that it was coming, so we decided to go.  It was a lot better competition than the usual rodeo at the stockyards.  Ha!!!  On the way to the bull riding, we stopped and had dinner with my parents, as well.  THEN, on Sunday, we went to the Movie Tavern to see Oz:  The Great and Powerful.  I had purchased a Groupon that was about to expire, so we decided to go use it.  That is the busiest weekend we've had in a long time!

Too many funerals...

March was a pretty slow month, as you can probably tell. 

On March 16th, I spent Saturday with my family.  My dad's friend, Eddie Pirtle's wife, Carolyn passed away.  Steve came down from OKC and we all went to the funeral in East Texas.  The service was at 11:00, but we started out early and had breakfast together.  Then, it was a couple of hours to drive out to Murchison, where they live.  Afterward, we drove back and had lunch at Babe's in Arlington.  Carolyn was a really wonderful person.  I knew her my whole life, and though we weren't close, I was very sad.  She was such a vibrant, outdoorsy woman.  I'm surprised she passed away so relatively young (72).

On March 25th, I attended another funeral.  This one was for a friend that I worked with at AMR Services, Mitzi Wood.  I had actually lost touch with Mitzi in the last few years, but our mutual friend, Nancy Jacqmein, had stayed in touch with her.  Nancy was able to find me - cleverly through a friend that was on LinkedIn and Facebook - and tell me about Mitzi.  She had cancer for about a year and though her initial treatments seemed promising, the cancer came back and there was nothing they could do.  She was only 66.

So, with Janet, Carolyn, and Mitzi, that's 3 funerals I've been to since Thanksgiving.  I hope that's the end for a while.

March

March 4, 2013 - What a difference a TV makes...

We had a bit of a challenge getting the TV delivered.  The guy (Ben) called on Tuesday and left a message to set up a delivery time.  We called back approximately 6 times to no avail.  I called the store and talked to another Magnolia sales person.  He said he would call me back but he didn't either!!!  We were about to throw in the towel and just pick the thing up ourselves.  I decided to make one last effort by calling the store again and talking to the store manager.  So, I called and asked for the store manager and the kid that answered the phone said the he didn't have the manager available and asked me what the problem was so he could direct me to the right person.  I told him I was having trouble getting a delivery scheduled and he said he would transfer me.  Lo and behold, Ben answered the phone.  Of course, by then it was Friday, so we couldn't get the TV delivered until Monday.  I knew that Joe wanted to go to Florida to visit his aunt and his mom, so I scheduled it for 4:00 PM.

That wasn't the end of the trouble - when I got home a little before 4:00, I listened to the messages on the answering machine.  Best Buy had called at 10:23 AM asking what time they could deliver the TV.  Seriously?  I called back and left a message.  Then I called again and the store answered and told me the guy was on his way.  Sigh...

At least there is a happy ending.  Our TV is here and it is lovely!  Finally!!!

March 30, 2013 - Please don't blow up our house!

There have been 2 separate stories on the news lately about houses blowing up because of the gas company working on the gas lines.  Then, I came home to this:

Seems that the gas company is digging the gas line up in our yard.  I believe it is to move the line because the road is scheduled to be widened.  Of course, all I could think of was how I didn't want the house to be blown up.  All Joe could think about was whether or not they were going to reimburse us for the grass they dug up.  Our yard is hardly that of Neil Sperry's so I had to laugh at that.  Even if it was, they weren't going to do that.  At any rate, the thing I found most interesting is that our yard is all sand.  We do live fairly close to the lake, but I actually thought all the sand in our yard was from someone bringing it in and trying to use it as filler or something.  But, no, our yard is sand.  Sigh....

The rest of February...

February 20, 2013 - New Addition

For my birthday last year, Joe gave me a new TV.  I had been bugging him about buying a new one because ours is about 10 years old and it's HUGE!  Now they have those lovely flat screen ones that don't take up half your room like the old ones.  Unfortunately, our old one still works, so it's a little difficult to convince Joe that we need a new one.  Finally, I guess he was convinced.  Poor guy...  He didn't realize that buying a new TV would also entail buying a new piece of furniture - a media cabinet.  As it happens, Hooker makes one that matches our tables and we all know that I'm all about matching!  My birthday was 4 months ago, but in December, I managed to order the cabinet and today it was delivered.  I LOVE it!!!  It is totally awesome.  Two features that I love in particular - there's a plug in strip inside the cabinet for the cable box, DVD player, etc.  But the feature I love the most is that the doors swing either way.  They're really made to hide the electronics, but if you have them open, they close over the shelves on either side.  Brilliant!!!

