Golf Week and Ordinary Time

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted – partly because we’ve been busy, but partly because we’re settling into a routine – sort of “ordinary time,” and there doesn’t seem to be interesting stuff to write about every day.  But, here are a few noteworthy items from the week.

Monday night we had a full moon, and here it is outside our apartment on Tuesday morning!  Can you think of something more lovely than “Full Moon in Paradise”?  I can’t.

Tom is a keen observer.  One of the things he pointed out to me the other day is that the cell towers here don’t look like cell towers … they look like palm trees.  Here’s the one in the parking lot of the corner store.

When Tom drives, I check out the scenery and read road signs aloud.  We’ve seen a lot of interesting signs so far in our adventure, and here’s one we saw at Red Rock Canyon on Sunday, which I forgot to include in that post. 

Note that we haven’t seen ANY wildlife thus far, save a bald eagle in Nebraska, but the signs (and scat) keep telling us they’re near.  We saw the bighorn sheep sign in Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.

A friend of Tom’s has been in town this week, and they’ve golfed three days!  I had the car one afternoon and shopped at the outdoor mall in Green Valley!  (Working Central Time hours has some advantages for spending time outdoors in the sunshine!)

I talked to a casino worker and discovered that there are only two “Frog Prince” slot machines in the entire casino, and I’ve won money at both of them!  (Yes, I lost a dollar one night, but overall, I’m up about 15 bucks, which isn’t bad, I think, for the penny slots!)

Oh…. and, I’m starting to feel a little more like a “local” than a tourist!  I’m not relying on Siri to get from point A to point B, and am experimenting with “alternate routes.”  It feels good to start getting my bearings.  

Red Rock Canyon

We’ve been eating out a good deal – mostly because I’m working from the apartment and it’s a chance for me to leave the complex.  We had breakfast at home this morning – which was a nice change of pace. 

I had been studying the “Harley map” yesterday afternoon, so when Tom asked what I wanted to do today, I knew!  I said, “Let’s go to Red Rock Canyon.  It’s a short drive, it will get us out of the city, and closer to the mountains.  And, we can do it before we have dinner with Phil and Mary.” 

The weather was GREAT, too--sunny and warm-ish.  (Hey, it’s January, and we’re Minnesotans.  Anything over 40 is warm!)  We stopped at the sign for our first photo op.  Tom calls this one “Mr and Mrs Hollywood.”

We decided to stop at the overlook before going into the park.  I love the historical information at these overlooks.  And, today, I learned about the “Old Spanish Trail,” which spanned 150 miles in Nevada.  The sign told us that the artesian springs at Las Vegas made it one of the most dependable stops on the journey through the desert.  As we looked out over the valley, Tom and I wondered how worried cowboys on horseback and pioneers with wagons were about water in the desert.

At the Visitor Center, we heard a ranger telling another couple about a place to see petroglyphs and pictographs, and decided that was the trail for us!  Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought my hiking shoes and was wearing only sandals, so we didn’t get very far before we thought it wise to turn around.  So…  the petroglyphs and pictographs will need to wait for another time.  This might work to our advantage, because we read that Mojave Max, the tortoise who lives in the canyon, would be emerging from hibernation before we head back to Minneapolis, and we thought we’d go back in late February or early March to see if Max would be out and about.

Never Say Never… A Day of “Firsts”

Let me just start by saying I’m glad to be here writing. Things could have turned out differently.

The day started innocently enough – breakfast buffet at the South Point.  I can’t even remember what I had.  I do remember that my pals the woodchicks texted to let me know I was missing a frosty morning of wood-splitting back home.

After breakfast, we went to the Harley dealership.  I got a pin for my jacket and Tom got a t-shirt.  They gave us a map of the area, which I’ve been seeking at gas stations and quickie marts all over town. (Hooray Harley!)  They have these maps because they rent motorcycles –by the day and half day.  We weren’t dressed for a ride, and it was cloudy and cool today – not optimal for riding, but we took the brochure and will keep it in mind for a sunnier Saturday.  The cashier who sold us our goods was named Akilah – yes… like the movie.  She was good-natured about my question. 

