Las Vegas Update

I've had a couple of people inquire how on earth this weekend could have only cost $80.00. I admit, I thought it was a typo too, but my Hubby doesn't do typos. Not when it comes to his neurotic record keeping. Then I kept thinking about it and, even in 1985, this just seemed impossible, so I asked him for clarification. I don't know if I knew this, or if I forgot. I am old you know, but Hubby explained that we had been given some tremendous deal. Seems he had a good friend who's uncle ran the hotel (which neither of us can remember the name of.) I do remember that it was nice and centrally located on the Strip. Anyway, we were given a deep discount, a free night and a free show. Hubby thinks we probably only paid about $25.00 for the package. That would explain it. Cuz, I wouldn't want anyone to think that we were like sitting up at night and killing bed bugs or anything. Hope this makes all of us feel better......lol.

To my friend at Happily Ever After.....I actually went back to see if I had written "Brain" head. I was going to edit it and tell you that you're nuts....cuz I'm mean like that.

Las Vegas Getaway

One July, my husband told me that we were going to go to Sea World the next day. We had never taken our son before, so I was very excited to see how he liked it. He was 18 months old. The next morning, around 6:00 am, hubby woke me up and told me to get up because it was time to go. What? Go to Sea World at 6:00 am? Are you nuts? Something along those lines was said anyway. Then he told me that he hadn't told me the truth. We weren't going to Sea World, we were, in fact, leaving the children with his parents and going to Las Vegas for a long weekend. I was horrified! I had never left my son before. Mom's of preemies tend to get very possessive of their little ones and I was no different. Hubby knew that if I was given too much time to think it through that I wouldn't go. He's probably right....lol.

We packed ourselves and the kids and took them to grandma's. Luckily, we hadn't told them that we were going to Sea World. That would have been mean. We dropped them off and drove to Vegas.

I don't remember the name of the hotel we stayed at, but it was on the Strip. I don't remember the name of show we saw, but we did see one. I had never been to Las Vegas before and I can remember how beautiful the Strip looked at night. I can also remember that even clear back then, you could see some really "different" people on the Strip. I remember being handed a pornographic leaflet and being appalled. I can remember seeing some pretty inappropriate clothing and wondering if the women wearing them owned mirrors. I can also remember eating at a buffet and stuffing myself silly. Truth be told, I can remember stuffing myself silly somewhere on EVERY vacation.....lol.

We took one afternoon and drove over to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. We layed by the pool and walked up and down the Strip until our feet were ready to fall off. We had a wonderful time and somehow it always amazes me that Hubby had the smarts to know that if he had told me in advance it wouldn't have happened. As it was, I remember missing the kids a lot, but I also knew they were just fine at Grandmas.

Las Vegas- 2 nights in a hotel, gas, meals and a show.......$80.00. Even I had to do a double-take at that one. But, it's correct. Next vacation....Brianhead, Utah in Jan. 1986.

I've Been Tagged

My daughter tagged me and I'm supposed to update someone I haven't seen in 15 years and tell them what's been going on in my life. I only get to tell you 10 things. Hmmmmm....... 15 years ago I was 35, my children were 11 and 9 and I had been married for 15 years. A LOT has happened since then....

- Both of my children graduated from high school and went on to college. My daughter graduated in 2003 from Point Loma Nazarene University and my son graduated in 2006 from the University of California San Diego. My son is due to finish a dual Masters program in Counseling Psychology and Religious Studies this December.

- I am still married to my best friend and soul mate. We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in November. My daughter was engaged to the wrong guy, woke up and got rid of him, fell in love with the right guy and married him in 2003. My son is dating a beautiful girl who we all know is "the one."

- My daughter had an adorable baby boy in 2006, which makes me a Grandma! He is more fun than I could have ever imagined. I want more!!!!

- For our 25th wedding anniversary we went to Oahu and Kauai for 11 days. We had so much fun that we took my son and his girlfriend to Maui for his college graduation in 2006 and my daughter and her family to Kauai in 2007.

- We consider Lake Tahoe our Heaven on Earth. In the last 15 years we have been there 7 times and are going back again next month. Everyone gets to go. I can't wait.

- Between August 2002 and February 2003, I lost 29 pounds. I'm happy to say that I've kept it off.

- We are officially Empty-Nester's and we love it! Of course, if one of our children needed to come home we would welcome them with open arms, but there is something to be said for having the house all to ourselves.

- About 15 years ago we changed churches and it was the best thing that ever happened to our family. My children were involved in AWANA. They were part of a fantastic youth program and we have made some amazing friends through our small groups. (Including the friend who, when she did this, had to list 11 things...cuz, well she's just like that.) Our whole family has grown in leaps and bounds spiritually since we started worshipping at this church.

- I still love mushroom pizza, chocolate-mint or coffee ice cream and. if I'm going to eat fast food, In & Out or McDonald's still tops my list. (I worked at McDonald's during high school and Mac sauce is addicting.)