From the Hooker Website

February 23, 2013 - Ugh!!!

Apparently, hiking from 65 degrees to 39 degrees, soaking wet is not good for your health.  As soon as we got back to the top of the Grand Canyon, I started coughing.  Not bad, but a cough, nonetheless.  Now it's a week later and I'm in the throes of a full-blown cold.  At first, I thought it was just going to be a little bitty irritating cold, but by yesterday, I knew that I hadn't ended up being that lucky.  I felt horrible all day yesterday.  I almost called in sick, but by the time I figured out how bad I felt, I already had my makeup on and I couldn't waste the effort.  Ha!!  I hoped that I would feel better once I got there, but I never did.  I finally ended up leaving about 4:30.  I came home, lay on the couch, and watched 3 hours of Grey's Anatomy.  I thought I would feel better today, but I don't really.  I really want to lie down, but every time I do, my head gets stuffed up and I can't breathe.  I really want to be productive, too, but I'm struggling with that as well.  It's hard to get things done when all you you want to do is sleep!  Sigh...  Hopefully, I'll feel better soon. 

My other Grand Canyon injuries include a deep bruise where my boot rubbed my ankle bone on the way up.  Plus, as I mentioned, my right big toe is bruised pretty badly underneath the nail, including that it's skinned on the tip.  I really hope I don't lose my toenail, but I'm already wondering how long it will be before I can wear sandals.  Joe's legs hurt for a few days, but he seems back to normal now.  My legs never did hurt as bad as his, but he didn't have trouble with his feet.  I guess it was some kind of trade-off.  Ha!!!

As far as my cold, Joe says he's sorry that the Grand Canyon got the last word.  As though the canyon said, "you may have gotten out of me, but take THIS!!!!"  Hahahaha!!!  At least I can laugh...  Okay... nap time now!

February 24, 2013 - Feeling a little better...

The good news is, I woke up feeling a bit better today.  Still coughing some and still blowing my nose some, but I felt as though I could actually function today.  I even took a shower!!!  Better news - our TV is on its way.  Yea!!!  Joe did the research and then we went to Best Buy and made our purchase.  It's a 55" Panasonic Plasma TV.  Our car wasn't quite big enough for it and Joe and I are electronically challenged, so we set it up for delivery and installation.  It should be here between Thursday and Saturday of next week.

After our purchase, we had dinner at Outback.  Their food is good, but it seems like the portions are getting smaller and prices are getting bigger.  Not that it's all bad - we really don't NEED huge portions, but it's the principle.  Joe said it was my birthday dinner to celebrate my birthday present.  At least we got something accomplished this weekend.  Now it's home to watch the Oscars...

February 28, 2013 - Happy Birthday, Grandma

Today would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday.  How cool would it have been if she would have lived to see it?

Merger

I wasn't surprised, but while we were at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, AA and USAir announced they would be merging.  The concerning thing for AA management employees is that USAir management team will lead the new company.  On the plus side, they had an employee meeting that day (which I was able to watch on Jetnet when we got back) and Doug Parker seems very personable and witty.  Doug is the USAir CEO and will be the CEO of the new American.  So, just when it seemed that our futures were secure again, we are, once again, uncertain. 

A few facts:  The merger will create the world's largest airline (AA had been knocked down to 3rd after the Delta/Northwest and United/Continental mergers).  The "New American" will be based in Fort Worth and will be called American Airlines.  We're not sure whether or not the new livery will survive the merger, but until it closes, all the new planes will still be painted that way.

Updates to come...

Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon

Our first adventure of 2013 was one that we probably didn't do enough preparation for, but embarked on nonetheless.  When it was all said and done, I had a great sense of accomplishment and a bruised toe (underneath my toenail) that would keep me out of sandals for a year.  But, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.  Here is our travel journal from Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon:

2/09/2013 - "Family Day in Sin City..."

