September 20, 2008 - Santa Cruz, CA

Don't forget to check out our itinerary at:

Bounder Across America Itinerary

We are now comfortably settled in Santa Cruz, CA, where we intend to spend four months. This stop on our Bounder Across America journey gives us an opportunity to visit with Donna's sister Noreen and her partner Susan, and hopefully to see the kids, Erin & Ben, for at least some time during our stay. We have always lived much nearer to Glen's family, and so we have had many more opportunities for family gatherings with that side of the family. This stop gives us an opportunity to celebrate time spent with Donna's side of the family. We will be here for Donna's birthday and Halloween, Noreen's big SIXTIETH birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas & Hanukkah (& Kwanza), New Years - and of course, Winnie the Pooh Day, Australia Day, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birthday - and lest we forget... National Hugging Day. We will keep you updated on events while we take our Winter hiatus here in Santa Cruz; but this edition of the blog is devoted to our time in Las Vegas, NV.

Just to recap our earlier preview of our Las Vegas visit:

On September 1 we headed to Las Vegas, a place we've visited numerous times in the past. We were looking forward to seeing the changes that have occurred in the city since our last visit; but what we were mostly looking forward to is seeing family members who met us in Las Vegas for a mini family reunion. Monday, the day we arrived, Glen's brother Dale and his partner Cheryl flew in from Milwaukee. Tuesday Glen's sister Kathy and husband Al, along with nephew Steve and his wife Dolly arrived. On Wednesday, son Glen and wife Velvet arrived with grandson Evan - and on Wednesday evening we had a family dinner together to celebrate a variety of family milestones - including Donna & Glen's 41st Wedding Anniversary (Sep 2): Dale's Birthday (Sep 2); Al's Birthday (August 21); and Evan's 4th Birthday (August 6). By Thursday the gang began to 'break up', as Dale and Cheryl headed back. On Wednesday it was time for Kathy, Al, Steve & Dolly to depart. And on Sunday, the day we set out for California, Glen, Velvet and Evan caught their flight east.

It was a great week, filled with family, fun , festivities, and futile attempts to beat the odds in Las Vegas. Other than what we've said already in this post, there's not a lot to say - and so we'll let Donna's Picasa album tell most of the story. (See link a little bit later in this posting.)

But one thing we have to admit, from our Las Vegas stay. It 's not apparent that this part of the country is feeling the pinch of the economic down-turn in America. We've never seen so much building going on in this desert city. Of course, Las Vegas has been growing since the Fifties when large casinos and resorts first began appearing, but recent growth, at least in the tourism industry, has been phenomenal. It seems that everywhere we looked there were large cranes and shells of buildings for new hotels and casinos. And of course, whereas previously the only lights visible in the desert were from the gaming oasis of Downtown and the Strip, today there are night lights heading up into the hills and further into the desert - as far as the eye can see. When Glen first visited Las Vegas in the middle Sixties, the population was less than 200,000. Today, the greater metropolitan area is nearly 2 million. Sleepy bars and dusty streets are a thing of the past. Day and night, Las Vegas is bustling with not only a large population of its own, but with huge crowds (even in these financially strapped times) of sun-burned tourists. What was at one time a town centered on a small gaming area, with scant residential growth of suburbs surrounding the Downtown and Strip hotels and casinos, has now burgeoned into an integrated megalopolis of suburbs and close-lying towns, having huge shopping malls, huge gambling resorts, and large residential developments, all covering what used to be desert with the hustle and bustle to rival any large metropolitan area. One can only imagine how much of the Colorado River water, and its companion, Hoover Dam, to supply water and electricity to keep the residents in drinking water and green lawns, and air-conditioning to keep everyone from expiring from the 110 degree heat!!!

But enough of this editorializing. What most of you want is to see is the photo journal of our stay in Las Vegas; and so without further ado, here is the link to Donna's Picasa Photo album:

Las Vegas, NVSeptember, 2008

We hope you've enjoyed travelling with us since we first started this journey in May, from Gulf Shores, AL. For a few months we'll be stationary, but still posting to the blog as we explore Santa Cruz and Northern California. And then, in January, we hope you'll continue to travel with us as we travel across the southernmost routes of America back to Gulf Shores.

Until next time - stay well... and keep smiling! :))

Donna & Glen