View from the Mirage

Another video clip from Mary's camera. This one is of the Vegas strip from the front of the Mirage hotel.

Valley of Fire Videos

Here are 2 video clips I took with Mary's awesome Nikon Coolpix L3 camera. I had to drop this clip off at Google Video and then embed it here in my blog. Roundabout but not too much work.

55 pounds of fur

55 pounds is the combined weight of these 2 giant fur balls. The guy on the left is named Catie [sounds like Katie] (before realizing that "she" was a he) and the one on the right is Meowth. Catie is about 25 pounds while Meowth weighs in over 30 pounds. Yikes!

Still, as you can see, these heavy weights get along nicely. In particular, click the pic to see the hand-holding, er, paw-holding. Awwwww....

Hammonasset Kite Festival

This year's kite festival at Hammonasset was dampened by rain on Saturday. Fortunately, Sunday cleared up and allowed some fun under a chilly sun. Some pics follow.

This guy wasn't flying a kite as much as a parachute. He fought mightily to stay on the ground!

My fav shot of the day—Kermit the frog in flight.

3 kites being flown by one guy! He had some kind of gear around his waist managing the kite strings along with his hands. I was impressed!

Another shot of the 3 kites managed by 1 guy. It wasn't enough that he got them into the air; he got them to do cool synchronized acrobatics.

Back at ground level, spectators look on.

This year's festival was not as dramatic as it has been in the past when truck sized kites dominated the skyline. I don't know what accounts for that. Perhaps it was the threat of rain. Still, it was a good enough for a nice day in the sun, even though it was unusually chilly for late May.

Later, Mary and I walk along the Hammonasset boardwalk. Good thing we brought our jackets! We were pleasantly surprised to find that the boardwalk has been completely rebuilt with some kind of spongey material as firm as wood but not as susceptible to decay. Lower maintenance is good!

Into the closet!

Before

After

Once again, Mary guided me to a nice home change. In this case, you can see the difference above—from a one dimensional board/clothes rack to a layered arrangement with a simple, affordable purchase from Lowe's.

The hard part was working in the closet's tight space, scraping the ancient popcorn nonsense off the ceiling and then finishing the painting.

With this effort completed, the bedroom is ready for the next big step—what to do with the floor. While I was keen on a laminate floor, I'm now leaning toward something like a Berber carpet for resale purposes. Still thinking about it. Stay tuned.

Self-Refuting Modern Crap

Check out the current video at the Sothebys site: www.sothebys.com/video/privateview. It's an excellent example of pretentiousness, of denying the evidence of one's own eyes that one is looking at crap.

The emperor is naked.

Buffalo burgers, splitting logs, bubbles, and more

Except for chilly evenings, the New England weather this weekend was perfect. So, outdoor activities were the order of the day.

As always, I enjoyed helping Mary with her lovely yard. Since it slopes down a slight grade, it gave me a good aerobic workout while I hauled mulch down to the back where her huge stretch of wisteria plants grow. I look forward to seeing them bloom.

Later, I had my first experience with splitting small logs. While I had heard of the simple wedge often used for this, I was not familiar with the 4-sided wedge. They funneled down into a common, blunt point, making it easy to pound it into a log with a sledgehammer. The idea is simple—just tap it into place and hammer away.

Of course, it's not just mindless action. You should be mindful of your surroundings, careful not to hurt yourself or anyone (or anything like the family cat) wandering nearby. Also, getting accurate control of a 5 pound sledghammer takes a little practice.

I ended my introduction to log splitting with a perfect strike. As the two halves of the log fell to the ground, the wedge wound up stuck like a spike into the large stump I was using as a work surface. That was cool.

At Sunday dinner, Mary and her son introduced me to buffalo burgers. They were delicious. Mary says they're better to eat because they're less fatty. Fine by me; I just enjoy how they taste.

When the wind is gentle enough, I like to break out a little toy that shoots soap bubbles by the dozens. It's a fun diversion (and pretty much all I can handle after wearing myself out with yard work).

Mary showed me one of the Durham attractions—Mica Ledges. I forgot to bring her wonderful camera. So, this pic will have to do for now. The view is much better than this pic. Mary's home is somewhere off to the pic's right.

Back in New England

After all that desert travel, fascinating as it was, I welcomed my return to the New England spring. Here are some highlights from Mary's yard.

This lone flower captured my attention. It's now tied to Mary's number on my cell phone. I enjoy seeing it pop up whenever she calls.

Here's part of Mary's back yard. Notice the abscence of leaves. I happily invested many aerobic hours in clearing them. The result was worth the effort.

A tree blooming near the property line.

Meowth giving his best "don't mess with me" pose.

Then, when he thinks no one is watching, he frolics like a kitty.

Hoover Dam and Boulder City

On the dam, we, of course, walked across the borderline into Arizona. Here, you see the intake tower on Arizona's side of the line.

Here's a closer shot of the Arizona intake tower. Shortly, you'll see that the clock is the same time on the Nevada side as on Arizona's. They're not always the same since Arizona does not comply with daylight savings. On this day, they happen to coincide.

This plaque marks not only the Nevada/Arizona border but the first time I've been in two places at once. If only I could bottle that phenomenom and use it when I do my chores!

Here, of course, is the Nevada intake tower.

