The vacation and Lyon Family Reunion are history and it was everything that we all hoped it would be. Family, fun and just being together was on the agenda and we succeeded on every level. The boys enjoyed hanging with Chris and Jennifer and John. Darla and I had a great time with Dad and Shirley and definitely hanging with my brothers was a great time. Eric Clapton was as good as advertised, the golf and weather were ideal and I even managed to hit a Royal Flush on a nickle progressive machine for a $416.95 payout on a 50 cent bet. Not too shabby. The last time I hit a Royal on a nickle machine in Vegas was last Summer and it only paid me 4000 coins ($200), but the max bet was only 25 cents on that machine.
Not everything was perfect as the Jockey managed to mess up our reservations in every way imaginable, from initially checking us into a two bedroom suite and then calling up to the room to have me come down and fix their mistake. They then got on me for accepting a two bedroom when I knew it was only supposed to be a one bedroom. The problem with that logic is that I didn't know it was a two bedroom until I opened the door and walked through the room. They also called and harassed Darla when I was on my way down to the front desk wanting to know what was taking so long (the fact that you have to walk a half mile from the front desk to your room is the first of many problems). They also told me that our reservation was not until Thursday and we were a day early. Shirley had sat on the phone for an hour to get our reservation moved up only to find out when they came on the line, that the reservations staff had been in a meeting that whole time. Nice. They ALLOWED us to check in, but only after I let them know that I was already checked into a nice two bedroom suite and would stay put until tomorrow if there was a problem.
I was glad that Daniel is on Steve's insurance as he took over the driving from Bakersfield and when I awoke from a nap, he was doing 90 miles an hour outside of Mojave. It was nice to have some help with the driving and I think Daniel enjoyed it. It took us only 9 1/2 hours to drive from Roseville to Las Vegas and that included two stops, one for about 45 minutes for dinner.
Jennifer's boyfriend, John, was a big hit on the trip for many reasons, but one of the biggest was he allowed us to use his Vegas resident discount for golf which saved us about $30 a person off the tourist rates and he saved the boys money on their trip to the Stratosphere Tower where they rode the roller coasters and thrill rides. John and Jennifer are looking to move permanently to Vegas where they can both use their fibre optic skills to work at the big shows at the casinos.
We had a great time eating out as a family and PF Chang's was a huge hit with the group as we celebrated Dad's birthday on Friday. We went out for Prime Rib on Sunday night before Darryl and Cheryl had to fly back to Austin and when it came time to order, Cheryl who had been drinking vodka tonics in the sun all day, ordered the "Asshole" special from our Chinese waiter. It was so off the wail and we all stared at her, including the waiter who apparently had no sense of humor and perhaps thought she was ordering the Asso special off the Chinese menu. It was hilarious.
Jennifer particularly enjoyed her vacation as she missed the last family get together in Vegas and had looked forward to our return to the desert this year. She bought Dad a beautiful photo album with the inscription "Lyon Family Reunion" and "Happy 70th Birthday Gramp 3-09-2007". We all took lots of pictures to help him fill the album.
Darla and I took almost 11 1/2 hours to return on Monday and the traffic was at a dead stop several times as we headed back into California. It was NASCAR weekend in Vegas and every Bubba in the Southwestern United States seemed to be in attendance at the race. The strip was virtually dummed down in the evenings when these yahoos were out in force, decked out in their colors with the number 3 or 8 in abundance. The traffic was marred by pick-up trucks and fifth wheelers crawling along. The traffic was particularly bad at the Ag Inspection station and at the stoplight on Highway 58 before Mojave.
I was exhausted when we got home on Monday night and decided to take yesterday off and get caught up on the house and get another Bowen treatment in the afternoon. I arrived back in the office today to a huge mess in my office as the staff had covered all of my desk and chairs, conference table, pictures, bookcases and file cabinets in black crepe paper. There was a small coffin in the corner with Ken Lyon's Youth RIP written on it. The floor is covered in confetti and streamers and it was huge mess. It took four of us fifteen minutes to pull all of the crepe paper and pop all of the balloons and straighten this place up so I could work this morning.
Well, that's it for now as work awaits. I will add more pictures from Vegas in the coming days. We had an absolute ball and I had a great time with the family. Thank you everyone for a great 50th birthday.
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