A beautiful day and night here in the Valley of the Sun. Today was the first day that you could really feel the sun start to do its thing. Mid-seventies temps with a sweetness in the air that reminded me of The Mirage when you first walk in. The mourning doves are getting active, and the slight bit of humidity from a weak storm system to our west was welcome indeed. Tonight the nitecap on the patio under happy pineapple lights will be much more enjoyable than it has been for a long, long time.

Apologies for the delay in posting since returning from Vegas. Not much time to blog because of work, and being between computers (we’ve got the new one up and running but it’s not really operational yet) is a pain in the neck.

Vegas was great, and it lived up to every expectation. Cocktails at places like Treasure Island, Wynn, The Peppermill, Hard Rock, Club Paradise, Cabo Wabo, Ceasar’s Palace, The Mirage, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, and Sapphire, golf at Angel Park, and some spa at Treasure Island were all great. Unfortunately work intruded hard on Sunday morning (nothing like your cell ringing five times between 3:30 and 6 AM) leading to a much needed nap on Sunday afternoon that precluded a run to Lee’s Discount Liquors for some Tall Blond vodka (sorry Jana and Tracey, I did the best I could with the time I had), so that was a bummer, but the weekend was fabulous.

And what memories! Kicking off the weekend standing in a long snaking line to check in at Treasure Island, I was vegging out to the sounds on my MP3 when a cry of “Goodboys!” came out of nowhere. Of course, it was my Goodboys pals, and more than a few of those in line said they wanted to hang with us the entire weekend.

The steak and eggs at The Peppermill were their usual fantastic, but the experience was tempered by the fact we were sitting across the aisle from four transvestites dressed in black and blonde wigs who ate their dinner wearing long black gloves to obviously cover the hair on their hands and knuckles. Yuck! It was like dining with the Addams Family. I know, I know, tolerance, acceptance, and diversity, but they were ghastly. But it’s Vegas, y’know, so you have to expect that kind of thing.

The waitresses at The Peppermill’s Fireside Lounge have toned down the cleavage in their long black cocktail gowns. One has to ask, why?

Loved the Cobra S2s I played at Angel Park, think I’ll be picking those up as replacements for my nearly 20-year old Cobra woods in the near future.

Vegas is hurting for business. Except for at the Wynn’s champagne buffet on Sunday morning, lines for anything were few and far between, and there were seats to be had at the tables in just about every casino we found ourselves in.

The Gilley’s girls at Treasure Island were H-O-T hot. Black bikinis and chaps are really quite the combination.

The accommodations at TI were great, but I missed not being around the Wynn as much as we were when we stayed there last year.

Nevertheless, three nights in Vegas are plenty – my fellow Goodboy Ben “The Funny Guy” Andrusaitis is right when he calls the idea of staying a fourth night “superflous” – but it already seems like a month since I was there. Can’t wait until I get a chance to get back there again sometime soon. It really is a place like no other.