Journal Entry for Sunday, Nov 20th

Final Sendoff Dinner at Coyotes Mexican Cafe We set the alarms for 6:00am, as we had to have Rick to the airport by 8:15 to catch his flight home. We enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast of eggs over easy, sausage and English muffins before getting ready for the morning’s airport run. I know Connie was thrilled to have this opportunity to spend time with her brother and only wished it could have been longer. After saying her goodbyes, she asked Rick to pass on ‘hugs’ to Belen, Marisa and Cayden from her. Click the picture on the left to enlarge.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Nov 19th

Eldorado Mine Tour Today I took Connie’s brother Rick to the Techatticup Mining Camp in Eldorado Canyon for a tour of the Techatticup Mine. The Techatticup Mine is the oldest, richest and most famous gold mine in Southern Nevada. Along with others in the nearby area, it produced an estimated 250 million dollars in gold, silver, copper and lead. This was actually the fourth time in two years that I have made a visit to this area, yet each time I visit I seem to find new things to photograph. After a tour of the mine and the old mining camp on the surrounding property, we drove down to Nelson’s Landing, located at the edge of the Colorado River. To see more pictures, check out this page on my Photo Gallery site …Techatticup Mine Tour. After we returned home we showered and changes and headed out to Coyotes Mexican Cafe & Cantina where Rick treated us to dinner. Though not the best Mexican food in Vegas, the portions were huge and the service was very good. The Mexican beers that we ordered each came with a ‘chilled’ glass. I can’t remember that last time I was served a chilled glass with a beer. It was a nice finish to a very enjoyable visit with family.

Journal Entry for Friday, Nov 18th

J. Edgar and Texas de Brazil
Today we picked up Connie’s brother from his week long training seminar at The Orleans Casino and headed to the South Point Casino to see the movie, J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover, who became one of America’s most powerful men as head of the FBI for nearly 50 years. Serving through eight presidents and three wars, Hoover utilized methods both ruthless and heroic to keep ‘his’ country safe. Always projecting a guarded persona in public and in private, he let few into his inner circle. Among those closest to him were his protégé and constant companion, Clyde Tolson, played by Armie Hammer, and his loyal secretary, Helen Gandy, played by Naomi Watts. He lived most of his live with his mother, played by Judi Dench. Though the movie is well acted, it is somewhat shallow in that it never really provide and great detail about anything; either his life or the secrets that he collected on individuals that he used as blackmail to keep his job through eight presidents. I think if there were more emphasis on the FBI itself and G-men with Tommy guns, and less on his relationship with Tolson, I would have liked it more. It was good, but not great. We give it 3-Stars.


After the movie, we took Rick to Texas de Brazil for dinner. He was impressed! After sampling the lobster bisque and their extravagant 60-item gourmet salad area featuring imported cheeses, specialty salads, gourmet vegetables and traditional side items, he had nearly every sizzling meat offering that the carvers provided, including filet mignon, and several cuts of beef, pork, lamb, sausage, and chicken; all flame-grilled to perfection. Needless to say, we were all stuffed by the time we left. After dinner we stopped the Ethel M's Cactus Garden on the way home to view its eight acres of cactus, which at this time of year are covered in tens of thousands of Christmas lights.

Journal Entry for Sunday, Nov 13th

Airport Duties Lunch at East Coast Eats Friday we traveled to Jim’s house to pick up him and Patrick for the trip to the airport and their return home – back to Kansas. We stopped at an In-N-Out Burger for a quick lunch on the way to the airport and were once again treated by Patrick. On Saturday, it was off to the airport again to pick up Connie’s brother who was flying in from Colorado for a week-long training seminar at The Orleans casino. We took him to our favorite new place, East Coast Eats, for lunch. He agreed that the Steak Bomb and homemade onion rings were the best he has had. For dinner we picked up five slices of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory just up the street from us. Valley of Fire State Park Today I cooked us a nice big breakfast before we headed off for the Valley of Fire State Park for a day of hiking and picture taking. Upon our return we picked up some chicken wings and I cooked up some nachos that we ate over the New England Patriots vs New York Jets game, and what a game it was. The Patriots ended up trouncing the Jets 37-16, giving them first place in the AFC East.