This morning before the sun came up we were heading to the airport to catch our flight to Las Vegas!  This is the 2nd time in 2 years that we've been to Vegas but more on that later.  Also, we bought tickets for this trip.  Too bad, too, because a huge blizzard hit the northeast and our plane was only about half full.  I'm guessing that was due to people who had booked through from the northeast not being able to get to Dallas for their connection.  I could be wrong, but when Joe looked, there were 30 seats available.  There were way more than 30 empty seats, I'm pretty sure of that.  We didn't get that satisfied feeling of being right about buying tickets, but that's okay.

Our flight left DFW at 7:45AM, so with the time change, we were in Vegas at 8:45.  We picked up our rental car and headed to Sin City.  We're staying at the Bellagio, so I called, but they didn't have any rooms ready that early.  Instead of checking in, we headed to the Egg & I.  I had read about this breakfast place in the American Way magazine.  It looked like there were a lot of people waiting, but the hostess said the wait was only 10 minutes.  It was really good!!!!  I had biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, & breakfast potatoes.  Joe had an egg crepe.  I tasted it and thought it was good.  He thought it was good, too.  And, it was different.  The coffee, by the way, was exceptional!!!  And with that, as Joe said, we did a face-plant off the wagon.

From breakfast, we headed to Caden's basketball game.  Joe had texted his cousin, Christie, to let her know that we were going to be in town and she told us that Caden and Carson both had games on Saturday.  So, we decided Saturday would be family day.  Caden is quite the little athlete, but he is 7, so it was like watching any pee-wee sport.  His team lost, but he didn't seem too disappointed.

We left the Richard's and came back and checked in to the Bellagio.  The first time we were in Vegas, we were completely enamored with the Fountains at Bellagio and vowed that we would stay here some day and get a room with a view.  I'm not sure how serious we were back then, but that's just what we did.  Our room is all the way at the end of the hall and I was a little worried that we wouldn't have a great view, but I don't think any of these rooms have a bad view.  It is so cool!!!  Joe could, literally, sit in our room the whole time and watch the fountains every 15 - 30 minutes.  In fact, if we didn't have tickets to "O" to pick up, we probably would have just sat and watched the fountains until it was time for the next basketball game.  Ha!!!

We did, however, drag ourselves away to pick up our "O" tickets and get the lay of the land.  The hotel is huge, of course, with most of it being the casino.  The one thing we both hate about Vegas is the smoking.  They'll never ban smoking in Sin City, I'm sure.  I find that funny (in a way) given that even in Ireland, they have banned smoking in pubs.  In Ireland!!!  In PUBS!!!  But, not here my friends.  Smoke away!!!  Just a walk through the casino and you smell like an ashtray.

The second basketball game was Carson's.  He, apparently, wasn't feeling that well and played less than half the game, but it was still fun to hang out with the Richard's.  After the game, we had ribs with them at a hole-in-the-wall place not far from their house.  I think it was called "TJ's Rib Crib."  I had baby backs and they were good.  The mac & cheese was also tasty.  Joe had the 3-meat combo and wasn't as thrilled with his meal, but again, it was more about spending time with family.

We left the Richard's and headed back to the Bellagio for the late-night performance of "O" by Cirque du Soleil.  I have wanted to see this show forever, so I wonder if that didn't somewhat hamper my expectations.  It was incredible Cirque, as always, with acrobatics and athletics.  But, I think, I was trying to find a story and couldn't figure it out.  Joe said he thought the creator was on acid when the play was written (a typical Joe comment).  Ha!!!  It was all done in water and the most incredible thing was the stage.  One minute it's a regular stage, then it's 3" of water, and then it's a deep pool that they're diving in to from above the top of the stage.  Totally perplexing!!!  I loved the way the curtain was raised and lowered, too.  Not just your typical raising and dropping, but more of a sweeping away of the curtain.  Then it was lowered by a hot air balloon bucket.

It was a long day, so we were happy to make it back to the room for the final performance of the fountains at midnight and hit the pillows.  The bed is wonderful....

2/10/2013 - "Sensory Overload..."

