Sistah Pat

Just bought a 1/2 lb of something called California Caviar at the local deli.  It wasn’t great but I could see the potential so I came back and tried to duplicate it and jazz it up.  Turned out pretty good so I’d better write it down before I forget what I did.

 2 cans black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
12 oz. fresh Pico de Gallo
lime juice to taste (2 to 3 tablespoons)
chopped cilantro (1/8 cup?)
zesty Italian dressing to moisten (2 or 3 tablespoons?)
chopped jalapenos (2 Tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste

I haven’t figured up the calories but this made a huge batch at a fraction of the cost.  It was $4.99 a pound at the deli and I spent about $3.00 to make this entire batch.  It’s full of healthy stuff and tastes really fresh and zesty.

This park has very limited connectivity. One minute it’s there, the next minute it’s gone. So, I’ll try to save often.

We woke up yesterday morning and finished the drive to Moab. We had originally intended to stay here for two days but we lost a day at Escalante with all the unforeseen problems so we’ll be hitting the road again this morning.

I’m still questioning if I beat Escalante or if it beat me. I expected to feel some kind of jubilation or something on completing the hike but, I’ll tell you what, that trail whipped my butt! There wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t sore yesterday. I could barely move! It left me with a kind of depressed feeling to know that there are some things I am not able to do anymore and I know, without a doubt, that I will never be able to complete that hike again.

We drove through Arches yesterday morning and arrived at the Campground. We’re staying at Slickrock Campground in Moab. We’ve stayed here a couple of times before and it’s a pretty place. Here’s a picture from our campsite and another from Arches National Park of Delicate Arch.

I was so sore yesterday and the RV was really starting to get on my nerves because it needed a good scrubbing so, after we drove through the area, DH and I decided to stay here and not go to the park yesterday afternoon. I did six loads of laundry, cleaned out the fridge and all the cabinets, and scrubbed the RV. DH changed the oil in Manny, topped off the transmission fluid, and fixed a cabinet door that had jarred loose. DS took the grandkids to see Arches National Park. DH and I have seen it twice before and had planned on renting a four wheel drive jeep to do some off roading yesterday but I don’t think my poor aching bones would respond very well so we skipped that part and stayed with Manny. DS has been asking me to make a pot of soup so I made Hoppin John soup while they were gone and we ate it for dinner.

Mr. Scale shows me at 173.5 this morning. At least the whuppin from Escalante accomplished something! Of course, I’ve been eating pretty well and trying to exercise. I’m craving things like watermelon and popsicles and summer rolls. I guess my taste buds have changed because the boys have all kinds of junk in here but I’m not even tempted. The fattening things that have tempted me and tasted good have been things like fresh guacamole and Mocha Monster Java Energy drink but even that hasn’t tasted good this week. I poured out over half of the last one I drank.

I guess I need to get everyone up and moving but I’m not looking forward to today. We have a 7 hour drive planned which will put us close to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone tomorrow. I guess we’ll leave my car off the trailer and I’ll drive it. It was nice when there were three drivers for one vehicle. Now there are three drivers for two vehicles and no one gets much of a break. Wish we’d get out of all the mountains!

1:00 p.m. - Wow! I got outvoted. The guys are perfectly content to stay here another day and rest. So, I’m sitting out here under a nice shady tree at a picnic table where the wifi signal is actually pretty good! It’s allowed me to check in and see what’s been going on with some of my buddies and check my email from work. Maybe I’ll even check my AOL!

I guess I’m going to have to do a little adjusting to the schedule to get us back home on time but I built in a little bit of flex time so it should work out. The grandsons are relaxing in the pool, DH is taking a nap, and DS is on his laptop catching up with all his buddies. I washed my white jeans twice yesterday with a half a bottle of bleach to get the reddish stains out of them from lying around in the middle of the desert at Escalante and wearing them in the pool at the base of the waterfall and they seem to have shrunk a little bit. No, I’m not going to weigh myself, I’m telling you they must have shrunk a little. I’m sure my big butt will have them stretched out again in nothing flat.

Susan, you asked where Escalante is…It’s a fairly new National Monument located around Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches National Parks.  It’s actually called Grand Staircase Escalante and was established around 1994.  Fabulous scenery!  If you have a few minutes, check out Hells Backbone on Youtube.  We drove that route a few years ago and that’s what gave me my original grey hairs.  The Calf Creek Recreation area is located within the park.

