A Daily Diary - April 2011

Entries for the Month of April

NOTE: This month I am again featuring pictures taken during my various picture taking hikes.  You can enlarge any of the pictures below by just double-clicking on them. Then click on your browser's "Back" button to return to the original screen. To see more pictures go to http://kensphotogallery.blogspot.com/

SATURDAY - 04/30/2011 - Again the winds. They said on TV that this has been the windiest April in more than ten years. We decided to stay home today and make some preparations for next week's trip. Connie did several loads of wash and some ironing. I payed bills on the computer, got out the luggage, cleaned the car and checked all the fluids, vacuumed the house and hung a couple of my pictures that I had blown up and printed on 16x20 inch canvases at www.canvaspop.com.  We had the leftover chicken Caesar salad for lunch and watched a couple of prerecorded shows on the DVR to make space for next weeks recordings while we were going to be away. 

FRIDAY - 04/29/2011 - I spent most of the day cleaning up photos from yesterday's hike and doing research on the Internet to go along with the postings I put on my photo gallery site. Click here for pictures and summary of yesterday's hike ... Lovell Canyon. We drove up to GVR for two free buffet lunches, played for about an hour and came home. We stopped at the library on the way so Connie could pick up some books for next week's Tahoe trip. I got a great book entitled, Mojave Desert Wildflowers, to help me identify some of my pictures. My sister called after dinner to tell us that she had a bad fall last week while her and Paul were vacationing in Monterey. We talked about mom, our upcoming trip next week and plans for Mother's Day.  We then watched Survivor and American Idol after which Connie went to bed and I stayed up to finish the post to my website.

THURSDAY - 04/28/2011 - Well, it was once again up and out early for my weekly hike with the rock hounds from the Henderson Senior center. Even though this was the last hike I had signed up for until September, when they start their Fall schedule, it will give me time to go back and revisit some of the areas that I really liked and get some even better pictures. Today's hike was to Lovell Canyon on the back side of Red Rock Canyon and Mount Charleston. It was a really nice trip, however, by the time we returned I had probably hiked about five miles and was pretty tired. Probably the most exciting part of the day was when I came upon a Western Diamondback Rattler. Click here for more ... Diamondback Rattlesnake. After showering and cleaning up, Connie and I headed over to the "M" to play for a while; stopping for gas on the way. $4.15 a gallon! Our trip to Reno and Lake Tahoe next week is going to cost us a fortune. I used my poker comps to pick up two free chicken Caesar salads to go for dinner. We watched American Idol and went to bed. 

Chalcedon Checkerspot

TUESDAY - 04/26/2011 - 35 MPH wind guests again today. We both read this morning. Decided to go to Red Lobster for lunch and have one of the new shrimp specials. One of our neighbor friends, Cathy, whom we haven't seen for several months works there and we got to have her wait on us. It was a good meal and we were both stuffed when we left. We then drove over to J.C. Penny's at the Galleria Mall and bought some much needed new bathing suits. Returned a call to the Batchelder's in Florida. Talked for quite some time; found out that their daughter had just been diagnosed with a severe case of cancer. Came home and watched a special Hallmark movie, "Behind the Blackboard", that we had recorded on Sunday. It was really good and we both enjoyed very much. Finished the chocolate pie, watched some more TV shows and went to bed.

  

SUNDAY - 04/24/2011- HAPPY EASTER! After a few hours of our normal morning routine, I decided to go out to the pool for a while. Connie thought it was still too windy and cool and opted out. When I got there I found out that the outside spa was not working and I was bummed. Even though it was warm enough, the winds were bothersome. I only stayed for a short time and came back inside. This has been, without a doubt, the windiest, coolest spring we have experienced since moving here. While we were sitting around trying to decide what to do for the day, we got a call from the 'girls' who used to be our next door neighbors, who are now living in Phoenix, AZ. Other than some technical legal problems over the passing of their mother, they sounded pretty good. We then headed over to the "M" for lunch. Even though I had free comps for the special Easter Buffet, the lines were so long, more than 300 people total, that we decided to skip it and eat at the Vig Deli instead. I went over to the poker room and got a comp for Deli, so we still ate free. We both ended up with a small loss for the day, but picked up two chocolate cream pies that they were passing out for Easter. When we got home we had chocolate cream pie for dinner over some prerecorded TV shows and then called it a day. 

