Vegas, Baby

Kristie and I spent last week in Las Vegas. Kristie had a Federal Student Aid conference at Bally's / Paris, so I thought I'd tag along for some fun. Kristie went on Monday and I ended up getting there Tuesday night.

Kristie's conference sessions were during the day, which left us the evenings to do dinner and sightseeing. Wednesday night, we took a cab down to Fremont street which is old downtown Las Vegas. For those of you who have not been there, I highly recommend you make the trip down there. There is a canopy over the entire street where they do a video light show each hour on the hour in the evenings. The casinos are older, but the gambling is different than the strip. During the day you might very well find $1.00 Black Jack tables.

The week we went, the National Rodeo Championships just happened to be in town, so there were tons of cowboys on Fremont street. There were a few free country acts performing on the street as well. We saw Lady Antebellum for a song or two.

The ride back from Fremont Street to the Strip was entertaining. We decided to take the double-decker bus (aka "The Deuce") since it was only $2.00 per rider. We were not quite sure how it worked, so when the bus pulled up and its sign read "SSTT" as the destination, we were hesitant to get on. We asked the bus driver where he was headed and he told me he didn't know. I proceeded to ask him this question a few more times, hoping for a better answer, but he kept telling us he didn't know. He did so as he tore our tickets and closed the bus door behind us and started moving. Eventually he led on that he was heading towards the Strip. Just a few moments later, some girls tried to get on the bus...they had hurricanes (Giant alcoholic drinks) and the bus driver wouldn't let them on. The one girl kept asking why not and the bus driver explained that open containers are not allowed on the bus. She then asked "Are you serious?" and then the bus driver replied "Are you serious?" and then the girl asked again..."Are you serious?"to which the bus driver replied "Are you serious?" This went on for a good minute. Kristie and I were bursting with laughter. Finally the bus left, without the drunk girl. A few miles down the road, we overheard the bus driver talking to himself. He was repeating "Are you serious?" over and over. So funny.

The next day we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The view is really amazing up there. Especially when the fountains at Bellagio are going off. There is a HUGE construction project going on just to left of Bellagio.

Later that night, we went to the Treasure Island buffet which was amazing! They had ever type of food you can ask for, plus great desserts. We were super excited to go to see "Le Reve" at the Wynn that night. A friend of mine knows a girl who performs in that show so we were able to get half price tickets. We've never really seen a show before in Vegas. It was unreal. From what I hear, it is similar to Cirque du Soleil. There was a center round stage that was all water. There were probably a total of 40 performers that did amazing acrobatics and dance...the stage came out of the water. It was about 70 minutes long.

Oh...and gambling. We did okay. I lost a bunch at Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, but made some back on Roulette, the Sports Book, and Black Jack. Kristie was hot on the slots so we ended up + $15 on the trip. Can't complain!

Adjusting to Life's Changes

It's been a while since we blogged. August was a rough month for us.

Kristie's Mom passed away on August 22nd.

She had been in the hospital for 37 days battling pneumonia, breathing problems, and some newly discovered cancer. It was a roller coaster of ups and downs, and just when things were looking up, she took a turn for the worse and things snowballed from there. Judy had beaten cancer twice in her life at this point, and she had put up a courageous fight, but this was a battle that could not be won. She chose to avoid what could have been years and years of suffering and died peacefully with all of her close family with her.

Judy's obituary can be found here: http://obit.linnhertgeib.com/obitdisplay.html?id=572749&listing=Current

The last few weeks have been a time of adjusting to the uncertain days ahead. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Beach Ballin'

So today, I played in the Corolla Light 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Apparently it is a pretty big deal as about 16 teams played. The rules were simple: the first team to score 5 points wins....or whichever team is leading after 5:00 minutes wins. I hadn't planned on playing early in the week, but Jirrell, one of the guys I met earlier in the week, convinced me to play. However, both his friends were still sleeping off a late night of partying, so we had to pick up a few other guys. We picked up Gary and Mike, both of them seemed to be in their 40's. When it was time to come up with our team name, it was simple, we were to be known as "Three Old Guys and One Young Guy."

Our first game went into overtime and we took a quick 2 point lead and hung on for the victory. In our second game, we played a team that had one athletic guy, one fat guy, and one little young guy. We were able to hang on and beat them 3-2.

We were on to the Semifinals! However, this team was stacked. One of their guys was about 6'6" and later I found out he was going to be playing at Virginia Tech this coming season. I was able to sink a jumper, but they ended up beating us 2-1. The problem with the timed-game format is if a team has the lead with a minute to go or so, they just hold onto the ball and prevent the other team from getting a chance to tie it up. However, it was a good run and we were happy with how we played.

Some exclusive video coverage of our game below! I'm the guy in the white shorts and grey shirt.

Checking in From Corolla

I have not blogged in a few days, so thought I'd provide some bullet points of interesting things that have happened in the last few days.

• I took Kristie back up to the Norfolk airport on Tuesday so she could fly back and go to class and take her exam on Thursday.
  
  
• We stopped at Morris Market on the way to the airport to pick up some peaches. If you ever make your way to the Outer Banks, hitting Morris Market is a must. They have tons of great fresh produce and the peaches are amazing.
  
  
• Yesterday, I ran about 5.5 miles...logging a lot of miles down here.
  