Next stop – the Las Vegas Gun Show.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  Me, at a gun show.  Neither Tom nor I had ever been, and the advertising skewed female, so we gave it a go.  (One of the ads was alliterative … Ladies….. L… L… but I can’t remember the second two Ls.)  I did joke with Tom about him leaving me for a pistol-packin’ mama.  The first booth was a Trump booth.  The older couple at the table asked if I was registered to vote.  I said I was.  They asked if I planned to vote for Mr. Trump.  I said I didn’t.  As I walked away, I heard them discussing folks like me who haven’t yet seen the light.  Somehow, Tom and I got separated when he took a phone call. I talked to a guy who had some WWII memorabilia, including a brass shell casing, a little larger than the two I have on my mantle.  We weren’t allowed to take photos, or I’d have included one here. 

I then stopped at a booth called, “You Make Me Hot Honey.”  The vendor had beautiful glass ornaments and an assortment of hot sauces, honey, and barbecue sauce.  I asked him if he was getting extra business because of the anniversary of Scoville’s birthday.  He said I was the first person to mention it!  I asked him to show me the hottest hot sauce he had.  It was called Bumblefoot’s Bumblef**ked with a Scoville rating of 6 MILLION!  I asked how much they’d consider using in a recipe.  He said they use a toothpick to apply it – not an eyedropper – a toothpick.  Yowsa.  I ended up buying a barbecue sauce from them. Photo is from our kitchen here in Las Vegas.

Next Stop – drive down the strip.  You know where this is going, don’t you?  Yup.  We parked at the Stratosphere.  Yup.  We bought tickets for the “Big Shot.”  Yup.  I went up 112 floors to an OUTSIDE observation deck and got into a contraption that shot me into the air and then made me feel like I was free-falling.  Yes.  I screamed “Holy mother of God” in that moment.  But, I didn’t barf all over Tom as I had promised him I would. The picture is of me, moments after disembarking the contraption.  Tom says I don’t look “too ill.” 

We ended our day back at South Point.  Tom played craps and lost tonight. He’s still ahead overall, but was bummed about losing tonight.  And, he thinks I’m eternally optimistic in my outlook. I agree.  And, while he was in the restroom, I put a dollar into a penny slot called the Frog Prince and won almost 5 dollars!  I’m including photographic evidence of my ill gotten gains.  So, at least one of us came out ahead on the gambling front tonight.

I’m still processing all of my “firsts” from today.  It could take a while.  I’m closing with a photo of something we consider essential if you spend any amount of time in a casino.

TGIF!

I woke up with a KILLER headache today.  I’ve been working from the dining room table, and I think I’m scrunching my shoulders as I type.  Add in the residual stress from the drive and my shoulders are in desperate need of a massage.  Thank goodness it’s Friday and a massage today would have time to work its magic over the weekend.  I was able to get a same-day appointment at the local Massage Envy. 

I got done with my massage with just enough time run home, get Tom, change clothes, and head to South Point for a movie – our longstanding Friday evening tradition.  We saw “Dirty Grandpa,” with Robert Di Niro.  Laugh if you will.  We did!  It was just the tonic we needed.  After the movie, we stopped at the craps table, where I resisted the urge to sing “Luck be a Lady.”  Tom won again tonight!  Two for two.  And, I still have no idea how the game is played.  I wonder if I will understand it by the time we head back to Minneapolis.

Another Beautiful Day in Paradise

Our street address here is Las Vegas.  But, my weather app says we’re in Paradise.  As I made my coffee this morning, I thought about how the names of things can affect the way you think about them.  For me, Las Vegas conjures up images of flashy, glitzy excess.  Paradise, on the other hand, evokes peaceful, soothing tranquility.  Who doesn’t want to live there?!  Adding to this peaceful image is the fact that we’re on Serene Avenue. 