SATURDAY - 04/23/2011 - I spent most of the morning working on 'cleaning up' the pictures from this past Thursday's hike while Connie read. At noon we went to Walgreen's and the bread store. We then stopped at Burger King and had a couple of 2-1 chicken sandwiches before heading over to the "M" casino where they were giving away some monogrammed shirts. After several hours of play Connie ended up making $75  dollars on the slots and I broke even in the poker room. When we got home I cooked up some Chinese Ramin soup, adding water chestnuts and chopped scallions, for dinner. After watching a couple of TV shows, Connie went to bed while I stayed up finishing the posts to my photo site of this weeks hike. Check them out here ... Mountain Springs Pass. 

FRIDAY - 04/20/2011 - Wouldn't you know, the first morning in a week that it has been nice enough to use the pool and it was locked up due to some problem. Bummer! So instead, I decide to get a little exercise doing some raking and trimming of bushes around the entrance to our apartment. At noon I came in and showered and we headed to the Palms Casino where Connie had $20 in free slot play. I had $24 dollars in comps from the poker room, so we tried their luncheon buffet. Neither of us thought it was anywhere near as good as the "M's". Connie made over $50 off of her free slot play and I won $140 in the poker room. Next we headed to the "M" where they were giving away two boxes of free chocolates for Easter. We both lost a little here, but were still 'up' for the day. On the way home we stopped at GVR, where Connie had another $5 in free slot play. She made a $1.50 and we went home and called it a day. When we got home we had some ice cream and called it dinner. Watched Survivor: Redemption Island and American Idol that we had prerecorded on our DVR system and then retired for the evening. 

THURSDAY - 04/21/2011 - Up and out by 6:15 to go to the senior center for the day's hike. Today we headed toward Pahrump on NV-160 to Mount Polosi, the Spanish Trail and the Late Night Trailhead for Red Rock Canyon. When I got home we headed over to "M" for soime play and their dinner buffet. Watched  Survivor, American Idol and a few TV shows before retiring for the evening.

WEDNESDAY - 04/20/2011 - Wind was back; making it too cool to go to the pool this morning. Bummer! Played on the computer while Connie read. Made us turkey wraps for lunch over a prerecorded TV show. After lunch I had to drive my friend Jim over to the VA Hospital in N. Las Vegas. Looks like he may have to have surgery. Came home and picked up Connie and went over to the "M" for some play. Between the two of us we broke even. Cooked us some summer sausage in wine and served with cheese and crackers. Watched some TV shows and had banana splits for dessert. I got my camera "stuff" together for tomorrow's hike and went to bed. 

TUESDAY - 04/19/2011 - Today the wind was gone, though the weatherman said that it will be back again starting tomorrow. Even though it was nice enough to go to the pool, I ended up spending most of the morning working on a new project, paying bills, balancing my checkbook and ordering a few things off the Internet. Connie said her book, "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult, was really good and that she didn't want it to finish. She made waffles for breakfast. By the time I  finished up it was past noon so we showered, dressed and headed over to the "M". I made $140 while Connie only lost $25. On the way home we stopped at one of our new favorite restaurants, Monstah Lobstah, and picked up three lobster rolls for dinner with a 2-1 coupon I got by texting them on my phone. When we got home we found the water for the whole building was off. I talked with both Bonnie and Tommy, firming up plans for a trip to Reno and Tahoe for Mother's Day. Watched some TV shows waiting for the water to get turned back on. Came back on around 8:30. We did dishes, cleaned up and went to bed. 

Antelope Canyon - Rivers of Taffy

MONDAY - 04/18/2011 - It was windy all last night and again this morning - too hard to go out and enjoy reading by the pool even thought it was 77-degrees out. This morning I played with pictures on the computer while Connie read. We decided to stay home today and catch up on watching some movies we had recorded on our DVR player. I made us some tuna salad sandwiches for lunch. After and afternoon of watching movies, we retired to the den where I read some magazines and Connie continued reading her book. For dinner we took some frozen appetizers out of the freezer. After dinner we watched Antiques Roadshow and a few more of our favorite TV shows before retiring for the evening.

SUNDAY - 04/17/2011 - Today was a beautiful day, in the mid 80's. We both hit the pool around 10:30. Sure signs of spring, the bees were everywhere and the mocking birds were in full chorus. At 1:00 we finally came in and had lunch. After lunch we went to GVR and played for a while. On the way home we stopped at Smith's and did some grocery shopping. I did some picture organizing on the computer while Connie read. We then had chocolate cake and butter pecan ice cream for dinner, watched some prerecorded TV shows and retired for the evening.

