My dear friend from high school, Larry, and his wife Renee, have graced us with a visit. They are a fun couple and we really enjoy travelling with them. We had planned a trip to Las Vegas together but grandmother baby sitting obligations meant that Edie did not get to go with us. We had a few days in Salinas and took in the National Steinbeck Center. Always an interesting place. Next time we will tour his house and have lunch there. We traveled to Las Vegas and stayed at one of our favorites, The Grandview, by Vacation Villages. We got in a great visit with Aaron and Arla and did some tourist things.
Larry and ReneeMike and EdieThe impact of his writings are best appreciated here where you see display after display of major works.Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat was first a Steinbeck novel.The center does a great job of reviewing Steinbeck’s life and his childhood and familiarity with the Salinas Valley.Must have been a very moving service.We made out way to the Grandview, one of our favorites.This was my bed, it folds out to be a fairly comfortable sleep.We went to the Luxor and saw the “Bodies” exhibit. It is gruesome, very real, fascinating and sad. The many people are obviously dead. Their skin is removed to expose muscles, bones, veins and vessels. Nothing is hidden and these poor souls are frozen in time, mummified and displayed. The saddest to me was a display of a woman that was about 8 months pregnant. Mother and child were exhibited.
I enjoy the longevity of our friendship.They have carried the Egyption motif as far as they could and still be a casino.I think 3 Michelin stars, $500 a head for dinner. It is booked solid for several months.Aaron plans to have a birthday dinner for Arla here one of these days.They took me to a virtual reality experience.I had to remind myself that I was in an empty room on a flat floor as I walked up walls, upside down and on water. It was fun and bizarre. We made it out to “Seven Magic Mountains”
The trip home was uneventful and it was great hanging with Larry and Renee and seeing Aaron and Arla.
