8 visitors

We had eight visitors staying at our home last weekend (not this weekend, I'm a little behind writing this blog). Four little rabbit babies, and four Dutch tourists.

Carly dug up the rabbits from a hole in our backyard. She treated them like little toys. We never saw the rabbit mommy, but she must have been there since the rabbits kept growing. After the weekend, they disappeared. One of them came back after dark for three nights in a row. I'm not sure what happened to the other three. It's a dangerous world out there with dogs, snakes, coyotes, bob cats, and birds.

The Dutch tourists were our friends Hans, Petra, Feiko, and Mila. They are traveling from San Francisco to New York in an RV. Since Dallas is half way, they stopped by to spend the weekend with us.

Help

In the end, Greg and Sammy became a little too creative finding new photo opportunities.

David Blaine

We were not the only ones making the trek from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. Who was that balancing that ledge? It was the modern day Houdini: David Blaine.

Two years ago, I wrote about David Blaine in this blog. Today, he did his tricks in the canyon and took the time to sign Greg's and Sammy's hats, and to have his picture taken with them.

Grand Canyon

We walked the South Rim of the Grand Canyon today. At 7100 ft. (2200 m.), the canyon rim was 25 degrees cooler than Las Vegas. We enjoyed the views of the canyon. Being a mile deep and 10 miles wide, it is truly grand. And once we walked a little distance away from the parking lots, we immediately lost the crowds, and had the canyon to ourselves.

What's the plan?

Nixon said in 1970 that the US was importing 20% of its oil and that by 1980, it would be 0%. That didn't happen. It went to 42% in 1991, and it's just under 70% now. A lot of the trouble we're in is caused by our dependency on foreign oil.


T. Boone Pickens, a legendary Texas oilman, corporate raider, shareholder rights crusader, philanthropist, and deep-pocketed moneyman for conservative politician and causes, presented the Pickens Plan today. He wants to cut USA's demand for foreign oil by more than a third in less than a decade. Wind power should drive the shift away from oil. By launching a massive ad and awareness campaign, he will force the presidential candidates to talk about this.

One of his stongest supporters are the Sierra Club. They don't usually see eye to eye, but in wind they found a common cause.

Las Vegas

We're spending a couple of days in Las Vegas. This refrigerated city in a scorching hot (110 F, 43 C) Nevada desert is certainly not winning any green awards. But it has evolved from a rowdy booze, gambling, and sex town, to a sophisticated entertainment center. Mind you, the rowdy booze, gambling and sex is still there. But Las Vegas has added ultra high end shopping, fine dining, art exhibitions, great shows, and extravagant architecture.

We watched the dancing fountains at the Bellagio, looked at the Forum Shops at Ceasar's palace and the Wynn Esplanade, enjoyed the landscaping and the interior design of the Wynn resort, and saw Mystère, one of the five permanent shows that Cirque du Soleil has in Las Vegas.