SATURDAY - 04/16/2011 - I was up at 6:00 am and out the door by 7:15 headed to Texas Station casino for Stations' freeroll Texas Hold-em tournament. Unable to catch any good hands or any luck when I was lucky enough to get a hand, I was knocked out halfway through. I collected a conciliatory prize of $75 and then headed over to Jim Herring's house to pick up him and his friend Patrick and drive them to the airport. They sounded like they had a very busy week seeing the "sights and sounds" of Las Vegas and the area. When I got home, I made us lunch and we watch some prerecorded TV shows. For the evening, I had made dinner reservations at Todd's. One of the finest restaurants in Henderson, it was voted 'Best Gourmet Restaurant of 2005 by the Review Journal. For appetizers we had the flash fried Calamari and Rock Shrimp and the Arugula salad with spicy balsamic dressing, strawberries, oranges and feta. For the main course Connie had the Todd’s Meatloaf in a mushroom cabernet sauce with caramelized onion mashed potatoes, stuffed tomato, red cabbage and baked yam; I had the Seared Sea Scallops in a pistachio butter sauce with wild mushroom potatoes. Both dishes were delicious. Even with our $25 off coupon, this meal was not cheap, however it was again up to our expectations. Before bed I worked on posting some black and white photos, like the one here, to my Photo Gallery. Check them out here ... Black & White 

Shot inside Lower Antelope Canyon

FRIDAY - 04/15/2011 - I spent most of the morning working on creating a couple of postings to my photo gallery of our 2009 trip to Antelope Canyon in Arizona. This is probably one of the most famous slot canyons in the US. Check our the pictures here ... Antelope Canyon.  I checked the temperature after working on pictures and seeing that it was nearly 80 degrees  decided to go out to the pool for a couple of hours. The birds were really chirping away and it was a very relaxing time. When I came in I cooked us up a 10-minute skillet meal out of the freezer for an early dinner. We were watching some prerecorded TV shows when my sister called. We talked for more than an hour. Before we finished, I locked in some dates for a Mother's Day visit to Reno and Lake Tahoe. We watched a couple of more shows over the rest of the chocolate cream pie and then hit the sack, as I have a No-limit Texas Hold-em tournament at 8:00 am over at Texas Station before going to Jim Herring's house to pick up him and his friend to take them to the airport.

Red Canyon, Utah

THURSDAY - 04/14/2011 - Well, it's finally done! Using the electronic filing system from Turbo Tax for the first time, I filed my taxes today, kissing goodbye to nearly every dime we had saved up. This is ridiculous; I need to figure out how to get some 'tax deductions' before next year. Yesterday I spent time working on some pictures from our 2009 road trip through Utah. I created two new pages on my photo gallery site; one for Red Canyon and one for Bryce Canyon National Park. Click to check them out. Connie had free slot play at both GVR and the "M" today, so after hitting GVR first, we headed over to the "M" for a free buffet lunch. After picking up another free bottle of wine, we came home, had chocolate cream pie for dinner and watched TV.

TUESDAY - 04/12/2011 - Today I decided to work on preparing my federal taxes. Now I know why I have put this off for so long. I owe $2,990.00. It's hard to believe that retired people should still have to pay so much after having worked all their lives. Oh well, I guess that's just life.Today Connie stayed home while I went to the "M" to earn some "Tax" money. I only won $125, but at least it was a win. Popped a pizza in the oven when I got home and watched some prerecorded TV shows with Connie before heading to bed and calling it a day.

Dying Ponderosa Pine

MONDAY - 04/11/2011 - I did my normal playing on the computer while Connie sat on the couch reading. For lunch we decided to go to Red Robin, where I had a free birthday burger coming. After lunch we 'hit' three casinos, the Palms, GVR and the "M".  Between the three, Connie had $35 in free slot play and ended up wining $20 for the day. I lost $20 playing at the Palms, but made up for it with a $80 win at the "M". We then came home, had PB&J for dinner, chocolate cake for dessert and watched several prerecorded TV shows before retiring for the evening. The picture on the left is of an old dying Ponderosa Pine that I found on a hike along the Robber’s Roost Trail off NV State Road 158. Click here for more ... Dying - But Not Gone

