leavin' las vegas....

So we headed out on Sunday night for laughlin, NV. it is a little town about 2 hours from vegas that is a small casino town, and we decided it is where old people go to die...it was the saddest place on earth. probably the exact opposite of Dinsey world...there were all sorts of people over 75 gambling alone and eating alone...it broke our hearts, i almost asked this one lady to sit with us....who knows maybe there were all there together and got in a fight...anyway we stayed there because i didn't want to drive at night. so in the morning we headed out and on our way to las vegas...we got in at about 2 and checked into the hotel, it was really nice. we had a few drinks and headed downstairs to play the slots...we did ok, i think we won like 200 dollars, but we played it away...later that night we went to dinner for tony's b-day...we went to the tournament of kings-which i guess is similar to medieval times restaurant. there was a show and dinner, it was fun! afterwards we had a few drinks and fell asleep before 12:30, i guess being in laughlin reset our clocks :)
the next day we woke up super early, got some breakfast and went to the pool...after hanging out at the pool at actually watching people get skin cancer (for real, some people were the reddest red i have ever seen, i don't get it)
we walked around the strip, i took some great photos of bad fashion. we watched the water show at caesar's palace- i videotaped it for my mom. then we went down to the scary part of the strip, old vegas, like the fronteer casino and circus circus, it was scary there were signs that said "beware of pick pockets". so we headed back to the hotel to get some dinner...after dinner we played the slots alittle more and had a few more drinks...
as we were headed up to our room ( at about 11) pooped from walking around all day ( from 1-7:30) i put my head on tony's shouler in the elevator and this couple ( about 70) said to us 'why are yous guys so tired?' we told them and they said that they were going to get a nap and head back down at the wee hours of the morning, that was our plan too, but we never made it...man tony turning 30 is making me old: ) just kidding...
we woke up the nect morning and headed home....we drove right over hoover dam, it was pretty amazing to know that nearly all of the power for the south west comes from there...
and now we are home and getting ready for work! BOOO, but we will be home in less than two week!
see you all soon

VEGAS BABY!!

So tony and i were going to go to lake powell for his big 30th b-day..but tonight a friend of mine at work said that it is very expensive and really much more fun if you already have a boat....so instead we are gonig to vegas!!! YAY!! we are going to stay at the excalibur for a few nights! i am so excited...at first tony said he didn't want to go, but the hotel looked so cool, he changed his mind...we will keep you all posted ( since it is less than a week away)

just one more reason....

that i will miss flagstaff...today tony and i were off and we spent the day walking through the downtown area...it was such a nice day...somewhere in the high 60's low 70's.
we walked all over town and found a whole bunch of stores that we have previously missed. Then went for pizza at a tiny little place that was soooo good, almost as good at the kind i used to get in Detroit from Primo's when i was young! We walked around town to digest our dinner. After that we went to the library and I got my card!! HORAY! Then took a little detour to the co-op and bought some of the best watermelon in the universe ( they had samples there-yummmm.) Now we are going to make tomorrow's dinner of bean soup ( because i have to work the rest of the week and i hate rushing around making dinner, Then we are going to watch Aeon Flux ( i gave it to him early for his b-day) after i take a little time out to start reading one of the books that i rented from the library!!! I miss home, but i wish i didn't have to leave here!
Oh yeah before we left for our adventures, we hung up all our windchimes and my new froggy from auntie annie, i love it-so now when i am reading i can hear the sound of windchimes and look out the window at my lil' frog! How cute is he?

somewhere on a desert highway...

This weekend adriana and brian came to visit....i think that we packed everything that we could in three days!!!
they got in on friday night around 7ish, so we went into town for Thai ( too bad racha cha cha thai was closed.) We went to this little place on the wrong side of the tracks for dinner and then walked to the Hotel monte Vista for coffee and the most amazing carrot cake in the universe!!! afterward we were too tired to do much else, and we wanted to get some sleep since we had a busy day planned for saturday.
We got up early-ish on saturday and after breakfast and getting our packs ready, we headed out to the lava tubes....
tony and i were so excited to go, since last time we rushed into them, we only got to go half way...this time we finished it and it was well worth it...a few really tight spots ( not too great for claustrophobics) but so rad...then we had a little picnic in the dark of peanut ( or soy) butter and jam sandwhiches...it was really fun..
after that we headed right out to the grand canyon...brian and ay have never been there, so we tried to get the best views that we could in a little bit of time...
we got there right as the sun was getting ready to set, which is amazing, but the canyon gets really hazy and misty, so it is hard to see how beautiful and breath taking it is...
we ran a cross a few deer that ran right past us on our hike up to the rim of the canyon...also pretty amazing, although they are sorta like the deer on belle isle ( except it is against the law to feed them or approach them, so you have to let them do the work of approaching.)
On the way home from the Grand Canyon, we saw an elk!!! FINALLY!! i have been 'elk hunting' since we got here...a friend of ours even calls us and lets us know when they are in her horse field-but we are always at getting ready for work or sleeping so we have not yet been to see them...
but this time, adriana shouted out that she saw one and i turned the car around and we all were looking right at it...tony said he saw a bull, but i missed it!!! NUTS!!!
we got home from the canyon really late ( i was driving so slow after we kept seeing animals run in front of my car -and after i hit a bunny and cried my eyes out) so we had a really late dinner of homemade tortilla soup-yummy...after the warmth of the soup hit, all i remember seeing was the back of my eyelids...
we got up early again on sunday and headed to the Galaxy diner, which is a little 1950's themed diner on route 66. We all ate really well and headed to sedona for another long day of hiking...
we started on our way to the 7 sacred apache pools ( which turned out to be soo worth getting up early.) Before we got to the pools, though we passed the biggest sinkhole in arizona ( devil's kitchen) which also had the biggest rattlesnake i have ever seen up close.well up close enough, i was looking down at it from the top of the sinkhole...and maybe it was the biggest i have ever seen, because i have never come face to face with a rattlesnake that was not in the zoo!!!

Then right after i was talking to the kids about this mojave green snake that a friend of mine told me about ( it is the deadliest rattler in Arizona) i saw a green snake cross my path and freaked out a little. It was totally NOT that mojave, but it was a little frightening nonetheless...
anyway we were going to hike up to the arches at the end of the pools, but the parking lot closed at 6, so we got outta there...not before landing right in the middle of someone's tour and we listened in for awhile and learned some desert survival tips ( and quickly realized that we would all have died if we really needed to survive in the desert for a long time).

Turns out that very clear water is also very unsafe to drink!! the sacred pools contained really muddy, yucky looking water and the tour guide asked who would drink it if they were thirsty in the desert...and then he said that clear water is clear because of the arsenic in it ( at least in desert areas) and drinking it would kill you...that is when i remembered why i liked living in MI so much with all the clean water around!!!
After we left the pools, we headed to the airport mesa so that AY and brian could experience a Sedona Vortex...it was really cool up there, but also windy...there was a storm rolling in, so we got some great photos!!!
after that we walked around downtown sedona for a bit and then went to oaxaca for some mexican food and margaritas ( well ay and tony- i was driving).
we got home a little late, hung out abit and then off to bed...Adriana and brian had to leave in the morning-waaaa waa...
well i had a great time and i can not wait for some more days off...i think for tony's 30th we might go kayaking at lake powell, but we shall see!!!