and brought a few friends. Those horse people are my brother and his wife from N. Idaho. You can find them – on horseback – in this post, just cruise down to the thumbnails. They arrived on Tuesday, called me on Wednesday, and we did some hanging out together. We went to Bellagio’s buffet and it was a true food orgy for them. Sorry, I’m kind of buffet jaded and only enjoy going to one about every four to five years…NO CHIT! They get old. Bellagio’s is one of the best in town and we spent more than an hour or so there as they grazed and we gabbed.

We hit the Conservatory for a few pictures, and it was extremely dark and difficult for me to get a great photo…I will list visiting as a must, in daylight, soon.

The three girls in the hotel room, left to right, Kim (big birthday celebration going on), Gayl (sister-in-law), Corrine (long time buddette to sister-in-law):

Just outside the conservatory, the group, Corrine, Jerry, Kim, Kevin, Gayl:

Obviously we had to go out and watch the water show. This is an mpg with my old trusty Sony and that’s Corrine’s voice at the end.

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We had a great time, ate too much food, and decided that we’d hit Red Rock Canyon for a drive through the following day – lunch – and then i’d drop them at the airport in the afternoon. As I waited for them to check out of the hotel on Thursday, I got this picture. Somewhere, lost in the 2006 summer’s maze of posts and pictures, I believe I have this same shot at night as I was waiting for the light to change on my way home from work. In that shot, it’s all green but the reflection is there.

On the Red Rock loop, at the first turn-out, brother kevin:

If you look close, you will see climbers on the wall across the canyon.

We drove into Calico Basin on our way back to Vegas after we left Red Rock. The true heart of the horse people showed through; I had instructions to drive slowly past this one corral that had a horse in it. Kevin and Gayl were both surveying a band around the horse’s neck. They thought it appeared to tight and wondered what it did or was for since it appeared to be some type of lattice looking thing. After some scrutiny, they decided everything was OK. Guaranteed if they hadn’t, they would have demanded I stop the truck and they would have removed the band themselves. They rescued a colt from a negligent owner in N. Idaho that had bred the mare for $$ purposes and then failed to provide proper care for the mother and the baby. It’s a good thing when people are concerned for the health and welfare of the planet, animals, and humans…I felt a tug of pride at their concern and caring.

Life is good here in the desert.