Thursday, December 14 through Sunday, December 31, 2013: Las Vegas Getaway, Preparing for Casa Grande, and Hello to Palm Creek Resort

Thursday morning, I dropped Kelsey and Jamie off at the Grand Canyon Railway Pet Resort. This kennel will be their home for the next three nights.

It was decided to take Tom's Subaru to Las Vegas. It is an easier vehicle to park and drive in BIG CITIES 😀😀😀 The 3 1/2 hour drive to Las Vegas was uneventful. We arrived at the Best Western Plus Casino Royale around 2:00 p.m. Fortunately, our room was ready. This is an older hotel in a great location on the Strip.

Tom wanted to relax some before having dinner with friends, Paula Browne and her husband Leeton Lee. I saw that there was a geocache nearby. So, off I went to find the cache container. On my walk, I had to take a photo of this famous place.

The cache was located on the fourth floor of a parking garage. The cache name was "Big Wheel, Great View."

The container was large enough to leave behind one of my trackables --- Surface of the sun. I also left a bottle cap "Fear No Cache."

We had dinner reservations at nearby Sushi Roku. It was nice to be able to walk from our hotel to the Forum Shops and meet Paula and Leeton at the restaurant at 6:30 p.m. Tom and I enjoyed a calamari appetizer and two soft shell crab entrees. These selections are hard to find in Northern Arizona! Of course, we had the hostess take our photo!

The next morning, I mentioned to Tom that I wanted to go to the Bellagio Hotel and see the Conservatory Display. The themed Nutcracker atrium was lovely!!!

After visiting the Bellagio Hotel, we found a nice photo opportunity out by the fountains.

Las Vegas has a number of virtual geocaches. I grabbed one called "Toga Party."

Tonight is the Garth Brooks concert at the Caesars Palace Colosseum. The concert starts at 8:00 p.m. Tom and I decided to have a late lunch at a restaurant recommended by Dr. Figueroa --- Lotus of Siam. The commute to the restaurant was less than ten minutes. We had a very nice lunch and we were served by a lovely young Thai lady.

That evening, we walked to Caesars Palace. 

Since we were a little early, I found a nice penny slot machine that earned me five dollars. 

It was time to queue up by the Colosseum doors. This particular concert venue does not allow you to access your cell phone during the performance. So, all the phones were give jackets that were locked up. Tom and I had excellent seats --- close to the stage and Garth Brooks. Since phones were not authorized, photos from the performance were easily downloaded.

One of the highlights of the evening was the arrival on stage of Trish Yearwood. Trish and Garth were married for seventeen years, but they got divorced early in 2023. It was fun having them perform together.

The next morning, we had breakfast at McDonald's Golden Arches Restaurant. After breakfast, Tom joined me in walking to another nearby cache. It was very close to the Sphere, a newly opened venue on property owned by the Venetian Hotel. The Sphere seats over 16,000 people.

The cache container was easy to find. I left a bottle cap "Geocaching the USA State by State."

Tom went back to our hotel, but I went to find several more virtual caches. One was named "Eiffel Tower" and one was "Lake Vegas." There was also an EarthCache near our hotel. To get credit for this cache, I had to answer some questions about marble stone work.

At our final night in Las Vegas, we had dinner reservations at the Golden Steer Steakhouse. This restaurant is the oldest steakhouse in Las Vegas. It was made popular with the "Rat Pack" ensemble --- Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. We had cocktails in the bar.

I had requested a booth table. We were charmed by the host and we were taken to Betty Grable's

booth.

The corner booth had great views of the night's festivities.The booth next to ours had Cherries Jubilee prepared table side.

The next morning, we leisurely packed and left our hotel around 9:00 a.m. We decided to stop for lunch in Seligman. Lilo's Westside Cafe is a favorite.

We picked up Kelsey and Jamie at the kennel at about 3:30 p.m. As usual, they were very happy to see us. Later that day, members of my family in Southern California were celebrating my sister Kim's 59th  birthday and an early Christmas celebration. The event was hosted by my brother Peter and his wife Terry in San Gabriel.

