Back from a short Vegas Vacation

Back from a fun vacation to Vegas. The weather was Hot and Windy and it seemed at times that we were in a desert. The room at the Rio was great and the vacation package was awesome. We rented a Jeep Compass, a small SUV that was perfect for our use. I like how all of the car companies let you choose your vehicle now.."anything in the Intermediate aisle". We had set up for a four door Hyundai Sonata of which there were none available. We had our choice of a Chevy HHR, a Chrysler 200 or the Jeep Compass.

We flew in Tuesday night and met Jennifer and Samantha at the hotel. We drove over to the Chinatown Mall and met Michael there and had dinner at the Emperor's Garden, a very good Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas specializing in Szechwan dishes. The food was delicious and the prices very fair. I had an excellent egg flower and corn soup. Sam loved the rice as always.

Samantha stayed with us on Tuesday night and we had the best time with her. It was a little windy on Wednesday, so the pool experience was muted by the blowing wind. Sam took her shoes off and they literally blew away, we had to chase them. I woke up to Samantha standing by my bed, pulling on my arm and letting me know she had to go to the bathroom. We made our regular trip to the Black Bear Diner and the last picture is of Samantha on one of the bear statues at the front of the restaurant. Darla and I actually went back to the Black Bear on Thursday for breakfast as well.

We went to Jennifer and Michael's on Wednesday night and Michael fixed an awesome barbecued chicken with squash and potatoes. The man can flat out cook. We had a nice visit and I was able to meet Jennifer's friend, Amanda. Amanda has been a great friend to Jen and a good buffer with John. Michael gets a little worn out with all of the drama with John and Amanda gives Jennifer an ear and a shoulder.

Thursday was Jennifer's day off and although she had suggested that we take Sam to the Adventuredome on Wednesday, we waited for Jennifer to enjoy it with us and experience Samantha's joy at the 5 acre indoor amusement park located behind Circus Circus on the strip. Samantha could only go on about 1/2 of the rides because she is so tiny, so we got her in for $11.95 and it was $22 for Jennifer. Darla and i were able to get in and walk around, but not ride any rides (fine by me). Samantha had an absolute ball riding all of the rides and her favorite was the frogger, the ride with all of the frogs on the background. She rode it with her Mom the first time and then by herself and six other kids after that. They would finished the ride and then run back to get online and ride it again. We had to finally grab her and move to the next ride. You can see the pure joy on her face in many of the pictures. It was a great afternoon, but tiring and we went back to the room with Jennifer and Samantha and Darla and I fell fast asleep.

Thursday night we went to Maggianos on the strip with Jennifer, Samantha and Michael. It is a great Italian restaurant and a must do for anyone visiting Vegas. Samantha loved the pasta and especially the ground Parmesan which she ate by the handful. Darla and I went out to the Gold Coast afterward to gamble, won early and lost late and left down about $200.

Friday we had to check out of the hotel and went over to Jennifer and Michael's about noon. Darla wanted to go to the Black Bear again for breakfast, but I wanted something different. We were lamenting my choice when we drove all over looking for a decent breakfast place, only to stumble upon Shari's Diner, a fifties style diner off Lake Mead Boulevard in Summerlin, about five minutes from Jennifer's apartment. The diner has been there about four years and is run by a mom and daughter from California. They are both Christians and host a bible study one Sunday night a month at the diner. We were going to have breakfast, but the daughter talked us into their 1/2 pound burger cooked to our order (medium rare) and they were to die for. So good. We spent Friday afternoon at the pool at Jennifer's complex with Sam and Michal and it was a nice relaxing end to our trip. We were supposed to have leftovers from Maggiano's for dinner, but Michael went out and picked up a salmon steak and grilled it on the barbecue with asparagus and white rice. He paired that with a thin loaf of Italian bread and it was delicious. Did I mention that man can cook? Darla swears that his culinary expertise is the reason they are still together. Jennifer has wanderlust, but loves Michael's gourmet meals.
Sam was rather unhappy that we had to leave and got real pouty when we tried to say goodbye. Jennifer felt bad, but told us later that Samantha told her she was mad that we were leaving and wanted us to stay.
We had a lot of fun. I was tickling Samantha when she was trying to show Darla something on the night that she stayed over with us and she turned to me with her hands on her hips and said, "That's enough, Papa!" I just about died laughing. She is a riot.
It was nice to get home Friday night and still have the long weekend to relax. I played golf in our labor day tournament Saturday and it was so HOT. We teed off at 11:00 AM in the teeth of the heat and I just about passed out on the back side. I got light headed and had to sit for a minute to clear my head. I shot a 40+44=84, but totally ran out of gas at the end finishing double bogey-double bogey. It was a rough day for the field and my net 71 was good enough to tie for second place in my flight.

We went to Folsom Lake with Alicia and Don yesterday with the boys and relaxed on the beach. The boys took one run on the wake board and Darla took a nasty flip on the tube and got a nose full of water for her troubles. I relaxed at the beach and even got in a good nap. It was a veg day for me.

Well, that is it for this week. I will add some more pictures next week and also try to upload a video of Samantha on the little roller coaster train (she called it a "croller roaster"). I hope you are all well, enjoyed our day off from labor and are walking in the footsteps of our Lord. Ciao.