Las Vegas with Karen... Yeah!!

I just got back from a fantastic weekend with Karen down in Las Vegas. I got to meet her sister Judy and Judy's husband Kirby as well as her nephew Brad and his new wife Betty. Brad and Betty were there to get married and that was the occasion for this trip. I couldn't make the wedding but I got there Thursday night and stayed till Karen flew home Monday. I stopped and slept in the desert Monday night and the stars were beautiful and it was nice and warm.

We got to visit Red Rock Canyon, go up to Mount Charleston to get some mountain air, and also drove out to Hoover Dam. No matter what we did it was all about the company.

On Saturday we went out to see Paul and his wife Pon and had dinner with them, which was a good time for Karen to meet my old high school friend. He's such a big kid and he had to show us his dog... a mechanical one that he says poops zero's and pee's ones... digital.

So it was a wonderful weekend and another memorable event in this crazy life of mine.

Headin' south tomorrow!

I'm off to the desert tomorrow afternoon. This time the desert is not what I'm going down there for, Karen is. The weather for the Vegas area over the weekend is supposed to be nice with temps in the mid 80's. Looks like I'll get to wear my shorts again.

This time the trip is going to have a different meaning for me, I've never made this drive with the prospect of seeing the lady I have a huge crush on. Did I say crush? Major understatement, I have to tell you, there is so much more to it than that. Needless to say I am terribly excited and the hours between now and then are going to drag by for me.

Bizz Johnson Trail

Had a nice slow ride up the Bizz today looking at the scenery and thinking about my favorite subject. The colors up here are a little more vibrant than the ones up Piute Creek where I was yesterday. I took my time and didn't get home till about 4:30. The late day angle of the sun gives everything a different hue so it was worth getting dinner started later than usual. Tomorrow I'm going to meet Chris and do a little quail hunting out at Laufman where I used to work. The station is closed now but the quail are usually in the area because of the springs.

The top picture here was taken at Cady Springs from the Bizz. The bottom one was the bridge just downstream from where the top picture was taken. Saw a few people today up there but the person I really want to see I won't get to see until Friday, but I guess I'll just have to wait for that. I can do that... I think.

Fall Color

Went up the park trail system yesterday for a short bike ride before heading up on the hill to sit on the bench and think for a while. The colors are somewhat subdued this year compared to last year, maybe because we had such a hard freeze last week that shocked some of the vegetation. I know that I saw trees around town that had leaves killed by that freeze and they didn't have a chance to turn colors. Anyway it was a pleasant day, fairly comfortable and sitting on the bench in the sun felt real good.

On Thursday I'm driving to Vegas and I won't be back till the first part of next week. To say that I am looking forward to spending a few days down there with Karen would be a huge understatement, and going to the desert this time of year will be a nice warm change of climate. Warm weather with the lady I want to spend time with, you can't beat that. Now all I have to do is get through the week!

Slackin'

Man... I'm slacking. I haven't posted anything for a few days and things have been happening in my life. Since I was the last holdout in the whole country that didn't have a cell phone, I finally got one. OK, I had a good reason finally for getting one, to keep in touch with someone I am getting very close to. Funny how your perspective changes. Anyway here I am, in a different place than I was several months ago and going in a direction that I never saw coming. WTF? It's all good and just where I'm supposed to be, I have no doubt about that.

Next week I'm making a trip down to Las Vegas to spend some time with Karen. She's attending a wedding and I couldn't be there for that but we will have the weekend to get out in the desert together and soak up some sun. Warm... YEAH!! I can't wait...

Early taste of winter... Yuk!!

I'm not ready for this. The highest I saw my thermometer get yesterday was 41° and I stayed indoors most of the day working on my distribution sheets, getting laundry done, and trying to stay busy to keep my mind off of missing a very important person in my life. It's supposed to warm up again this coming week so hopefully I can get out and get some pictures of the fall colors. At least that's my plan. Maybe as early as tomorrow... I can only hope. Any way you look at it, ya gotta love it!!

Lodi

I just got back from a fantastic week in Lodi with Karen. We spent the time finishing up a remodeling job on her brother's house so they could put it on the market. There was plenty to do but Karen had gotten most of the hard stuff done earlier in the year.



This house is an old one in a pretty nice neighborhood in Lodi. Karen's grandson Cody was staying with us and helping out, as well as a cast of characters that dropped in during the week and also did a bunch of work.



The interior woodwork was quite cool as you can see in these pictures. There was an old wood toilet with the tank high on the wall in the bathroom, and a claw foot bathtub. Of course my favorite thing about this last week was that I got to spend more time with Karen which meant more to me than anything, I'm crazy about this lady. Considering that we were also working together on a worthwhile project made it a very special event that I will never forget.



Meeting all the nice people who came to help including Karen's niece, nephew, his wife, and their friends and seeing how enthusiastic they were to pitch in was a great thing and a testament to the support that Karen has in her family.

It doesn't get much better than this!