  
• There was a "family" volleyball tournament at Corolla Light yesterday, so I went and proclaimed myself a free-agent and joined up with some other guys and formed a team. None of them had played organized volleyball, so I did my best to coach them. We made it out of the first round, but suffered an agonizing 15-13 defeat in Round 2.
  
  
• A few of the guys I played volleyball mentioned that Wednesday night is European night at the Tomato Patch in Corolla. There are TONS of European exchange students working down here in the summer and apparently they all gather together at the "Tomatio Patch" (as they pronounce it) and get really dressed up and dance very seriously to techno music. Stephanie, Jon, and I went for a few beers and to people watch. It was really fun.
  
  
• Today, Stephanie and Jon are leaving. They are driving to Raleigh and then flying back to Chicago.
  
  
• There are a few fun activities planned today at Corolla Light that I'm going to try and participate in. The chipping contest takes place at the pool where there is a floating putting green with velcro. The goal is the chip the whiffle balls lined with velcro to stick to it. Also, there is a horseshoe contest as well. Tomorrow, there is a free-throw contest and a 3-on-3 Bball tourney that I'm probably going to play in.

A Day in Photos and Video

Today at the beach, we had an unexpected visitor.

We also had to vacate the beach quickly as a storm was moving in fast!


We also saw some kiteboarders at dinner while we were at Miller's restaurant in Nags Head. We were able to capture some video of this guy take off.

We also caught another kiteboarder when he went airborne.

Sunday on the Shore

We had a fun-filled first full day down here in Corolla. We started off by going out to the beach in the morning. Kristie and I were very excited to get out into the ocean. We took two Boogie boards out into the surf, which was very a little rougher than normal. Waves were breaking a few hundred yards out due to Tropical storm Bertha wreaking havoc a few hundred miles away out in the Atlantic. At first, we saw the waves and were very excited. It appeared it would be good conditions to ride waves a good distance.

We were wrong.

After about 20 minutes of trying to get out far enough to catch some good waves, we realized the current was just too strong. Waves were breaking further out, but some were coming in and breaking right on top of us. We both managed to "wave jump" most of them, but every now and then, one of the waves would be too powerful and take us under. I managed to ride a few waves in. I looked over at Kristie to see how she was doing. Earlier when I looked at her, she had a confident and determined look on her face as she paddled out to the waves. Then, a short while later, that look on her face turned to frustration as she battled the waves and struggled to inch out towards the waves. The last time I looked over at her, the look on her face had changed to desperation. I was not sure if she was going to be able to get back in. She had just been toppled by a giant wave and she was recovering when another one got her. I started swimming her way as she got up, I signaled to her that another was on its way right behind her. She managed to duck under, but I knew when she surfaced, I was going to have to help push her towards the shore.

We both decided that we should save Boogie boarding for another day and went up to our towels and relaxed for a while. Later we went on a walk up and down the beach. There were TONS of people out enjoying the nice, sunny day.

We saw a Chinook helicopter go by, following the shore, most likely from the Norfolk base. We also saw a few engine-powered hang-gliders take off and circle around. After a few hours, we made our way back to the house to swim. I checked out the rec center weight room while Kristie studied Economics while sitting poolside.




Closer to dinner, Stephanie and Jon arrived. I drove over to the beach with them for about an hour and when we came back, we all sat down for a nice dinner. We had London broil, boiled shrimp, salads, potatoes, and corn on the cob. After dinner, we headed over to the natural grass Miniature golf course which is just a short walk up the road. All 8 of us made the trip, dodging the swarms of bugs on the street which sent many of us running. Right when we started golfing, someone saw a fox about 50 feet away. Jon crept up and got a few photos.





Par for this miniature golf course (which had 20 holes) was 80. I had a 60 and Kristie had a 72. We are usually very competitive, so I will definitely hold this over her head for a while!

Tomorrow we are expecting some thunderstorms because of the tropical storm off the coast. Will check in later in the week!

Cruisin' in to Corolla

We arrived at our beach rental house in Corolla, NC today just before noon! This is the second year we've gone down to the Outer Banks for a summer vacation. My parents and Uncle Dave and Aunt Joyce rented the house and convinced us to come down for the week. Kristie can't stay the whole week because of classes and exams, so she will ship out a little early, taking a flight back from Norfolk on Tuesday. My cousin Stephanie and her husband Jon will be coming down here tomorrow night.

We actually left yesterday afternoon around 3:30 p.m. from Painesville and drove together in my parents' vehicle. It was pretty packed, but we survived. We stayed in Norfolk last night and got up early this morning to make the rest of the trip (about 2 hours) to the Outer Banks. We strategically planned this out since last year, traffic was crazy for my parents during the afternoon and early evening on Saturday because of all the other vacationers making their treks.
We made a stop at the welcome center as we entered the Outer Banks. Had to get a photo with the giant fish.




They let us check into our house on 1083 Hampton at Corolla Light early and boy, is it amazing! It has its own pool, there are 5 bedrooms and this place could basically sleep 19! We've only been here about 8 hours and it feels like we've been here a week already. Since we've been here, I went out and ran a little over 4 miles with my iPod Nike+ adapter, then we went swimming here at the house, played a few games of pool (yes it has a pool table!), went on a walk up to some shops and looked at the Sound, came back and went swimming again and now we are sitting down to eat dinner.




It's really beautiful weather down here, mid-80's and nice breeze coming in from the Atlantic. We'll be sure to check in again later in the week.