Sarah and I started the day with a time share presentation. It was a little rough to be honest. We both really like the idea of owning the kind of vacation power that Worldmark offers. But we think that it would be best to wait for 12-18 monthes. I think it would have been better to just say no instead of tell them that. Our 90 minute presentation ended up being about 2.5 hours. Brutal!
The our lunch with John, our Trump waiter, was great. It was a Korean BBQ, and it was tasty...far better than the "Brazilian" we had last night. John is super friendly and Kate, Henry, and Richard all seemed to enjoy the lunch too.
From there it was off to pick up Brian and Ann Marie at the airport. They ended up only being about an hour apart which was nice. I had just enough time to pick the two of them up and take them to the Flamingo before I went to the tuxedo shop.
Tuxedo Junction was super easy. The staff was very pleasant, and something that could have taken a long time only took me about 1.5 hours including drive time.
I had just enough time for some martinis and a shower before we met up with out crew for drinks and a show. We met at the Bellagio in front of the fountain. That fountain is very cool, and I think I got some good photos with my point and shoot camera.
Our show was the Cirque Du Soleil "O" which is a pretty amazing water show. The show was pretty artistic and very visually stunning. The athetic talent of the performers is top notch. The price was steep, but probably worth it.
Tomorrow is the big day. It will be nice when we can just honeymoon together. I an not sure if Vegas is our style. Too much stimulation maybe? Maybe it is the stress of getting married. I don't know for sure.
The one truly casino type thing that I did was place a bet on the Cowboys to win next year's Superbowl. The odds were 10:1 and I figured why not. If they make it to the game, they will have a home field advantage since the game is in the new stadium in Dallas.
Gotta crash. I am bushed!
Mobile Blogging from here.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Dam Impressive
When I got up this morning, the news out of DC was about the weather. The snow they had gotten yesterday morning had everyone trapped. Oh no! How are Kate and Henry going to make it?
I worked out, and by the time I got bak to our room there was a message from Kate. They had anticipated the bad weather and managed to arrange to get out just ahead of the winter storm. I was pumped!
Sarah and I had a quick breakfast and then drove to our next abode. My friend Cindy has gifted us 3 days at a time share about 5 miles from the strip. It is a great apartment with a full kitchen, living/dining room, and a balcony. It sure is nice to have such good friends.
From there we picked up Kate and Henry at the Flamingo and headed out for Hoover Dam. What an amazing marvel of engineering and human labor. We splurged for the full tour, and am I glad. We saw everything from the generators to spillways to air intake tunnels. It us just amazing to think about the effort and material needed to pull a project like that together... and in the 1930's no less.
We learned that the concrete is still curing, still getting stronger. I had heard that there were bodies of workers who had died during construction. I turns out that that particular rumor is a dam lie (pun intended). I just hope that I am able to stitch together some dam good photos.
Kate, Henry, Sarah, and I dressed up and went to a Brazilian restaurant in the Mirage. It wasn't bad, but it did not seem authentic. El Tango, in Anchorage has better South American food.
Right after dinner I picked up Richard from the airport. He is staying at the Excaliber. He met Sarah and we had some beers in a bar in his hotel. He is such a good guy to come to another wedding of mine. I am just lucky in general. I have no fewer than 5 friends who have dropped everything to come to Vegas this week. Add in Cindy's genrous time share gift and it all adds up to me being very blessed.
Tomorrow Brian and Ann Marie arrive. We go to a show at the Bellagio. Maybe I will pick up my tux. I don't know, I don't know if we will have the time.
Mobile Blogging from here.
I worked out, and by the time I got bak to our room there was a message from Kate. They had anticipated the bad weather and managed to arrange to get out just ahead of the winter storm. I was pumped!
Sarah and I had a quick breakfast and then drove to our next abode. My friend Cindy has gifted us 3 days at a time share about 5 miles from the strip. It is a great apartment with a full kitchen, living/dining room, and a balcony. It sure is nice to have such good friends.
From there we picked up Kate and Henry at the Flamingo and headed out for Hoover Dam. What an amazing marvel of engineering and human labor. We splurged for the full tour, and am I glad. We saw everything from the generators to spillways to air intake tunnels. It us just amazing to think about the effort and material needed to pull a project like that together... and in the 1930's no less.
We learned that the concrete is still curing, still getting stronger. I had heard that there were bodies of workers who had died during construction. I turns out that that particular rumor is a dam lie (pun intended). I just hope that I am able to stitch together some dam good photos.
Kate, Henry, Sarah, and I dressed up and went to a Brazilian restaurant in the Mirage. It wasn't bad, but it did not seem authentic. El Tango, in Anchorage has better South American food.
Right after dinner I picked up Richard from the airport. He is staying at the Excaliber. He met Sarah and we had some beers in a bar in his hotel. He is such a good guy to come to another wedding of mine. I am just lucky in general. I have no fewer than 5 friends who have dropped everything to come to Vegas this week. Add in Cindy's genrous time share gift and it all adds up to me being very blessed.
