Nov. 14 - 19, 2010 Through Idaho, Utah and to Las Vegas while beginning our trip to the Southwest

    Left home at 6:45 a.m. and drove in rain until we reached Mountain Home, ID. - about 5 hours.  We had reservations at the airbase motel and had a nice room, visited the BX and had lunch.  Later ate snacks in our room.
    The next morning as we were driving near Bliss, ID. we saw a sign that read that a fossil bed there had yielded fossils of several types of animals, including zebras!  We drove several hours before stopping at the ATK space systems headquarters in the middle of nowhere past Howell. Utahbecause they had a large display of rockets, boosters and missiles - Air Force, Navy, NASA - on display for the pubic.  Tom had just told me that he knew that many yrs ago there had been a fuel propulsion place somewhere out there and we decided ATK must have taken them over.  One sign nearby even listed the old company's name - Thiokol.

    Down the road was our destination for that area:  the Golden Spike Railroad Historic Site, where the golden spike was set when the 2 railroads met in crossing the country.  Tom got a pass to enter the working engine shed, where the 119 and Jupiter are.  During much of the year they give rides.  Driving back to the Interstate the scenery was gorgeous-beautiful snow-capped mountain peaks (we think they are the Pulmontory Range, per our map) rose behind valleys, fields and lower mountains.  The road is high, looking out onto huge rock formations like the bottom of an aquarium can look and Tom told me the gigantic Lake Bonneville used to cover this whole area.
    Ogden, Utah
    Tom toured the 1923 Union Station which had a lot of engines and railroad cars outside and inside was an antique car museum and a Browning rifle museum (Brownings were made there in Ogden area.)
In 1869 the Union Pacific RR met the Central Pacific RR in Ogden.  While he was there I walked several blocks to windowshop and found a hotdog place for us to eat in.  Then headed to the hotel to relax 3 hours before hitting the sack.

    11/16
    Long driving day so we left the hotel at 6:15 a.m.  Really didn't see anything to stop for so enjoyed the pretty mountains and scenery enroute.  Arrived at the Luxor about 1:30.  Our room is on the 18th floor, overlooking the airport a couple of blocks away (we never heard any of the planes that fly night and day).  Walked around inside and then drove to the Ellis Island Casino because I had read it served good, reasonable dinners.  It happened to be Italian night and I had a wonderful meal, including a glass of wine for $10.99 that probably would have been $40 or more at a lot of restaurants here.  Then around the corner to the Rio to watch a show with groups from the 1950's and 1960's - Platters, Coasters and Marvelettes.  None of the women in the Marvellettes are old enough to have been in the original group.  Music was good.  (Today our friends Dave and Darlene called to ask if we would be willing to go on the Panama Canal cruise we have talked about next November, so I made the reservations for that!


11/17


    Today we went to a presentation by RCI timeshares and bought in.  They say it will really save us money on many of the trips all over the world that we have planned for the next few years.
    Walked around New York, New York and The Excalibur.  Drove to Fremont Street and walked around it before meeting our friends, Penny and Ray.  We sat at a buffet for 3-3/4 hours visiting.

11/18
    We walked over 2 miles on the strip this morning, taking a cab part of the way back.  We are so tired of the noise everywhere - blasting at you as you walk on sidewalks from restaurants and casinos, all the machines inside the casinos, with blaring music above that noise.  We enjoyed the seasonal floral display at The Bellagio.  When we walked into the lobby I told Tom I wondered if the glass flowers on the ceiling were made by Dale Chihuly of Seattle and they were.  A book in the gift shop said it took 40,000 pounds of handblown glass and 100 people from designers, architects and glassblowers to make them.

There was an 1100 pound pumpkin on display, along with 900# and more huge ones.

These trees are called fantasy trees - made of 420,000' of triandra willow branches which are boiled to make them this color and give them flexibility.  Each tree weighs 3000# and takes 3000 hours to make.

sunrise from our 18th floor room

    Ate lunch downstairs and then up to the room to rest for the first time.  It is so nice outside, but the pool area is closed.  We went to the Titanic Exhibit here.

Nov. 19 evening - 28 Mesa, AZ.

This week we enjoyed family time with Ev's sister and her family, including Thanksgiving Day.  This was our first Thanksgiving together since 1979 and the last major holiday together was Christmas in 1989.  We ate at a restaurant's patio one night and enjoyed the view after dark.

Saguaro cacti don't grow arms until after they are 100 years old

sunset in the distance from the restaurant

Lexi ("my name is spelled Alexis") is 5.  Her hair is to her waist when it is wet.  Ella is 10 months and almost ready to walk

Linda and Bob's 4 grandkids-Olivia is 13, Quinn 11, Lexi 5 and Ella 10 months

Whenever Lexi and I are together she uses colors , uses stickers or whatever for me to send in the boxes I mail to soldiers (she says shoilders).  She learned more about soldiers when several came to her classroom on Veterans' Day.  She told her mom there was even a woman soldier.  She was so surprised to learn that Linda's daughter-in-law was a soldier.

We had dinner with Tom's brother, Mike, and his girlfriend, Sherry Wednesday.