And then we drove to Seattle

Sorry, it has been a week since I posted, or more.  After we went to the Grand Canyon and the Meteorite crater, we drove down to Phoenix to go to church on Sunday.  It was good to hear Pastor Iehl preach again.  We took off a few minutes too early, as I found out later he was looking for me to go out to lunch.  That is a pity, but he did disappear right after the service and I figured he had some important church business to attend to.  When he introduced the visitors in the service he said I was one of the few people who could verify that he once had been thinner and had hair.  The funny thing is I always thought he did have hair, so I went up to him during handshaking, and said he still had the same amount of hair, it was just....a different color now.  As for the thinner part, it appears middle age spread falls on both the just and the unjust.  He preached on the importance of being part of a local church.  It was good to hear someone preach the truth of No Women Pastors and not apologise for it. 



From Phoenix we drove to Las Vegas, stopping at Hoover Dam and walking out on the bypass bridge that was completed in 2010.  It is approximately 900 feet over the Colorado River.  Looking down gives you a tummy turn, but I have always loved high places with views.

If you look at the picture of the bridge above right, you can see a little sliver of the Colorado River...just in the lower right corner there is a black swatch.  900 feet down.

Hoover Dam is always impressive, when you consider the fact that it was built 80 years ago, with enough concrete to build a highway to New York from Los Angeles, with men hanging from ropes off the walls of Black Canyon with jack hammers smoothing out the canyon walls....Dangerous Much?

From there it was on to Las Vegas.  We visited a couple of friends of my dad from when he worked at King County.  He won some money at Blackjack and I lost a little on the slot machines.  I am glad I don't gamble often, because it is kind of fun, and I can see how people could get addicted to it.  Helen London and Lon Penton were his friends.  Helen is a spry 88 years old who drives around in an enormous Chrysler Pacifica.  We went to dinner at a Casino Buffet called  Paseo Verde (Green Valley).  Now the buffet was almost as impressive as Hoover Dam, if not quite as big.  There was an Asian section, Mexican section, a salad bar, Carvery (roasts), a dessert bar that I didn't even approach, and an Italian Bar with more pizza than even Pizza Huts old lunch all you can eat deal had.  I DID NOT leave the resaurant feeling like I would never eat again.  I am kind of proud of myself, as I can be pretty rough on roast beef sometimes.  I mean, I can eat a lot of it.  Coz it's yummy.  And theirs was prime rib I think.  So I moderated.

We stayed for two nights in the Pyramid of the Luxor Hotel.  It was the least expensive place we stayed.  Of course all the Best Western Motels included a hot breakfast in the price of admission.  Luxor didn't, but the Pyramid Cafe was very reasonably priced.

We ventured to another section of Vegas coz I wanted to look at some Pawnshops for some specific items.  Once you get off the strip, it is no longer a pretty place.   Just a dirty and fairly seedy desert town.  In fact if it wasn't for gambling, I don't think it would even be there.

After Las Vegas, it was two twelve hour driving days to get back to my dad's place in Seattle.  We stopped in Portland to visit my Iraq war veteran nephew Joel Gordon Moyer, of whom I am extremely proud, and who is now a student at Portland State University.  That was pretty whirlwind, and we were back on the road to Seattle, where we arrived at about 8 pm.  Molly was waiting for us, my sister Sara having dropped her off a couple hours earlier. (Molly is a ten year old Black Lab, who has grey hair around her muzzle now.  She is the sweetest dog ever, after Jeeves, my Lab Border Collie cross who died in 2002)  She barked at me.  But I guess that is understandable when you only pop up once every four years.  She has warmed up to me now and is now scratching at the door of the room I am in to get in.

I suppose that is enough for now.  Hope all is well with all who read this.  God Bless.

Jonathan