Bellingham to Vegas

It was a hot night - well, fr non-acclimatised Canberrans, anyway! (I would like you all to know that Dad had to come and ASK ME how to operate the shower last night - did you get that - he ASKED ME!!!) Dad: yeah well, I missed the instruction video. And this was only ONCE: not EVERY place we stayed...) (Mum).. Excuses, excuses!

At this BnB, we were introduced to some new (to us) gadgets: first, a wine 'spritzer,' which is a kind of funnel through which you pour your wine, and air is introduced through a narrow, horizontal port. It also filters out any sediment, and the drink actually tastes better! The other was a spring-loaded device which you place over the upper part of your boiled egg. When you pull and release the spring, the cup fractures the top of the egg in a neat circle, so it is ready for beheading.

Dixie and Don served up a scrumptious breakfast, and we learned that we were their first Australian guests. They very kindly drove us to the airport, where we stood in the check-in line for a while, and made it through security without being arrested, or strip-searched. They did, however, confiscate some contraband: two bottles of dihydrogen monoxide (H2O). Now waiting in the departure hall.

The first leg of our trip was uneventful, and we landed in Seattle on time. Our bags were checked through to LV so all we had to do was wait for our next flight. This time, it was a 737-700 and we had changed our seats to the left side, hoping we might see Mts Baker, Rainier or even St Helen's. Thanks to the clouds, we saw none of them!

We arrived on time at 1:50pm into Las Vegas, and after collecting our bags (we later found that TSA had opened Lindy's to check something - not a bottle of water, but probably a bottle of maple syrup!), we caught a cab to our next BnB, in Henderson. Our cabbie was a real African - from Ghana- and had been here only 12 months. He told us LV has a population of 2 million so it's a very big city stuck out here in the middle of the desert, and mostly revolves around gambling and entertainment. We were amazed to see slot machines along the concourse at the Airport even. There is gold and oil in them thar hills so there is a bit of honest industry!

Our hostess, Shana Bachman, came home  and introduced us to Lilly (she is trying to eat the 'pen' as I'm writing this) and Gideon, the resident cats who are overly friendly. We'd already been enjoying their company. Lilly has a pug face - very funny looking. 

Shana is an Attorney here and one of the world's beauties (her Mother is Korean).

Well the weather for tomorrow is revolving around a cyclone and there may be thunderstorms and flash floods in the Colorado River. We know the Lord does all things well so we'll wait and see. We've worked out our 2 1/2 km walk to where we have to be picked up for the tour to the Canyon so plan to leave at 6.15am with umbrellas and ponchos at the ready.