Dave and I are back in Las Vegas for Christmas. We arrived on the 15th and have had a nice stay so far…well most of the stay has been nice...I ended up with a flu bug that was not nice but I’m much better now. Our weather has turned a bit not-nice too; cold and windy the last couple days, but at least the wind is supposed to calm down tomorrow.

On the nice side we made it down to the new City Center complex, quite the place from the outside. It just opened, as a matter of fact we were there the day before they were allowing the public inside. We’ve also been out to some yummy meals, to Camping World in Henderson and over to Sam’s Town. Christmas Eve will include dinner out and a show so that will be fun. Hopefully we will make it downtown and back to City Center before we leave.

From Dave, myself & Cheye - whether you’re on the road or in a wheel-less home…have a fabulously Merry Christmas!


Photos
Top: our site at Thousand Trails Las Vegas
Middle and bottom: Taken inside Sam’s Town, Las Vegas, NV
Video
Cheye got her Christmas present a couple days early…

Leaving tomorrow

Our 2 weeks in Vegas have gone very quickly. Tomorrow we leave for the Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes preserve in Menifee, CA. It looks like it will be a little warmer there which will be nice, and it is new territory which is always fun.

This morning we went to the breakfast buffet at Boulder Station. When we got back to the trailer I decided to do a load of laundry. I went to the laundry room closest to our trailer and a lady was in there with both dryers going, both washers going, and 3 baskets of laundry sitting there! That is the first time I’ve seen anyone doing that much laundry at one of the campgrounds. I used one of the washers in one of the other laundry rooms. :o)

It’s been a fun stay in Vegas, a fabulous show, Ethel M.’s Botanical Cactus Garden, Red Rock Canyon and a couple trips into the strip. I’m sure we will be back.

Photos:
Top: the Christmas tree in Bellagio’s conservatory
Middle: the outside of the Paris casino
Bottom: a fountain along side the Paris casino

A visit to the Vegas strip

This morning we decided to go over to the Vegas strip and look around. After walking for a while we ended up in Bellagio’s and made our way to the conservatory. I was there the other day but Dave hadn’t been there yet. The Christmas decorations are still up and really amazing…huge snow-people made of carnations, reindeer covered in pecans plus lots of other beautiful creations. To get to the conservatory we walked through the lobby, the ceiling is covered with glass flowers created by artist Dale Chihuly …gorgeous. And then there are the beautiful fountains outside, large and small. What a outstanding resort.

We spent the rest of the day in the typical way. It was a very pleasant.

Photos:
Above:
Both from the Conservatory at Bellagio
Below:
top - Lobby at Bellagio
middle - fountain outside Bellagio
bottom - view from Bellagio

Busy, busy

Yesterday was rather busy for me…I was about to head into town about 9:00 a.m. when I decided to call a new dog grooming place I had noticed. They said they could get Cheye in right then so I packed up Cheyenne and dropped her off at the “spa” for a haircut, shampoo and pedicure. From there I went over to the strip to gather some information for friends. You would think with all of the times I have walked to the casinos on the Vegas strip I would remember how far apart those casinos are! Yikes! I ended my fact finding mission at noon and ran home for lunch. The dog groomer had said Cheye would be done around 1:00 but it was more like 2:30 when they called, so then Dave & I went and picked her up. From there I went and got my hair cut and then stopped at Walmart for a few groceries. Whew!! Awful lot of running for me these days!

We’ve been to the Post Office a couple times expecting mail but it hadn‘t arrived. Today we tried again and it finally made it… yeah! Since we were so close to Camping World we thought we’d stop in. Dave’s been wanting to get a portable gas campfire and they had the one he wanted on sale, so we got one. After that is was back to the trailer and relaxation.

Photos: Cheye with her new fur-cut

Happy New Year

As I mentioned yesterday, New Year’s Eve was quiet for us, at least until midnight…then the Vegas fireworks started going off and woke us all up. We wished each other a Happy New Year , calmed down Cheye and it was back to sleep. Day one of 2009 was spent in pretty typical fashion. I did do a little cleaning, 4 loads of laundry and put away Christmas, but besides that it was hang around the trailer and read, surf the net and walk Cheye.

We did spend some time talking about our travel schedule. The plan is still to go to southern California from here but we are now starting to throw around ideas for spring. We’ll probably change our thoughts a dozen times before we come up with a final plan…of course that is the beauty of this lifestyle, we can move or stay whenever and where ever.

Photos and Video: Taken yesterday at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

Red Rock and New Year’s Eve

This morning we decided to pack a picnic lunch and drive over to Red Rock Canyon which is about 22 miles from the Thousand Trails Las Vegas preserve. What a beautiful place. Of course we put the camera through a workout, 141 pictures! After driving the scenic loop and stopping a number of places along the way, we found a picnic area and ate. Great scenery to go with a New Year’s Eve lunch.
This evening will be quiet at the Montgomery house…we went down to TGI Friday’s for dinner, yummy baby back ribs, and we’ll relax the rest of the evening.

