Water Extraveganza

Las Vegas, NV (July 14, 2009) ..

Pictured above is the water show outside the Bellagio just across the street from our accomodations. They have a show every half hour and the water can spray as high as 200 feet. The fountain lies in an artificial 8 acre lake. The Bellagio was completed in 1998 at a cost of 1.6 billion dollars !!!

Pictured below is the half size replica of the Eiffel Tower standing in front of our hotel room at the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino.

Tao Birthday

Las Vegas, NV (July 13, 2009) ..

Today was Erin's 26th birthday. Nine of us limo'd to Tao (restaurant) located in the Venetian Hotel to celebrate the event. Ellen thought the birthday was marvelous and she thought Erin looked very cute. Erin is pictured above on the way to the restaurant.

Ellie's New Retirement Program

Las Vegas, NV (July 13, 2009) ..

Attention blogoshpere. Ellie won $1000 on her second spin !!! ... on no other than the Wheel of Fortune game. Now she has concocted a plan to visit Vegas every few weeks to earn $$$ to pump up her 401k plan. Congratulations and best of luck in your future gaming endeavors.

Vegas View

Las Vegas, NV (July 12, 2009) ..

We finally made it to Vegas after that big traffic jam in the desert. The above picture is a view from hotel room as we await the arrival of the birthday girl. The temperature is 107 at eight in the evening making the pool look very inviting. No diving from the room .. 18 floors is too high. We'll take the elevator.

Desert Jam

Hoover Dam, AZ (July 12, 2009) ..

On the way to Vegas in the motorcar we encountered a traffic jam in the desert 5 miles from the dam. It was bumper to bumper stop and go for 1 1/2 hours. As the temperature soared to 114 degrees the air conditioning shut down automatically several times to prevent an engine overheat. When its running the AC keeps the car very cool even at such high temperatures, when not the windows come down ... hey it's a dry heat !!!! Andrew and Lindsay are with us; we are headed to the gambling capital of the US to celebrate Erin's 26th birthday.

Impact Crater

Meteor Crater, AZ (July 10, 2009) ..

On our way to Williams, AZ we made a side trip to Meteor Crater since it was only a few miles from I-40. This impact crater owned by the Barringer family has been featured several times on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. It is the best preserved of all the impact craters on planet earth; the others have been hidden and eroded by wind and weather. Diameter is approximately 4000 feet and depth is about 570 feet. The iron meteorite that created the site is estimated to have been about 150 feet in diameter weighing 300,000 tons travelling at a speed of 25,000 to 40,000 miles per hour. It's interesting to note that this crater is very similar geologically to those created by underground nuclear testing in Nevada and New Mexico.

The above photo was made by Ed the lower one was retrieved from the web. For more information about the crater go to ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater

Home State

Lupton, AZ (July 9, 2009) ..

Today we crossed the border and left New Mexico behind in favor of our new home state, Arizona. We'll be camping here till the end of the month; begin looking at houses on the 18th. Bargains abound since the real estate bubble burst. Ellen has sent her top 10 MLS listings to the realtor. Closing date on the new home will determine the end of our trip. We're looking forward to living in the Grand Canyon State and hope to have lots of family and friends visit in the winter.