While I was growing up Spud Harvest vacation meant getting out of school so I could go work for my dad on the farm. He doesn't grow potatoes but he always had some kind of work for me to do. When I was lucky, there was straw to bale. But usually I wasn't lucky. Instead I got to haul manure. Cow poop. Isn't that glamorous?
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| Not me or the farm, but this is pretty close to what I used to operate. |
It was horrifyingly embarrassing for me at the time but Dad didn't care about my reputation. At least I was far, far away from anyone who would recognize me and the tractor had a cab, so it wasn't like I was out there shoveling the stuff. I spent my Spud Harvest driving from the corral to the field listening to the rocking tunes on Z-103. Why am I revealing this little known bit of my teenage drama? Because this year, instead of working, Dad actually took a vacation. Shocking to all who know him, but true.
We did a little site seeing downtown.
In the Bellagio Garden- I wasn't aware that they change it for the seasons.
Eiffel Tower-Vegas version
Because Grandma is a major Diet Coke supporter we had to take her to the Coke Factory. Of course the kids had to make Grandma & Grandpa taste the nastiest drink in the history of mankind. I keep thinking that I remember it worse than it is. I don't. It is so gross. Come visit and I'll prove it.
While the kids were in school, we took a trip to the Hoover Dam.
This is the newly built dam bypass bridge. It makes me nervous just looking at it. It's cool and all, but there is
no way I would dare cross it.
We took the "dam tour" as opposed to the power plant tour so we got to walk around in a few of the tunnels. It is really an amazing structure. This photo was taken while we were in one of the tunnels. Mom stuck her hand out the vent thing and turned the camera up to get the shot. That is the top of the dam.
There are a lot of aspects of the dam that amazed me, but I was most impressed by the fact that it's made out of concrete and it's held up. Have you seen the concrete on the driveway at our HH house? Within a year it was falling apart. It's a good thing those concrete workers didn't build the dam. It's also fun to go to the dam because you can say all sorts of funny dam jokes. The kids really loved our dam discussions. They were thrilled we ate dam fries and went on a dam tour. Ha ha.
The last place we went before my parents went home was the Las Vegas Temple. We haven't walked around the grounds before. It is a beautiful and peaceful place.
We had a fun and crazy two weeks of family. I loved every minute of it.
