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| Often, we see motorbikes loaded with products being delivered to a variety of the tiny shops in the neighborhood, which sell candy, soda, cigarettes and snacks. |
“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”
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| Colorful fishing boat with the crew at the end of a long night. |
We don’t gamble, not in casinos. One could say we gamble with the quality of our lives every single day. We’ll agree with that. However, we have no interest in sitting at a slot machine or card table, giving away money we’ve carefully budgeted for many more interesting events in our lives.
Many people love gambling in casinos. Their occasional wins interspersed with more losses keep them engaged in the concept that it’s a worthwhile pleasurable activity. If one can do so without serious consequences in their lives, have at it!
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| Decorative hand-carved door in the neighborhood. |
If we gambled and lost US $300, IDR 4,001,250 at a poker table that would be groceries for two weeks outside the US or 10 separate day trips with a driver in Bali or the cost of excess luggage fees on Qantas airlines for a flight to Sydney from wherever.
Tom used to enjoy playing blackjack. Years ago, he gave it up when one day it dawned on him that his losses were greater than his wins and it just wasn’t a logical way to spend hard-earned money.
Even I had my days, way back when, of playing on occasion at one of the American Indian owned casinos in Minnesota or in Las Vegas when visiting eldest son Richard, a successful real estate agent, who’s lives in Henderson, Nevada (a suburban city near Las Vegas) for over 30 years.
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| A local gathering place and temple. |
For the past 20 years, neither of us has played a single casino game, not in casinos, not on cruise ships, and not at a single slot machine at the airport in Nevada. Nada. None. That’s not to say we wouldn’t play a friendly game of cards or dice with family or friends. We’re OK losing a few bucks to people to love. That’s different.
Why are we discussing gambling? After yesterday’s posting of our plans for visiting Minnesota for six weeks beginning next May, we’d be amiss not to mention where we’ll be spending our remaining three weeks during the 2017 trips to the US.
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| Statues to be mounted in front yard temple at a house construction site in the neighborhood. |
It’s hard to be in Las Vegas and not visit some of the new hotels we’ve yet to see while wandering through casino after casino. We’re confident we won’t have any trouble avoiding the tables and slot machines.
By the time we arrive in Las Vegas on July 7, 2017, we won’t have been there since December 2012 when we rented a vacation home in Henderson not far from Richard during which time three of Tom’s sisters and two brothers-in-law came to stay with us.
Also, members of my family visited for Tom’s birthday on December 23rd and for Christmas a few days later. It was a memorable time spent together especially when we were only days away from leaving the US to begin our world journey.
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| If cows can be pretty, we thought this is quite lovely. |
(By the way, when we count how long we’ve actually been gone, we consider the day we left Minnesota on Halloween, October 31, 2012. We spent two more months in both Scottsdale, Arizona, and Henderson, Nevada making final preparations to leave the US.
On January 3, 2013, (here’s the post from that date) after driving to San Diego, California we sailed on our first ever cruise which fulfilled one of Tom’s dreams of traversing the Panama Canal. Son Richard and sister Julie said goodbye at the pier which meant so much to us).
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| This road we walk in the neighborhood has a fair amount of motorbike traffic. |
Next July after we’ve completed the six weeks in Minnesota we’ll be visiting son Richard in Henderson, sister Susan in Las Vegas, and seeing sister Julie, who’ll fly in from Los Angeles for a visit while we’re there. During the three-week stay (until we fly to Costa Rica to our next vacation home in our itinerary on July 31, 2017), we’ll stay with Richard at his home in Henderson.
Three weeks is a long time to stay in the home of others. Many have offered that we stay with them during these past years but we’ve always turned them down politely, appreciating the kind offer.
There are several factors that make staying with Richard easier for all of us:
1. He doesn’t have a cat. I’m allergic. I can spend a few hours in a home with cats but never overnight when allergies are always worse.
2. He has room for us. We refuse to ever allow any family member to vacate their room, their personal space for us. It’s simply not fair, especially for extended periods.
3. He doesn’t cook and doesn’t expect or want us to prepare food. We’ll either bring in something or eat out, hoping he’ll join us when it works for him.
4. He has a pool. We love pools.
5. He has a weekly cleaning person. There’s no expectation that we’ll be “earning our keep” by cleaning.
6. He’s gone all day working and we’ll have the house to ourselves with less time for us to annoy him with our daily routine.
7. He has a hysterical pug, Monty, whom we adore. It will be enjoyable taking him for walks and hanging out with him. We wonder if he’ll remember us from almost five years ago.
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| Elaborate front yard temple. |
For these above reasons, staying with Richard will be relatively easy. No doubt, it’s never easy to stay with anyone in their home for three weeks. I’ve heard nightmarish stories from friends when family came to stay for extended periods. However, we’ve stayed with him in past visits and it worked out well.
So, there it is folks, our US visit wrapped up in two neat little bundles with a goal to spend most of our time with family and also to spend some of our time with our dearest friends, many of whom we’ve stayed in close touch over this long period.
We hope you’ll spend quality time with those you love, especially on Father’s Day in the US tomorrow. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!
Photo from one year ago today, June 19, 2015:
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| Trinity Beach, Australia has a lot to offer; ocean, mountains, and plains with gorgeous scenery. We enjoyed our three months in the lovely, relatively serene area. For more photos, please click here. |