A while back, my family, along with my two sisters and their families, took a road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway. My parents lived in California at the time and we had gone out for a visit. Mom and Dad had a large motorhome that had a lot of room and comfort. We hopped into the motorhome and took off. My Dad was driving and if you take a look at that picture, you can see why I spent part of one day in bed with a migraine. Highway 1 is too close to the edge for me.
We visited Hearst Castle, a gold mining town and saw the beautiful redwood forest on that trip. I hope the kids remember what they experienced. We had a great time.
I’ve always said that everyone should visit Las Vegas whether they intend to gamble or not. The architecture is amazing not to mention all of the statues and fountains. While we were in Vegas, I took pictures of the beautiful glass vessel sinks in the restroom at the new Wynn hotel. I can understand why the decorator chose the beautiful fixtures. They are actually made from tempered glass. The ones that I saw were oval but they are also available in round and square styles. The architect who designed the Wynn wanted the most elegant pieces, and included the restrooms in utilizing beautiful and practical pieces.
As a homeowner, you can have an elegant bathroom too. Just check out all of the beautiful fixtures at Express Decor.
Have you seen the new show on the Travel Channel? It is called Cash and Treasures and airs on Wednesday nights. Oklahoma State Trooper Marvin Culver discovered one of the most beautiful and significant diamonds ever found on March 12, 2006, at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. He was inspired by the show. You can read more of his story and find out what he named his diamond. Yep, he named it.
These are a few of the gems features on past and upcoming Cash and Treasures shows.
Herkimer Diamonds
We’re off to Upstate New York in search of Herkimer Diamonds at Herkimer Diamond Mine and Ace of Diamonds Mine.
Emeralds
Emeralds
Cash and Treasures traveled to North Carolina to dig, sluice, and discover ‘green’ – emeralds.
Agates
Agates
We dived into Lake Superior to find agate, a gem that’s big business in Michigan and Minnesota.
Turquoise
Turquoise
The crew gets close with a mining family in Tonopah, Nev. to learn the best techniques to find turquoise.
I must have vacation karma! I have often wished for a simple site that I could use to plan a vacation. I get so tired of searching all over the web to find information and now I don’t have to do that. Now, when I look for vacation rentals through www.vrwd.com, I will be shown thousands of vacation rental websites from all over the world. I hope that all my favorite places get their listing in because I only want to use one search engine. Vacation Rentals Web Directory is going into my favorites.
My husband is a happy camper. A Cabela’s store recently opened near Gary, Indiana. That is only a three hour drive from here. He and a buddy went to check it out. They were in fishing supply heaven. My husband enjoyed this shopping trip so much that he actually bought some new shirts. That is a miracle, let me tell you.
A few years ago, we met a blogging buddy of mine, Sindy, who lives near Dundee, Michigan. That was the first time we ever visited a Cabelas. Even if you don’t fish or hunt, Cabelas is a fun place to visit. It is a great place to take kids. They have a huge aquarium loaded with beautiful tropical fish. They have every type of mountainous wildlife on display. They have made mountainous replicas and have the animals displayed in their own habitat. It is very educational to see all of the animals. I remember sitting on a lovely wooden bench while watching real fish swim in a man made stream that was right in the middle of the store!
If you ever get the chance, you should visit Cabelas. I buy a wonderful cobbler mix at Cabelas whenever I get there or whenever hubby makes the trip.
I just read on CNN online that the Monte Carlo hotel in Las Vegas is in flames. This is such a sad thing. This hotel is not very old, having opened in 1996.
from CNN online:
The fire, which was reported around 11 a.m., spread from the center section of the hotel across the roof before appearing to ease about an hour later. Fiery debris fell to the street below, and orange flames lapped at the casino’s script sign.
I am keeping the employees in my prayers as I’m sure that this is devastating.
When we went to Put In Bay a few years ago, I was amazed at how many wineries there were in that area. It was fun to run around to them all. We walked down into the ground at one of them and saw the big barrels where the wine was stored. I think it would be fun to own a winery. Wine making and Beer Kits are something I have been wanting to try for myself. Over at Monsterbrew.com, they have everything I need to get started. It sounds like a good winter project.
My friend Katy made a comment that has me thinking. I have lived in Indiana for over 30 years and I have only attended the Indianapolis 500 once. I have been to the time trials a few times and that was fun. It has been a long time since I have been to the race.
At the time trials, we visited the garages to see the drivers up close. I don’t think they allow that any longer. When we went, the kids each got Lyn St. James’s autograph. She was just the second woman in history to race in the event. I am thinking that the year was 1992. I need to dig through my scrapbooks to see what year I stuck my neck out and got Al Unser, Jr.’s autograph. All I had was a deposit slip out of my checkbook for him to sign.
My husband’s brother, Doug, has purchased tickets every year since who knows when. He has been letting us purchase a few of his tickets the past couple of years as some of his regular attendees have been unable to go. I haven’t wanted to go but maybe this year I should.
The day of the race starts early when we attend. Although our seats are reserved, we like to get there early to watch all the people. Many have spent the night, camped on the sidewalks. Too wasted to enjoy the race, they nap the day away. Silly people. The infield used to be a sort of “den of iniquity” but it has become more family friendly the past few years.
The way the seating is set up has us packed into our seats. We are sure to use the restroom before we are settled. We take a cooler so that we don’t have to climb over people to get refreshments. We use our binoculars to watch the drivers, team owners and crew chiefs as they prepare for the race. We’ve seen some famous people in the crowd. Jim Nabors was a standard icon as he sang Back Home Again In Indiana. He was unable to do that last year. We wait in anticipation of the legendary, “Drivers, Start Your Engines.” Then it is pure excitement as we watch from turn 4. We can see in two directions and that gives us such a great view of what is happening. We see the cars coming out of the short chute into the fourth turn and into the straightaway. The noise is unbelievable. I know why they call it “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
I am a bit slow. I just found out that there is a video for each speaking group that participated at PositeCon 2007. (edit: I guess I am not all that slow. The videos were just posted on the website for everyone to view.) I am embedding it here so that I will always have a copy. Indulge me please.
As the second highest earner at PayPerPost, I was invited to speak with other top earners about what is like to blog and earn money blogging. It was a thrill to visit Las Vegas and meet the bloggers I have talked with since joining PayPerPost. I also met bloggers that I have known for quite some time. Julie, who blogs at JustJulie, and I have chatted online through a mom’s message board since her boyz were little tykes.
I love to blog about things I do and have done. I will always remember PostieCon and the introduction of SocialSpark.
This is a video of our conversation as we talked at PostieCon 2007:
It seems like forever ago that hubby and I were at the Tao nightclub in Vegas. We ate Kobe beef sandwiches and drank wine as we made new friends. It is an amazing place and you should visit to see the aesthetics. It is geared for dancing and partying. We went out on the balcony a few times and enjoyed watching the gondolas filled with newlyweds as they floated on the water. It seems like a dream now.
Last night reminded me of our visit to Tao but we were in our hometown. Our church is raising money to send a group on a mission to Haiti. The church held a concert last night that featured a jazz ensemble. They were wonderful. They played songs made famous by Glenn Miller, Woody Herman and Cole Porter, to name a few. I felt as if I was in the 40’s as I listened to Moonlight Serenade and other beautiful tunes. Hubby and I danced a little. My greatest thrill though was when my son asked me to dance! Greg is 22 and I had never danced with him before. It was fun to twirl around with my 6′ 5″ baby boy.
