End of Summer Trip

August 28-31, 2009 - For our end of summer trip, Hank, Sammi, and myself packed up the van, and headed for Las Vegas. Sadly, my Stevie couldn't make it again. ;-( But, joining us were Kathy, Derrick, Traci, Kristen, Margie, Tom, Auntie Mary, Mark, Amy, Laura, Mitch, Terry, and Patty. Needless to say, it was wonderful and crazy... But that's the way we like it... The more, the merrier it is!

Driving to Vegas on Friday... Of course, we "had to" stop at the outlets!
State Line Outlet Mall
It's buffet time...
...at the Rios Hotel.
She's such a happy baby!


Saturday, we hung around our room at the Gold Coast Hotel because Sammi was craving those TGIF Jack Daniel's Chicken Wings. Hank was happy he played some poker and was able to meet a few of the ships captains from Discovery Channel's The Deadliest Catch.

Captain Phil Harris


Since we were still a bit full from lunch, we decided on a small simple dinner. We found a local Thai restaurant in the heart of Chinatown, and was happy to get our Pad thai, Thai tea and coffee.


On Sunday, after shopping at the Las Vegas Outlet Mall (near the airport), we went to visit Mitchell's in his Palazzo Hotel suite on the 35th floor.
Living room
Living room
Bedroom
Bathroom
Bathroom
Room Service!!!
Wow!!! Yummy!!!
Our girls enjoying their afternoon snack.


So many swimming pools!

Here's a closer view of Sammi, Kristen, & Traci swimming after their snack... Remember, I'm taking these pictures through a window from the 35th floor! Not too shabby for a point-and-shoot camera, eh? ;-) I love my 15.9x zoom!!!

Mitch introduced us to Redrock Hotel's Salt Lick BBQ restaurant. Great deal for those big carnivor eaters!
Is that your second helping Derrick?
Pork ribs, sausage, tri-tip... YUMMY!!!
Looks good honey! Save me a bite!

To help walk off all of this barbeque, Hank, Sammi, and I ran around the Premium Las Vegas Outlets near downtown LV. We got there just as they were closing, but Sammi still managed to find something within that half hour. I think this girl has some serious shopping issues... where does she get this from?!?!? hee hee hee

Lemon Butter Club - SF Chapter!!!

Friday - August 21, 2009 - It's been long overdue, but we've finally decided to take a trip to the Bay Area. I can't believe it's been over ten years since our last visit there. So we packed ourselves into the truck with the Lai's and Lydia. San Francisco, here we come... Well, almost! We had to detour to the Gilroy Outlets for our shopping spree!!! I still can't believe that our group managed to buy about twenty (20) Coach purses, wallets, bags, etc.!!! And we haven't even made it into the city yet!!! It was a whole lot of fun!

Gotta get a big shopping bag!
The more we buy, the more we saved!!!

We've made it to Darci's place...
Here's one of our first conversations we had when arriving in SF, it went something like this:
T: Gross, what's that smell?
K: I'm not sure, but it's really bad.
L: Poor Darci, I hope she doesn't have to smell this all the time.
B: It might be coming from those dumpsters.
(a few minutes later...)
K: Darci, does it always smell this bad in SF?
D: What smell?!?!?



*** The mystery of the smell continues ***


Darci, John, and Lydia
Boy, these hills sure are steep here in SF!!!
It's a good thing Derrick decided to leave the truck at the bottom of the hill. Ok girls, I'm on my way!!!

At last, we've made it to our hotel. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero Center. It was a really great hotel too. Special thanks to Vince and Rodan, you two made our stay extra special!!!


Hank, enjoying our room.
Check out the blimp!




Guess which one is mine?
We're having a very late dinner at Taylor's in the Ferry Port.

***After dinner, we went back to our hotel room, turned on the news, and OMG, this is what we saw:


Okay Darci, we knew that awful smell was not in all of our imaginations! Now we know the truth, mystery solved! It turns out, some people were cleaning sewer drain pipes. SF was on the down wind side. Lucky for us, we came in town just time for their cleaning! Ughhhh!!! At first, we thought your neighbor's trash cans were the culprit, but it faintly smelled by our hotel too! We're so glad that smell was only temporary, and it wasn't going to stay this way forever!


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Saturday morning, we had decided to run across the street to the elaborate Farmer's Market they had at the Ferry Port. It was so much fun looking at all the merchandise available.
Photographer Hui Wen
The Blue Angels are magnificent!!!
Is this really a restroom?

Poem by Zack Houston
We couldn't get a poem out of this guy! Imposter!!!
Lobster mushrooms, they say it tastes like lobster in soups and stews, but at a fraction of the cost of real lobsters. Hmmm, might be worth a try... someday!
MOOOOO!!!
Soy ice cream, looks yummy like the real thing... But how does it taste? Hmmmm.

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Is this Lamborghini Diablo your new dream car?
The girls look like they want one too.

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What? We have to walk up that hill to find Chinatown?!?!? Ugh!!! It's a good thing I wore my heels!!!
Are we there yet?
I think we've found it!
Fortune cookie factory! They have colorful ones too! Fresh and yummy.

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Lemon Butter Club - San Francisco Chapter - Meeting at PPQ Dungeness Island - Saturday, August 22, 2009







LBC, this is what it's all about!!! I can't believe we ordered five (5) of these babies! Delicious!
Yummy!

Here are our newest LBC Members:
William
Lily
Danton
Amanda


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Poker night and hanging out at Robert's...
Kerwin and Pauline
Jack and Spencer
Sue and Lily
Danton and Andy
William, you make the best cappucchino and froth!!! We're all hooked now!!! Thanks!!!
Sue, William, and Darien

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Sunday morning brunch at Canton Seafood and Dim Sum Restaurant (http://www.cantonsf.com/)



Lobster chow mein!



Sammie, Amanda, and Loreen



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After a great Dim Sum lunch, Robert deciced to join us for some tourist attractions. Our first stop was at Lombard Street. Just two days ago, this street was decorated as a full sized Candyland Game. Too bad we missed it. At least we got to see it on a beautiful clear day, and PTL, no more stinky smell!!! ;-)





Who are those good looking people in the middle of the road?!?!?
The Lais
The SooHoos (Thank you Robert, for standing in place for Stevie)
We're at the end of the road!
This beautiful wall of ivy is actually the side of an appartment building!
This sure beats the graffiti writing!

Second stop, Ghirardelli Square for some yummy chocolates!


We stopped for an ice cream, hot cocoa, coffee, and french fries break.
Foil man was pretty interesting.
I just loved this!!! ;-D
Big hat was Sammi's great find.
Tired out from the walking and the shopping. Or maybe they were crashing from the previous sugar rush?!?!?

Third stop is Fisherman's Wharf.
Panda family with Traci.
Lil' Lion and Kristen.
It's all about the seafood!!!
Turtles
Crabs
Lobster
Bears (not seafood, but cute)
Hot clam chowder bread bowls really hit the spot! It was getting pretty cold out there!!!
Fishes!
Alligator!
So that's how they do it!!!
Vuala! The baby alligator needs a face now.
Pier 43 Ferry Arch, currently under construction.
Look, that bird escaped Alcatraz!!!


Finally, we've made it to Pier 39!!!
Just in time for some hot mini donuts!
Thanks Robert. These were really yummy!
Pier 39's natural sea lions attraction!!!
Zoltar predicts something "BIG"!!!

I can't believe our weekend in SF is over. Now that most of our kids are grown, we'll have more time to travel and visit friends near and far. May God bless us with prosperity, good health, safe travels, and lots of great deals!!! Meet you in Vegas!!!