Las Vegas/Disneyland Trip - Day 2: Crossing the Mojave

Woke up at 5am and watched the sun rise, then dozed again until 7-ish.  Finally got up at 10am and got ready to check out by 11.  After checkout and stowing our bags in the trunk of the car, we walked across the street to Planet Hollywood and ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich - chipotle chicken avocado with bacon on wheat (yum!) - then stopped in the mall to pick up a bag of Garrett Popcorn's Chicago Mix popcorn (double-yum!!).  After that it was noon and we hit the road.

Good morning Las Vegas

Las Vegas/Disneyland Trip - Day 1: Las Vegas

After hiking halfway across the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge to take pictures of Hoover Dam, we walked back down to the car and drove back to Las Vegas (which is only about 40-45 minutes away by the way).  As we got into town we stopped at Walmart and picked up a pack of 32 bottled waters and some snacks.  Now fully supplied, we drove to the Bellagio for our overnight stay.

Dale Chihuly's piece "Fiori di Como" adorns the ceiling in the Bellagio lobby

Las Vegas/Disneyland Trip - Day 1: Hoover Dam, Part 2

After walking over and around the top of the dam, we headed over to the cafe by the parking garage for lunch.  It was good to get out of the hot, bright sun.  I had a ham and swiss on rye with fries.  It was 11:30am and we were supposed to be in the waiting area for the noon tour 15 minutes beforehand, so we scarfed down our food, made a dash to the car for water and sunscreen, then booked it over to the visitor center and back through security.  We made it at exactly 11:45am, and most of the other tour members were there as well.

This pipe carries 96,000 gallons of water per second - enough to fill an olympic-sized swimming pool in 7 seconds.

Las Vegas/Disneyland Trip - Day 1: Hoover Dam, Part 1

Just returned from a trip to Las Vegas and Disneyland.  This was a great getaway as we wanted to combine the familiar with something new, and we also wanted a road trip element.

The plan was to fly Southwest Airlines to Las Vegas and spend the day touring Hoover Dam, which neither of us had been to before.  Then the next day we would drive across the Mojave desert to Anaheim and spend the following 3 days at Disneyland, which we had been to in August for the first time and found to be super-relaxing and stress free.

Conveyors at Love Field

CoCO And NiCO - Princess Cat Popstars

I really like watching NHK World tv - it's an informative and educational look into another peoples' culture.  Plus from time to time you see stuff like this:

Sunlight And Trees

Look Out Pixar...

lol

2016 Main Street Arts Festival

Last week I took the TRE train and met Mom in downtown Fort Worth for the annual Main Street Arts Festival, which is always a lot of fun.  As usual, there was a lot to offer, but I couldn't afford to offer a lot for what there was.  :)

You can check out all the artists and examples of their works on the Main Street Arts Festival home page (linked above).

2016 Festival poster by Benjamin Frey (who has some amazing works on his website)
Photo from http://www.mainstreetartsfest.org

Miscellaneous

Have a few things to post to get up to to date, so without further ado:

I turned this blurry shot into my current desktop wallpaper

Night Lightning

Here's the follow-up to Friday's "A Taste Of Things To Come" post:  I've posted the two videos below on my YouTube channel; the second one's a little more fun:

A Taste Of Things To Come

Stills from video I shot of the March 23rd storm.  I'll post more later.

I Don't Want To Alarm Anyone...

...but I think I may need to get a priest for my dish scrubber.

Chicken?

Not anymore.

Ugh, shredding a whole rotisserie chicken with your hands is just a horror show of carnage.  Sure, when you're done you've got a bowl of yummy, recognizable meat ready to make into enchiladas,

Eat me

but you're also left with a pile of skin, bones, rubbery stringy slimy bits, and goo:

Blech

Oh well, I guess you've got to break a few eggs if you want to make an omelet...

Man, chicken just can't catch a break.

Funny What You See On TV

I left the tv on the other day while I was working around the house.  At one point I walked into the room and saw this, so I had to back it up and make a short video of it.  :)

More Photos From This Morning

In addition to the video this morning, I also took quite a few photos.  Here are a few:

Sunrise over the marsh

Time-Lapse Walk

From this morning's walk:

It's The Space Rockers!

We went to a friend's birthday party a couple of weeks ago (Happy Birthday Sandi!) at the Glass Cactus club at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine.  Performing that night was a fun cover band called The Space Rockers:  "Your friendly, neighborhood super-hero party band from outer-space!"

They really had their shtick down

Bluebonnet Season Is In Full Swing

It's bluebonnet time in Texas again; they're carpeting the fields and roadways, but I found this little guy all by himself.

The 2016 DFW Auto Show

Photos from the March 17th auto show at the Dallas Convention Center.

That's me: good ol' 003888

Catching Up

Just catching up on some March items I've been meaning to post.

First there was the storm earlier this month.  Luckily we avoided the hail, but it was still pretty bad - one of those where the sky turns a dark, sickening green color.

(For some reason I can't post the video; here's the link until I can figure out why):  https://youtu.be/TjmLIO7aVHQ
(Update:  got it to work below)


But as a trade-off, the trees are blooming:

These trees are green with leaves now

Get Ready For A Bunch Of Cat Photos, II

We had our cat KT put to sleep this week after a fairly rapid decline due to kitty cancer - she had an inoperable tumor that was putting pressure on her pancreas and slowly squeezing her intestine closed, causing her to vomit, lose weight, and not want to eat or drink.  She was a good cat and we miss her already.

First day home from the animal shelter; getting over an infection on the nose.

Adventures in Bread Making/Baking

So, there's this thing called bread that you can make at home a lot cheaper and healthier and better-tasting than you can buy in the store.  Have you heard about this?  ;)

Seriously though, I made bread today by hand for the first time ever and it came out great.  It just takes a little time (mostly waiting while it rises), but it was super easy and the results are worth it!

One for the freezer and one for my belly

Now that's a sandwich!

Went For A Walk

But the trail is still closed due to flooding.  Some early spring rain has kept the water level up.

It's hard to see here, but there's another barricade a little further down the path; they really don't want you going through there.

Water levels are still high, and the water has a fast current.

Happy Valentine's Day

To commemorate, I've searched through my photos for something appropriate:

Driving through Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska, on our 2013 South Dakota road trip

Monday

Finishing this up today since I fell asleep yesterday while writing it. 

Woke up at 5am after a frustrating dream about moving into an (already run down) apartment and discovering the previous tenants had left all of their stuff behind. Not just furniture, but the closets were full of clothes and the kitchen cabinets packed solid with all sorts of Tupperware and storage containers. I was furious with the dream apartment manager who was trying to brush me off so he could go to dinner. I gave him a severe dressing-down as I pounded my fist on the table for emphasis.

After waking up and cooling down a little, I lay in bed watching This Must Be The Place on the iPad.  What a great movie with Sean Penn and Frances McDormand.

Had an exhausting day at work, then stopped by the store on the way home for dinner fixins'.  Turned this:

Into a yummy fried rice:

Got to try out the new knife and sauté pan I got for Christmas, as well as a bottle of Pinot Grigio I received - loved all three.