At home, when I open the blinds in the morning, I see my garden and the chirpy birdies in the evergreen tree.  Here, when I open the blinds, I see mountains, some of which are snow-capped.  Two different landscapes.  But, both are soothing. 

Birds seem scarce here in Paradise – save the pigeons, which are everywhere.  Yesterday, I saw a jay of some kind.  It perched on a pinecone for a few seconds before taking cover in a nearby shrub. And, this afternoon, I saw a hummingbird.  It was trying to get to a feeder, but a giant pigeon was hovering nearby and the hummingbird kept going back to a tree for shelter.  I didn’t stay to find out whether the hummingbird ever got to the feeder successfully.

I do miss my birdies from home, but life here in Paradise is good.

Oh Craps!

The cable guy came today and installed our high-speed modem.  So, now I won’t need to use my mobile to get work done.  Whew. 

I’m trying to go out for a walk around the complex every day.  It gets me out of the apartment and also gets me moving.  (At home, I make my coffee upstairs, so I get in some steps just getting coffee.  Here, everything is really close, so I need to find another way to get my steps in.)  There’s a grocery store a short walk from the north wall of the complex.  So, I stopped there today to pick up a few things we forgot on Monday and the surge protector the cable guy recommended for the modem.

When Tom got home from LifeTime, we headed to South Point for dinner.  Believe it or not, the two of us dined for $11.08.  That’s the least expensive meal we’ve had!  After dinner, Tom stopped at the craps table and after a bumpy start, walked away $110 ahead!  All in all, a great evening!  (And, we have "real" internet again!)  I had to text my little sister the news of Tom's winnings, since this was a game she tried when we were all here last February for our “Fun Cousin” weekend.  

Tennis Anyone?!

Today was my first day working from Las Vegas.  Actually, I tried to attend a meeting last night, but wasn’t able to.  Did I mention prohibitively slow internet?!  I’m going to try working Central Time hours, which will mean SUPER early mornings, but open afternoons!  This morning, I was able to attend a couple of meetings via my mobile phone.  I mentioned my lack of internet to a colleague, and he reminded me that I have the ability to set up a personal hotspot with my phone!  So, I did it, and was able to work (via my laptop) all day!  Thanks, Rod!

Tom called mid-day and said, “You’re not going to believe this.  I bumped into a guy at LifeTime and he asked me to play tennis.  They play Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from noon to 2pm.”  I was thrilled.  We had looked online for tennis clubs/groups/leagues from Minneapolis and didn’t have a lot of luck.  But, in his first day at LifeTime, Tom found a group.  He actually played a pickup game today, too.  So, he’s got almost the same routine here that he had at home. 

P.S.  The guys play indoors here. The photo is from this summer back home.

P.P.S.  It feels weird to be done with work by 2:30/3:00 pm.

Getting Settled Day

Today was a holiday for Intel, and I’m glad.  I couldn’t imagine working today after three days of intense travel.  We woke to a beautiful sunny day with the mountains in view from the living room and the bedroom.  I wondered aloud if people who live here become immune to the stunning landscape.  I guess we’ll see at the close of our experiment how we feel about the landscape.

We went to the South Pointe Casino / Hotel for breakfast.  I think Tom is right when he said you could spend the weekend there and not leave or have any need go unmet.  There are several restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a coffee shop, a spa, oh, and gaming.  Tuesdays, movies are very inexpensive.  This could be a new “go to” location for us!

Next Stop:  LifeTime.  Working out is important for Tom.  And, when we found out that there was a LifeTime location closer to our apartment than Summerlin, we were thrilled.  So, after breakfast, we stopped by to get him set up there.

Then, we got groceries and a few things we needed for the apartment.  Tom went to LifeTime to work out.  I tried to blog a little, but the internet connection was prohibitively slow and my brain was on overload.  I picked up take out from an Italian place and we called it a night.