It's always a dilemma for me when we're on vacation.  Part of the fun of vacation is not having a schedule.  But not having a schedule also means that we don't make the most of our time.  After our long day yesterday, we took full advantage of not having a schedule by sleeping late.  VERY LATE!!!  Actually, we were awake and talking at 8:00, but fell back asleep and didn't really get going until afternoon.  At home, I love to sleep late and after our marathon of sleep, I admit that I felt rested and was excited for that.  But the anal retentive side of me decided that we had wasted half a day, so we must put it in high gear!!!

We grabbed the car and headed to lunch at Four Kegs.  This is a Triple D spot - and the only one in Vegas that I really wanted to try.  It's in a strip center and I'm not even sure it's in a decent part of town, but we tried the Stromboli and the Philly Cheesesteak and liked them both very much.  We also liked the fact that the dining room was walled off with glass from the bar/slot machine section.  This meant that the smokers could smoke away and not bother us (although one man did walk from the bar to the bathroom with his cigarette in hand.  Really?  You can't pee without your cigarette?).

From breakfast (I mean, lunch), we headed downtown to the Mob Museum.  We LOVED this museum.  You start out on the top floor (3rd) and work your way down.  The top floor is all about mob activity and how they gained such prominence during prohibition.  But when prohibition was repealed, they still managed to find other illegal activities to participate in.  The 2nd floor is about law enforcement and the mob.  The museum is in an old courthouse building and they show a movie in the actual courtroom where the "Kefauver" trials took place in Vegas.  There's also a lot of history about the city of Las Vegas and how it became "Sin City" and the mecca of drinking, gambling, and in the day, mob activity.  The bottom floor recaps a list of mobsters - some famous, some not as famous.  It also talks about the mob in movies and how Hollywood has glamorized the mob.  There are a few artifacts sprinkled throughout the museum - most notably, a section of the wall from the Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, some guns and other weapons used by mob members, and one of John Gotti's suits.  There were also a couple of outfits that James Gandolfini wore as Tony Soprano.

We didn't get to do the bottom floor justice at the Mob Museum because we had reservations at Olives at our hotel.  A friend of mine had recommended this restaurant years ago, but we had never eaten there.  Part of the draw is that there is a patio that overlooks the fountains, but it was too cold to sit out there, so we decided to just enjoy a nice meal.  There is, of course, an olive theme.  The bread is olive bread (and it is DELICIOUS!) served with a couple of types of olive spread and whole olives.  I had a bellini and it was very good.  We both had salad appetizers - Joe, a Greek salad and I a Caesar.  Then Joe had salmon, which looked wonderful and I had chicken and gnocchi, which was also wonderful.  Overall, it was a fun experience to have a nice (although expensive) meal at the Bellagio.

From dinner, we high-tailed it down the street to the MGM Grand with the intention of going to Brad Garrett's Comedy Club.  We only had about 20 minutes so we tried to hustle (it's about .9 miles to the MGM from the Bellagio).  The club is, of course, at the far end of the hotel in the "Underground" and by the time we made our way through the casino to the club, bought tickets, and got to our seats, we were about 10 minutes late.  But, they said the show had started a few minutes late, so apparently we didn't miss much.  I forget the name of the host, but he did a little routine before the two main comics of the night came out.  The first one was Michael Somerville and I thought he was really, really funny.  The headliner was a guy named Larry Reeb and, believe it or not, he's from Dwight, IL, just a few miles down the road from Campus.  We actually talked to him a bit after the show and he mentioned a couple of people from Campus that Joe knows.  Too funny!!!  The show overall was hysterical.  Much, much funnier than the night we spent at the Cobb Comedy Club in San Francisco.  Both of the main comedians were really funny and the show was pretty clean, too.  They did say a few cuss words (probably fewer than Joe and I say) and some sexual innuendo, but overall, a great, GREAT, night.

One thing I figured out is that Vegas gives me sensory overload.  While Joe would be happy just watching the fountains every 15 minutes from our room, I feel like there is so much to see and do and I just don't know where to start.  Should I see a show?  Should I try this restaurant?  Should I go shopping?  Should I walk around the latest and greatest hotel?  Should I go back to a place I've seen before and finish up my visit so I can cross it off my "to-do" list?  Should I buy a hooker?  WHAT SHOULD I DO????  It's crippling, really.  Joe says to focus on 3 things.  Okay...  But what 3 things???

