o Wednesday November 5th - We're Off! (But you knew that already.)
Groot and I hit the Pharmacy so I could get my Humalog refil and then we had breakfast at the *NEW* Ihop here in Albuquerque, over on Gibson. I chose Chicken Fried Snake - I mean STEAK (sorry, kaasirpent. It's a JOKE! Just a Joke!) with eggs over medium, hash browns and pancakes. Groot picked up the last newspaper with the news that Obama had won the election on the front page from the machine out front. I then slept until the strange dinosaur farm statues out in mid-Arizona on I-40. I'd been up and down all night packing for the trip. We stopped for dinner at the Sonic on Andy Devine in Kingman, Arizona. I chose a bacon cheeseburger toaster and a small chocolate malt. Pulling out of there we heard a tell-tale flapping sound. The driver's side rear tire had gone. We made it across the street to a gas station and I called the AAA on my cell. They were there and had the tire changed for us in *20* minutes! That was amazing. We were worried that we'd have to hole up in a hotel overnight as this was past 5:pm and we figured all the garages would be closed - at least the ones that would carry the tires Mr. Groot prefers on his car. But we were able to pop right back on the road, so w00t! Go Us! We crossed the Hoover Dam after nightfall and made Henderson and my Brother's house by 9:pm. They had some Pollo Loco and some beef stir fry for us. It was very good.
OPH: http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/
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o Thursday, November 6th - Tires and TV
My Brother and his wife had to go to work very early. We woke up later and headed to the Green Valley Ranch Casino/Hotel/Shopping Center which has an Original Pancake House (OPH) in it. ***link We were able to walk rght in without a wait. I got a cheese omlette, bacon and pumpkin pancakes with coffee. All excallent, of course. Then Groot dropped me back at the house while he went off to Big-O Tires where my Brother had a buddy working. He got a great deal on new tires all around (he had meant to get two replaced anyway and the flat took the good spare). I read my new Stephen King book, _Duma Key_ until he got back from that and a more happy birding side-trip. We planned on watching Round #4 of the PBR Finals on TV with the family at home and so we did. They ordered in Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and onions and it was very good.
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o Friday, November 7th - Bulls and a Buffet
Again, breakfast was at the OPH. I tried the Spanish omlette (onions, jalapenos and cheese with salsa on top), minus the cilantro and added bacon and the regular pancakes that usually one with the omlette. The jalapenos were only lightly pickled so they had crunch and still an alarming amount of heat to them. I had to add catsup and take my time wth many sips of water and coffee to get through. I'd probably have been braver if the jalapenos hadn't have kept trying to hide down in my gum line, dispursing their capsaisin directly into the delicate mouth tissues there until forcibly dislodged. Ow! Groot and I went back to the house and read until around 4:pm. We had decided that last year's plan to eat after the round was not so great. It took us until around 9:45pm to get to the strip and the big buffets close at 10-10:30pm. This time we selected the Seafood Buffet over at The Rio. $38/person. I really enjoyed it, although I was stupid and took my pills and forgot to grab my insulin pen. We didn't have tim eto go back and get it. Oh well. We both loved the Seafood Newburg and the Jambalaya. I was fascinated by the Gelato-Go-Round at the dessert station and threatned to attempt to ride it, but I behaved myself and let the server dish up some mango sorbet for me, instead. Good, but not quite enough fruit bite in it. Our server was Orlando and he is a gem. Right there with more coffee and when Groot forgot to get soy sauce for his sushi, he ran off and returned with a full bottle of it instead of the little saucer you'd normally pick up at the buffet. Good job! The only down-side was that someone didn't quite go over the sushi-grade salmon as well as they should have. I was stabbed in the mouth by two bones left in the fish. Bah! Round #5 (all rounds were at the Thomas and Mack, UNLV) was great. The rounds had no half-time shows to them, which was a big change from 2007. I told Groot I was "Gonna get me one of them Margadoritos!" I saw a vendor called Tequila Station. Ok! Well, they only had shots and pre-mixed margaritas with Heradura brand Tequila. We were running late, so I figured what the heck and bought one. Ugh. It was just passable. That'll learn me. Round #5 had Marchi just missing clinching the world championship, but he had ridden all 6 of his bulls so far so he looked pretty solid to do it the next round.

