Vegas Day 3

Finally it had arrived, the Kobalt Tool's 400 NASCAR race, I was ready to see my favorite drivers try to win and stay on the track! It was an early morning, grabbing brekky and snacks downstairs we gathered up our camera's and NASCAR jacket and gear and headed for a taxi, a much longer taxi might I add but one that took us directly through Nellis Air Force Base found just off the strip and right next to the Speedway. Everything from stealth B-2 bombers to fighters to Blackhawks and one of the best ones was the Warthogs, 6 of them that had to break out of 2 formations to come into land on the other side of the track! SO COOL!

We arrived and started the walk to find the Neon Garage, which we discovered was a very big hot-spot as the line was give or take 150 yards back from the entrance, it moved fast though and stopping along the way to get pins and a beer coolie we were to the front in no time, a big tunnel led us under the track with many many other bodies, till we popped out in Neon Garage territory. Due to the long taxi ride and later nature then we had intended on we were a little late to take our total time and see everything, but we skimmed the garages and headed to Pit Road to see the cars lined up and get a closer look at the pit teams rigs which were really cool and had lots of tools on them. After a few photos we headed to the drivers introductions on the stretch of finish, the track is always one of the best parts the incline of it will make you think your crazy but is the coolest thing at the same time. The drivers came out and we had a few good laughs at the reactions of the crowd for some of the drivers cheers for Gordon, large boo's for Busch (Kyle not Kurt) and a few of inbetweens.

But now it was time to race!! Marie Osmond sang the national anthem and 5 fighter jets blasted over the stands (coming in to circle and land afterwards which was almost as cool as the fly by), the engines roared and the stands shook and there we go.
Unfortunately Tony Stewart had car issues it seemed and dropped back quite a bit at the beginning of the race, but by lap 200/267 we couldn't take our eyes off him, the leaders had a strong hold on their positions but Tony, no one could stop him he was zig-zagging his way up to the top. Finishing in 11th place it was the best I've seen him do in a long time and to watch him work his way through the pack was the coolest part, I might have even made a believer out of D who agreed that he even wanted to get a jacket to match mine.

Due to the size of the race and the poor organization of the taxi line it took us 2 hours to get home including the taxi line and the ride through Nellis air force base, but we did get to see all those planes again and thats just cool if I may say so myself.
We hadn't planned anything for dinner or a show Sunday night so we decided to look something up quick and have a burger that was magnificent! We relaxed and watched some tv for a little bit and went for a nice walk through the Miracle Mile Shops across from the south side of the building before heading out to just a silly show we had searched for. It was a little more adult humor and a little stranger side of Cirque du Soleil, more casual and goofy with a lot more interaction with the crowd but it was fun and funny and some of the performers were incredibly talented and strong. That topped off a great night, we headed home, poured 2 whiskeys, grabbed a blanket and put some music on and cuddled in the love-seats on the balcony and watched the Vegas lights twinkle in the night. That just might have been the best part.

Monday was not as fun loving, we knew it would have to come to an end eventually and as D walked me to my security gate I steadily got more and more upset thinking of having to leave him yet again for a busy schedule that I had to uphold. I may have cracked a little watching him walk away and kissing him goodbye but what woman wouldn't with a man like him. I took one last look as I walked through the security doors and tried to smile, all I wanted to do was get home to my dogs and get one more day closer to going home.


-A.G

Vegas Day 2

NASCAR day was here and I couldn't be more excited...
Due to a late and slightly heavy drinking night we decided to not wake up with our alarms until about 10:30am... by the time we had gotten ready, had something to eat quick downstairs and gathered up a few things for the day we hopped a taxi to the race track and arrived for the Sam Tools 300, amateur race.

Our NASCAR came with a Christmas present and included a climate controlled suite (shared with about 19 other people), free food and drinks in the suite, its own bathroom - which was a life saver -  as well as a program each day and a great view of the track. Due to our lateness we skipped heading to Pit Road and the Neon Garage inside the track but we walked around and after a quick stop at the #14 Tony Stewart trailer we were on our way and ready to get our race on.