Driving – Day Three – Salt Lake City to Sin City

Today was the shortest but hardest travel day.  I think the stress from yesterday’s drive was still with us when we started.  We couldn’t agree on where to have breakfast, so after we got the car packed, Tom stopped at McDonald’s for me, where I got a large coffee and a sausage biscuit with egg (which is good for a gluten free person, because I can just discard the biscuit and eat the sausage patty and the square scrambled egg neatly and quickly).  It was there that I learned Tom cut himself (badly) on the fridge, saving the bottle of wine I’d forgotten.

We continued our pattern of Tom driving first.  There was DENSE fog out of Salt Lake, which lasted for almost an hour.  The fog froze to the roadway in places, making for a slippery drive.  We did see one car that had hit the guard wall.  By the time we stopped for gas in Fillmore, UT, we didn’t need our jackets.  I turned in my boots for my blue suede shoes.

The views continued to be stunning.  Red rock mountains and gorges.  The Great Basin and all the Canyons.

We had lunch in St. George, Utah, the last town in Utah before the Arizona border.  We remarked that we hadn’t seen any wildlife on the trip except for the Bald Eagle.

We got to Las Vegas just after 2 pm.  We read and signed a mountain of paperwork and then started unpacking.  It was 63 degrees (and sunny) when we arrived – MUCH warmer than the weather back home (where it was below zero).  And... We can see the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino from our road.

We love the apartment, which is clean, well decorated, and very open.  The two disappointments are that the wifi they advertised is SUPER low speed and the two pools aren’t heated (as advertised).  One of the pools is actually under construction and the other is comparable to stepping into Lake Superior in the spring.  (Yes.  I walked into the pool.)  We ordered the high speed internet as we were signing the lease, so, I’ll be able to work from the apartment.

After we unpacked, Tom took me on a tour of Las Vegas, we had a quick dinner, went back to our apartment and collapsed.

Driving – Day Two – North Platte to Salt Lake City

We woke early to find a snow covered car.  After a quick stop at McDonald’s for breakfast and coffee, we were on the road – half an hour earlier than yesterday. And, we pulled into the hotel just after 5pm.  Tom's formula worked again today. We're not quite sure how we did it, but we covered a few more miles today in less time -- even with my snail's pace shift at the beginning of the day.

Tom took the first shift of driving, for which I was grateful.  I could sip my coffee and appreciate the sunrise and the beautiful light over the Nebraska prairie.  

We noticed the geography change about where I-80 split off to I-78.  The prairie turned into buttes and bluffs.  And, where yesterday we saw old-fashioned windmills, this morning we saw working oil rigs!

I noticed several “no hitchhiking” signs just past entrance ramps in Nebraska.  I can’t ever remember seeing these on other road trips.  But, they sparked a good conversation about whether people do hitchhike anymore (Tom’s take is that they do, or there wouldn’t be signs), and whether either of us had hitchhiked … Tom has.  I haven’t.

We changed from Central Time to Mountain Time at 7:45 am. -- just before Sidney – headquarters of Cabella’s.  Tom wasn’t impressed by the aesthetics or architecture of the building.  Later, we drove through Sinclair – home of Sinclair Oil.  I recalled the story of the GIANT blow up dinosaur my dad brought home from the local Sinclair station.  We named him Dino, after the dinosaur on the Flintstones.  (No imagination, right?!)  In between, there’s an aptly named town – Pine Bluffs! 

I took my shift driving after a gas-stop in Hillsdale, Wyoming – just outside of Cheyenne.  It went well for about, oh, 5 miles, and then things got scary.  The wind picked up and snow was blowing across the road.  We kept seeing signs that warned us about black ice and high winds – turn off your cruise control.  We pulled into a rest stop just outside of Laramie and I happily let Tom take the wheel again.  We had a rest stop again and Tom went in and I kept my seat-belt firmly buckled in the passenger seat, so, Tom drove until we got to Rock Springs, where we had a quick lunch and then went on our way.  I drove the last leg of the day – Rock Springs to Salt Lake – about 189 miles.

If I had to pick only one word to describe this leg of the trip, it would be harrowing.  We had sheet ice on the highway, blowing/blinding snow, mountain roads/steep grades, sleet, and high winds.  I was glad I had my sunglasses on, because I didn’t think I needed a headache from squinting at the sun glinting off the snow in addition to the ache I had in my shoulders from trying to keep the car on the road.  And, yet, somehow, Tom trusted me enough to nap just a bit.

