VEGAS BABY!!!

Monday, April 30 – We left the MH at the Boulder City Elks under Bella's watchful eye and headed to the Marriott Spring Hill Suites Hotel on the Strip in Vegas. Our daughter, Carrie, travels extensively in her job and has an abundance of hotel points. She's offered us a free room in Vegas to “party the night away” and not have to worry about driving. An offer we couldn't refuse!

Can't believe these rooms go for this price. Amazing.

Very different bathroom arrangement. Left door to the lav area; right door shower area.

We arrived at the hotel for an early check-in and even got to have a hot breakfast at the complimentary breakfast bar. After delivering our luggage to the room, we headed to the Strip for some sightseeing.

We did have one “eye-opening” experience in the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. Wanting an adult beverage, we sat at the bar to play video poker and each ordered a Bourbon and Ginger Ale. $18.00! That was our most expensive two drink bar bill ever!

The closest we will ever get to the Eiffel Tower…Paris Las Vegas

The hotel was a couple blocks off the Strip so we took the advice of fellow bloggers, Kevin and Ruth, and drove the car to one of the hotels on the Strip that offered Valet parking. For the price of a $2 tip to the valet, we parked right in the thick of the Vegas experience. What a great way to solve the parking problem in a big city!

We did a little gambling or should we call it a contribution to the Vegas economy. We limit our playing to $20 each. We didn't even gamble away that much because we were too busy sightseeing.

This place is amazing.

Just look at the colors.

New York, New York. WOW!

The Cosmopolitan had the most unique bars.

That is a bar on the other side of those lights.

Luxor Hotel/Casino in the background.

With Marsha's recent bout with an aching back and hip, we kept the sightseeing to a half day. We returned to the hotel by mid-afternoon to rest up for tonight's visit to Downtown Vegas and the Freemont Light Show.

WOW! What a wonderful time we had in Downtown. We enjoyed this way more than our visit to the Strip this morning. It is much easier to walk on the covered street than having to use the elevated people bridges on the Strip.

The casinos aren't as large and glitzy as they are on the Strip, but they are so close to each other, it was like being in one huge casino anyway.

The overhead light and laser show begins at dark and is every hour on the hour. There are different themes for each show and they are utterly AMAZING!!! There was American Pie, Bon Jovi, Kiss, and others.

American Pie by Don McLean. "Peace Out!"

A generation lost in space.

Bon Jovi melody.

There were also street entertainers, music and of course, the ever popular “people watching.” You see everything imaginable here.

Guess whose favorite street entertainers these were. Marsha is not sure what there entertainment "specialty" is.

We vacationed here over 30-years ago and remember the 99¢ shrimp cocktails at the Four Queens Casino.

Wonder why they hid the price in amongst the higher priced items.

After an enjoyable night on Freemont Street we headed back to the Strip to see the million lights and enjoy the Strip at night. It sure takes Hoover Dam's power plants to help light this city. Another WOW and AMAZING sight!

We even drove out to the end of the Strip to get our picture taken at the famous Welcome to Vegas sign. Another memory from our last time here. Sure wish we had pictures from that trip to show.

We were just like a couple of kids. We stayed out  W - A – Y  too late, but we must practice the City Motto......”What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.” We'll leave it to your imagination!

We slept in a little the next morning, enjoyed the complimentary breakfast and returned to the Strip to finish our sightseeing. We used the Cesar Palace Valet Parking and enjoyed seeing this area of the Strip.

Our two favorite Hotels were the beautiful Italian/Roman architecture of Cesar's Palace and the Venetian. We thought the Venetian, with the gondolas floating down the indoor river, and the amazing architecture and artwork, was our number one favorite.

Venetian lobby.

This is inside the building.

The ceiling was GORGEOUS.

This is Paul's favorite view of the ceiling.

Outside of Caesar's Palace.

Marsha traveled to Italy with our daughter, Carrie, a few years back. Both these hotels gave her so many great flashbacks. She loved it.

This was one HUGE difference between our first visit and now…the traffic. The main drag had SIX lanes going one way and four the other. No wonder there are pedestrian walkways going over most of the streets.

If you plan to visit Vegas, do not miss Downtown. We enjoyed it much more than the Strip.  If you want to see more photos of our visit to Las Vegas, just click here.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y 'all back real soon. Have a great day!

THE JOYS OF FLYING AND OTHER STUFF

April 29 – Marsha arrived home (Las Vegas) last night but not without experiencing the “joys of air travel.” The first leg of her flight was delayed in Akron/Canton, OH, by about 30 minutes, putting reaching her Denver connecting flight in jeopardy.

She flew Frontier. This was her pilot.

The site below.

Upon arriving in Denver she only had a few minutes to run the length of the terminal to the gate for her next flight. Upon arriving at the gate, she found this flight too was delayed. Well, at least she didn't miss the flight!