Next to the dam, cut into the rock, is an ice cream shop. Not only is it a wonderful contrast to the hard core engineering feat, it's just coolly refreshing to down some ice cream after being baked in the desert heat.

After leaving the ice cream shop, we passed by this sculpture. More information on it is available here.

Up the road from Hoover Dam is Boulder City. It's beautifully eerie to remember that this city is in a desert when you see its lush green lawns.

The palm tree on the left is a reminder that I was not in New England.

The sign on the pole reminds us who works for whom.

Great view of Lake Mead from Boulder City.

The Boulder City Hotel, where Mary's friend Ilana was staying. I like this hotel. If I visit this area again, I'll stay here instead of in Vegas. The rent is much cheaper and the small town pace and feel appeals to me. It was an especially welcome contrast to the intense pedestrian congestion in Vegas.

End of the day in Boulder City.

Valley of Fire & Hoover Dam

Here's another pic from the Valley of Fire. I like the blue-green color of the clumps of grass. I don't recall ever seeing that color before, not in plants anyway.

Still in the valley, we stopped at this spot for the view and to walk up a stretch of rock. Notice all the vegetation. Visiting the desert in April is a practical choice. I doubt that vegetation will still be that color in August.

Our visit to Hoover Dam was a fitting change of pace—from desert to dam. Mary is posing with her friend, Ilana, for my first dam picture and not the last of my dam puns.

Mary and I strike a pose.

Next, it's Ilana's turn with her husband, Angus. Both very sharp and a lot of fun.

The swirling, life-giving water of the now tamed Colorado River.

A shot from the dam.

Notice that the towers are at an angle; a logical concession to the rough terrain.

The leaning towers are set in sharper contrast here against the straight, vertical line of the observation tower.

Here, you can see the foundation for the bridge that will eventually span the river. It will relieve the considerable congestion of the traffic that flows across the dam daily.

That's it for now. More to follow.

Vegas

My birthday celebration this year was in Vegas. Originally, I was going to visit the Grand Canyon. However, meeting Mary changed that. Specifically, a friend, an archaeologist, of hers was going to be in Boulder City, a short drive from Vegas. That and Mary's familiarity with Vegas and its surroundings tipped the scale.

One of the nice features of this trip was this: departing New England in the midst of pouring rain and temps in the 50s and heading west to dry desert temperatures near 100. Ahhhh....

Coming from that geographical context, I was inspired to snap some photos as we passed over the Rockies. Check them out. Remember: You can see a larger version of each one by clicking the picture.


Finally in Vegas, I was pleased to pick up my car rental—a PT Cruiser. It proved to be very practical in the desert heat—i.e., easy to cool and to keep cool as well as easy to drive.

Unfortunately, our arrival in Vegas was tainted by a major computer problem at the Mirage registration desk. Close to an hour passed before we finally got our keys and headed for our room. Ugh.

Fortunately, that was the worst of the hiccups for the trip. The service at the Mirage and elsewhere was excellent. That was a welcome contrast to the lousy service I got at a bed and breakfast in Gettysburg last year.

A friend suggested trying a gondola ride at the Venetian. Here's a shot of what that would entail.



Expand it. Notice the pedestrian and auto traffic close by. Also, check out the gondola and its passengers in the foreground. No cover. The temps were close to 100. Yeah, it's a dry heat but too oppressive for my tastes. Pass.

The Vegas strip pretty much bored me after a few hours. Among other things, it made me wonder if the number of zombie movies pouring out of Hollywood could be explained by the intense number of pedestrians pouring onto the Vegas strip at night, walking in a sluggish, zombie-like fashion.

Anywho, on my birthday night, we took in a show at the Mirage. We saw Cirque du Soleil's
The Beatles Love performance. Yawn. It had its moments but for the money I laid out I was expecting something exotic, some kind of big finish. Nope. If we had kids in tow, it would have been an appropriate choice.

The next day, we headed for the desert to see the Valley of Fire. This was cool. However, as we got deeper into the desert, I paid attention to the fact that gas stations were few and far between. In fact, on the whole excursion, I saw exactly 1 gas station. So, I gassed up at the first station even though my tank was close to full.

Some shots and comments from the Valley of Fire follow.

This patch of rock gave me a surprise. While walking across it, I kicked a stone. When it skidded across the rock, it produced a hollow sound. The baked boulders are hollow! Yet we could walk across them safely.

Another tourist snapped this pic for us. Getting to this spot was slow. We trekked up a bumpy dirt road off the main paved road to get there. But the view was worth it.

Mary and I just liked the contrast of the white boulders rising abrubtly out of the red stone surface around it.

Here's the road home. It was a nice contrast of green grass, black mountains, the valley of red rock and especially the man-made, well paved road through it all.

That's it for tonight. More pics to follow.

Marilyn Monroe

I found this image of Monroe on a postcard during my recent visit to Boulder City, Nevada. Specifically, I found it tucked away in a tiny shop named Classic Hollywood Gems within the Boulder Dam Hotel. Dee, the shop owner, was very friendly, commenting on how much she liked Monroe. I do too.

I especially like this picture. In addition to its style, it reminds me of Charlize Theron. However, after looking at dozens of pictures of Theron online, I saw none that supported that impression very well. Theron is beautiful, of course. I think she could manage a pose to resemble Monroe, especially decked out the way Marilyn is in this photo. But the total look is, of course, Marilyn's own.