Las Vegas, Nv

Son, Ron and his wife, Loretta, were planning to be in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving so it was a good excuse to take a small trip.  

Boy, there is not much between Tucson and Las Vegas except for rocks and tumbleweed.

The wind blew to 40 MPH over most of the trip and I was royally beat up by the time I got to Vegas.  

The towns along the way have hardly changed at all in the 30 years since I last took this trip.

Once again I decided to try out the organization, Boondockers, for a place to park.  I think it is now my favorite go-to place--the people I have met have made it a real treat.

I found this Boondocker right in the heart of the city.  I was able to park on the quiet street in front of her house. 

Her name is Leslie Doyle but she is better known as 'The Tomato Lady'.  Leslie teaches classes in gardening and has developed some tomato seeds that grow really well in the desert.

But she grows lots of things--lemons

all kinds of vegetables, 

and 24 chickens who produce some truly wonderful eggs.

Her yard is not overly large but she sure gets the most use from it.  She also has a small Class C RV and is 'another single woman' out there traversing the country byways.  Needless to say, we found a lot to talk about. 

Ron, Loretta and Albert (Loretta's father) arrived a few hours after I did.  They stayed at one of the resorts (M) and picked me up each day to do the tourist thing.

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at an Italian restaurant and it was surprisingly good turkey and dressing.  There was also no wait where many of the buffets had 2 hour long lines--UGH!  I don't think most people expect a good turkey dinner in an Italian eatery.

The city was crowded, the traffic was a bit frustrating, the weather was cold and the casinos were too smokey for comfort--but I had fun anyway.

I love the ceilings in the hotels and casinos....

once you start looking up you can't stop.

Bellagio's glass ceiling by the artist Chihuly will always be my favorite.

It was just fun to be there with them.

I am even thinking of driving over to San Diego for the holidays--maybe we can find an Italian restaurant serving Christmas dinner.

Waiting for the fountain show but it was so cold we gave up before it started.

 

I really like this picture.  I took it from the car window.  Modern art photography.