Saturday, October 3, 2009

Yosemite and Las Vegas







Sorry for the long time between updates, but we've been busy and the hotel in Vegas wanted $11.25 per hour for Wi-Fi. A lot has happened so I'll try to catch you up while being as brief as I can (hard for me to do!).




On Wednesday, we made it to Yosemite NP, my favorite place on earth! I've been there 4 or 5 times, but Mike and Sheryl had never been there, so I was excited for them to see it. Unfortunately, this has been a very dry summer in CA and the numerous waterfalls were almost none existent. Yosemite Falls was completely dry. Bummer! It was still a beautiful sunny day and the valley was awesome, but I so wanted them to see the full wonder of Yosemite. While looking at El Capitan, a 3500 ft verticle monolith, we noticed small dots about a third of the way up. Looking thru our binoculars, we discovered about a half dozen rock climbers making their way back down the face. Unbelievable! We did make it to the top of Glacier Point, which is about 3200 feet above the valley floor, and enjoyed a magnificent view of the whole valley and Half Dome!




The next day, Connie and I got to enjoy a short time with her cousin Nancy and her husband Gary in a Fresno restaurant. They looked great and we so enjoyed laughing and chatting with them. Would have been nice to have more time to spend together, but the rest of the USA was waiting!




Next stop Las Vegas! It did not start well. Mike and I waited over an hour trying to check into our crowded, smokey hotel. When we finally got to our rooms, we were extremely disappointed. The next day, we were moved to new rooms, but even these were nothing great. But, we were right in the middle of the strip and we began exploring it ASAP. We went to the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Ballys Paris, Monte Carlo, The Wynn, Luxor, Flamingo, Venetian, New York New York, and others. Each one was more impressive than the last. That evening, we all went to a show called "Menopause, The Musical". It was absolutely hilarious! We all laughed so hard, we were actually crying. We had a great time! Gambled a small bit, won nothing.




Today, Saturday, we drove to Hoover Dam and took the tour of the visitors center and then went down into the dam itself. This was very impressive and truely a miraculous achievement. It's amazing what man can do when he puts his mind to it!




Tomorrow, we head for the Grand Canyon. Watch for us!

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