Beavertail Cactus Blossom 

SUNDAY - 04/10/2011 - This was just another lazy sit around and read/work on the computer day. I worked on adding some pages to my photo gallery blog while Connie read a new book, "The Spy" by Clive Cussler. I posted some pages on my hike with Johnny to Eldorado Canyon and our tour of the Techatticup Mine. Techatticup Mine Tour. I also added some pictures of some lichen and a tree that I shot up on Mt. Charleston last Thursday. Ponderosa Pine  and  Crustose Lichens. At lunch I heated up some chili adding some onion and green pepper, topped with grated cheddar cheese. We spent the afternoon watching the Masters Gold tournament and some TV shows. My brother Tommy called in the late afternoon and we spent nearly and hour catching up on "life". We had chocolate cake and ice cream for dinner over some prerecorded TV shows before heading off to bed for the evening. The picture of the bee inside the blossom of the beavertail cactus was taken at the Techatticup Mine Camp in Eldorado Canyon.

SATURDAY - 04/09/2011 - Pretty much our normal morning routine. I posted some pictures of Thursday's hike to Mt. Charleston to my Photo Gallery blog. Click here to view ... Mt. Charleston. I made us some turkey wraps for lunch. We had a lot of errands to run today; so after lunch we hit the water store, gas station, library, bread store and Walgreen's. We then went to GVR so Connie could play her $7 free slot play. Wehn we got back home, Jim Herring was just getting out of his car. He had to pick up a friend at the airport around 7:30 and decided to come early and take us out to dinner. After a couple of bottles of wine, we drove up to the Cheesecake Factory across from the District at Green Valley.

Dinner w/Jim at Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory menu features more than 200 menu selections made fresh from scratch each day plus more than 50 cheesecakes and specialty desserts. We started off with an appetizer of Stuffed Mushrooms made with Fontina and Parmesan Cheese, Garlic and Herbs in a Wine Sauce. Connie and I both had the Chicken Madeira, a sautéed chicken breast topped with fresh asparagus and melted Mozzarella cheese, covered with fresh mushroom Madeira sauce and served with mashed potatoes. It was outstanding as usual. Jim had the fried shrimp platter. We then shared a Key Lime cheesecake and a Strawberry cheesecake. It was a lovely, long, relaxing dinner; and needless to say we were all stuffed when we left. After dinner Jim drove to the airport, we went home and watched a couple of TV shows before heading to bed.

Breakfast at Rae's with Rick

FRIDAY - 04/08/2011 - It was reported this morning that the winds up on Mt. Charleston, where I was taking pictures yesterday, were over 74 mph. This morning it was only 42 degrees when we got up to go met Connie's brother and his family for breakfast at Rae's, a local's restaurant just around the corner from us. They are headed back to Colorado from their short four-day visit to Belen's family here in Vegas. After saying our goodbyes, we went back home and I worked on postig pictures to my photo gallery from yesterday's Mt Charleston hike while Connie read. At 2:00 pm I had to drive my friend Jim Freed to the doctors office. He has been having a problem with a pain in his side for two months that no one can seem to diagnose. After taking Jim back home we went to GVR and the "M" where Connie had $15 in free slot play. We stayed at the "M" and had dinner before heading to the airport at 7:30 pm to pick up Jim Herring. By the time we drove him to his house on the other side of Vegas and got back home it was after 11:00, way past out bedtime.

THURSDAY - 04/07/2011 - Got up at 5:30 am for one of my hikes with the Senior Center's rock hounds. Today's hike was to the Mt. Charleston area, which as predicted, ended up being very windy and cold. Several of the trails still had so much snow on them that they were closed. As always, I still was able to get a few nice pictures, even though I missed some sittings of two beautiful woodpeckers and a huge western blue jay. Came home and made a late afternoon lunch that we had over some prerecorded TV shows. Connie then watched over my shoulder as I reviewed and edited the pictures from this morning's hike. We then had ice cream sundies for dinner, watched a couple of TV show and went to bed.

WEDNESDAY - 04/07/2011 - Connie's brother and family arrived late on Monday after a long 13 hour drive from Bayfield, Colorado. They spent all day Tuesday visiting with Belen's family and touring some of the new sites on the Strip. We went over to the "M" and had lunch at the Vig Deli and played for a couple of hours. Today, Rick, Belen and Caden came over around 9:00 am and I made us all a nice 'brunch' consisting of egg, pepper, onion and cheese omelets, hashbrowns, bacon and English muffins. After breakfast we took Caden out to play in the yard area around the pool. When we went back inside, Caden ended up taking a nap and we sat out on the deck conversing for several hours. We then headed over to the Coronado Cafe at the South Point casino, where they were staying, and treated them to a wonderful Chinese dinner. It was just one of those nice days with family. After we parted company, we drove by the "M" and played for a couple of hours before heading back home. I won, Connie lost. Caught up on a few of our TV shows before retiring for the evening.

