Fall Follies

These last few weeks have flown by. I can't believe it's already been a month since we got back from Vegas. Here are some things that's been going on since then.

 

At the end of September, Angela and her friends got all decked out for the Homecoming dance at their school (and my alma mater), Mechanicsburg H.S. It's been fifteen years since I graduated from there. Unbelievable.

 

A very patriotic color palette - this wasn't planned, I'm sure!

Liz (far right) came into town from San Fran for a baby shower earlier this month.  I can't believe it's been almost two years since I saw her last. The usual suspects all met up in Rockville, MD for a night of good food, drinks, and of course...
 

...singing our hearts out!

 

Me singing Roy a lullaby, apparently.

Dunzo! Roy and I have been a part of a Monday night pool league called PA Cue Sports and we just called it quits.  He's been on a pool team for years and years and I joined a few years ago after I met Roy. We decided to retire from the league and our last match was last week. We love the team but the nights were getting looong. We are old.

Here are some other updates:

WEDDING: We have decided what city, state and the month and year. More planning will be done after the New Year. Yay!!! Let's just say, it's going to be SUITE!

SKATING: Synchro practice is in full swing. The music is from The Great Gatsby soundtrack (see sample below).  New dresses are being made this year and I'm liking the routine so far. It's got rockers, weaves, and whips! First exhibition will be Jan. 4th and the first competition (sectionals) is at the end of January.

Individually, I'm working on landing my Lutz and perfecting the scratch, sit and camel spins. STILL. My goal is to get all these consistent by the end of the year. Flip and loop are slowly getting more and more consistent. Hopefully I can start working on an axel next year. Right before we left for Vegas, I hit my head on the ice for the first time which was kind of scary. Luckily I didn't get a concussion but I did get major whiplash. I was really wishing I had one of those foam neck braces. Note to self: Do not drink the night before early morning skating practice. Not good!

Here's music from part of our synchro routine:

   

Vegas Trip Part III: Luxor

 

We left the Grand Canyon Sunday evening and arrived back in Sin City before midnight. Luxor would be our home until Tuesday morning. Luxor is the black pyramid you see on the strip with the beam of light coming out the top. It's pretty cool inside - the pyramid is hollow and the rooms line the walls. You can see people walking along the sides all the way up.

Excalibur is right next door. You definitely smell the difference between Aria and Excalibur. A lot more smoky and musty up in here.

New York New York is also nearby. Wasn't very lucky in there.

On Monday morning we checked out the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor. It was pretty interesting. They had a huge chunk of the Titanic on display (it took them four years to pull it out of the ocean) as well as many personal belongings found from the wreckage. At the beginning of the exhibit you get a passenger bio card and at the end you can see if your passenger survived or not. Unfortunately my passenger did not survive.

After the exhibit, George, Dave, and Roy entered a poker tournament in the Luxor Poker Room. Dave ended up in the top two and split the first and second prizes. It was a nice bonus for his retirement trip.

That night we met up with George's friend again and went over to the Las Vegas Hotel to see Raiding the Rock Vault. He got the tickets for free so we happily obliged. It turned out to be a pretty awesome show.

I don't really recognize these names other than Tracii Guns from GNR but the band names were definitely familiar, like Badfinger, Heart, and Bad Company.

We had seats on the far right, 3 rows back from the stage.

In between songs and sets they'd have a little skit about the life and times during the 60's, 70's, and 80's that inspired the music. There'd also be factoids displayed on the large screens behind the musicians about the song or artist that was being featured. So it was an educational rock show to boot.

Tracii Guns

The groupies were out in full force.

 

Jason Boyleston was filling in that night on the guitar. Jon Anderson from YES was the guest performer. He sang "Owner of a Lonely Heart" among other songs. They played a lot of classics and they sounded Uh-mazing. This show was fun and people love it.

Roy and I after the show. The guy in the shades behind us is David Kershenbaum. He's a big time record producer. Who knew? His OOTD was definitely unique so I guess it makes sense plus he was seated front and center.

After the show we headed down to Fremont Street to see the light show. That night they played a Beatles' song. It was groovy.

Roy stopped in at the Golden Nugget to buy gold. He saw this on TV and it actually vends gold at the current market price.

Here is us being silly. This was just a practice run ^_~



Vegas was such a fun trip and I can't wait to go back! There's so much more to see and do (and eat).

Hold the iPhones

I just wanted to take a moment and express that I LOVE this dress from Monique Lhullier's Fall 2014 Bridal Collection:

via



via



I love the light gray/silver color and the halter style straps. I think strapless dresses are pretty but I don't like wearing them because I have nothing to hold them up if you know what I mean. I'm hoping there will be some good knock-offs available in this style. It's so gorge. Okay, snapping back to reality now...

