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My next stop was Las Vegas. We have some good friends in Virginia, Alan and Mary Ann. Mary Ann has never been to Las Vegas and Alan has no interest in going there. So we arranged for Alan to go skiing with Bradley in Vail while Mary Ann and I went to Vegas! What a plan.

One of my best friends, Cynthia lives in Las Vegas. Another good friend, Nancy, arranged to come out from North Carolina and her friend Mandy also came. Nancy and I arrived first and spent the night with Cynthia and her wonderful husband Edward. Mary Ann arrived the next day and she and I checked into the Luxor Hotel which would be our home for the week.

First, Mary Ann needed a lesson in gambling. I took her to the casino where we found a blackjack table. After watching a few hands, Mary Ann was still reluctant to play - that is until she found out they serve you free drinks while you are sitting at the table. That got her started and we happily played blackjack for a while. But Mary Ann wanted to try Craps - a game I have played but am not an expert at. So off we went to a craps table. Well, Mary Ann had found her game! Within the hour, she was teaching other people how to play the game!

We had a truly wonderful time in Vegas. We saw several wonderful shows - The Folies Bergere, "V", Gladys Knight, and a magic show. We visited at least a dozen casinos and even won money at a few of them. We honed our craps skills until we were able to play with the best of them. We also tried the slots and Roulette.

We visited the spa at the Luxor for massages, workouts, manicures, and relaxing in the hot tub. We also visited my cousin Paul who lives in Las Vegas. I think I had only met Harry once before, when I was 14 and he was 10. Harry's wife Georgeann, had recently been on Wheel of Fortune with her sister and they had been the big winners, netting over $65,000 in cash and prizes, including two new cars! We had a great visit with Harry, Georgeann, and their kids.

Mary Ann and I also did a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and then a return trip across the desert in a Hummer. It was quite spectacular. The Grand Canyon is really an awesone sight. The helicopter landed on the floor and we took a short climb down to the Colorado River.  I wish we could have had more time to spend there.

Then it was off to the Hummer. Thank goodness the Hummer driver did not fly the helicopter! He was an absolute maniac! MaryAnn and I were joined by a woman from Wyoming and her ten year old son. Our driver, Richard, was dead set on showing off all the off-road features of his Hummer, including how fast it could cover bumpy terrain, how well he could drive it while looking over his shoulder at us and not at the road, how much of an angle it could handle without flipping over - well you get the idea! Mary Ann had a lot of practice screaming! But it was a lot of fun.

We decided we should make this trip an annual event - can't wait till next year!