The West Rim

The next day we took a beautiful trip to visit the Hualapai Indians on the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. Our tour bus picked us up at 5:45 am and we eventually made our may through Boulder City, across the Hoover Dam, through Joshua Tree Forrest, over an extremely treacherous 10-mile dirt road, and into the reservation where we were treated to amazing hospitality by the locals, a nice lunch, and a view that can't be described in words or even photos for that matter.

Here's the site of the sky walk on the west rim. It has only been open for about four months, hence all the construction. It will be cool to see how it changes over the years.
We weren't allowed to bring our own cameras out onto the walk, but later I may post one that we purchased from their own photographer. Here's a shot of the sky walk from the side. We loved it! We stayed out there for quite a while, taking in the view and making friends.
Valerianne and Sara Jane posing in a tipi
Next we went to beautiful Guano Point. These are the only buildings here - just a small cafeteria and some tables under a large awning. The real attraction here is the view.
They allow us to get much closer to the edge here. I didn't feel comfortable getting too close without sitting down. But wanted to prove I really was there, so here's a lovely shot of my feet.


Here is the view looking down at the canyon while standing out on the point.

Then, from pretty much that same spot, if you turn around you can see some of the structures above. The two awnings just have tables under them. The structure on the right is a huge apparatus used to lower people down into a cave in the side of the canyon to mine for guano. (by the way, guano is bat feces, used to make items like mascara... eeeew!)
Some of the locals were selling jewelry out under these awnings. All three of us indulged in some.
On the way back home, we again passed over the Hoover Dam. This time the sun was lower and the light was more interesting. These shots were taken from inside the bus.
Overall, it was another amazing day, thanks to the best hostess ever; Sara Jane, and her great idea to plan this Vegas and Grand Canyon trip. Sara totally rocks!

What happened in Vegas

Last weekend Valerianne and I flew to Las Vegas to visit Sara Jane. What an excellent weekend-vacation!

As soon as we landed and got our bags, Sara and Valerianne sweet enough to help me find the local Weight Watchers meeting, since I'd be missing the Saturday meeting near home. We found it, I did my thing, then we moved on to the rest of the weekend.

Back at Sara's place, her boyfriend Tom made us a delicious breakfast.

Next we went to old Las Vegas to do some shopping at a crack seed store that Valerianne had heard about, followed by a quick trip to the ABC store. I hadn't been to old Las Vegas before and now I know that Dick and I will have to return to take photos before they eventually tear everything down. What a cool place!

Next we had an extremely fruitful, four-hour shopping trip at Fashion Show mall and finished just in time to meet friends at the Melting Pot. This is where I forgot about all those good Weight Watchers intentions and indulged in delicious fondue cheese, meats and desserts. Yum!!
We finished dinner then rushed to the MGM Grand hotel and where we saw the Cirque du Soleil show there: Ka. I highly recommend the show.

At this point, Sara Jane tried to convince us to keep partying but Valerianne and I just couldn't keep up, so we headed back to Sara's place to get some rest before our next big day.

Jonathan & Alece

Last weekend my cousin Jonathan was married and I was fortunate enough to be able to help with the photography. The event took place in Orange County, at the country club where Jonathan works (and where the two of them met). The venue, the ceremony, and the happy couple were all just stunning.

What a sweetheart! Our whole family fell in love with Alece the instant we met her.

Bridesmaids stand by during a photo shoot

Her entrance




Breathtaking
Best Man and Maid of Honor skip into the grand entrance
Victory!
Jonathan and his sister, Tavia, tear up the dance floor.A sparkling send-off.

girl-cat in the closet

Dick took this and I love it.

more delicious wine!

I just went through the photos on Dick's camera and decided to post a few of my favorites.

Yum!
Ladies in grape vinesI don't know why I was giving her the pouty-face
day 2

Lovely ladies

And finally, one of the last places we went was to Alex's Red Barn Winery. This was probably one of my favorite wine-tasting experiences of the weekend. Kathy was our designated driver on day-2, so she read up on the history of the place while the three of us tasted. Apparently the winery has only been around a few years and is owned by husband and wife, Alex and Lise Yakut. Our guess is that Lise is the woman (shown below) who took care of us. She actually walked us through the process of the tasting so we got a real appreciation for the wine - which was absolutely delicious. In hindsight, we're not sure if the wine tasted so great because the experience was so enjoyable, or if it really was better wine as well. We'd like to think it's the latter.

Happy Birthday Lillian!

This last weekend Lillian, Kathy, Dick and I went wine tasting in Temeula. Saturday we were on a tour bus that took us to about four wineries.

Here's Kathy and Lillian before the effects have kicked in.
Here we are at Wilson Creek winery.
Then we went to Ponte. The service wasn't great, but Kathy certainly enjoyed the gift shop, as you can see below. (note the wine beginning to kick-in)

Here's a pleasant photo of aluminum siding with some plants. This was outside the Maurice Car'rie winery. How do you pronounce Car'rie anyway?This was outside Mount Palomar Winery. The wine and service here were really great.Dick and Lillian inside the Mount Palomar winery.
Later that evening, Lillian's sister and her husband drove the girls up to Fish House Vera Cruz for Lillian's birthday dinner.Here's Dick taking a photo of a really cool-looking eel at the resaurant.
This lady doesn't seem so sure about the eel.
Brianna and Lillian.
Jasmin --- can't remember how to spell her name - I'm thinking it's without the 'e'

Sheila & Patrick

Shelia and Patrick were married on July 1st at the Darlington House in La Jolla.

I loved the non-traditional touches that Leslie added, like the tropical floral arrangements.