Tomorrow Brian and Ann Marie arrive. We go to a show at the Bellagio. Maybe I will pick up my tux. I don't know, I don't know if we will have the time.
Mobile Blogging from here.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Can't be Trumped today!
Today was a travel day from Joshua Tree, CA to Las Vegas. The GPS took us by mostly secondary roads until we were about 50 miles from Las Vegas.
Sarah and I got into town around 1p, so we decided to kill some time by getting our marriage license. It wad a remarkably simple process, although a couple next to us had a very difficult time.
Out first night in Vegas was reserved at the Trump Hotel. I had made the reservation on Priceline.com for $75, which is a steal. The Trump is a 5 star hotel...easily!
The room is eqipped with a two burner stove, fridge, and microwave. In addition it has a wet bar, sofa, two chairs, a desk and chair and king sized bed.
The coolest part is the bathroom, which is equipped with a stand alone shower, stand alone loo, and a two person jacuzzi tub. Included is a double sink and a tv inside the mirror.
We had a great dinner with John and Roberto in the DJT (Donald J Trump) restaurant. They were out waitstaff and they were so friendly and awesome that we are having lunch with them on Thursday.
All in all a great day. Tomorrow we pick up Brian, Ann Marie, and Richard. We may go check out the Hoover Dam during the day.
Mobile Blogging from here.
Sarah and I got into town around 1p, so we decided to kill some time by getting our marriage license. It wad a remarkably simple process, although a couple next to us had a very difficult time.
Out first night in Vegas was reserved at the Trump Hotel. I had made the reservation on Priceline.com for $75, which is a steal. The Trump is a 5 star hotel...easily!
The room is eqipped with a two burner stove, fridge, and microwave. In addition it has a wet bar, sofa, two chairs, a desk and chair and king sized bed.
The coolest part is the bathroom, which is equipped with a stand alone shower, stand alone loo, and a two person jacuzzi tub. Included is a double sink and a tv inside the mirror.
We had a great dinner with John and Roberto in the DJT (Donald J Trump) restaurant. They were out waitstaff and they were so friendly and awesome that we are having lunch with them on Thursday.
All in all a great day. Tomorrow we pick up Brian, Ann Marie, and Richard. We may go check out the Hoover Dam during the day.
Mobile Blogging from here.
Monday, February 8, 2010
You are going to have Joshua Trees in your Joshua Tree National Park aren't you?
At the time I made that joke Sarah and I were nearly 3/4 of the way to Twentynine Palms from the Cottonwood Visitor Center, which is on the Palm Springs side of Joshua Tree National Park.
We had just spent some time in the Cholla Cactus Garden and were driving through Wilson Canyon when we saw some amazing rock formations. We stopped to get a closer look when I spotted our first Joshua Trees. They are truly odd looking trees, somewhat resembling the womping willow from Harry Potter.
There were plenty of Joshua Trees after that...a virtual forest of them. We saw Mohave yucca, Prickly pear cactus, Ocotillo, Palo verde, Brittlebush, Smoketree, Scrub oak, and others that I was not able to recognize.
We saw a little wildlife including some hummingbirds and what I think were Zebratail lizards. But the most exciting site was of a Black-tailed jackrabbit.
Sarah and I had returned to the park in an effort to take some desert photos at sunset. We were too late for a pink desert, and I was trying (in vain) to get some photos of a hummingbird when I spotted the jackrabbit. He must have just come out from his burrow for an early evening snack.
I fumbled with my camera to get the right combination of shutterspeed and ISO to capture the twitchy creature.
Photos will follow upon completion of our wedding journey.
Tomorrow we are off to Las Vegas for a few days to see friends, a show or two, and to get hitched.
Mobile Blogging from here.
We had just spent some time in the Cholla Cactus Garden and were driving through Wilson Canyon when we saw some amazing rock formations. We stopped to get a closer look when I spotted our first Joshua Trees. They are truly odd looking trees, somewhat resembling the womping willow from Harry Potter.
There were plenty of Joshua Trees after that...a virtual forest of them. We saw Mohave yucca, Prickly pear cactus, Ocotillo, Palo verde, Brittlebush, Smoketree, Scrub oak, and others that I was not able to recognize.
We saw a little wildlife including some hummingbirds and what I think were Zebratail lizards. But the most exciting site was of a Black-tailed jackrabbit.
Sarah and I had returned to the park in an effort to take some desert photos at sunset. We were too late for a pink desert, and I was trying (in vain) to get some photos of a hummingbird when I spotted the jackrabbit. He must have just come out from his burrow for an early evening snack.
I fumbled with my camera to get the right combination of shutterspeed and ISO to capture the twitchy creature.
Photos will follow upon completion of our wedding journey.
Tomorrow we are off to Las Vegas for a few days to see friends, a show or two, and to get hitched.
Mobile Blogging from here.
