Mooched a Vacation to Diego

A few weeks ago I had to go to San Diego for a seminar to get certified in water damage restoration...I know, what could be more exciting right. Well anyway, i was being flown down and had a nice room in La Jolla for three nights so I figured we could mooch of that and squeeze in a mini vacation for the wife and I and besides little sister Heather was nearly in tears for us to visit her in her awful little beach town. It was hard but we sucked it up and toughed it out by taking an extra Friday off and going down three days early to stay on Pacific Beach and hang with the little sis. It was a good time and nice to see that Heather is doing well. We spent a couple days just beach bumming and I took Em to the Zoo. I had no idea she had never been to a good zoo. She was like a cute little kid at the zoo! After that I went to my seminars and Em roughed it at the Hyatt health spa. We also got some great tickets for a Padres game from a work colleague in our San Diego office.

Stayed on da Beach of course

Heather and Emilee hangin out in the ghetto.

Thats Right! I can ride a bike and still take pics.

Who has the longest neck?...sorry, but all other giraffe pictures have to be censored. Those two in the back were acting a little to frisky for a family blog....if ya know what i mean:)

Make monkey sounds now!

Us again

She gets mad if I don't use pics of me so enjoy.

Em's first stadium brat at a ballgame! Go figure?

Box seats...over rated. Liked 1st base better.

The End of this blog but don't cry, I may blog again.

The Heart of the Desert

We came to the sad realization that the 113+ degree days are coming to an end for the season and thought it would be a perfect time to do a little camping with freinds. There is a beautiful less know lake below the Hoover dam that extends 70miles south to Laughlin. The water at the upper end comes out of the bottom of Lake Mead and is Cold (about 55degrees) all year. This stretch of the Colorado River is called Black Canyon and is pretty sweet and the water is so clear you can see right to the bottom on days where the current is slow. About 20 miles downstream the surface water warms back up from the sun and there are tons of sandy coves hidden within the rocky cliffs and rugged environment. This is a great place to camp. We had a great weekend at Mojave. Taking in the sights, cookin up some brats and doing some wake boarding. At night the water was flatter than I have ever seen with a full moon it was like having night vision and I have never heard an echo like the one we got from our campsite...you could hear your yell about 5 or 6 times before it was lost in the quiet night. It is amazing that such natural beauty is so close to Las Vegas and we saw maybe a dozen boats the whole weekend.

Our Stake for the Weekend!

View From Above Camp. The walls make crazy echo's at night.

Em checkin the view...and lookin out for Rocks!

A nice little cove for a swim and some fishing

Hellow from Lake Mojave

I just like this perspective. This is where you hide from the heat when it really hot! In the Water!!

Watch out...shes gettin crazy....right before head butting the water!

Our backyard playground

Only been about about 75 days since I blogged....

Well what can I say... I'm Busy! Going back to work defiantly has its downsides but I am enjoying my new career in Disaster Services, Re-construction and Consulting. It has been a great last few months with lots of activities going on. I will try to get more pics and details about some of them later. We made it to Boise for Emilee's sister Ashley's wedding, have done tons of boating and spent the fourth of July weekend on a house boat, finally upgraded my truck, been to tons of outdoor concerts (mostly free...gotta love Vegas), both got strep throat, vent to San Diego again for work and for fun, Emilee lost her only chipped car key,....... and on and on. And oh i almost forgot one more tiny thing...Emilee graduated from nursing school. "EMILEE GRADUATED FROM NURSING SCHOOL" Ohhhhh-Yeahhhh! I am so proud of her and she has really worked hard (for a long time) at it! She is going to make a wonderful nurse! So, for the most part life has been kind to us in Las Vegas and we can't complain about too much. Except for maybe that it is cooling down (only 100-105 now), and the days are getting shorter. Contrary to popular belief, we have found that we love the hot dry summers and summer is our favorite season in Las Vegas.

Mom and Dad Visit and San Diego

Mom already posted two videos about the wonderful time she got to spend with me and Emilee...duh! I decided to go ahead and say that it was sure great to see that the family still remembers we are alive and kickin in Vegas and come to visit....even if we do have to bribe them. We had a great time visiting with Mom and Dad, taking them to the Strip sights and to see our playground Lake Mead. We then took them down to San Diego to see the little sis Heather and pick on her for awhile. We had a great time at Sea World, Kickin it on the beach, riding bikes on the boardwalk and seeing the Midway Museum.
Here is a link to the rest of the Pics from their Visit:
Mom and Dad Visit and Trip to San Diego 5.08

Mom and Dad in our "Back yard"

Dad was really proud of his dumb-bass! But when we got home after nearly a week in San Diego it really had the garage stinking in the hot weather!

Sunset was nice from this park in La Jolla near Heather's place.

My Girl!

Mom, Heather, Emilee Dawn.

We enjoyed seeing the views from this pier. Our hotel is in the Background.
Emilee enjoyed the views of the Surfers!

Like a lil kid she just had to touch those stingrays.

USS Midway Carrier Museum.

Snowmobile Videos Added to Album!

I posted all the clips of the sled video that my good friend Nate Fisher and I put together back in Idaho a few years ago. During college riding was what it was all about. You just can't really describe it to someone who hasn't done it on a modern machine. Best scene of freedom, adventure, and exploration that i have found. None of the other motor sports I have tried come close, I really miss this stuff! Most of the clips are one track each but the first two are two and three tracks. We just had lots of home videos and decided to put some of it to music but towards the end we actually started shooting because we wanted footage for it. Makes one heck of a souvenir! Lots of good scenery in Idaho, Utah, Oregon with lots of cool climbs and drops. Check it out if you want.
Here is the link: 1A Bold Snowmobile Video
And if your wondering about the title 1A stands for Ada County in ID.

The Lake is Warming Up!

We have been out to Mead three times this year so far but I was to big of a wuss to get into the cold water so we only fished on the first two trips out. Well the water is in the 70's finally so we were able to do some swimming and start doing some wake boarding, and power-tubin! We went out to Echo Bay Marina a bit further out (about 70 miles from home). I had not seen this Mariana yet but we went out to help a friend with the remodel their family houseboat. Nice quiet Marina much less busy that Vegas, Callville, or Hemingway Marinas. Great sandy beaches and coves in this area and I found a new killer campsite at the end of a long narrow cove with a nice flat sandy spot to land on. Also saw some big fish lurking just off the shore and was able to catch a bass on my second cast. Up till now all I have been able to catch has been tiny little strippers on worms. Summer has defiantly arrived.

Nice Calm Water! Cant tell in pic but water is 110' down from water line!

Finally caught a nice little bass on 2nd cast!

Friends feeding fish at the Marina.

Emilee at Echo Bay. Thinks shes a pirate with that bandanna.

Added Desert Riding Album!

I added an album with some of our riding pictures in it. The riding is usually in the desert around Las Vegas or at Dumont Dunes in Cali to the south or Armagosa Dunes a lil bit North. Both are lots of fun and about the closest substitute to Sleds that I can find. It is amazing how much life you find when you venture out and explore the desert. It just looks like weeds and rocks when you fly by it on the highway or from the air, but once you get out into it you see all the interesting plants and animals that make it their home. You might even find some old skeletons left over from the Mob days....just kidding....or at least I hope I am!
Link to Album:
Riding and Exploring the Desert