Weekend Getaways
After spending lots of weekends at home, we planned a few weekend getaways for May. The trips occurred on consecutive weekends, but they couldn’t have been more different.
First, we went to the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF). It’s a music and dance festival held twice yearly in Black Mountain, NC. I hadn’t been to LEAF in nearly 5 years, and was excited to go back, particularly because Rebecca had never been there before. We had a really good time camping, listening to good music, contra-dancing, kayaking, and eating bad-for-us festival food. We even bought some jewelry and a hammock that was made by Mayan Indians on the Yucatan Peninsula (or something like that–and yes, I know there’s supposed to be an accent on the second a in Yucatan, but I’m not up to figuring out how to add diacratic marks in WordPress). Now we just need a house where we can set it up (more on that later).
We went back to work for three days, and then headed out to Las Vegas on Wednesday night, to attend the wedding of a long-time friend of Rebecca’s. We arrived at the Luxor very late on Wednesday night (12:30 Las Vegas time, which was 3:30 am East Coast time), where the nice man behind the check-in counter “upgraded” us to a nicer room than what we had reserved. Instead of a room in the pyramid (which is the main part of the hotel, where the casinos are), he set us up in the tower. This ended up being fine (and perhaps preferable in some ways to the room we’d reserved), although he gave us a smoking room with two double beds instead of a King bed. I’m sure he assumed we’d prefer two beds to one, but he could have asked…
In addition to attending the wedding and reception, we saw the Blue Man Group at the Venetian, had some good food, and gambled. I decided that my relationship with money does not support a true gambling habit, so I spent (notice that I did not say “lost,” although that is essentially the truth) $20 on one day and $25 on another day. I played slot machines and video roulette, and I wasn’t very lucky, probably because I didn’t play very “riskily.” Rebecca dropped a whole lot more than that at the craps tables (I’m convinced she knows the total on some level of her brain, but she’s clearly not dwelling on it). She demonstrated good beginner’s luck at both craps and video roulette, but enjoyed playing so much that she didn’t leave with money in her pocket.
So those were our May trips. We have more tentatively planned for later in the summer. These likely will include the Blue Ridge Parkway, New York, Cleveland, and Asheville. I’ll also be traveling to Portland, OR (via New York) to see my brother and his family. Note: We will visit Ft. Collins after my sister-in-law has my first little nephew, but probably not until the fall.
May 28th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
“These likely will include the Blue Ridge Parkway, New York, Cleveland, and Asheville.”
Umm, and Fort Collins?