I suppose I should go and try to generate some enthusiasm for getting in the car and driving 30 minutes to Canyonlands National Park. The boys didn’t want to go yesterday because we were all whipped but they might want to today. I have a hard time just sitting here. I would have liked to hit the road and get at least four or five hours of driving in today. Who has time to rest when you’re on vacation?

 Here’s a sad picture.  What do you notice?  We’ve been to this particular campground three times in the last 12 years and we’ve always had to make a reservation well in advance.  It’s really pretty, lots of shade trees and the mountains in the background, a heated pool and three hot tubs, 7 cats who call this place home, and some really nice owners.  Notice that no one is here but us?  Sad…that’s been the case at almost every campground we’ve visited.  I guess it’s the gas prices.  How long will these places survive if no one drives their RVs?  So sad…

I made it!  Here’s me in the pool at the end of Lower Calf’s Creek trail.

Today has been a comedy of errors.  One thing after another has gone wrong and we’ve been acting like a bunch of Keystone cops all day.

For starters, I woke up two hours later than I usually do.  Don’t know why but no one gets up till after me so I had to get Manny cleaned up and get the guys up.  We were late leaving the campground and heading to Lower Calf Creek and didn’t get there until around noon.  We’ve been going through so many steep mountains that Manny has a hard time towing my car which is not a little bitty thing but a big old Lincoln so I decided to drive my car and DH would drive Manny.

As soon as I spotted Lower Calf Creek, I pulled in and DH followed me.  I came to an immediate stop because there was a sign that said the road could not accommodate RVs bigger than 25 feet and Manny is 37 feet.  Of course, our screeching halt was a tad too late because we’d already pulled into the area.  I told DH to wait while I scouted out the road.  I drove down a little bit and verified that there was no place to park Manny and no way he could maneuver the road.  I drove back up and told DH he would have to back up about thirty feet so he could get Manny off the Calf Creek Road and we’d drive down the main road until we found a place to park him.  Of course, one of the reasons I didn’t want to take my car is because DH and I can not back up the RV with a trailer on it.  DH tried and DS tried and every time they started backing up, the trailer would begin to jack knife.  Ok, so DS decides they’ll unhook the trailer and pull it off to the side, get Manny pointed the right way, and then reattach the trailer.  Me?  I’m a smart girl so I know that my job is just to get the Hell out of the way.  I move my big white Lincoln and I’m sitting there watching them move the trailer to the edge and then DS starts directing DH and I see him backing up a lot farther than he needs to and I’m realizing something is just not right about the time I see him back into the trailer which knocks DS down right behind the RV and the trailer begins to roll over the edge of the hill.  When he hit the trailer, DH stopped immediately and DS is trying to get himself up off the ground behind Manny and he’s grabbing the trailer to keep it from rolling down the hill and over the cliff.  Well, Sh8t!  I’m freaking out but before I can do anything, DH is jumping out the door of the RV and helping DS hang on to the trailer.  They pulled it up and then we all just sit there shaking for a couple minutes as the implications of what could have happened sink in.  DS could have been run over, or he could have hung on to the trailer and been pulled over the edge with it!  Normally, I’d be screeching and raising Hell but I didn’t need to.  They knew without me saying a word.The guys reattached the trailer and we drove down the road about ¼ mile to a pullover where we could leave Manny and we all piled into my car and headed down to the trail.  I parked and loaded up my knapsack with a big beach towel, my camera, a washcloth for sweaty brows, and 5 bottles of water plus a two liter bottle of water.  I told everyone to make sure they had what they needed and we set off on the trail.  Before we had gone a half mile, DH was feeling the heat big time and we were really struggling to walk in the sand.  Imagine walking on a beach in 100 degrees where every step has you sinking in deep sand.  Andrew and Steven, the twin grandsons seemed to be doing okay and DS was okay so we told them to go ahead.  After they pulled away, DH said, “I don’t think I can do this.”  I said, “You probably shouldn’t then.  We’ve just gotten started.  Do you want to go back to the car?”   He got “the look”.  You know, the one that says, “You got me into this mess but I’m going to have to do it because I can’t be the only one who can’t make it.  I’m not going back.”