The race was... uneventful in the form of crashes and such but it was a great day, good race, fun people, and D getting a nice enlightenment on how the world of NASCAR works, runs and I made a monster out of him I think.
Nothing like the rawr of the engines after "Drivers, start your engines" and the sound as the cars race past infront of you! It made it ever better since we were on the finish line suites, where we overlooked the last stretch of race.

We took a long taxi ride home and showered up for another dinner and show, Rio hotel and Casino was a wonderfully colorful and vibrant place, full of lights and flowers and colorful designs. We grabbed the private elevator that belonged to the restaurant and went up 50 floors to the Rio Restaurant and Club. All glass walls, looking out directly at the Vegas Strip and showing all the colors and lights and people, also looking out across the whole of Vegas off the city, the lower lights of small towns and residences all across the dessert floor. Dinner was amazing! And a boost to a $200 bottle of wine half price was a great start to the evening that followed with Lobster, beauty steak and the biggest baked potato I've ever seen.

As D got progressively more antsy we paid the bill and took the elevator back down to the 2nd floor and within 10 minutes we stood outside the Penn & Teller gate ready to be seated. It was D's favorite part and he was so excited to get to see them and he was right, they were excellent and quite funny to add. The night was filled with confusion and hilarity and at the end we got photos with both Penn and Teller which added to "best moments ever" for D.

Skipping the night life we headed home for a drink and a view of the fountains and the young ones below, hooting and hollering as they headed to bars and clubs or were just hitting the aftermaths from walking around with a drink made in a plastic guitar all day... we on the other hand decided to head to bed, early day, busy week and excitement won over.

-A.G

Vegas Day 1

After a little exploring off the plane Thursday afternoon we decided to head to dinner and a show, we settled on a beautiful steak restaurant and a Burlesque/Showgirl show at the Flamingo hotel.

Suggestion, if you have the chance to see one of those shows, take it! They are very well done and super entertaining.
As it was Friday and there was only qualifiers for the NASCAR (races were Saturday - Sunday) we decided to take the day and do whatever we wanted to do. On D's request we headed to the Bellagio for they're breakfast buffet which actually is not a correct description more like a whole day buffet, they had everything from breakfast omelets and sausages and fruits to sushi, steak, pork chops, lamb, lunch meats and sandwhiches, burgers, seafood, and to top it all off a whole section dedicated to the finest part of dinner... DESSERT! Cakes, cookies, ice cream, yogurt cups, fruit and whip cream, topped off with buckets of melted chocolate, caramel, mint, etc....If you want to die due to overdose of food I'd point you there for sure, was great... if you could eat that much!

After brekky we headed out to the "Pawn Stars" pawn shop - 'Gold and Silver Pawn' - if you've ever seen the show it comes across as maybe being in a classy neighborhood off the strip, nice people come in with interesting stuff and etc... but NOPE, the pawn shop it self is in a pretty sketch part of town and the inside is not half as nice as it shows on tele. They skip the big merchandise store in the back where they probably make most of they're money since they are not really open to buyers, more window shoppers waiting to get a peek at a few of the main boys from the show (3 of which were absent, only Chumlee was there and thats not worth the $20 buy in to get a photo!).
The shop proved to be pretty cool non-the-less especially when we came across the Patriots superbowl ring priced at a mere $100,000. They had a big section dedicated to the rings, crazy diamonds all over them anything from NFL, NBA, MLB, College football, College basketball, etc. As well as a huge line of glass cases holding watches, one of which was priced at $74,999.99 and was pure gold with diamonds covering the entire surface! NUTS!

As cool as it was, the rainy day outside and the crowded interior did not keep up there long and we hopped a quick taxi ride through the drizzling to the outlet mall... well wasn't that a crazy surprise. 70% off Oakley, 50-60% off Michael Kors, Gucci and Calvin Klein... if you need to shop and hate shopping, head to Vegas and hit up the outlet mall, anyone would have fun there, saving hundreds of dollars worth on everything from clothes to jewelry, purses, suitcases, and shoes. This is where D decided to stock up for the next 5 years - "This way I don't have to shop till we come back to Vegas in 4 years" - was the response I got when I commented on his large selection of t-shirts and socks.
Though I'm not a shopper by any means that truly was a good time, anything you could be looking for all right there on a map, easy to find, outdoors so you can walk around in the fresh air and best of all everything from 40-80% off!

