Ike's Visit to Vegas

One of Gavin's good friends, Ike Thurston, came out to visit Vegas for his spring vacation the week after we went to San Diego. We took him out to Red Rocks to hike around and show him where Gavin spends a lot of his time. It was really windy and cold that day. Here are some pictures of them goofing around!

Really windy.

High-five!

Ikeman!

Discussing something important!

Gambling

On the night Ike flew in, we went directly to the strip, The Luxor to be exact, to gamble a few dollars. We all stared off with $5. At the slot machine, I turned $5 into $12. From there, Gavin convinced me to go to the Craps Table and bet $10 on red. We won. So, now I am excited and ready to leave, but they convince me to do it "one more time." We won on red three times in a row before I was able to pry them away from all of the excitement of "easy" money. Believe me, all it takes is one night of winning to understand how people get addicted to gambling... it was such a rush!

This was actually the next night. The boys had had time to discuss the best odds at the craps table and we ready to try their luck again. They also decided to dress like high-rollers. It was so much fun!

You know... high rollin'

Shades at the table... thats how it's done! We all lost that night. Gavin even tried to get $20 out of the casino ATM, but the service charge was $7.50. Vegas will ruin you... haha! We discussed no our way back home how quickly your money can disappear once you turn it into a tiny chip!

Brainhead, Utah

We woke up around 4 a.m. and made the drive to Brainhead, UT to get in a full day of skiing. It was so much fun, and it had been a long time since I had been on the slopes. We skied all day, from 9-4. We even got some sun!

Eager to get to the top!

On the lift... the only picture I have of the three of us.

This is actually a really funny scene here. The three of us were pulling out in front of the lift for it to pick us up. Ike was snowboarding, and his board caught my pole. He bent over to pick it up, and the lift hit him on the butt. He then fell on one of my skis. I was already committed to this particular lift chair and had to just go with it... slalom style. Gavin looks over and sees Ike on the ground, and he bails on the chair. Ike reagins his composure and another chair passes over him while he is still on the ground (getting kind of confusing, but stay with me). The guy working the lift abruptly stops the lift, and as Ike is standing up, the chair in front of him swings back and hits him in the head, leveling him back down to the ground. The guy working the lift says, "REALLY? Are you alright man?" He was just laughing at Ike's bad luck! It was really very funny, but poor Ike. He got taken out twice in a matter of seconds!

This picture doesn't do the damage justice! It actually looked worse the next day, I think he had a non-stop headache from there on out. He was a trooper though!

Red Rock Hiking/Climbing

I think he was tired of me taking pictures...

I just wanted to be in a picture. That's all I have to say about this face.

Another man chat. Discussing the execution of a climbing route.

Gav, our fearless lead-climber.

Ike made it to the top.

And, I did too!

Precious face, and beautiful baby blues!

Boys on the strip. Ike's last night.

In front of the Belagio Fountain. I hope Ike had a good time. I know that we did... two vacations in two weeks. My life is not real!

Valentine's Day in San Diego

For Valentine's Day, Gavin and I took a trip over to San Diego for three days! We left on that Sunday morning and took the five hour drive to the coast. When we arrived, we parked the car and walked to the Broadway Pier to catch a ferry over to Coronado Island. The timing was great because we were riding the ferry as the sun was going down. The little island had a number of touristy diners and shops, so we entertained ourselves by just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. We ended up enjoying a romantic Valentine's dinner at the local KFC and Taco Bell (one of those two for one fast-food restaurants... ya know, the eighth world wonder in the eyes of all boys (my version of J.Crew and Anthropologie under one roof)). We took the ferry back into town and strolled the streets. It was the perfect Valentine's Day!

The view of San Diego from the ferry.

One of many pictures we took of ourselves!

On the ferry ride back to the city.

Sailboat

The sailboating section deserves it's own title because this little adventure was the inspiration for the entire getaway. Gavin began researching rental prices and locations for almost two weeks before the trip so that we would have the best conditions including mild traffic and the best shot of taking our boat out into the open sea. We rented a 22' sailboat from Mission Bay; it was a great deal! We rented the boat for 4 hours, and we were given a map with instructions. I really should have taken a picture of the map because the lady took a sharpie to the entire bay showing all of the places we could and couldn't go. Naturally, she took the sharpie and put a giant X over the causeway leading out to sea. And, naturally, Gavin pointed us directly to the causeway. The wind was mild, but it began to pick up right about the time we were almost 4 miles away from land! We hoped to see some whales, as it the middle of whale migrating season, but we had no such luck. We had a great time none the less!