Vegas Trip Part II

The Grand Canyon may be temporarily closed, but I'll take you there right now! Here's part two of our Vegas Trip from last month. On a late Saturday morning, we checked out of the fabulous ARIA hotel and headed to Arizona to see the magnificent Grand Canyon (South Rim). It would be my second time there, first for Roy and his dad.


We got there around 4pm and followed the paper guide to find the best place to view the canyon at sunset, which was Hopi Point.

The Colorado River

Photos from Sunday start here.



A very friendly squirrel we met at Yaki Point

This little plump one was obviously used to humans. There are signs advising not to feed the animals because they can turn into aggressive, unafraid little beasts. But they are so cute! We also spotted elk and a coyote the night before but they looked like deer and a fox to us.



Roy getting as close to the edge as he can causing me great anxiety.



Brother-in-law George, looking off into the distance (you can see 40+ miles away). Later that day, we ended up traveling about 25 miles east to the point located in this pic at the left of the top of George's head, called Desert View.

 

Here's Roy's dad, Dave. The trip was a gift from his kids for his retirement. Visiting the Grand Canyon was his request. When I asked him where else he'd like to travel to, he said Macau. Hope we can get him there one day but it's so faaaar.

George, Christina, and Roy. Chris is 7 months preggo as you can tell. You'd think hiking might be strenuous for her but she's an Ironman Finisher.  This is a cake walk. There's Roy being a jerkhead and going as far out as he possibly can. He wanted to go way out onto the cliff but his sister talked him out of it.

There was not a cloud in the sky - okay, there was a cloud. Just one.



This is at Desert View (mentioned earlier) and this is the area where two commercial planes collided back in 1956. Read more about that here.

The Desert View Watchtower - built in 1904.

Inside the watchtower.

The steps were grueling. The GC is about a mile high in elevation so the air is thin and makes physical activities more strenuous.

Looking out from the watchtower

At the top

Roy looking down. If you look in the window of the box he's standing in front of, you see an upside down reflection of the Grand Canyon. It's pretty neato.

And this would be, ah yes, the desert view.



This is us! Another one for the memory books. (Side note: it was really, really windy at some areas we went to, hence the flyaway hair. I was concerned someone might blow away but thankfully nobody did.)

We stayed until nightfall on Saturday and went to stargaze at Mather Point. It was really dark to walk around which is scary because what if you walk right off the cliff?! So we didn't leave the parking lot. The sky was littered with stars and we might have stayed longer if we could see where we were going.

 

The first time I went to the Grand Canyon was in 2007. This time around there was a little village set up just outside the entrance with hotels and restaurants. When planning this trip, Chris found they were pretty pricy and all booked up so we stayed about 40 minutes away in Williams, AZ.  On my last visit we stayed in Flagstaff, which is also about 40 minutes out. Williams is a small little town on historic Route 66. Chris found the hotel and it was surprisingly really nice! I guess many GC visitors come to Williams. We went to a local dive bar that night too which was... interesting I guess you could say. They served old beer that was expired. When Roy took it up to the bartender and told her that they didn't taste right, she grabbed one and took a swig. She agreed it was skunked and got him some new ones. LOL.

 

The following morning after breakfast we piled into the Honda Pilot and headed back up to the Canyon.  One of the things I love is the drive to the park. From the main highway (I-40), you take a two lane road (Rt. 64) and it's as straight as can be but during that 30 minute or so trip, the landscape and foliage change so drastically. From desert, flat barren land to wooded conifers. It's one of the reasons why I am in love with Arizona. It's wild, adventure land.

 

The weather was cool and dry - not as hot as Vegas. We grabbed some sandwiches at a sub shop outside the park entrance to eat for lunch later. This time we worked our way eastward from the visitor's center walking from point to point in some areas and taking the bus to and from others. The park has free shuttle buses that take you from point to point so if you can't walk long and far it's very convenient.

 

It was a good time and I'm glad we went when we did because if we would have waited until now, we wouldn't be able to get in at all. I'm sad for those who don't have access to the park because of the government shutdown. One thing you always notice also at the GC are the numerous accents and foreign languages you hear as you pass others by. People from all over the country and world come to the GC and for them to travel that far and be denied access, well, that sucks a big time. 

 

If you haven't been the GC, it is truly something magnificent and no photo really does it justice. I always say it's the closest I've been to heaven and quite possibly ever will be. You have to see it for yourself. I want to take my cousins there so they can experience it, too.

 

And so... it's back to Vegas! Part III coming soon...