Generator Room on the Nevada Side of Dam

SUNDAY - 04/03/2011 - I got up, gathered my camera gear and headed over to Boulder City to pick up John again at his RV site on Lake Mead. Today we planned on going back to the Hoover Dam to take the Powerplant Tour, which after a short movie about the building of the dam, begins with an elevator ride that goes 530 feet down inside the dam. Even though there isn't a lot of pictures to take down inside the dam, we did get a few. After our stop at the dam we were going to go over to Floyd Lamb Park to get some waterfowl pictures, but it was still so windy we decided not to go. By the time we finished everything it was nearly noon and we were getting hungry, so we drove back to our house and picked up Connie and went up to the District at GVR to have lunch at the Elephant Bar.

Lunch on the Deck at the Elephant Bar 

Even though it was still a little breezy, it was still warm enough that we decided to eat lunch on their outside deck. Connie and I opted for the Chicken Marsala, John had the Mongolian Beef. It was a very nice conversationally filled, leisurely lunch. After sharing a walnut fudge brownie sundae with ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge sauce and a cherry for dessert, we went back to our place and watched the movie "127 Hours". It's the true story about a mountain climber who became trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah in 2002 and who, after five-days, had to resort to cutting off his arm in order to survive. We all thought it was very well done and enjoyed it. We then drove Johnny back to his RV and said our goodbyes, thanking him for a very nice, week long visit. Even though we keep in touch on a regular basis via email, it had been a couple of years since we had seen him and it was really good to get together, swap stories and reminisce. As Connie said, it was a great birthday present for me!

SATURDAY - 04/02/2011 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me! Sixty-Five - OMG, I must be getting old; now I'am even eligible for Medicare. The plan for the day was to go over to the Hoover Dam early enough to capture some sunrise pictures of the new by-pass bridge at the dam. Connie told me later that her sister Pattie had called to wish me happy birthday after I had left to pick up Johnny. I was up at 4:14 am, drove over to the Boulder Beach Campground at Lake Mead to pick up John and get to the dam before sunrise. Whoops! Because the dam and bridge are located deep within Black Canyon, there were no sunrise pictures!

The good news was that we were early enough to see nearly a dozen mountain sheep grazing on the hillsides on the southern end of the dam. After our dam stop we headed southwest to Eldorado Canyon and a visit to the Techatticup Mining Camp.

The Techatticup Mine Camp

After an hour of roaming the area, we decided to take the tour into the original Techatticup Mine. We had a great tour guide who really knew the history and took us into several of the mines' nearly four miles of tunnels. It was an excellent tour that provided a lot of information about the history of this famous gold and silver mine and the people who worked it. We were really glad that we had made a last minute decision to take it.

When we got back home, we picked up Connie and drove over the the "M" Casino, where Connie treated us to their all-you-can-eat Seafood Brunch for my birthday.What a meal it was; the King Crabs Legs were delicious. I ended up getting an 'end cut" of prime rib that was unbelievably tender. Johnny was impressed with all the offerings and thought it was the best buffet he had ever been to. After we got back to our place we were all stuffed, and somewhat tired after our long day of hiking and picture taking, so I ended up taking John back to his RV site on Lake Mead.  When I got back home I got a call from my sister in Reno, wishing me a happy birthday. It was a nice call and we talked for more than an hour and a half. Connie and I looked at the day's pictures, watched a TV show and went to bed early.

Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (Colorado River Bridge) 

  

FRIDAY - 04/01/2011 - After a continental breakfast in the room again, we checked out and headed back to Henderson. After unpacking the car, I ran some errands, cleaners, gas, auto shop and car wash. When I got back home Connie and I went to Burger King for a couple of 2-1 burgers. When I got back home I opened mail and emails, paid bills and recorded my expenditures of the past four days. John called and let us know that he found a nice site at the Boulder Beach RV site on Lake Meade. We made arrangements for getting up early in the morning to go to the Hoover Dam and the Eldorado Mine for some more picture taking.