2/11/2013 - "Seeing some more of Sin City and saying goodbye to the fam...for now"

This morning we got up and headed to breakfast at Cafe Bellagio.   It was good and gave us a chance to walk around the hotel a bit and see the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.  The current show is the Chinese New Year and all the flowers are quite beautiful!  This hotel is really impressive.  Our room is comfortable, as I've mentioned we love the view of the fountains, and the whole hotel is just beautiful.  At this moment, it seems, quite easily, a favorite so far in our travels.  We also took a pass at the pools and courtyard outside.  It's too cold to swim, but the water looks very inviting!!!  One of the pools was heated, but there was no way I was getting in.  That being because after you get in - you have to get out.

 As many times as I've been to Las Vegas, I had never taken a picture of the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.  We decided to walk to it, instead of driving.  We got to walk through a few of the other casinos.  We walked to the sign on one side of the strip, then crossed the street and walked back on the other side.  We stopped for a snack at Pink's at Planet Hollywood.  Pink's has been on my LA to-do list for a while.  There wasn't really anything fabulous about their hot dogs, it didn't seem, but I decided  not to remove it from my LA to-do list anyway.  And, just for the record, we passed on the opportunity to buy Garrett's popcorn.  I saw a couple with bags and my antennae went up.  I even searched until I figured out where it was, but in the end, we just said no.  No.

From our snack at Pink's, we did a short tour of the Flamingo Habitat at the Flamingo Hotel.  I think they actually call it the Wildlife Habitat now, but of course, the draw is the Chilean Flamingos.  It was kind of fun - just something to do to kill time before meeting the Richard's for dinner.  This was our last night in Vegas, so we met them at a Mexican restaurant to say goodbye.  We even had a little Dairy Queen after dinner.

2/12/2013 - "Visiting some friends from Chicago and making our way to our next destination"

We tried to get up a little earlier today for our drive to Arizona.  We had breakfast at Cafe Bellagio again and then hit the road.  A friend that we worked with in Chicago has moved to Kingman, Arizona, so we wanted to stop and see them on the way.  Joe has known Eddie and Laura Pyrzynski since the early 90's when he first went to work at American Eagle.  In fact, Laura was his supervisor at one time.  And, I've known them since 2001 when I worked in Chicago.  Eddie and Laura even opened up their home to me when I was in between Chicago and DFW.  I stayed in their basement and it was so awesome of them.  They are both retired now, living in Kingman, so it was fun to stop and visit.  Eddie even made his famous tuna salad for lunch for us.

The drive to Kingman was only about 2 hours and we had no trouble finding Laura's and Eddie's place.  After lunch and all our catching up, we drove the rest of the way to our final destination - Grand Canyon Village - another 3 hours.  So, yes, hiking the Grand Canyon is the real reason for the trip.  I should take this opportunity to admit that this was my idea.  A friend of mine that I worked with a few years ago, Carole Quarles, had hiked the canyon twice.  She has long been my travel inspiration and from the day she told me about this adventure, I have wanted to do it.  Convincing Joe was about as easy as talking him into eating ice cream.  The problem is, of course, that I'm not quite in the shape I was 20 years ago when Carole first told me about this.  I'm also a lot older and a lot fatter (hey - just calling a spade, a spade).  We had scheduled to do this last year, but didn't do what we thought needed to be done to accomplish the hike, so we postponed it a year (that's why we were in Vegas last year, too).  This time, I still am not 100% confident that we have worked out enough, but we naively decided to do it anyway.  We actually got the perfect itinerary this year, so we decided that maybe it was fate that we go ahead and do the hike.

We arrived at the canyon just before sunset and decided to get the lay of the land, so to speak.  Our first stop was the visitor center (which was closed by the time we arrived), but we checked out Mather Point, which is typically everyone's first view of the canyon.  They have had some snow here, which is typical in February.  We walked - carefully - around the scenic vista.  Some of the snow had turned to ice, but we got our first look at the massive canyon that we would be hiking.  And, it was just as daunting as I expected it to be!!!  From here, we went to Bright Angel Lodge to check in for the night.  Seeing the snow, we decided that we should go ahead and invest in crampons, so we went to the gift store and loaded up on all of our souvenirs AND the crampons.  That would turn out to be money well spent.  We had dinner at the Bright Angel Dining Room and then got ourselves organized for the hike.  I hope I can sleep tonight...

