My first stop, this bright and cheery month, was
to Las Vegas. I went with Toni, Carl (of Barl), Kirt, Drew, Dan,
et al. It was the longest 72 hours, because we never slept, were
always doing something super fun. I cam home most exhausted. One
of the really kewl new casinos is New York, New York. Here is
Carl and Kirt in front of Hamilton's (Carl of Barl is also known
as Carl Hamilton).
Here is a
random photo of us in front of New York, New York. Tara is
looking particularly unhappy (must have been the hangover), and
all you can see of Kirt is the teeth.
And of course
you have to have the Lady Liberty.
Kirt and I drank a lot one night. Heck it was only $1.25 for mixed drinks. We ordered four at a time, so we didn't have to walk back as often....
I also went to my very first GameWorks in Vegas. They even have an indoor climbing pillar, which just had to be tried.
Climbing while intoxicated is *not* recommended, but doable.
Having lost enough money, I decided that Seattle was just too dismal at the moment. So I made a small pilgrimage to the university Dad Got Kicked Out Of. Yeppers, that would be Berkeley. Luckily an old friend, that is a friend I have known for a long time, as opposed to a friend that happens to be old, lives there. So I had a place to crash, and lots to see.
I drove by the
Hard Rock Cafe, and snapped this picture whilst waiting for a
light to turn green. :)
I met a couple
of people at one of the parks, and they lent me a couple of
discs. So I played a few rounds of disc golf (by myself) on
Saturday, and then Hannah wanted to try it on Sunday, so we went
with her dog too.
This picture
is pretty cool, I think, because it is one of the places that the
movie "Harold and Maude" was filmed. It is the scene
where Harold "kills" Maude while she is petitioning for
peace.
Next on the agenda is Rick Saada's annual dessert birthday bash. Here is a list of ingredients, which does not include the 10 pounds of butter he used.
Quite impressive, eh? Below are
several photos of some of the victims....
And here is what is looks like about 15 minutes after we are
all allowed to dig in. If you are interested in more information,
I'd suggest you check out Rick's
Page. 
The big event of the month, tho, had to be our ascent of Devil's Tower in Wyoming. For those people unfamilar, this huge beast is featured in the film "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind", starring Richard Dreyfus. Well, it is over 850 feet tall, and very imposing looking.
We started off smart, and practiced
the first 150 feet on the first day, not trying for a summit, but
getting ourselves used to the terrain and how to work together.
Then next morning we got up at 6am and set out. We left the car
at 7:30am, and 9.5 hours later made the summit.
This is Brett and Teresa at the
summit. We were really, really tired.
and this is the summit itself.
We were totally exhausted by the time we made it, but getting down was fast, only 2.5 hours. We didn't have any real problems, and everyone did absolutely fab getting to the top. Having had enough of Devil's Tower, tho, we headed off to...
I love sunset pictures, so here is one.
\
It was my first visit to Yellowstone, and we didn't really plan before hand to go there, but when Teresa heard we were going to be in the area, she used Female Fiat(tm) to order us there. See, she had worked there one summer at one of the local lodges, so had all these great things to show and tell.
The weather was sorta crappy, but it
did not ruin this view of the falls.
and I think it made the contrast at
these hot springs (Mammoth Springs) kewl.d
Lastly, of course, is a picture of the old guy hisself. Every 79 minutes!