Chickies, I’m telling you…It was grueling!  After a little bit, I was really struggling and DS had slowed down so I caught up to him but DH kept moving ahead.  I could not keep up with him and pretty soon, DS and I were bringing up the rear and passing hikers who were gasping for breath (we’re at an altitude of 7,000 feet and breathing is rough!), throwing up, and drenched in sweat.    We kept pushing on but I had to take frequent breaks where I’d throw down the beach towel under an outcropping of rock or a tree that would give us a little shade and slurp down some water and pour it on the washcloth to try to cool off.  As soon as we got our breath and cooled off a little, we’d push on a little bit further.  I’m telling you, girls, I was sick!  I was dizzy, light headed, breathless and nauseous.  I kept thinking, “I’m having a heat stroke.  These are all symptoms of heat exhaustion.”  Finally, DS said, “Mom, I can’t do it.  I can’t go any further.”  He took the two liter bottle of water and I told him to take his time going back, rest frequently, etc. 

I kept moving and, another quarter mile or so, I caught up with DH who was just as miserable as I was.  I kept thinking, “This was a BIG mistake.  I want to stop and go back.”  But I knew that the boys would be waiting for us at the waterfall and they might sit there all day waiting for us to get there.  The worst thing was knowing that after we reached the waterfall, we’d still have to repeat the entire miserable ordeal on the way back.  Pretty soon, I was collapsing on my towel in the sand and just lying there with the wet washcloth on my face in the sand.  Finally, we encountered Steven coming up the trail. He’d already been at the waterfall and, guess what?  He hadn’t taken any water with him!  I wanted him to continue on with us but he just wanted to get back to the RV and told us Andrew was waiting for us at the falls.  I gave him one of my water bottles.  I’d already used 1 ½ so that only left me with one full bottle.  We kept slogging on through the heat and sand and finally caught up with Andrew who told us the waterfall was just a little bit further.  He wanted to go back to the RV as well but he didn’t have any water!   I gave him my last full bottle and kept less than half a bottle for DH and I.  At this point, it wasn’t an option to turn around because we HAD to cool off.  We kept going another quarter mile or so and came to the falls.  I was so hot, I went in the pool with my jeans on.  I didn’t even have enough energy to pull them off.  What was I thinking wearing white jeans anyway?  DH and I spread out the towel and collapsed for about 30 minutes.  The falls area was totally enclosed by massive cliffs all the way around except for the way we came in and it was cool and shady.  As hot as I was, the water was so cold, I couldn’t even dive in but could only wade in up to my waist.  It truly was as beautiful as I remembered.  How could this unbelievable oasis exist out here?  The falls area cools you off quickly and my energy began to come back.  DH and I were out of water and I knew that was going to be a problem so I filled the two empty bottles I had with water from the falls and we headed back.

The trip back was even worse than the hike in because we couldn’t drink the water but had to take a mouthful, swish it around and then spit it out.  Things were desperate, girls, so I soon decided that I shouldn’t waste the water by spitting in on the ground but should allow it to dribble down my chin and into the top of my bathing suit to cool me off.  Cute, huh?  and oh so feminine!  We finally made it back and DS was waiting for us in my car with a big jug of cold diet Dr. Pepper.  He drove us back to Manny where both of the boys were crashed out in our bed with the air conditioner so cold that they had blankets on.

I’m glad I conquered Lower Calf CreekFalls because this is absolutely the last time I will ever see it.  I knew it was difficult but the last time I hiked it was 11 years ago and that was before any ankle problems and all this extra weight.  Today, it was not difficult, it was torture.  Still, I find satisfaction in seeing all the people a lot younger and in much better shape than I am who had to turn back.  Oh wait…maybe they’re just a lot smarter than I am!Okay, so our “morning hike” took almost all day and you’d think things couldn’t get any worse, right?  We had planned another four hours of driving to get to Moab this evening but we were so exhausted, I just wanted to find the closest RV park and pull in.  DS had other ideas.  He wanted to load my car back on the trailer and drive to Moab while DH and I rested.  I was NOT happy with this decision but he was adamant.  DH and I were supposed to rest and he was going to drive.  Crap! We’re still way up in the mountains and I can’t relax with him pulling the car through the mountains.  I did try.  I took a shower in the moving RV, put on my jammies, and curled up on the couch.  I was so exhausted; I was actually beginning to get drowsy when I heard him say, “Dad, something is not right.  I’m flooring this thing going downhill and it’s only going 40 mph.  Something’s wrong.  I wonder if Mom’s car has a flat or something.”  Okay, I’m UP!  We pull into a pull off down the road and the guys check the car but everything’s okay.  DH thinks it may just be too much of a strain on the transmission at the high altitude and pulling my big old car.  He pops the hood on Manny and they discover that there’s no transmission fluid in it.  The GPS says there’s a service station about ten miles down the road.  So, we have to take my car off the trailer and I have to drive ten miles to get transmission fluid.  On the way, I come around a curve and there’s a deer standing beside the road.  I slowed down and it was a good thing because I went around another curve and there are cattle in the middle of the road.  Can this day get any worse???  I finally got the transmission fluid and turned around to go back to Manny.  Same old cows are taking up the entire road and I’m paranoid as all get out about deer, cliffs, and cattle.

