Las Vegas – The Funny Side of the Street

Up Up And Away…

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Sandy Collier Posted in Las Vegas .

Today was my Balloon Ride that I chose to do for my fiftieth Birthday. The balloon companies always fly in the early morning hours when the weather is cooler and the winds are calmer. There are about eleven balloon companies in town and we chose to fly with Las Vegas Balloon Rides.

When they unwrapped this balloon it took up almost two parking lots, it was crazy. This balloon is the largest one in town and will hold up to 16 passengers. We had a total of 12 on our flight so we did have a bit of room, which was nice.

Dale was a bit worried because of that whole, “I’m afraid of heights thing,” but he was fine. I sent him an article before we booked about that very thing and people are more afraid of edges. That is the main component of that fear. We were pretty safe and secure in our big basket in the sky.

Our altitude was about 1500 feet for our one hour balloon ride. The sky was so clear and we actually saw some other balloons out flying.

For some reason I thought it would be noisy, but it was so quiet and peaceful. The only noise was when Doug our pilot was telling jokes, or shooting some propane up into the balloon. It was a very serene feeling, I liked it.

After the flight we had a really nice complimentary breakfast that really was a nice touch.

My consensus is that if the opportunity ever presents itself to go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride, say YES!

Las Vegas Balloon Rides

The Lion Habitat Ranch, Las Vegas

I’m pretty good at guessing things that Dale has up his sleeve, but he really got me good today. I thought we were going out to shoot guns in the desert. We had a picnic lunch he packed with Barbecued chicken, cheese and crackers and some tasty beverages for our outing. He even tricked me by packing bullets in his nap sack that he made sure I saw. When we turned on this dirt road I said, “hey, look at that sign that says Lion Habitat.” I still didn’t realize we were going there until we turned into the driveway. I guess there was an article in the paper a week ago about this place opening to the public, of course I never saw this article because Dale “made it disappear.” This was an early birthday present, a prequel to my upcoming African Safari vacation that I’m going on in June with my mother-in-law Betty. A trip that is something I am truly excited about. I plan of taking lots of pictures and blogging often while in Africa.

Here are some photos from today at the Lion Habitat. These were the lions that were at an exhibit at the MGM Grand here in Vegas. They have over forty lions here at the habitat. Dale paid a little extra and we were able to interact with the cubs which was awesome. When we came home we hugged our cute little kitty but those cubs were, sorry Tip, but they were cuter.

Good Day, Sunshine – hey, isn’t that a song!

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Sandy Collier Posted in Las Vegas .

It always takes me a bit by surprise when my sense of well-being improves when I just get outside and let the sun shine on my face.

I went outside to empty the trash and I could just feel something in the air. My trees all have buds on their branches. I noticed my neighbors Plum tree has one branch that had a burst of pink and white flowers that all opened up overnight. I faced the sun and raised my arms as high as I could and did my happy “Spring Stretch.”

I needed to breathe some new life into my yard and get rid of all the dead. Out came the leaf blower banishing all the ugly, brown, crispy remnants from my sleepy trees. I sat on the ground pruning my bushes and smiled when I saw all the new, bright green growth just waiting for an opportunity to grow. Why does it just feel good to dig in the dirt?

I Am Not A Criminal?

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Sandy Collier Posted in Las Vegas .

I sit in my recliner trying to think of of ways to motivate myself to go for a walk. You would think that stopping at the Cupcakery (it’s a cupcake store) and buying a red velvet with cream cheese frosting would do it. Surprisingly, nope, that is not motivating me at all to hit the pavement. I kind of felt like a criminal getting into my car with my purchase and looking for a parking spot that was a bit hidden so I could secretly enjoy my “sweet treat.” I found a big tree and pulled into a parking space below it.

Why did I feel so bad, am I a bad person, my heart was beating so fast. I looked around to make sure no one could see me was as I tore off the cover holding my, my, my sweet treat, I guess I’d have to call it.

Do you remember that scene in Shawshank Redemption when Red was sitting in the field under the big tree and opening up the box that Andy left him? He heard a noise and looked over his shoulder. He knew he was doing something that others might not think is right? Today as I peeled back the paper on my cup cake, I was Red.

But damn, that cupcake was GOOD!