Rio Village Seafood Buffet: http://www.riolasvegas.com/casinos/rio/restaurants-dining/village-seafood-buffet-detail.html
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o Saturday, November 8th - Another Buffet, More Bulls
OPH for breakfast. I went with a Dutch Baby and bacon with coffee. My Brother, his wife and her Mother came along with us. We were going to go see the new house my Brother had built in Arizona but we wouldn't have time to go and get back with the weekend traffic across Hoover Dam. So, back home to read again. At 3:30pm we took off for the Bellagio or the Wynn buffet - we weren't certain which. Groot's curiosity decided the matter in favor of The Bellagio because he wanted to check out a resturant that Marcia@TimMush had reccomended which is also in the casino. They didn't open until 5:30pm - too late for us to make the show. So we went to the regular Bellagio buffet. $40/person. Same great stuff as last year. Yum! This time at the Thomas and Mack we got there early enough for me to prowl the snack bars furthur and I found Cocktails Unlimited and struck Patron Silver there. A much better "margadorito" in my humble opinion! Marchi ended his night by clinching the title. I was so happy for him! It has just slipped out of his grasp for the last 3 years and he's ended up in 2nd place. But this year he rode amazingly well all year long and put himself way out in front with a near 79% riding average which is phenomenal. Most bull riders strive to reach 50% and many fall below that even in the top rung of the PBR tours, the Built Ford Tough. But going into the Finals there were 4 other riders that could have caught him, so it was not just there for the taking. I was so glad I was there to see him Victorious!
Bellagio - The Buffet: http://www.bellagio.com/restaurants/the-buffet.aspx
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o Sunday, November 9th - Final Finals Day
OPH saw us back again. Cheese omlette, bacon, pancakes and coffee for me. Goodbye until next year! This day the competition started at 11:30am so we headed right off to the arena. No alcoholic drink for me, today. I went to get a diet cola and Groot tackled a vending machine for his water. It spurned his $5 bill. The guy behind him in line had no better luck. I saw he had on a Stock Contractor jacket, so I thanked him for bringing bulls to play and since I was up to the counter, I bought him and Groot a water from there. He thanked me and we got to talking. He asked me to cheer for his bull, San Dimas. Then I told him how excited my friend Carol is about the Pacific NW's Big Red Mulie (lacking horns) bulls like Doctor Proctor and - can you believe THIS? - I was talking to one of the guys behind the cloning of Doctor Proctor- Gary S. Long of R&L Bulls! OMG! He confirmed that the Doctor gets along with his little "Mini-Moos." He handed me his card and said if Carol and I are up in the NW USA we should call and maybe we could arrange to meet them! TOO exciting!I can't wait to tell her! I'd have talked more but we had to get going. the show was starting. Rounds 7 and 8, the last full round and the Championship Round or Short-Go.
Doctor Proctor: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/3139
The Doctor's Clones: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/print/3121

This was also the last time we'd see Justin McBride and Adriano Moreas ride, so it was bittersweet. Rest well, guys. You deserve it!

Groot and I set off after the event to head back home. We dined again at the Sonic in Kingman without incident this time, but Flagstaff was another matter. I was dozing away in the passenger seat and awoke in a blizzard. The flakes were huge and swarming at the windshield like huge Killer Bees. The snow level on the road was reaching the car's undercarriage. Groot could barely see the road and I didn't think I could do any better so we put in for the night at The Raddison. What a LOVELY hotel! They had amazing oriental antiques in the lobby and in the halls on the floors. Sleep number beds and our room was a wonderful 72 F. We got ourselves in and fell right into bed and slept soundly for about 12 hours!
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o Monday, November 10th - Extra Bonus Snow Vacation Day
Groot and I woke to a snow covered world. Quite different from the SNUH adventure over on TinyTimMUSH. I have to admit that it was prettier. I awoke with an eye-crossing migraine, though and our room's coffee pot wouldn't cooperate and make me some Wolfgang Puck Special Blend Coffee, dammit. So Groot advised me to go on and stagger down to the cafe after I'd taken a muscle relaxant. There was lovely hot coffeeeeeee for meeeeeeee there. It helped lots. Groot staggered in and we had a wonderful breakfast. The menu was really hard to decide from. Orange French Toast, Turkey hash with chipotle and several other amazing breakfast offerings. We both went for the build your own omelette deal. I chose chorizo, mushrooms and cheese, english muffin and a side of hash browns. We both agrees this is THE place to stop to eat in Flagstaff. We piled back in the car and headed for Albuquerque. We did have one blow-up on the road. Groot wanted to make a side-trip North to near Rio Rancho to pick up his musical instrument, a "stick" over at Grandma's Music and Sound where it was having work done on it. I only wanted to get home and fall over and that was in the other direction. Grrr! BOOM! Well, he did all the driving, so I gave in. It's not that I don't love to drive. It's that I'd have to tranq dart gun him first, put him in a straight jacket and tie him down in the trunk with noise cancelling headphones and a blindfold on his head and probably a gag as well to be able to drive in peace. This would raise unfortunate questions by local authorities if they saw me loading or unloading him in or out of the trunk. It might just look suspicious. "No, really, officer! It's for his own good!" He gets so nervous. He ays it's not my driving. It's his own crazy Control Freakishness that won't let him relax and that makes me nervous so I can't enjoy driving. So, I figure I'll just let him drive and I'll snooze. We retrieved the repaired stick and man! It stank! Groot says it was probably the glue they used on it or some solvent. Blegh! Anyway, we finally got home and I was able to crawl up into my very own bed. Ahhhhh! - that is for a couple hours. Groot went off to his Chorus practice and then came by to pick me up for our usual dinner at Scalo. I decided to be bad, yeah until the end of my vacation and had their spinach salad (with pinon nuts, tomato bits and chunks of bacon in a light vinegarette) and a multi-cheese, carmelized onions and very thin sliced pear thin-crust wood-fired pizza. They come around 14 inches and I got through 1/2. It was delicate and yummy, but it lacked something. I tried green tabasco on it the next morning and decided that hit the spot.

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So, there you have it, folks. My 'Vegas vacation for 2008! I hope we can get out there again for the 2009 PBR Finals - and this next time I *WILL* go see Penn and Teller! That's my goal and I'm stickin' to it.