The guys filled up the transmission and DH drives Manny who seems to be just fine but I’m not putting my car on the trailer so I follow as he heads out of the mountains.  He and I are in complete agreement – the first RV park we see, we’ll pulling in.  We have no pool, no wifi, and we’re out in the middle of nowhere but I’m calling it a day. 

G’night, girls!

How can you possibly pick two or three pictures to represent Zion and Bryce Canyon?  We had planned on taking the car off the dolley in Zion so Manny wouldn’t have such a rough time on the mountains.  Turns out, they make you take the cars off the RVs in Zion now so we were all set to enter the park while others were trying to get their cars off loaded.  Here’s a couple of pictures of Manny’s butt (which is bigger than mine!) as we rolled through Zion.

Most of the day yesterday was going to be through really rugged terrain so I just drove my car behind Manny all day.  After Zion, we headed to Bryce Canyon which is just as spectacular in it’s own way.

This morning, we’re at a really nice campground in Escalante.  This is my kind of campground.  No pool, no concrete parking lot, just a nice little campground that’s nestled between the mountains.  We slept with the windows open and I could see a kazillion stars.  The air was cool and clean and it was so quiet!

And now, Chicklets, I face my challenge!  This morning, we’re hiking to Lower Calf Creek Falls.  That grueling “3 more miles” hike I’ve been preparing for.  I can’t wait and I’m going to get off here, get everyone up, and hit the trail!

I’ve been awake since 5:00 a.m. Vegas time.  That’s 8:00 a.m. Kentucky time but I don’t think I’m on Kentucky time anymore.  Sitting here drinking my coffee and looking at yesterday’s pictures.  We never did go back to New York, New York for that authentic deli sandwich.  It just didn’t seem worth it to drive all the way down the strip and find a parking place just to get a sandwich.  The best thing I ate yesterday was a popsicle!  It was 111 degrees and I was so hot and dry that the popsicle hit the spot!  About those pictures…here ya go:

 This is the front of the Luxor Casino with it’s replica of the Great Sphinx.  We also went to the Bellagio and the conservatory was pretty cool but the pictures don’t really do it justice so I chose one of the ceiling of the lobby.  It contains more than 2,000 hand blown glass flowers by the artist, Dale Chihuly.  The colors are fantastic!

The Venetian is so cool!  The grand canal is totally indoors but the ceiling has been painted to look like the sky and the lighting gives the impression of being outdoors at different times of the day.

I’ve got to get Manny ready to roll.  As soon as everyone is up, we’re heading out.  The plan is to drive to the foot of Mount Zion and take the car off the dolley.  I’ll drive the car through the pass and DH or DS will drive Manny.  It’s a beautiful drive but very steep and nerve wracking.  Depending on the elevation, I may just continue to drive as we head to Bryce Canyon and finish up the day in Grand Staircase, Escalante.

Okay, so what’s the problem here?  I’m trying my damnest to enjoy some junk food and I can’t find anything I enjoy.  We went to the Stratosphere buffet yesterday for dinner and I didn’t like it.  It was just an average (below average?) buffet of steam table crap.  I was embarassed to keep dishing up food, taking a few bites, and then leaving the plate to be thrown out but I just didn’t really like anything and my new philosophy is, if it’s high calorie and I don’t like it, I’m not eating it.  Out of the entire daggone buffet, I didn’t find anything that made me go “Wow!”  Next stop was Fremont Street where I hightailed it to the frozen dacquiri shop with 26 different flavors!  I didn’t buy the yard long dacquiri, thought I’d be discreet and just got the 1 1/2 foot glass and, from the first slurp, I didn’t like it.  Icky, sweet, overpowering syrup!  I hung on to it like a life raft as we strolled around Fremont Street and took a sip occasionally until it eventually melted and became just a sickly sweet kool aide.  I wound up pouring a good amount of it down the sink when we got back to Manny.  I’ve still got one more chance to find something sinfully fattening and enjoy it.  That would be an authentic New York style deli sandwich from New York, New York.  DH and I are going to get one for dinner tonight.  I don’t get it.  I loved this stuff last time I was here.  Is it me or is it them?

