Las Vegas and Minneapolis

I've been away for a week at the American Dance Therapy Association annual conference. This year it was in Minneapolis. To get to the airport I had a beautiful drive from Virgin to Las Vegas, through the Virgin River Gorge along Rt. 15, and into the desert. The climate and terrain change dramatically after you come through the gorge.  Then I hung out in Las Vegas for a couple of hours before my flight. (Plane delay, plus I didn't realize that Las Vegas is an hour earlier than Utah.) There are slot machines everywhere in the airport...Bling, crunch, buzz, beep beep, ding dong...bling, crunch, buzz, beep beep, ding dong... OVER and OVER AGAIN for hours! There's no getting away from it. Inane. Collapsed people sitting at the machines, looking like I do after 30 games of solitaire. And now they don't even have to move to put in coins. They put in a ticket for a certain amount and all they have to do is push a button. No coins fall out when they win either. What's up with that?

The weather was grand in Las Vegas and I drove around with no problem during the few hours I had.   I have always had bad feelings about Las Vegas because of the gambling, but this time it felt more like an adult playground. Now if there were some way to have that kind of place without the gambling and all its ill effects, I'd love it. We will be there around Thanksgiving and hope to see Ka by Cirque du Soleil.

The conference was wonderful. Seeing all my dance/movement therapy friends was heart warming and more fun than Vegas could ever be. I came away very happy.  I have had the very best career in the world. I presented my research to an appreciative group of colleagues, and got an award too! For excellence in education. Couldn't be better.

Minneapolis was not so beautiful, but it does have these cool skyways that connect all the blocks downtown. You can get to Starbucks and shopping without going outside. Perfect. Chicago should have them.

I had a window seat on the flight back to Las Vegas, which went over the Colorado Plateau. My face was up against the window the whole way. We flew right over Bryce, Zion, Kolob Canyon and Virgin. I could actually see our RV park, as well as more interesting places like Sand Hollow, Quail and Kolob Reservoirs, and Snow Canyon. It was a perfect overview of everywhere we've been down here, and a perfect way to say goodbye. This weekend we head on to Powell Lake.

On the drive back to Virgin in the dark, I passed an electric highway sign that read "Bee Swarm 4 Miles Ahead. Windows Up." That's a first. I guess there had been an accident and a truck carrying bees had rolled. When I passed the scene the bee hives were all over the road and people in bee suits (?) were walking around in spot lights doing I don't know what. Herding bees? I was expecting bee splats all over the windshield, but we were going too slow to test that out.

People have been asking where we are heading next, so that if we are in their neighborhood they can contact us. Here is the itinerary for the next four months:

10/ 29-11/13 – Lake Powell, AZ                                             

11/13-20 -- Cottonwood, AZ 

11/20-23 -- Needles, CA 

11/23-30 -- Las Vegas, NV 

11/30-12/1 -- Yermo, CA 

12/1-15 -- San Dimas, CA 

12/15-1/15 – Santee Lakes, CA

1/15-2/15 – Aguanga, CA

See ya!