We hope 2009 holds wonderful things for you and your families! Happy trails…

Dave & Lori

Photos: taken at Red Rock Canyon, NV

A few more pictures

We did a little driving around in Las Vegas doing some errands today. I wanted to stop at a craft store for some cross stitch stuff and Dave wanted to stop at a camera shop. While we were out we had lunch at Panda Express and then it was back to the trailer. Dave spent the afternoon reading about our new camera and taking some pictures, I spent it stitching. I did get a few pictures ready for the blog tonight too... imagine that!

Bad day/Good Day

Dave wanted to get the oil changed and breaks checked on the pickup so he took it to a shop that is next door to the park. Very handy. Well, the front brakes needed new pads and the front rotors had to be replaced, they also had to replace a seal on the rear axle, that was the bad part of the day.

The good part of the day was we finally got our new camera Dave ordered in early December. With the traveling we are doing we wanted to get a nice camera so we finally decided on a Nikon SLR digital camera. So, after we got the pickup back we decided we really should go somewhere to take some photos…so back to Ethel M’s to the lighted cactus garden!

Sam’s Town

Neither Dave nor I had ever been to Sam’s Town Casino so this afternoon we decided to visit. It‘s a nice place…the hotel is built around the “Mystic Falls Park” which is an indoor park with water features and animatronic critters. The Christmas decorations are still up which made it all look very festive. There is a show a few times a day in the park, it was billed as a laser show but we watched the 2:00 p.m. version and there were no lasers just dancing fountains. It was good, not Bellagios but fun. The casino was fine, clean and a little more upscale than Boulder Station. Definitely a place we will visit again.

Photo: Sam’s Town
Video: Mystic Falls Park in Sam’s Town

To Henderson

This morning we drove to the Post Office in Henderson, NV hoping to get our mail. We did one letter but it was a piece of mail that they couldn’t find when we were here in October! Evidently this letter took the scenic route to Nevada! Unfortunately the other mail hadn’t arrived yet, probably Monday.

Camping World happens to be just down the road from the Post Office so we made a stop there also. I’ve been wanting to get some type of rack for our wine glasses and they advertised one online. Sure enough, it was just what I wanted so we got it. I’ll have to find a little bungie cord or something to put across the opening for when we travel or I’m afraid the wine glasses might fall out. After my mess with the Corelle I’m not going to take any chances!

Photo: Entry to Thousand Trails Las Vegas
Video: Slide show of Thousand Trails Las Vegas

Some Shopping

Today there were a few errands we needed to run; go to the bank, get some dog food, and we stopped at Barnes and Noble and the Family Dollar Store. We both enjoy looking around at books and ended up getting a book on digital photography and a box of 50% off Christmas cards at Barnes and Noble. The Dollar Store netted some candies, Coke and a travel mug as mine was in sad shape after having it at least 14 years!

It was sunny and about 55 degrees today here in Vegas, but the wind came up again and it was a very cold wind. So the rest of the day was spent inside reading, surfing the ‘net, answering emails, stitching and an occasional outside walk for Cheye's sake! :o)

Photos:
Top: our site in a fairly empty Thousand Trails park
Bottom: our favorite buffet stop; Boulder Station

Merry Christmas!

We went to a breakfast buffet at Boulder Station this morning and left stuffed. They had quite a layout for Christmas breakfast. Cheye got a big rawhide for her Christmas treat. The rest of our day was spent at the trailer. We played Christmas music, read, surfed the ‘net, took Cheye on walks and called family to wish them a Merry Christmas. Tonight we were going to bbq steaks but it’s pouring rain and gusty wind here in Vegas so we will go to Plan B and cook them under the broiler.

It’s been a lovely Christmas and we hope yours was the same!

Video: Slide show of the Christmas lights at Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve was fun, we relaxed at the trailer and then this evening we went over to the Vegas strip for dinner and a show. We saw Le Reve at the Wynn…very good! The show takes place on what they call an “intimate aqua theater-in-the-round” and includes lots of acrobatics, fountains and aerial feats. We enjoyed it.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope your holidays are fun and safe! Happy trails!

Dave & Lori

Photo: Our trailer decked out for Christmas, with a little help from Photoshop Elements
Video: A little of Le Reve before and after the show was finished…they don’t let you video during!

Vegas

We arrived at the Thousand Trails Las Vegas preserve about 10:00 this morning. We were hoping to park somewhere close to the site we were in last October and we actually got the exact same space! The park is emptier than in October but we were told it is supposed to fill up next week.

After getting set up we headed over to Boulder Station and had lunch at the buffet. I really need to learn to pace myself at that place, I was stuffed when we left. The afternoon was spent catching up on some emails and some internet surfing.

We decided to go to the lighted cactus display at Ethel M Chocolates this evening. It was beautiful!!! You can go through Ethel M’s botanical cactus gardens anytime of year, it’s free, and at certain times you can even view the chocolate factory in production. At Christmas they cover the cactus with lights and it is amazing! If you ever find yourself in Vegas at Christmas this is definitely something to see.

Photos & Video:
All taken tonight at Ethel M's in Las Vegas, NV