Before he napped, he took some pictures.  This one is from just outside of Green River.  Tom said he thought it looked like heaven. I told him that if I looked at the photo while I was driving, we both might end up there.

I was gripping the steering wheel so tightly when we pulled into the hotel at Salt Lake, I thought my hands would be stuck in that position for days.  I would have cried from relief if I hadn’t been so tired.  We had dinner at the Golden Corral (they have fantastic veggies) and then went back to the hotel for a soak in the hot tub—after a quick stop at the state-run liquor store for a bottle of wine.  Why didn’t they tell us the pool and hot tub were in a separate building from the hotel itself?!  A small band of children led us to the pool house and warned us that the “smoke” (steam) would get “really bad” if we closed the door.  We took the risk.  Because there weren’t any towels in the pool house, getting back to the hotel in our wet suits just added to the surreal quality of the day.

Tom just reminded me about how we picked our dinner spot.  I picked three.  He picked one – The Golden Corral. Tom put each restaurant name on a slip of paper and put them in his beanie.  We agreed we’d go to the place I picked out of the hat.  We both laughed when I picked HIS choice – especially after he joked about putting GC on all of the slips!  (He didn’t, but it did lighten the mood!)

Driving – Day One – Minneapolis to North Platte

It’s been a while since the last post. We’ve been busy packing and getting ready to leave (and celebrating my birthday). But, this morning, at 6:45, we left the alley. We pulled into our hotel in North Platte about 6:15. You'll notice that Google Maps says about 9 and a half hours, but our actual time was closer to 12 hours.  I'll let you in on Tom's secret travel formula -- two hours for each 100 miles.  And, if you look at the 650ish miles we traveled and the just about 12 hours we traveled, I'd say that's a pretty dang good formula!

I hadn’t thought about how different a winter road trip would be from a summer road trip.  But, it is different.  One of the things we saw, which you’d never see on a summer road trip – is herds of cattle grazing in harvested fields.  It reminded me of the story of Ruth, where the people are gleaning the fields.  I wondered where the cattle grazed in the summer.

Tom and I always think about pioneers when we’re road tripping and how different their journey was from our own.  The difference was reinforced when we clicked “walk” rather than “drive” when asking Siri for the time/distance from Des Moines to North Platte and she said 5 days, 20 hours instead of 6 hours.  Getting out of the car at the gas stops hit home the urgency they must have felt at getting to their destination before the really bad weather hit.  We were grateful for paved roads and good suspension rather than the hilly prairie and the bumpy ride of a wagon.

We saw windfarms and windmills – the old-fashioned kind you see in Western movies.  Some were defunct, but some were working!  For some reason, this made us both glad! 

We saw a bald Eagle and other birds of prey.  And, when we drove through Kearney, I realized we’d be coming home during the Sandhill Crane migration – something I’ve heard about for many years, but never witnessed.  I could have my chance this year!

We had a non-descript meal and headed back to our hotel, which Tom says is better than staying in a covered wagon or a tent, so I could jot down some notes for the blog.  I asked Tom what he wanted to contribute for the day.  He squinted at me and thought hard.  I asked a few questions to prime the pump.  But, the one that hit pay-dirt was when I asked him what he thought the most surprising thing was during the day.  His response, without hesitation, was, “when you put the brakes on on the freeway!”  It sent us both into a fit of giggles.  (To explain… I had the cruise control on and was behind a truck, which I needed to pass, but someone came up quickly on my left, and I had nowhere to go…so I applied the brakes.  Tom was napping, and it surprised him.)

All in all, a successful day on the road.