- I'm not working right now. Last September, I left the job I had had since 1991. I have no plans to work in the near future. Since my daughter moved to "that other state", last November, I like being free to visit or to enjoy her visits. Huge thanks to my hubby for seeing it the same way! I love you!

Wow! When I read over this list and realize how much has happened in 15 years, I am humbled to see just how blessed I've been. Would someone please tag me again in 15 years?

I tag:

Dena
Zandra
Heather
Jon
Vicki

If you don't blog....use your MySpace.

Mammoth - January 1985

Our last vacation was in March 1983. Except for a beach camping trip, we took 1984 off. We had our son in December of 1983. He was born premature and we spent 1984 getting him home, healthy and enjoying our new little family.

January 1985 finds us back at Mammoth with all of hubby's family for 5 days of skiing. There was an incredible amount of snow this year. There was snow piled up alongside the road in Mammoth that was 15 feet high.

Our daughter was 3 and she started to learn how to ski. We had cute little straps that attached to the front of both of her skis that were supposed to help her "make a pie." For a little girl, she did very well. She enjoyed playing in the snow more than skiing though.



My daughter is going to kill me for telling this story, but I'm going to tell it anyway. (Keep in mind that she is just 3 years old.) My husband's brother and wife were newlyweds on this trip. One evening, they said that they were going to go and take a bath :o). We thought our daughter was playing up in the loft. Pretty soon, my brother and sister-in-law come back from taking their bath and inform us that our daughter had joined them in the bathroom, where she proceeded to read a book to them. We all still chuckle over that. In fact, I think my sister-in-law may have suggested that she should go on my daughter's honeymoon with her....lol.

Our son, was just a year old on this trip. He started to cough and cough and cough. My brother-in-law, who was a paramedic, listened to his lungs and suggested that we take him to the doctor in Mammoth. We did and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. This would be the first of many, many vacations where our son took us on a tour of the local medical facilities. He didn't feel very good on the way home and cried for much of the trip. Poor little guy.




Before he got sick, he enjoyed being out in the snow and he looked so cute in his little snow suit.

Aside from having a sick baby, a good time was had by all. Cost of the trip for condo, gas, food, and 5 days skiing...$$390.00.

11 days of fun and Mammoth 1983

I just spent the last 11 days enjoying my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. We were on vacation in our own city. We built sandcastles at the beach, walked on Lily Pads at the Wild Animal Park, saw a brand new baby dolphin at Sea World, and spent two days at Disneyland. We visited Grandpa at work, because no visit is complete without sitting in a helicopter, we went swimming in the pool where my grandson survived his first bee sting, went in the backyard spa and celebrated a second birthday. We picked plums off of the tree and ate them in the backyard. We were busy, busy, busy, but never too busy for toddler kisses in the morning and toddler hugs before bed. Our grandson learned how to say Grandma and Grandpa (both of us are Raw-raw)and plum (bum) and shampoo.....lol. I took them to the airport last night and I miss them already. There was no little voice waking me up this morning and no sloppy kisses or bear hugs, but I get to see them again in 20 days because we are all going on vacation together. I think I can last that long.



Hanging out at the beach.






Enjoying the Happiest Place on Earth.


Before my vacation I promised (or threatened) to continue my series on past vacations. I'm up to March of 1983 when we went skiing in Mammoth. My daughter was 18 months old. We went with all of hubby's family and stayed in a condo.




We drove our Datsun Pickup (I think that Datsun became Toyota) and put all three of us in the front (only) seat. Since it was a manual transmission, the car seat was positioned closer to my side so that hubby could shift easier. I remember that it wasn't very comfortable. My daughter would play with a toy and then, when she was done, she would throw it at me. It was about a 7 hour drive and I was ready to get out of the truck by the time we got there.

We took turns skiing and watching our daughter.




We even put her on little tiny skis. We didn't take her up any of the lifts, but we pushed her around on small little inclines near our condo.




She loved the snow and especially the icicles. She would look out the window and point, then say "sicle" over and over again. Usually her grandpa would go outside and break one off for her to eat.

I don't remember much else about that trip. I know that we had a great time and that my daughter loved it.

Total cost for condo, food, gas and 5 days skiing.....$250.00.

Next up....January 1985 and another ski trip to Mammoth.

Catalina Island Getaway

After skiing Tahoe in January 1980, we didn't take another vacation until July of 1982. Hubby spent the rest of 1980 going through the Academy. We bought our first home that year too. Then, in September of 1981, our daughter was born. She was 10 months old in July of 1982. We decided to treat ourselves to our first weekend away. We made it a long weekend and spent 3 nights on Catalina Island.

I can't seem to find a single picture of that weekend. Which is odd, because all of my pictures are in albums and I know we had to have taken a camera with us. I did find this picture of my daughter sitting in the suitcase, clearly wanting to join us.



We drove from San Diego to New Port Beach to catch the boat that takes you to the Island. Once we arrived at Catalina, it was a short walk to our hotel. I don't remember much about the hotel, especially with no pictures to jump-start my memory. I do remember that it didn't have a traditional hotel type door. It had a sliding glass door. That and the only window was a tiny little one in the bathroom making it hard to get any air into the room at night. We weren't about to sleep with a open sliding glass door. There wasn't an air conditioner, so I remember it being a little warm at night.