We headed back to the hotel and showered and dressed for a nice dinner. I must say we were a site to see all dolled up with places to go and D as handsome as anything I've ever seen in a blacked out suit, though it did help he had me on his arm ;), hopped a taxi and headed off the MGM Grand.
If the day didn't already seem pretty amazing to begin with, as we stepped through the doors of MGM what do we see... a total replica of Tony Stewarts #14 pro NASCAR... I almost fainted! Due to complications the only photo I can show is of myself infront of the car but oh man does it look cool.
We had dinner at Fiama (delicious!) then headed across the casino to "KA - Cirque Du Soleil" again another MUST SEE! By the end both D and I were speech-less and there really wasn't much to talk about on the way home except to comment on how cool it was in general, not being able to pick favorite parts or craziest parts or just anything but amazing in all!

After dinner we decided to head out to 'The Bank' for those of you small towners like me, I didn't know what this was and the hype that D put on it but it proved to be a great time. The judgement lines threw me off a bit though, giving some idiot with an easy security guard license the ability to pick and choose any hot, slutty dressed female the go ahead before 'normals' or guys that show up to a nightclub in Vegas with semi-dress shoes, kaki pants, a white t-shit covered by a short sleeve baby blue "dress" shirt... D was in a suit and looks amazing and they still looked us up and down! After a bit of time we headed back to the hotel, the walk much longer then usual since I had worn brand-new boot heels that proceeded to destroy and rip through my heels leaving them raw and me in more pain then you can imagine.
It took a little bit of time to drift off but on the medical nurse position taken up by D I was feeling better and comfortable enough to drift off to sleep.








-A.G

Disney - Epcot

Disney day 2 started with a larger bang! The Giraffes once again met us in the morning sunshine to say hello as well as the Zebra's (which were pretty lazy), after a quick brekky we headed out to Epcot.
If you are an adult at Disney I highly suggest heading to Epcot for some drinking and roller coasters but a warning be prepared for lines and drunk people.

We started on the easy stuff, 15 minute wait for "Mission: MARS - extra intense, when we got into our 4 person pod of extra intense-ness we found that our "crew" was a couple that was about 65 and looked like they were going to break into a fight in the hallway, the 'shuttle' closed and our 7 minutes of INTENSE SPACE FLIGHT took off... not so intense though still extremely fun it was a little more hype then performance, recommended all the same.

We made our way through a few little attractions and rides then headed to 'drink around the world', which basically is a big loop around a lake with stations and areas that are designated to countries that have booze, booze, food and oh ya booze... Starting off in Mexico might have been a bad choice, or a great one on the other hand due to frozen margarita's LOADED with tequila, after the best sandwich I think I've ever eaten from Norway, we watched the stage and light boats make there way under the bridge into the center of the lake for the nightly light show (that we did not stay for), we headed over and passed through Germany, grabbing an Oktoberfest brew on the way passed good old America which we bi-passed so that D could fulfill a dream - a photo with Belle - even though she was not in her fancy yellow dress like he had hoped, her maid outfit was just as characteristic and he stood very... manly I suppose as the Disney princess held onto his arm for a quick picture.

France didn't serve much other then Belle and pretty music so we headed across the bridge on the other side and circled around to Canada! Which seemed a little pointless (haha) but it was all the same very well done. Finishing the walk off with a virtual roller coaster that we designed and then heading for the gate we took one last look at the Epcot sphere and hoped a bus back for a shower and another night out.

