Viva The Meadows

Sarah revealed that Las Vegas means The Meadows. Um hm...I don't get it either. Mom and Dad sent us out to Las Vegas so that we could all be together for Thanksgiving and their 30th Anniversary. It was absolutely amazing to say the least.

Flying in was a perfect introduction because we could see exactly how the town is laid out. From the porthole plane window we could see the Grand Canyon and about ten minutes later a huge patch of desert with a city nestled in at the base of red rock mountains. When the plane got closer and we prepared to land, the Vegas strip buildings could be seen jutting into the sky.

This post could go on forever, so here is what we did. We walked the strip and perused the casinos on the strip. We went hiking in Red Rock, went out for Sushi Happy Hour and happy it was indeed. Dad and I went to the MotorTrend Auto Show. We saw Cirque Du Soleil's KA which blew my mind constantly (I am still processing a rotating stage with bow and arrow fights, vertical battles, giant insects and an underwater scene. ) http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/ka/main?goTo=videos

We saw the Bellagio fountain show (they played Franky) and walked Fremont Street while digital jet fighters flew overhead.
I miss everyone already! Unreal. Really really unreal.

I'll post photos from the Strip as soon as I get them.

Surprise surprise!

We went to pick up Mom at the Greenville Airport on Friday night, because she was going to stay for the week and help with the house again. THEN, to our surprise Dad was there. How awesome!

We spent the weekend digging, scraping, sanding, peeling, glazing, etc. We had a great time and got a lot of work done. Dad showed me how to wire the shed and Uncle Steve and Jeremiah helped dig the trench for the conduit. It feels like we got a lot accomplished this weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, we grilled a turkey while the girls got the rest of dinner prepared. All of the down-south Gillespies came for an early Thanksgiving along with Liz and Jeremiah, Bill and Button. We finished an excellent bottle of scotch also.

Mom stayed the whole weekend battling the windows - what a huge help - as always!

521 Wetmur Street

Our house is coming along well right now, with the expected hiccups, trials, and delays. The windows are removed and clean of all lead-based materials. Tiff has the contractors working on the addition and she also has plumbers, HVAC, and Uncle Steve (electrician) scheduled to hook us up to the grid.

Mamma G has been coming periodically to wrestle different projects. We can't believe how much she has helped! I think that we are pretty lucky. Plus we get to hang-out. I think that we all are looking forward to a completed project so all of our families can meet for some R&R instead of slaving together. Thanks everyone for helping so much.
Here are the latest pictures.

URE!4 - with ONSLRS

Tiffany and I went to our first Land Rover expedition on this last weekend in October. Our friends Liz and Jeremiah went along also. Jeremiah and I put a 2' lift on his Disco1, which led to a broken tie-rod. His wounded Discovery had to miss the event.

We met another Disco owner named Matt Wallace, in Asheville and caravan-ed out to Uwharrie National Forest. It was an excellent experience and the society was great. We had the president Dan, running up and down the trails spotting trucks and easing drivers through tough runs on the trails.

It finally rained on Friday as we were driving up so the trails were wet with snot-like mud and there were some deep water crossings. My truck did great considering my slick tires and made it out of the week with barely a scratch....very lucky. We met some great people including Hastie and Shawn from Charlotte. They are the folks in the 97' Defender. Great times had by all...there are more expeditions in our future.