 

Monday, I had four appointments scheduled in Williams. I went back to North Country Healthcare and saw Nurse Practioner, Dee Evans. My bronchitis cough is still active. But, she said that I was doing everything correctly. NP Evans did adjust the amount of one blood pressure pill.

Another appointment was for Jamie with Dr. Patrick Ryan at Williams Veterinary Wellness. The Galliprant pill I have been giving him has not been working well. It is also very expensive. Dr. Ryan put Jamie on carprophen --- twice a day. We'll monitor this for awhile.

On Tuesday, I had three appointments in Flagstaff. The first was a follow-up with Dr. Rosales, the Podiatrist. I then had a chiropractic session with Dr. Moseng. The final appointment was a hair cut and color with Shawna Ritter. These are the final appointments for 2023.

This weekend, Tom and I are heading off to Palm Creek in Casa Grande. Of course, Kelsey and Jamie are coming too. We spent several days preparing for the three-month departure. One project was mounting indoor and outdoor cameras.packing up clothing, food, etc. Here is Tom mounting one of the outdoor cameras.

Tom and I filled the back of my Dodge Ram truck bed.

 

 We also mounted my e-bike.

We used Tom's Subaru to transport hanging clothes.

The back seat of Tom's Subaru also transported the refrigerator food.

My insurance company determined that the hail damage for my two roofs was a viable claim. My contractor, Fritz Plecas, came over to the house Friday morning to share with me the paperwork. A check was going to be issued for just over $25,000.

That evening, Tom made me an apple martini. Yummy!

We were going to leave for Casa Grande on Saturday, December 23. But, rain was in the forecast in Casa Grande. So, we left Williams on Sunday, Christmas Eve. Before heading out, I walked Kelsey and Jamie around the block.

So far, it has been a mile winter in Williams. No snow yet.
 

Tom, the dogs, and I arrived at Palm Creek Resort about 2:30 p.m. Tom's son Jon came by --- in between his pickleball play --- to say hello.

It was a fairly easy move of items from the truck and Subaru to the travel trailer. There were some surprises. Many of the batteries --- even though they were taken out of the various units --- were crusted over and had to be replaced. My dish gloves and several plastic items and totes were melted or deformed. The hot summers were too much for them! My poor plant did not make it.

My daughter Donna and her husband Davidare in Florida. They are spending a month down by the Florida Keys.

My family members in Southern California celebrated Christmas day in the usual fashion. My brother Peter and his family always have a wonderful photo.

My sister Wendy is enjoying being a "first-time" grandmother to precious Lily.

My sister Carrie and her husband Brent celebrated Christmas in Georgia, with daughter Lauren, their son Blake, and their loved ones.

My niece Lauren is expecting a baby boy on January 24.

My Italian son, Francesco, and his spouse Thomas, were enjoying the Christmas Holidays skiing in the Italian Alps.

My friends, Bill and Pat Wheeler, were with family in Battle Creek, Michigan.

There was no Palm Creek pickleball play on Christmas Day. But, I had three Round Robins reserved for Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I had not played pickleball in over three months. So, it was good to be back on the courts. My mixed doubles partner, Paul Hartkopf, joined me on Sunday for Competitive Play Pickleball.

The dogs and I enjoyed a number of walks around the Palm Creek Resort.

Friday evening, we joined Roland, his wife Christine, Sivert and Kelly Fogerlie, and Jon for dinner at a Mexican and Seafood Restaurant called Taco Giro. It was a very nice gathering.

Both Jon and I took advantage of the fresh seafood. I had Ostiones Preparados with oysters, scallops, shrimp and octopus. Here is a photo of Jon's entree called Botana El Giro. Wow!

Saturday afternoon, Tom went up on the roof of our RV to take down the air conditioner covers.

Sunday was New Year's Eve. After my pickleball play, Tom and I went to Panda Express and brought home our favorites.

Before enjoying our dinner, I brought out a bottle of champagne and we toasted the New Year!

My brother Peter texted a photo of them celebrating the New Year with a couple and their son who camp with them.

Granddaughters Meghan and Emily and Meghan's boyfriend, Matt Tedrow.