2/13/2013 - "Are we really going to do this???"

We had a beautiful view of the canyon from our room.  Kind of a waste since we arrived after dark and have to head out so early, but we did appreciate it nonetheless.  We headed back to the Bright Angel Dining Room for breakfast and tried to load up on carbs and protein so we would have lots of energy.  Before heading to the South Kaibab Trail, the trail we had decided to descend, we went back to the visitor center for our stamp.  God knows, we wanted to make sure we got our stamp!!!

The Bright Angel Trail parking lot is under construction, so when we got back to check out of Bright Angel Lodge, we moved our car to the street.  We wanted to be parked there because our plan was to come back up Bright Angel.  We had a bit of trouble getting to our shuttle stop (for once, I was right and Joe was wrong, but I didn't say "I told you so" - well, until now), but once on the shuttle, our next stop was the South Kaibab Trailhead.

I wasn't so nervous about the hike down, but I was super, SUPER grateful for the crampons when I saw the trail.  The first mile was very snow packed and the crampons helped tremendously!  When I saw them, I was skeptical.  They look pretty simple, but they definitely helped.

The hike down was just beautiful.  Despite the snow - or maybe even because of it - it was awe inspiring.  I did tweak my knee a bit, but just tried not to put too much pressure on that side.  It wasn't horrible, just a little annoying when I put weight on that leg.  There were parts of the trail that were tremendously muddy and that ended up slowing us down quite a bit.  We thought it would take us about 5 or 6 hours, but it ended up taking closer to 7.  At one point, we were worried that we were going to miss dinner!  The first half of the trail is mostly just a steady decline into the canyon, but the last half ended up being more like a staircase to the river.  We kept going down and down and down, but it still seemed like it was a long way to the river!  We would round a corner and think we were almost there, but then realize we still had a long way to go.  Finally, we rounded a corner and saw the black bridge across the Colorado River.  Once you cross the bridge, Phantom Ranch is a half-mile away.

We ended up getting to the ranch in plenty of time to check in to our cabin and unload for dinner.  Our dinner on the first night was Hiker's Stew.  I'm not a huge fan of stew, but wanted to try it and it wasn't bad.  Meals at Phantom Ranch are at the Canteen and are served family style.  We sat with 4 older ladies, but they were quite nice.

One thing I failed to mention was that when we checked in at the Bright Angel Lodge for our hike (you have to check in the day before you hike down), we were informed that Phantom Ranch had a pipe break.  This meant that the toilets would have to be bucket flushed and there were no showers.  I guess it didn't matter, I wasn't exactly going to a beauty contest or out to a nice restaurant, but I don't know how long it's been since I went 3 days without a shower.  This would be interesting!!!

2/14/2013 - "Happy Valentine's Day from the bottom of the Grand Canyon!"

I wasn't really sure what "bucket flush" meant, but as it turns out, you get a bucket of water and you pour it into the toilet and it flushes.  So, that part of the pipe break wasn't that inconvenient, other than having to then go fill up your bucket for the next time you need to use the bathroom.

Our breakfast this morning was at 7:00AM.  We had eggs, bacon, and pancakes and it was all good.  On the way out, we picked up our sack lunch, which wasn't exactly what I expected, but was sustenance nonetheless.

We decided to do a little hiking on our day at the bottom so that we wouldn't get too stiff.  Our first venture was the River Trail.  It took us back up from where we had come down South Kaibab, but then veers off along the river on the other side.  The River Trail actually goes all the way down to Bright Angel, but we knew we would be doing that tomorrow, so when we got to the silver bridge, we headed back to the ranch.

We hung out around the ranch and took pictures.  We ate some of our sack lunch and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful weather at the bottom of the canyon.  After a bit, we decided to head up the North Kaibab Trail.  It was quite beautiful, too, and we walked as far as we could - that is, until we hit the pipe break.  At that point, they had the trail blocked off as the workers were digging up the pipe to repair it.

