12 of 12 - October 2008

Finally posting my 12 of 12. It has been a long exhausting couple of days. I went to Vegas (kudos to Laura/Zin for guessing correctly) with my parents and a couple of Dad's friends.

Unfortunately, after the first day, the trip ended up abruptly coming to an end, as my Dad got really sick. He was already coming off of knee replacement surgery 6 weeks ago and pushing himself to go on the trip to prove that he was recovered. But the first night there, he couldn't sleep and said he felt like he was drowning. Helping him with his shoes in the morning, I noticed that his feet and legs were swollen, and so the decision was made to come home immediately. He is now in the hospital and it looks like he was going into congestive heart failure. They have treated him with some diuretics and other meds and he is already looking better, but his cardiologist wants to hold him for a few more days to be safe. But thank God he is improving.

So anyway, here are my pics before the trip took a turn. Leaving the times off, since once I leave on vacation, I have no concept of what time it is anywhere.

Me and Dad at the airport awaiting our flight.

High above the Mississippi River.

Mom on a plane.

In Vegas, next to the tram that takes you from the D terminal to the main terminal. They have murals done by local kids of various destinations. This one is obviously Berlin.

And a little shout out to my Dallas friends.

I wanted to head down the strip and take photos at Paris and New York to play up the angle of multiple destinations, but when I walked out to take the photo of ancient Rome/Caesar's Palace, it was like 40 degrees and windy, so this ....

and this (The Mirage) is all I got.

I hate when they put up Christmas before we've even had Halloween. But, since it is a Flamingo tree, I will give them a small break.

We went down to get Mom (Maxine) signed in for her tournament, and we ran into the other Maxine - an event coordinator for the Flamingo. She is one of many friends that Mom and Dad have made at the hotel over the years.

I went back up to the room to slip in a little nap, and I spotted a wedding taking place down in the hotel gardens out back. You can see the bride coming up the pathway, about to make her walk down the aisle.

They really don't like for you to take random photos in the casino area, so I sort of snapped this one with the camera down by my side as I walked through on the way to meet Dad and his friends. I have turned this photo every which way, but I'm still not sure which way was up.

Here is Dad and his friends Fred and Buck. We really enjoyed having them along, and they were a huge help when we determined that Dad was starting to get sick and needed to get back home. Dad really does have some of the best friends, and they can really be counted on in times of need. I'm sure once word gets out that he is in the hospital, there will be a revolving door of his buddies coming in and out visiting and lightening his mood.