2009 09 30 Santa Monica Pier, Beverly Hills and Hollywood!

We just had to check out the Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. All the glitter, all the young wanna-bees hanging out waiting to be discovered....you may have visited or read about these famous places, but we just had to go and see them for ourselves. The Chinese Theater, the Walk of Fame, the TV Studios, Rodeo Drive, fabulous hotels, chic restaurants and hip clubs - all so exciting! We didn't see any stars, but I'm sure they were there somewhere!

Our weather was simply gorgeous and the beaches even more gorgeous. To top it all off we get to got hear the history of these amazing cities!

We took the hop-on hop-off bus tour of Santa Monica, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We took a second tour that encompassed a drive-by of the homes of the stars. We viewed the estate where Michael Jackson lived and died, the hotel where Janis Joplin died, the club where River Phoenix died....OK, OK..OK...enough about drug addicts and death. There is a common thread here......do too many drugs, ya die!

We also saw homes where Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street were filmed. We saw the estate where The Godfather was shot. We saw towering apartment buildings that are home to the likes of Lindsey Lohan and Cher, and Estates belonging to Tom Cruise and Dr. Phil. There were so many names dropped you couldn't begin to remember them all - in any case it was interesting to see where they live - at least part of the time.

We enjoyed our tours, but were ready to get back to our bus on a little slice of heaven along the coast of Malibu.

2009 09 28 CA, Muscle Beach

We HAD to go to Muscle Beach aka Venice Beach. There is something for everyone - a great place to walk, bike, play volleyball, swim, launch your newest hip-hop video or work on your muscles. We especially like the guy with the sign "PARENTS EATEN BY PIGEONS." naaa - he really just wanted a beer.

2009 09 28 CA, Malibu Beach RV Park

View of the Pacific from the beach near our park. The weather is terrific and we're enjoying sunny days and cool breezes!

2009 09 27 Leavin Vegas in the Dust!

We left Las Vegas, hot and dusty, and ready for a change of scenery. The desert is gorgeous, but we were in need of an ocean breeze! We found just that and are parked in Malibu, California on a cliff overlooking the Pacific. The weather is amazing - sunshine during the day and cool at night - perrrfect!

2009 09 16....27 NV, Las Vegas!

Yeah, yeah, we know - it's hot in Vegas this time of year - but it's a dry heat...right?

We thought we'd change things up and vist the Strip. Wow! quite a change from 30 years ago. The Casinos are dazzling and the lights fantastic, but the fake Eifel Tower, Gondola rides and a Statue of Liberty in the desert...a bit much. We recommend seeing the real thing. But hey! it's Vegas - Disneyland for gamblers and those looking for, well, you know the other big thing Vegas has to offer and I'm not talking about the shows! But we were there for the shows.

On Friday, we went to the Mirage and saw Love, a Cirque du Soleil production of music by the Beatles. It was fabulous! Incredible music, great costumes, amazing acrobatics - the production was clever, whimsical, really well done, brilliant!

Saturday night we were back at the Mirage to see Ron White...aka Tater Salad. We've watched him several times on HBO and enjoy his schtick. We were hoping to hear some new material, but he was still perfoming his old routine and we were a bit bummed! The audience was really into his routine, and from the people seated around us, they were enjoying their Scotch right along with Ron! I guess we needed some of our own! A lady next to Nancy had an ice bucket and a bottle in her purse! Now that's funny...

On Monday we flew to Nashville to see Jon Hiatt open for Boz Skaggs at the Ryman Auditorium. Boz sounded as good as ever and we really enjoyed the concert. Tuesday was Merle Haggard! The Hag's had a rough year, and this may very well be his last - but he was fantastic and we had a wonderful night. In fact, we're planning to see him again in Santa Barbara next week!

Wednesday we flew back to Las Vegas and saw Penn & Teller at the Rio. They are neat magicians and to top that, they are soooo funny. We really enjoyed their show.

Thursday was another Cirque du Soleil production - Chris Angel. A lot of hype in Vegas for this show - but we were not that impressed. Just so-so.

The highlight came on Friday at the Palazzo - the musical Jersey Boys. Absolutely the best show we'd seen and right up there with Broadway! The Frankie Valli story is amazing and the music brought back so many memories. The actor playing Frankie was really talented and man, he could really belt out those notes! All the singers were great! We would see it again in a heart-beat!

We wrapped-up Las Vegas at Ceasar's Palace. Cher was performing at the Coloseum and the show was getting a lot of hype. We wondered about this one - but hey! remember Sonny and Cher from TV? what the heck! The show was was something else alright! Gays were abundantly in attendance, some of them dressed in costume, a few putting on a show of their own! Cher managed to change costumes every 5 minutes, and they were fabulous, but the music was just so-so. She started the show with a dramatic entrance from a cage that dangled over the audience. After her entrance she rambled on about the Teamsters working her show. We weren't sure what point she was trying to make....not a promising start. In all fairness, she ended the show strong with a couple of really great songs. She looks fantastic - ass tattoos and all!

2009 09 19 Las Vegas

Nancy is back from visiting Lisa in Seattle.

While there she helped the kids move into new digs. Not an especially easy move - they went from a 1-floor apartment to a 3-floor townhouse. nice for them, not so nice for moving. She also stayed around to pet-sit Lisa's cat so they could take a much needed vacation (to Tokyo).

While the kids were out of town Lisa's 12 year-old cat, Nikki, managed to get sick. Nancy spent a good bit of time keeping her purring until they returned. Nancy and the cat was glad to see Lisa get back... :-)

Joe had a fun-time in the desert at Burning Man and Nancy got any nesting she'd kept submerged out of her system.

Now we're on the road again and have made our way to Las Vegas. It's bloody-hot here and we're doing our best to stay cool

2009 09 12 NV, Reno, Hot Air Balloon Race

Reno's annual hot air balloon race was taking place during our stay in the area. You have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch a view of the glowing lanterns against the black sky, but Joe wasn't alone, lots of people were out to check out the view . Hot air balloons are always neat to see and a festival atmosphere is a lot of fun. To check out more photos from the festival click here.

2009 09 1....4 Burning Man Festival, Black Rock, Nevada

Joe managed to make 4 days in the desert with a bunch of wild and crazy people. Here are a few shots from the festival. To check out more from his stay in the desert click here

2009 09 1...4 Burning Man, Black Rock, NV