Things to do in Vegas besides Gambling (and Golf)

Early on  in our Snowbird Experiment, we talked about “things to do” in Las Vegas.  See Red Rock Canyon; See part of the old Route 66, visit my step-mom and my neighbor Nancy, both now living in Phoenix.  So, when Tom asked the other night what I’d like to see while we’re in Vegas, I told him I thought I’d covered that list already!  He told me I hadn’t scratched the surface…

Having been there only twice – and once only as a “supply stop” on a college road trip, I really had no idea of what my options were.  So, I did what I usually do in those situations – research.  I scoured the bookstore for a guide book that might help me figure out some activities and “hole in the wall” places to eat/see during our free time. I found the Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas.  I like it because it’s not just Gambling and Golf.  It's restaurants, shopping, shows, and sights.

So, tonight, I decided to read some of the entries and laughed so hard I couldn’t speak!  Tom's favorite hotel/casino is the Stratosphere.  His greatest desire/challenge is to get me to go on one of their thrill rides.  Here’s what the guidebook says about the “Sky jump,”. “Oh, did we forget to mention that there’s no parachute?  Instead, you’re hooked up to a zip line on the 108th floor of the tower where you heave yourself over the side of the platform. Happily, after reaching speeds of 40mph, you’ll be slowed to a comfortable landing.  The price to jump off a perfectly good building instead of taking the elevator is xxx.”  I told Tom I’d prefer the elevator, thank you very much!

The guide book looks like it will prove not only useful, but entertaining!

Who’s GardenGoddess?

The entries for the blog are posted by “GardenGoddess.”  Here’s why.  A long time ago, I wrote a garden blog.  It started while I was recovering from a major surgery.  I read a lot of blogs then, and missed the practice of daily writing, and wondered if I could do it.  I challenged myself to write between 200 and 250 words every day during the growing season.  I promised myself I wouldn’t do it until I’d come up with 30 topics, so I wouldn’t be one of those folks who blogged for a week and then ran out of steam/topics.  I kept notes about what I hated (and loved) about the blogs I read and tried to avoid/repeat those things in my own blog.  I named the blog “Auntie K’s Garden,” because my nephews call me Auntie K, and because it gave me some anonymity. 

To my surprise, "Auntie K’s Garden" gained a lot of followers, and won an award.  Readers encouraged me to post more photos.  I had been reluctant because I’m not a skilled photographer.  They said it didn’t really matter and that if I took more photos, I’d gain skill.  I don’t know about that, but I did start using more photos. 

I guess I didn’t think about creating a whole new online persona for “The Snowbird Experiment;” it just seemed natural to create a new blog under my Garden persona.  So… that’s why the posts are by GardenGoddess.

“The Snowbird Experiment” lacks photos right now.  It seems difficult to find images that illustrate the internal part of the journey we’re on.  Or, maybe I just lack the imagination to find them.  I promise that once we get on the road, there will be photos.

A Couple of Worry Warts

Tom calls himself a worrier from time to time.  I typically think of myself as more of a planner than a worrier.  But, I had a thought the other day that did make me worry.  When we go to Las Vegas, it will be the first time in my adult life that I will be without my own vehicle.  As a woman used to her independence, this realization hit me hard.  I’m not used to depending on anyone.  I revealed my worry to Tom the other night – along with the confession this lack of independence could make me cranky.  I wanted him to know that if I did get cranky, it wasn’t with or at him, but at the situation.  He assured me that I could have access to the car (with or without him). 

Which leads me to Tom’s worry.  He’s concerned that because he’s retired and I’ll be working from the apartment, he’ll be a nuisance to me, or that I’ll get sick of being around him – even with his daily trips to LifeTime. I know that there aren’t any guarantees, but we had a trial run of this scenario mid-December, when Tom was injured during a hockey game and I stayed with him for a week to be the nurse.  Sometimes, we were both in the front room, and sometimes, one of us went to the bedroom.  It seemed like a good compromise.  But, I thought it would be good if I had a place to go sometimes – since Tom’s got LifeTime – and since I don’t want him to feel banished while I’m working – so, I googled Starbucks locations in Las Vegas.  There’s one within two miles!  I could even walk and get in some steps! There’s a local coffee shop that’s even closer, so I’ve got a couple of options!  Whew!