Las Vegas, Nevada: We are getting pretty close to home, but the grandkids are still at camp, so no need to rush back. The weather is really an issue though. No matter how great your air conditioner, being in a metal/fiberglass box in 111° heat isn't much fun, but when we learned Family of Friends members would be in Las Vegas Sunday, we decided to head their way. What's a few more days of blistering heat?
Just after leaving St. George, I-15 slips into Arizona for a few miles, through one of the most spectacular canyons in the west. As the road follows along the Virgin River that has cut this canyon for zillions of years, red canyon walls reward the traveler and every curve displays a new awe-inspiring vista. And then, oops, you are in Nevada with only sage desert and billboards advertising casino shows and all-you-can-eat buffets.
Perfect timing for boring views, because the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremonies were starting live from Paris, and I was watching it on my phone. Things were getting crazy. While athletes were floating down the Seine River on boats, a mysterious man carrying the lit Olympic torch was jumping from building to building over Paris rooftops, then he passed it off to a famous French football star, who passed it off to some kids who were picked up in the Paris sewer by a ghost (?) in a rowboat... who rowed the kids out into the Seine. Oh, it just was fabulous, except they kept flashing back to the athletes floating down the river like the whole thing was about THEM. (Kidding.) I was describing all of this to DT, until he asked me to just stop because he wanted to watch the replay this evening. We reached the campground in Las Vegas (before check-in time, but they didn't say a thing), and put up the satellite dish. Didn't want to miss hundreds of dancers doing the cancan. Lady Gaga singing on golden stairs. Things grew even crazier as darkness descended on The City of Light. Characters in paintings hanging in the Louvre Museum left their canvases to cross to the windows overlooking the river to watch the spectacle. Except Mona. Mona seemed to have escaped her plexiglass prison completely - down a hole in the museum floor. All of this - plus so much more - happened in just a few hours.
So lazy this afternoon. Well, I stitched. I've finished the cat and have started on - oh jeesh - another cat. Both canvases are being stitched for me. Rarity! This champagne-sipping cheetah is going to be made into a pillow for an empty bar stool in our living room. The cat is 3.6" wide and 4.25" tall, on 18-mesh and was stitched in Vineyard Silk.
The new canvas is a roaring tiger. This bad boy will go inside a self-finishing clutch/evening bag. At this time, the canvas is about 1/3 complete. I have used an easy texture-inducing stitch on the background that goes very quickly. Will update when finished, of course. This canvas is also on 18-mesh and is being stitched in Vineyard Silk.
We watched the Opening Ceremonies from start-to-finish last night (well, one of us started to doze and it wasn't me), and since we had not been to a grocer for quite a while, had another taco salad. This salad may look like the one we had the other night, but notice I also added sliced black olives. Switching it up!
I could have made nachos (same ingredients), but there was no way in hell Las Vegas I was going to use the Barbie oven in this heat. I like the tortilla strips on the salads this week. First time we've tried them.
No plans for Saturday in Las Vegas, but I guarantee there will be an air conditioned shopping mall involved.
Until my next update, I remain, your Las Vegas correspondent.
Campground Information: Oasis RV Resort - Several miles from The Strip. This place has everything. Family pool, adult pool, hot tub, store, restaurant, bar with live music, laundry, dog runs, horseshoe, pickle ball, putting green, bath house, free wifi and cable television. We are paying about $100 per night for a paved full-service pull-through site. Note: near the flight path of the airport and on the I-15... which we cannot hear over the roar of our ceiling air conditioner.