Where Have I Been and What Have I Been Doing ?

Hi there Bloggers, I do apologise for the fact that my Blog has been so quiet in recent weeks.  Thank you so much if you've dropped by to see what I've been doing despite the lack of posts.  I hope to be back in the swing of things during the next few days, get some crafting time and sharing my projects with you.

So, where have I been and what have I been doing ?  Well.... I've been away from home and my stash for a few weeks, visiting family and friends in the UK and, very excitingly, in the USA.  We spent just over a month in and around Las Vegas, which is where quite a few of our family members live and work.  We also had a family wedding whilst we were there with the ceremony held in The Chapel of the Flowers and wedding dinner at the Bellagio Hotel which was all lovely.

I got to spend some time with my lovely pal Nicola, we met some years ago and discovered we have a connection from way back in the 1960's !  Her Dad and my Hubby worked together way back then.  We met via friends of friends and after chatting discovered our connection - it really is a very small World.  She is a Massage Therapist, Reiki Master and teaches Qi Gong and all sorts of other lovely things.  I had a couple of treatments on her amazing crystal healing mat which was wonderful and we got lots of time for chatting and catching up over some yummy herbal tea and healthy nibbles sitting out in her delightful back yard.  She very generously gave me a very interesting book filled with recipes for healthy and healing smoothies, I can't wait to try some of them.

One of the highlights of the trip was to see the 'Big Boy' steam train (biggest train ever built)  arriving in Vegas during it's journey to Cheyanne Wyoming to be renovated.  Standing out in the desert, beside the rail tracks watching for the headlights of the Big Boy as the sun went down, then feeling the ground start to vibrate as the train got nearer and then the thunderous noise as it went by on the rails about a couple of metres from where we were standing,  was such an exciting experience !  My Hubby who is a steam train fan was overjoyed that our trip coincided with this momentous occasion !  The following morning we were able to get up close to the Big Boy and the two huge engines that were pushing and pulling it on it's journey.  Down at the Union Pacific yard in the Downtown area of Vegas the Big Boy was parked up in the sidings allowing visitors and enthusiasts to get up close, discuss the renovation to be done with Union Pacific staff and get lots of photographs for the scrapbook !

Apart from enjoying time with family, lapping up the wonderful dry heat - it got up as high as 109 deg F a couple of days... lovely - we also went to Rod Stewart's concert in the Coliseum theatre inside Ceasar's Palace Hotel, which was fabulous.  Rod is such a great showman and it was fun singing along (and dancing) to all his well known songs.  We were back again at the Coliseum a few days later to see Shania Twain's concert, which again was great fun.

During a short visit to Laughlin which is still in the state of Nevada, south of Las Vegas alongside the Colorado River and like a mini Vegas from years ago, much quieter and more relaxed.  Staying in the Golden Nugget Hotel, we dined at the Bubba Gumps Restaurant there, delicious seafood and cocktails for me, sitting on the patio overhanging the Colorado River watching the river traffic, just great. 

In the 'Claim Jumpers Restaurant' in the hotel on another evening we did attempt to eat a slice of 'The Tallest Cake' - a rich chocolate layer cake around 12 inches tall, six or seven layers sandwiched with chocolate buttercream, covered with chocolate fondant and dotted with walnut 'gold nuggets' around the outside (had to be done didn't it !).  We ordered one slice and two spoons but only managed to eat half of it between us, so the rest went home with us in a box and was enjoyed all over again a couple of days later !

We also drove across into Arizona, up into the black hills to visit a little old mining town called Oatman where the wild Burros wander around the town and visitors can buy bags of food to feed to them.  So quaint and well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in that part of the world.  After leaving there were drove quite a way along part of the original 'Historic'  Route 66 before getting back to the Colorado and following the river back to Laughlin. 

I have lots of photos, will share a few with you in the coming weeks' posts, don't wish to bore you !  

Eventually, the time for goodbyes came and we were very sad to leave everyone and the fabulous weather there, we had such a great time.   Good to be home safe and sound, despite the weather - it's raining here now after a reasonably dry but cool start to the day. 

Hope you're having a great day, I will have a project to share with you very soon.