Her pilot for this trip.

Marsha was able to get some great mountain pictures out of the airplane windows. Look at all the snow in the mountains between Denver and Las Vegas.

Just gorgeous.

After finally arriving in Las Vegas, passengers were notified to remain in there seats due to a medical emergency. A passenger had passed out during the flight, and an EMS crew would have to help remove him from the plane before anyone could disembark. No word on how the passenger was medically. Eventually, we were united and made the short drive back to Boulder City and the motorhome at the Elks Lodge.

We had some excitement in the sky over the Elks Lodge this morning. First event was a flyover by six military helicopters. They were heading in the direction of the Hoover Dam. How neat would that be to see them flyover the dam.

The next surprise was skydivers parachuting just to the SE of the campground. This goes on several time a week. There must be a jump club at the nearby general aviation airport.

On Marsha's last day in Ohio, she spent a wonderful afternoon having lunch with her dad, his sister, Lois, cousin Phyllis and friend Dini. This picture is for Phyllis. She said she had never had her picture in a blog.

L-R: Dad, Marsha, Dini, Phyllis, Aunt Lois.

A couple of happy pictures from Marsha last night in Ohio. The family went to a local winery.

Dad

Kelly

Marsha brought back a souvenir from Ohio. Her brother, Rod and his wife, Katie, found this neat beer holder emblazoned with the Cleveland Indian Logo. Cool.

Update on the Tribe…They end April in FIRST place in the Central Division of the American League. GOOOOOO Tribe!

Our next blog will be about our visit to downtown Las Vegas and the Strip. Come on back and see if the slogan, “What goes to Vegas, stays in Vegas,” is true!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MARSHA IN CANTON, OHIO?

Thursday, April 26 – While Paul is back in Boulder City, NV, Marsha is enjoying precious time with family and friends. But first things first.

Marsha's back was not good on her long flight back to Ohio. She took a pain pill from Nevada to Atlanta, GA, which knocked her out…she is a lightweight when it comes to pain medicine. Once she left Atlanta and landed in Canton, OH, she headed for a long nap. Kelly came to visit her along with other family members Friday night.

Finally Saturday morning, she had had enough. Kelly drove her to Stat Care where she found out she had pulled two muscles and had Sciatica. Sciatica is a symptom of another medical problem, not a medical condition on its own…a result of either an injury, back problem or muscle pull. She received an injection of two anti-inflammatory meds….one short-term and one long-term. She did receive relief from the injection. Dr. Dang also gave her a NON drowsy pain medicine which after she took one promptly passed out for three hours. So much for the NON drowsy part.

Sunday found her enjoying her church family and diner with Kelly, Dave and his parents.

Left-right: Dave, Kelly, Marsha, Jackie, David

Thanks Dave for buying lunch for us all.

She was sooooo happy when Monday came. She got to have her favorite all-time hair dresser, Krista, color and cut her…as she calls it…mop! Krista just opened her own salon, and Marsha wanted to give her something for the shop. So she whipped up a new basket and presented it to her. Marsha said Krista loved it. Marsha gave her a big bag of mints to put in it.

Besides visiting with Kelly, dad and family, she has been enjoying several evenings out with her good friends. The photo below are with her "Jackson Divas plus one." She has divas all over the country. This group all taught together except Joyce, who was also a teacher but in a different school district. Of course they all had tons of fun and laughter.

Front: Stephanie, Leigh Ann, Cindy. Back: Joyce, Marsha, Sharon

She is SUPPOSE to be sitting on the heating pad, doing stretches and TRYING to relax. She says she is as much as she can. BUT…Thursday finds her back at Stat Care. She said the hip and back just won't stop. Again Dr. Dang was on call. He pinched, pulled, twisted and tapped everywhere. He heard no cracking in the hip joint, and Marsha told him that she had no pain when he was rotating it. Conclusion…going to take time before those muscles heal. Even though she told him the last pain meds knocked her out, he wrote a prescription for Vicodin. He said…don't drive if she takes one….NO DUH! She got the prescription filled but won't take it unless she is in dire need.

We will skip hiking Red Rock Canyon this time around. Paul will continue is two-a-day bike rides. We will walk the streets of Las Vegas when Marsha arrives back on Saturday.

For all of you that fell for Paul pitiful attempt for sympathy, Marsha agrees with Margery…Hey, Paul...just how much mess can one person and one cat make? Please don't feel sorry a moment for him. He puts a Walmart bag on the counter, throws his garbage in there, walks all of 30 steps to dispose of it.

Also here is a picture he sent to from his phone.

Sitting outside in the gorgeous weather watching the Cleveland Indians on our new TV.

Now I, Marsha, ask you…how much work do you think is really getting done?

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.