Donna and I spent a couple of days in Las Vegas this week visiting with our kids and my sister Mary, who traveled down from Montana with her husband Dennis. Mary & Dennis’ daughter Gwen was there too, driving up from San Diego with her SO Omar.
Since Mary & Dennis were staying on the Strip at the Bellagio, we played tourist this trip, going out to dinner, shopping, and attending the Shot Show, a gun industry trade expo.
Here’s a mix of photos from the trip (click on images to make ’em bigger, and keep clicking to make ’em bigger yet):
The Shot Show was immense. We walked until we couldn’t walk any more and looked at handguns until they all started to look alike. I had no idea what a huge industry this is. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, self-protection equipment, police supplies and tactical equipment, surveillance drones and unexploded ordnance robots, hunting gear . . . and everywhere, posters and recruiters for the NRA. Based on what I’ve seen on display at the gun shop where my wife works, I expected to see some anti-Obama signs and posters, but there was none of that on display. It was all very professional and politically neutral, and I wonder if fallout from the latest incident of domestic terrorism influenced the tenor of the show.
It was wonderful to see the kids again, and a real treat to see my sister Mary, whom I hadn’t seen since my father’s funeral three and a half years ago. Mary and Dennis grow wheat in northeastern Montana; the dead of winter is their slack time (if there is such a thing as slack time for farmers). We caught up on family gossip and after hearing some of the things she had to tell me, I realize I’ll never be able to make fun of my wife’s family again. My god, I had no idea. But hey, it’s all good . . . though somewhat humbling.
We had a great dinner together on our last night with Gregory and Beth, Mary and Dennis, Gwen and Omar, and Omar’s mom and grandmother. Gregory made reservations at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel/Casino on the Strip, directly across the street from the Bellagio and its famous water show, which kicks off every 15 minutes with Teutonic precision.* We had a marvelous dinner and really felt we were doing Vegas right, sitting on the Strip watching the lights, tourists, and nightlife on parade.
We didn’t bring Schatzi with us and felt bad the entire time we were away. Schatzi is the most forgiving of pets, though, and gave us an effusive welcome when we rolled in yesterday afternoon. Well, she may not hold a grudge but she does hold a stink . . . it’s doggie bath time as soon as I’m done here.
*Perhaps it’s just me, but the Bellagio fountains always remind me of the giant Nazi rallies at Nürnberg immortalized by Leni Riefenstahl in Triumph of the Will, . . . maybe if they put some color spotlights on the jets of water so they didn’t look so monumentally white? Just sayin’, as they say.