Hello,

This post is all about my Thanksgiving holiday with family and my mum whom would travel from Alaska to visit, a much needed reconnect with family. So, the grand plan was hatched to have the family meet at my sisters Trina place. She had recently returned from Maryland for which she had been for quite some time. Unfortunately my sister has had a rough time in life for about the last ten years and we were all hoping she would be doing better so when she invited the family for the holiday people made/changed long standing plans to accommodate the request.

Originally we were going to travel to my wife’s sisters house as she had recently become a homeowner and all were excited to attend and enjoy this and experience her new home with them.  But upon learning about my family whom rarely congregates I made the executive decision to have my family change plans a decision my wife reluctantly agreed to as she understands how infrequently this opportunity presents themselves.  My brother also decided to attend from Colorado it was looking like a good time would be had by all.

My mother purchased tickets to fly down, we rented hotels in the city where my sister lives all seemed well right up to November, this is when my brother became shifty about his plans and could not produce any solid arrival dates, or travel plans. I thought to myself no worries the trip will still be worth my time and effort as I would be seeing my little sis and mother along with her kiddos.

At this point my sister became even harder to reach and upon learning she was no longer responding to anyone..what the heck!. Thus I reverted my plans as it would appear at this point my sister was only trying to obtain attention and had no plans to have the family over. I became hurt and angry about this told my mother I would no longer be attending, very sad as I love my sister but she is no longer the person I grew up with and at the time of this writing have yet to hear from here again.

So in an effort to see my mother, make my wife happy and her sister I would embark on quite the journey traveling over 1,500 miles in a single week. Thus I feel this trip deserves a post on my wall.

We started by making our way to Red Bluff CA, I little town off the I-5 interstate highway to my wife’s sisters house. It would turn out to be quite enjoyable, as the dinner spread was well rounded and the family’s were in good spirits. Below are a few shots of the good times.

The turkey after the fest.

Me and my signature ‘Rock’ look, yep I also do a really good Elvis ‘Thank you, Thank you very much’ impression. Me and Billy is below.

Me and my wife’s parents Dan and Shelly.

Me and Carmelo my wife’s sisters husband.

Me and Jacob.

So the very next day I said my goodbyes and then headed to Las Vegas to meet my mother who would be flying in, she had made plans to meet in Reno NV where I would have picked her up and then headed to my sisters house. Since this did not happen she would end up spending thanksgiving alone in Reno as her original flight was non refundable but was able to reroute to Las Vegas a few days later. I was prepared to drive to Reno and have her attend in Red Bluff but my mom was hoping my sister would come around and never did, very upsetting.

I headed out early kissed my wife goodbye and was on my way making the 637 mile trip to Vegas to pick up my mother at the air port. It would be a very long day as the drive was well over eleven hours, the good thing is I tend to be a person whom sleeps little and is often not denatured by challenges. Heck I even made plans to take my mother that night to the Chris Angel Mind Freak show.  I stopped to take the below selfie as I was headed into Tahoe, pictures sure don’t do justice here as the view was sweeping and spectacular.

I also  stopped around Mono Lake up on 395 before making my way over to highway 95!

Why make mention of highway 95 with an exclamation point, for all of those who have never been out west this is the infectious Alien highway, as it makes it way to Vegas one crosses some of the the most remote cities and towns which seem to have a creepy or even strange feel to them. One of the first you will come across, is Hawthorne. While one may never know Hawthorne is a US Army supply point for ammunition while this is cool and all the real gem is the highway dedicated to the fallen solders, every mile all the way to Tonopah is the name of a hero who gave their life for the freedom we have today. Super cool and high recommend all travel and experience this.

The next town along this highway is Tonopah, it servers as a gas filing station other than that I kept on trucking. Eventually one comes upon Beatty NV. This town is the gateway into Death Valley, I have even stayed here before in the past while exploring Death Valley which is a back door to where I live. There is lots of history here and I recommend people stay here if on a multiple day drip visiting Death Valley.

Upon my arrival in Vegas I picked up my mother and we quickly checked into the Luxor and then obtained our tickets to the show, I must say the shows in Vegas are top of the line when it comes to experiences. I believe my day started at 0400 and ended at 23:30 a very long day which ended with a very long and heart filled hug with my mother whom I had not seen in over eight years.

The next day; I being the super planner had breakfast with my mother after sleeping in as my mother has turned into a night owl and insisted we not get started until after 0900 a request I was happy to partake in as I find myself needing to slow down at times but simply cannot. After having breakfast I informed my mother we were going shooting, she replied with how and where. Well in Las Vegas there is a company called Machine Guns of Las Vegas, where you can buy what they call a gun package allowing you to pick several guns to shoot in a controlled shooting range with an instructor. I purchased the 5 gun package, best 500 bucks ever!

Yep my mother loves selfies too! She even said my ‘Rock’ look was good and gave her impression as well, I also felt it appropriate to wear my Super Man shirt as we were going to save the world!

 

Did I mention my mother is 72 years young! She rocked each one and had a blast! After this we went back to the Luxor and had a few hours pulling and pushing handles on the slot machines before retreating for our evening activities. After relaxing for a bit we decided to pick up our tickets for the Blue Man Group, I have always wanted to attend this show and my mother was all for it so off we went.

The Blue Man Group is a total win in my book, I was not sure what to expect but it definitely was not what I expected and I also highly recommend. The picture at the top of this post is before the show started and the room is basically lit by black lighting, the paper that is wrapped around our head is a clue to the big ending of which I will not spoil.

After this I had made dinner reservation at the Sky Needle where me and my mother would have a very expensive dinner. I believe the total bill with tip ran my around 350.00 for the experience. As the restaurants outer ring slowly spins giving you a view of the entire Las Vegas city, I made a slow-mo video and it turned out quite well. Dinner lasted a full 2.5 hours as the experience and the chefs involved in this type of experience is top notch.

The next day I returned my mother back to the airport and then proceeded home another four hour drive and additional 240 miles of driving. But if I never see my mother in person again I will have the experience for the rest of my life with no regrets. I wish the same could be said for my siblings.

Until next time aCSguy….