Hollywood!

Flew into Las Vegas & headed south on Hwy 15 toward Los Angeles

Its true, hardly anyone in Las Vegas but this was a Sunday morning

Stopped to see these colored rocks

And the Aliens

Got a bit of rain.

Not too long after this photo was taken, I was driving and avoided a multi car pile up: 3 lanes, 70mph, slamming brakes, cars flying off road on both sides. I saw at least 4 cars go off, didn't see anyone hit another car but I wasn't sticking around. I was in right side lane & got the hell outta there.

Michelle & me, reunited again after 5 years, we originally met in 1996 when she worked at YMCA Camp Seymore in the kitchen with Amy & me.

Michelle is from UK, I've been over there to visit her 3 times & shes been back to the USA about 4 more times.

Friends for life.

Guy & Michelle. They got married last summer and get to travel the world together

In Hollywood we saw these little robot delivery things all over

famous signs we saw

While Michelle & Guy had a little 'lie in', Lan & I went up to the Griffith Observatory

Thats the Pacific Ocean out there

This was seen from the Observatory and we could see it from our room as well

Our room was on the 6th floor & we only had it for 1 night, I think it was the one below the christmas lights

End of the line.

On the way home we went on Zzyzx Road and stopped in to see the Desert Studies place. It used to be a high end resort for the rich & famous but now its just a lot of untended trees and filled fountains alongside the dry lake bed.

Then we flew home

 

We fly tomorrow

 We will leave home at about 5:00pm and arrive at the airport at about 6:00; we'll check in and go thru security and go wait for our plane, which pushes at 7:28pm. We will arrive in Las Vegas at 10:00pm and theres supposed to be a shuttle to pick us up to go to our hotel, which is a cheat ass one off the Strip.  I'm not going to overpay for a room there.

We pick up our car Sunday morning at 10:00am 

And instead of driving to Palm Springs, we will head into the heart of Los Angeles to spend about 36 hours with Michelle and Guy there, since she told me the dates they would be there incorrectly. Ugh. But we'll make it work.

It will just be so good to see them again.

They have reservations to stay in West Hollywood so I suppose we better get a place near them.

Seasonal Greetings

 Winter starts tomorrow.

Three days later it's Christmas Eve.

One day later it's Christmas.

Five days later its New Years Eve, aka our Anniversary.

One day later its New Years 2026 Day.

Two days later we fly to Las Vegas.

One day later we drive to Palm Springs.

Two days later we drive back to Las Vegas, catch a plane and come back home.

135 days later our vacation begins and we SHOULD be hauling Ambleside to Hyak & North Bend area to begin my bucket list ride across the state. If she or I am not ready then we will be hauling the truck & sxs down to Pioche for a nice three week long vacation.

Busy times ahead.

Another Year Older

and deeper in debt.

I turned 63 years old yesterday.

I've never been so far in debt in my entire life; first ever brand new car payment, a second home that's a total rehab, medical bills like I've never had before and a horse in very expensive training.

But the brand new car is our truck and its a tool much needed on the farm. We've hauled/pulled trailers more miles than without, its got 4x4, A/C that works, 4 doors for ease of access, 12 cup holders and already its got 10,000 miles. 

Our second house, in Pioche, Nevada

And medical issues

Ambleside is now ridable but I have to upgrade my tack to go forward. 

The house is coming along, the truck is holding its own, my belly is all better and Amble needs a few tack changes before I can attempt to ride again. Her bit isn't big enough, she needs a 6" and her saddle needs to fit better.  I had a gal, a trainer, come give her a lesson and she got bucked off. I thought it was her just asking too much too fast, now I think maybe the saddle hurt or the bit pinched. 

Kitchen Dreams

I'd LOVE to have our kitchen end up nice and bright like any of these  

I like the white subway tile and our sink will be below a large window

Our kitchen will be all along a wall, not U shaped like this

I wish for a propane stove

I love these old wooden beams

The high shelving would be useful, IF I have a ladder to get up there

I do not want upper cabinets, I want minimal stuff in the house, since its so small.

Booked Flights

 Back in October I purchased the Frontier Airlines 

Go Wild Pass

for Lan & I, at $300.00 each. I figure if we fly once it would already be saving us money & today I purchased round trip tickets from SeaTac - Las Vegas for $126 in total, saving $63 by using their promo code. YAY. If I had been thinking I'd have had us leaving a day earlier so we could go get the rental car and drive up to Pioche, spending that night and the next at our house.  I tried to change the flights but its a $100 fee, making the savings moot. So no Pioche this trip unless we get the car & drive straight 2 hours up there, sleep, do anything around the house we need to do quickly and leave again, on a 7 hour drive to Palm Springs. That's totally do able.

We're flying out January 3 and returning January 6. 

Michelle & Guy arrive January 4 and continue on to Hawaii on January 6. 

We will have about 36 hours to spend with them and it will be a great time. I'm so thankful they invited us to meet up with them and hope & pray its not the last time we will ever see them but that's what I thought when we left England in 2019.

Now I can look for a place to spend the night that's inexpensive...

Planning

I'm planning my 2026 and it includes learning how to drive my mare.

Ambleside has had 6 months of professional training by people who know what they're doing but unfortunately I live 200 miles away from them so it wasn't easy to go there for MY lessons. 

So I've made arrangements for MY lessons with a local gal, Stephanie. She's actually the first person who let me drive her own pony and is the one who got me hooked. Our first lesson will be her coming here to check out my harness, to teach me more about it and tell me what kind of parts I need (tugs, I think) and what I might need for the cart. I also have the wagon and I'll need to make sure I've got the correct attachments for that as well.

This is my harness but in these photos I wasn't 100% sure how to fit it to Amble. Our trainer, Will, made it fit correctly and he is the one who pointed out what is missing.

Also for 2026, I'm going to be taking riding lesson as well and those are starting this week, 

December 5, 2025 with another local lady, Liza, who will come to our farm to teach me. I'm pretty sure I've got all the gear I need but I hope if there's anything I'm missing that she can tell me about it. 

This photo was taken before I cleaned the saddle. Its old and beat up but after all the saddles I tried on her, this is the best fit. Maybe we can upgrade in the future but for now I'm happy enough with it.

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More travel plans have been thought about: traveling to Palm Springs in January.  It is now cheaper to fly into Las Vegas and rent a car than it is to drive our own car down there, plus gives us a LOT more time with Michelle & Guy.