Part of our package included tours of the Opera House and the Wrigley mansion. Also a glass bottom boat trip and a trip to the interior of the Island. I remember seeing a lot of Garabaldi fish on the boat tour. That is the State Fish and they are a very pretty bright orange. I remember the trip to the interior of the Island being very warm, dirty and dusty. They have wild bison or buffalo or whatever. Some kind of a rather ugly, dirty animal.

We spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach. Most likely reintroducing ourselves to each other after 10 months of our lives being run by a pint-size cruise director. We ate way too much and I'm sure the weekend was over before we knew it. I also know, in my mother's heart, that we couldn't wait to get back home to our sweet little girl.

Total for the entire trip: $385.00

Coming up: March 1983, Mammoth Ski Vacation

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I'm going to be taking time off from introducing you to all of our travels. Tomorrow morning my daughter and grandson arrive for 11 days. My son-in-law gets here next Monday. We are going to be busy going to the beach, Disneyland, Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, the pool and celebrating a 2nd birthday. I'll try to post if I have time, but I'm going to be busy getting my family fix. Keep safe and I'll see you soon.

Lake Tahoe #2

The second time we went to Lake Tahoe was in January 1980. We had been married a little over a year. A lot had happened in that year. Hubby had broken his leg on the job and had missed several weeks of work. He had so much swelling and bruising that they decided not to cast the leg. In light of that, he had to be extra careful that he didn't do anything to damage it. We lived in a second floor apartment. Needless, to say, he was pretty much house-bound for several weeks.

After recovering from that, he had begun the process of trying to get hired by a local Law Enforcement Agency. He tested with several agencies and was hired by his first choice. He was due to start the academy in February 1980. We decided to splurge and take a ski vacation to Lake Tahoe in January. We booked one of those package deals that include your lodging, lift tickets and some meals.

This was during the time when something was going on with our gas supply. I can't remember exactly what, but there were shortages. It was common to wait in line for a couple of hours to fill up your tank. I think you could only buy gas on certain days. It might have been based on your license plate numbers, kind of an even and odd day type of thing. I remember that we were worried about driving to Lake Tahoe, for fear there would be stretches of road where no gas was available. In lieu of that, we traveled with two 10 gallon gas cans in our truck...just in case.

I don't remember the name of the hotel where we stayed, but it was in South Lake Tahoe. The cabin that we stay in is just outside of Tahoe City in North Tahoe. South Tahoe is where all the casinos are and it is more heavily populated. I can remember arriving on a Sunday, checking into our hotel and watching the Super Bowl. It was the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the then LA Rams.

We skied at 4 different resorts while we were there, Squaw Valley, Heavenly Valley, Alpine Meadows and Kirkwood. I remember that the weather was picture perfect the entire time. I know that there were things that I liked about each resort. Once you rode up in the Gondola, Squaw Valley was like skiing in a wide open valley with no trees. On a bright sunny day, it was almost hot. Kirkwood was a much smaller, family-friendly resort. The runs were probably more suited to my level of skiing, but it was a longer drive. I don't remember much about Alpine Meadows that is noteworthy. Heavenly Valley was a huge waste of money. Not because it wasn't a good place to ski, but because we only made one run and then were done for the day.

It was our last day of skiing. We had saved the closest resort for last. Like the last post in Big Bear, Hubby had persuaded me to try a run that I wasn't ready for. I kept falling. Getting up and falling again. On one of the falls I ripped my ski bibs. They ripped on a seam. Not a big deal. Easily fixable. The only problem was that they ripped from the waistband in the front all the way to the waistband in the back. There was no way that I was going to keep skiing like that! There was no way for me to fix them and I wasn't about to leave to go and buy another pair at resort prices. I encouraged Hubby to stay and ski, telling him I would wait in the lodge, in my jeans, with a good book. He didn't want to do that, so that is our experience with Heavenly Valley.


Here is a picture of Hubby sporting 1980's style sideburns and a pre-cop haircut.


The Gondola to Squaw Valley.


View of the Lake from the top of Heavenly Valley.

Even though the Heavenly Valley day was cut short, the vacation was still a lot of fun. At today's prices, this trip would cost around $1800.00 to $2000.00 for lodging, lift tickets, food and gas. Back in 1980 it was a very expensive trip for us at a whopping $520.00.

I remember that my second trip to Lake Tahoe just made me fall more and more in love with the area. It was probably on that trip that Hubby and I started talking about the possibility of someday owning our own mountain cabin. Maybe not at Lake Tahoe, but somewhere where the blue jays wake you in the morning and the smell of pine is in the air. Someplace where the sky is blue and the air is clean. I'm sure we talked about someday having children and introducing the Lake to them. I doubt that we could have known how much a part of our lives and memories that Lake Tahoe would actually become.

Next up: Catalina Island