This time it was Cap'm Jack's on the Disney Downtown river, great seafood, beautiful wine and happy servers gave us a nice easy dinner before walking around the Pleasure Island to get a few drinks. We ended up at an old Irish pub listening to two blokes that had a guitar & fiddle/banjo and rocked out with everything from old Irish folk songs to Nirvana and Nickelback - some of which they had never played before, they took requests from a packed outdoor balcony of viewers and then looked them up on an iphone and played right off the chords, from a fellow guitar player and general musician I commend them on that great outcome especially since they played great! - we didn't leave without buying the boys a beer each and getting a handshake, which seemed to buy a few more songs and we stayed a little longer. Even with the cold I recommend the little pub (which I have intelligently forgotten the name of but its huge and right inside Pleasure Island front entrance) they provided nice blankets and big space heaters everywhere so we took full advantage pulling 2 chairs close together, cuddled together with a blanket over our legs, brews in our hands and a heater on our backs with great entertainment. Best night of the whole trip in my opinion.






-A.G

Disney - Animal Kingdom

Due to a lack of... patience I have slacked on the logs for this trip thinking they didn't really matter considering they were in America and that's not really a trip or so but then I saw the photos and decided otherwise.

 We arrived in Disney late Sunday night after a weekend of family time, long horse shows,11 dogs and 10.5 bodies, the drive was nice, long but nice all the same and it made the world-wind trip to Disney World much more exciting when you pass under the big Disney sign all lit up in the night.

Due to some navigational issues we did have a hell of a time finding our Disney Resort but once we were there and parked we were greeted with "Welcome Home!" and big hellos from the over excitable staff at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
If you have ever been to Disney and ever gone to the Animal Kingdom I'll tell you now, that was our hotel, I woke up early Monday morning and opened a blind to see Zebra's a few savannah cattle and of course the beautiful Giraffes that decided to come say "good morning" 15 feet off our balcony!

The day may have started late due to D's work schedule but I got to sit on the balcony and watch the Giraffes eat and the Zebra's graze in the sunshine, very cool might I add!

When we did finally get out of the hotel the decision to head to Universal Studios was quickly vetoed for Animal Kingdom where we headed straight for Safari truck rides, animal trail walks, tigers and monkeys high above the crowds, I did my best not to become a little kid when the Safari trucks passed a mama Cheetah, gators that could swallow me whole and a hippo that was cruising the bottom of a water hole but as D will tell everyone over and over again I failed to keep composure...

After a long day of animals and a magnitude of bodies everywhere from big to small and young to old (that for some reason you always under estimate when walking into a Disney theme park) we headed for the gate to grab showers and head into town for a nice late dinner. Crossroads at the House of Blues proved to be an excellent choice even if D tried to eat a chicken and a half all fried and chewy. A bus ride home and it was time for bed to start the next day with a little more of a bang then the first.

-A.G

Horse Hunting Day #3

Day 3 is upon us!

Excitement filled the breakfast table as Dad, Mum, Conor and I enjoyed a meal anticipating the day ahead filled with beautiful horses and a lot of scary Belgium traffic.
We all got ready and met in the hotel lobby. As I waited the A.C. Milan team that was bunking at our hotel were coming and out of a back room where they were relaxing and getting prepped for that nights game, I found it amusing that a grouped of 3 guys, 2 teenage boys and their father I messed sat in the lobby and waited for the players to pass so they could get an autograph. The coach passed at one point and I was nearly taken out by a group of 5 teenagers that rushed in with autograph books and iPhones in hand for photos and a signature from the great coach. I guess hockey to us is soccer to these guys.

We headed back to Stephex stables and before long we were there, after a very confusing and screwy car trip thanks to our little leprechaun tour guide Conor, including a few circles, a few red lights run and an interesting few moments of Conor sitting smack dab in the middle of a 3 way street.

Stephex day 2 was a great success, we saw 3 horses, first a fiery, gorgeous 7 year old gelding with a total white face, that was just a little too... untrained, then we tried the 7 year old mare from last night (the one with the small star and spot on her nose. absolutely beautiful girl)  and found that she was better outside, in better footing not to mention it seemed as the jumps grew, she improved. Finally a little cutie, a 6 year old stallion that was not our taste but cute as a button anyways, pretty face with a nice long white blaze.

After a cold afternoon we joined Stephan the owner of Stephex Stables for a hot soup for lunch before striking a few deals and headed out. But nothing before Dad and I went back to see Stephan's second business, horse trailers, both solely campers and half living half stalls, incredible machines I might say, gorgeous on the inside, Canada really should get some of those, they would work magic around here and sell like hot cakes.