Dinner tonight was a bit later and it was steak.  I was surprised at how good it was.  And, it came with a baked potato.  At dinner, we did get a "pep talk" from one of the guys that works at the ranch.  He was so encouraging that I actually felt better about being able to make it up and out of the canyon.  He didn't deny that it was tough, but he said that if we made it down, we could make it back up and I was actually grateful for his talk.  After dinner, we retired back to our cabin to get ready for our hike back up.

2/15/2013 - "And now the part I have feared..."

We woke up this morning and approximately 3 seconds after I had all my clothes on, I realized that we had a little visitor in our sink.  It was a scorpion.  Picture me jumping around like a mad woman trying to make sure I didn't have any scorpions in my clothes.  Sigh...  For some reason, it never occurred to me that they would come out in winter.  Don't they hibernate or something?  At any rate, if I did have a scorpion in my clothes, he never bothered me.  For the record, we did unpack our suitcases in the garage when we got home.  Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

Breakfast this morning was at 5:30 AM.  We had to get an early start to make sure we had enough time to get out of the canyon before the sun went down.  We were packed and ready to go, and we hit the trail at 6:21 (to be exact).  Our goal was to be at Indian Garden (halfway) by noon.  We actually made it by 10:10, but took a long break there.  The hike to Indian Garden wasn't bad at all.  The only switchback was Devil's Corkscrew, but mostly the trail was a slight upward slope.  In fact, the elevation gain between Phantom Ranch and Indian Garden is only 1,214 feet.  We had to cross a couple of creeks and I almost slipped once, but I made it through without getting wet.

From Indian Garden to the top is much more steep and full of switchbacks.  To put that in perspective, the elevation gain on the last half of the trail is 3,100 feet.  It took us 6 hours to do the second half, but of course we made stops along the way.  It was definitely a challenge.  At first, I was trying to walk the length of each switchback without stopping, but by the end, I was stopping to catch my breath quite a bit.  Poor Joe was better off when he kept moving, but I had to stop along the way and he wouldn't leave me behind, even though I told him he could.  It seemed like we walked and walked and walked and yet when I would look up, it still seemed like miles to the top.  A couple of observations...  I had a really, really hard time eating throughout the day.  I would try to eat a Cliff Bar, but it just turned to hay in my mouth.  We drank a lot of water, including Gatorade, but I'm pretty sure I was still a bit dehydrated by the time I got to the top.  At some pointed, I stopped and had my bagel from my sack lunch because Joe was worried about my lack of nutrition.  He also made me put on my hat since it got colder and colder as we got to the top.  We didn't have as much problem with mud on this trail, but there was quite a bit of snow towards the top of the trail.

Remember the four "older" ladies we had dinner with?   We passed them on the River Trail, but at the junction of Bright Angel, we stopped to use the restroom.  They passed us and we never saw them again.  God Bless 'em!  Between them, they probably had an average age of 60, but they totally kicked our asses!

We made it to the car in the nick of time - that being that I had a problem with my boot rubbing my ankle, even though I tried several times to adjust it.  About the time we reached the car, my feet and ankle hurt so bad I could barely stand it.  We had several people stop and ask if we had hiked from the bottom and how long it had taken.  It was kind of funny.  We did make it before the sun set.  Fortunately, it wasn't far to retrieve our car from where we had left it near the trailhead.

Our last night was spent at the historic El Tovar Hotel.  I have never in my life been so happy to see a shower!!  I tried to joke around with the front desk, but they didn't find me amusing.  Our room was absolutely teeny, tiny, but it was fine.  My clothes were absolutely soaking wet from sweat.  It felt fabulous to get out of the wet clothes and take a hot shower.  But, it also felt fabulous to know that I successfully accomplished something I had wanted to do for a really long time.

We had a fabulous dinner at the El Tovar Dining Room later that evening.  Of course, we were so exhausted, that we were in bed with the lights out by 9:00 PM.  It was an exhausting day, but full of adventure and I know that we will look back at this fondly for years and years to come.

2/16/2013 - "Making our way home..."

We were catching a flight home on Saturday, so we were up and packing before we really wanted to be.  Before we left the El Tovar, we took one last look at the beautiful canyon.

Our flight home was uneventful, as all good flights are (and also half full!!!).  As I mentioned before, we left our luggage in the garage for unpacking, but just for the record, we didn't find any critters (thank goodness!).