Okay, enough obsessing about food.  I think I got my exercise in yesterday.  Lots of walking and no scooter (I don’t get to have any fun anymore!)  We went down to Fremont Street and spent a little time at the Four Queens.  I lost $10.00 but it took a long time to do it.  Got down to $5, got up to $20, got down to $7, got up to $25 (should have quit), got down to zero.  DH turned his $10.00 into $65.00 so we’re still ahead but I’m not going to be able to retire on that so we’ll have to try again today.

Today’s agenda: hit the middle of the strip, park the car at one of the casinos, and see the Bellagio fountains  lobby, and conservatory, Margueritaville, and the Venetian Casino.  After that, we’ll do what the boys want.  They decided they’d rather spend time here than go to the Grand Canyon for the day.

Right now, everyone is still asleep (8:15 Vegas time) and I’m going to see what some of my bloggie buddies have been up to while I have a little quiet time.

Oh, the peace and quiet! I’m the first one up and I love the solitude! We’re at the KOA campground behind Circus, Circus, in Vegas.  I was not happy to pay $75.00 per night to camp here but it’s the only RV park on the strip so we didn’t have much choice.  Having said that, I should now admit that it’s a really nice park.  It has a really large pool, a nice game room with pool tables and air hockey for the boys.  A nice store and gift shop, even an “off leash” pet playground which would be fun if I still had doggies.  We have a large lot with plenty of room and our own little patch of grass with palm trees.

I’ve noticed that there are many, many rental RVs on the road out here.  Looking out my window, at least one in every three is from Cruise America RV rentals.  Weird.  Last time I checked out of curiosity, they charged a fortune but there are so many out here that it makes me wonder if they’re cheaper out west.  I mean, gas costs a fortune for these things.  I can’t imagine why anyone would pay a fortune to rent one and then pay a fortune for the gas on top of it and then pay to camp.  I just opened a new tab and checked…those things rent for $1,100 per week and you have to pay $225 for the first 700 miles and additional for more mileage.  Good Lord!  I wonder why there are so many of them?  And they’re not nearly as big as Manny!

Okay, let’s get updated.  Yesterday morning, we went to Petrified Forest/Painted Desert and the boys really enjoyed it. 

I love looking at the landscape of all those trees and logs scattered around the area.  We have some petrified wood from down on our land in Florida and I was able to identify it as having come from a Sycamore tree.  We took a few short walks through the park and saw Newspaper rock which is full of petroglyphs (sp?) and lots of petrified wood.  We left Petrified Forest around 11:00 and headed for Meteor Crater.

Meteor Crater was right up the boys’ alley.  They loved everything about it.  Granted, it’s just a big hole in the ground from a meteor striking earth many moons ago but the museum is fantastic.  It had all kinds of interactive displays and movies and we all really enjoyed it.  The boys were particularly interested in a display that lets you choose a type of projectile (comet, planet, meteor, satellite, etc.), choose it’s velocity, target, angle of descent, speed, etc. and then watch a computerized “movie” simulation of the effect.  I think they destroyed earth, mars, the moon, and other unfortunate heavenly bodies at least thirty or forty times.  I’m sure it will be one of the highlights of the trip for them.  They were chattering away, explaining and pointing out the effects on the landscape and atmosphere that the impact created.

While the boys were running around, I chatted with a woman who had just come from Grand Canyon.  She was telling me how crowded it was and how they had waited in line for more than an hour just to get in the park.  Since it was getting late and DH and I had no interest in seeing the Canyon again, we decided to skip it and head to Vegas.  Grand Canyon National Park is fairly close to here and DS is going to see if the boys want to do it as a day trip.  I hate for them to miss it but we can’t do everything and by skipping the two days we had set aside for it, we’re back on schedule.  From past experience, DH and I were very disappointed with our visits to the canyon because it just didn’t seem that great after we’d already seen Canyonlands, Arches, and Bryce Canyon.  I don’t think the boys really care that much because they’d rather have the time in Vegas, Zion, and Yellowstone.