Since we had been there for hours by the time we went home it was time to simply lay around and enjoy a little relaxing, we headed to a strange Italian restaurant down the street, after probably the best pizza I've every had... literally. We paid the bill and walked home.

It was time to have a few drinks, time to toast the future of our horses. A successful trip, coming home with 2 horses and hopefully another after negotiations but all in all a great trip. The few drinks, turned into a few more and a few more, I ended up going to bed since I was dying of sleeplessness. After a long conversation regarding the owner side of the new horses and a chat with D I'm going to lay my head down and sleep.

Tomorrow will bring a long trip home, but it will be worth it for my pets, my bed and to wake up enjoying my sheets, my house and my real life.


Cheers everyone,


A.Grange

Horse Hunting day 2

Evening from Belgium.

I wish I could be more energetic but after inly around 2 hours of sleep last night I am a little too tired for effort right now.

The day began with a confusing car ride through Italy, I must say it is rather beautiful in the sunlight, especially the Swiss Alps which personally took my breath away! Including the city streets, the amount of people, and the parking... which seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, some were backwards, others right on someone's bumper or with another car on their bumpers, a mad house to say to least!

We arrived at the barn within an hour. I had made the joke that since the city seemed like it was going on forever we would most likely just turn a corner and be at a horse farm, equipped with outdoor schooling rings and all! Well I was not far off! The turn we made was into an old alley, next to a stone wall that was over 100 years old, there was a large gate that led us about 100 feet from the front door... interesting set up, look West and you have a farm, horses and nice fields.... look East and you have a few small town houses, one next to the other and a main road. A little different from the Canadian and American barns I am use to I suppose.

I have not been on a horse hunting trip in some time but they are exciting. We met "Dixson" a chestnut who gave a lot of love to our riders and us, a lovely stallion who is creating all the rave in our minds! Showing great promise and strength. Then there was a little monster at the age of 5, he is also a stallion and a beautiful one at that a shiny grey sheet laid over him with such amazing spots and features, by far my favorite and I just cant seem to get him out of my head. The way he moved, the way he jumped, his heart, his spirit, just the look of him  captivated me.

After a quick lunch we rushed to the airport to fly to Belgium, had to spiral out of the airfield. I just want to add, if you have not seen or some people may not know about the Swiss Alps, I ask you dearly to put it on a MUST DO list of your life, we had to fly over them twice to get out of Italy, I haven't been mesmerized so much in my life in a very long time I believe. The alps are probably the most beautiful thing Ive ever seen... I swore to myself I would take the trip to they're base and maybe farther up to photograph they're amazing sights. I was honestly so stuck on them, still don't think 40 photos was enough!

The short flight to Belgium was the easy part it was getting through 5-6pm Belgium traffic that was the pain, but eventually we arrived at Stephex, the most beautiful and super complex facility I think I've ever seen! The Mare was ready to go and we viewed her with great success, wonderful horse.
Since our tiredness had gotten the best of us, our rider led us to our hotel to sign in. SCARIEST CAR RIDE OF MY LIFE! I swore I was going to die atleast a dozen times, people in Belgium not only have no respect or care for the LINES ON THE ROAD, but also, pedestrians just walk out any time... you HAVE TO STOP or you hit someone, and either way it is your fault! So scary... Like there are no parking garages in downtown Belgium, get on that government!

Dropped the bags in my room, changed and headed to the bar for something very cold and preferably strong! A deep whiskey later and the rest of the group had joined and we had ordered dinner. As we sat with cocktails a band of large, fit men marched past in addidas jumpsuits with Red and black colours, they were the Milan F.C. Professional soccer team, big strapping guys, soe scary looking, marched past headed back to their rooms, suppose they are in town for a big match as our rider informed us NON-SOCCER FANS.

Enjoyed dinner and looking forward to a busy day tomorrow, today was hard enough but the travel is over until Thursday when we head home to our loved ones, pets and warm, comfy, familiar beds (my favorite part). Cant wait to be home but for now Im just trying not to die in Belgium. And hoping to come home with a horse or 2.


Cheers,




-A.G