He is in heaven.

King of the ship!

He even let me drive!

Taking to the sea... he kind of reminds me of Gilligan in this picture.

I was a natural if I do say so myself. I was the perfect skipper, or first mate, or both... I'm not yet learned in the area of sailing terminology.

On our way back through the causeway to return the boat. The wind had really picked up at this point. This is a good shot of how big the waves were getting.

On our way back in, I spotted some seals bathing themselves on this bouie (I have no clue how to spell this word, and neither does Google according to my search). They made the strangest noises!

Back in the harbor. It was so much fun! This is about the time that Gavin asked me, "Were you nervous going through causeway with so much wind?" To which I replied, "It didn't occur to me to be nervous... Were we in danger?" Gavin laughed and confessed that we were in fact in some dicey and dangerous places, and that he was nervous to whole time. Lesson learned... sometimes oblivion is a safe and happy place.

The San Diego Zoo

This was my one request in the planning of our trip. And it was worth every penny! This zoo is phenomenal... they had every animal you would hope to see, and even some animals you had never heard of. The zoo was huge, I even found it difficult to navigate with the convenient color map (no surprise from my father, I'm sure). Gavin and I had very tired feet by the end of the day.

This picture was taken in front of the meerkats... they were so funny to watch.

We actually had to take the sky buckets to get to the other side of the zoo.

One of the many beautiful cats in the zoo.

Gavin's favorite attractions... monkeys! Seriously, I couldn't get him to walk away, and he would waltz on by the larger attractions like they were commonplace. He was amazed at how they could jump from twig to twig without falling to the ground. It was fun to watch.

More meerkats... they have a lot of personality.

Gavin's response to the camel: "Eww..."

One of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Little fact: Gavin is afraid of snakes, very afraid. He looked through the glass, made a frightened little boy face, and said, "Let's keep moving!"

The lions were amazing! This is a picture of the trainer feeding the lioness. They have huge heads! It really made me miss Africa (I am planning on adding a few Africa postings before too long).

Sad faces... vacation is over! But, our adventure to San Diego was really just leaving one paradise to visit another. And since I don't have a job, my life right now is really just one big vacation anyway. Thank you Gavin, for a wonderful Valentine vacation!

Snow Day

Las Vegas got a couple of inches of snow on January 22. Gavin and I headed up to Red Rocks because the valley didn't get as much snow. It was beautiful to see the normally red/orange mountains covered in white snow... it was a winter wonderful day!

The drive into Red Rocks...

My eyes are actually open... I know it can be difficult to tell sometimes!

He is always so much fun!

I'm so happy!

Always climbing on something!

Kind of cold, but happy!

Snow Angel!!

We had such a great time playing in the snow!

Gavin's Parents Came to Visit

Gavin's parents came to visit in mid-January. It was a weekend packed full of a lot of activities. They had not been out to visit Gavin since he moved, so there were a lot of things that he wanted to show them while they were here. They arrived really late on a Thursday night, so we started early on Friday morning. We went out for a hike in Red Rock Canyon so they could see where he spends most of his free time rock climbing.

Mr. Kidd and Mrs. Lynette (one day I will call them by their first names, but I can't seem to get to that point just yet!)

They are so cute!

Being goofy!

Cute

Mr. Kidd

Right before we took a tour of the Hoover Dam.

In front of the new bridge.

Good picture!

I like this family picture.

The Hoover Dam bridge is under construction right now. It is a national security risk to have cars and buses driving directly on top of the dam, so they are building this bridge to bypass it. The dam will still be pedestrian friendly, they are just worried about the crazies out there who might try to blow it up... you can't be too careful these days!

I really enjoyed the Kidd's visit! I wish they could have stayed longer, but hopefully they will get to chance to come out again soon. We also made it down to the Las Vegas strip to catch a Cirque de Soleil show. We didn't take any pictures that night, but I would highly recommend the O-Show to anyone considering a Cirque show. It is performed over water, and it is a truly amazing performance.