We drove through the afternoon and arrived at Hoover Dam around sunset.  There was LOTS of security around the dam.  We had to pull over about 5 miles before and security personnel came in the RV and looked around and had us open all the basement storage bins for inspection.  The dam was as awe inspiring as ever and it always amazes me to look around those huge mountains and imagine how it was constructed.  They’re building another road through the area that will not cross the dam but will bridge the canyon.  They’ve been working on it for several years and it looks like it’s approaching completion.  It rises over the dam like a suspension bridge for a railroad and I can’t imagine driving over it.  I’d be huddled on the floorboard, afraid to move.

We drove over the dam and through the Lake Mead area around sunset and I was a little disappointed that the boys didn’t get to see the glorious blue color of Lake Mead against the red mountains.  Still, it’s only a 30 minute drive up the road and we can always run up there in the next couple of days.

We got of the expressway at Tropicana Boulevard so we could follow it up to the strip and drive down the strip for the boys.  They were dumbfounded.  They were glued to the windows as we drove past New York, New York, Excalibur, and Ceasar’s.  As expected, traffic was slow and we had lots of time to gawk at all the lights and excess of the strip.  We lucked out and pulled up next to the Bellagio just as they started the fountains and it was beautiful!  I had read on the internet that they’re redoing the volcano at the Mirage and it was shut down for the process which was disappointing because it’s such an absolutely “vegas” kind of flaunting of excess that I wish they could see it.

So now, we’re parked at the KOA at Circus, Circus directly across from the Stratosphere and the Sahara. 

I’ve been writing for quite a while and DH and DS are up.  I appreciate the comments about DS’s diet.  Yes, this will have to be done tactfully but it needs to be addressed.  He is literally killing himself with his eating habits.  I’ve noticed, when he stays with us, that he loves my healthy style of cooking but he eats massive amounts and then frequently goes out to eat after we’ve already eaten.  We’re definitely going to have to talk but I have to figure out the best way to approach it.  I’m truly astounded at the amounts of food he’s consuming.

11:15 - Manny is all cleaned up.  I’ve had my shower and I’m ready to go!  Here’s something interesting…the last two times I was in Vegas, I was in a wheelchair and I rented a scooter.  The scooter was expensive but it was sooo much fun!  I was ripping up and down the strip cool as a cucumber, passing all these hot, sweaty people walking on the sidewalks.  Lots of people asked me where I got it and how much it cost so I guess it was obvious how much fun I was having (I guess I was hard to miss in a fluorescent purple cast).  Now, here I am again and that damn scooter keeps popping in my head.  How much fun it would be, the breeze whipping my hair as I fly down the strip.  NO!  Tell me NO!, girls.  I will not rent a scooter!  I WILL be one of those hot, sweaty tourists dragging my butt down the strip.  I should be so grateful that I’m able to walk down the strip and it will be my exercise for the day.  NO, NO, NO!  No Scooter!

5:45 - Back from the strip for a while.  We went down to the South End and parked at the Excaliber.  Went across the street to New York, New York and got a slice of pizza.  That’s one thing I can cross off my food list!  It was good but I didn’t even finish my slice.  We played the slots for about ten minutes where I changed my $2.00 to $2.95, DH turned his $3.00 into $5.00.  DS managed to turn $3.00 into $16.00.  We’re so cheap!  Still, we had a net gain of $15.95 after ten minutes.  After lunch, we crossed the street to the MGM Grand and let the boys see the lions, then headed down the street to the M&M Museum.  After looking at everything and anything that can be designed featuring M&Ms and getting the boys personalized M&Ms, we walked down to the Coca Cola Museum and looked at everything and anything that can be designed featuring Coca Cola.  I collect salt and pepper shakers and now have a set of M&M shakers and Coca Cola shakers.

We left the area with the museums and headed down to the Tropicana to see the Titanic Exhibit and then went through Mandalay Bay and the Luxor.  After that, we walked back to the car and headed back to the RV.  Tonight, we’re going to Fremont Street where the boys can see the Fremont Street Experience and I can find a yard long dacquiri.  DH and I will probably play the slots for a little bit.  I usually allow myself $200.00 but I have a hard time letting go of money.  Last time we were here, we turned $40.00 into $2,000.00 at the Four Queens and that’s located on Fremont Street so we’ll probably play there.  We were planning on going to the Stratosphere buffet this evening but I don’t know if that’s going to work out time-wise.  Maybe it would make more sense to go back to New York, New York for a deli sandwich this evening.