Molly & Emma @ Mayfield Dairy

On February 23, Molly and Emma and I went with Mrs. Powell's second grade class to Mayfield Dairy in Athens. When we arrived, we had to put on hair nets before entering the dairy. We saw lots of interesting things going on like ice cream sandwiches being made, milk jugs being made, milk jugs being filled with milk and so much more. We were treated to ice cream after the tour, then we went to the park to eat a picnic lunch. Isn't it great to eat dessert first? We had a wonderful time. PHOTOS

Fremont Street Experience

This was the perfect ending to a great trip. We got downtown right before dark and had dinner at Main Street Station. When we came out it dark and the light show was beginning. It was really cool. The neat graphics and video clips that moved about on the overhead canopy was mesmerizing with its 12.5 million light-emitting diodes--and the music was great, too! Lucky for me I was getting cool and bought a CSI Las Vegas sweat shirt, it was the only thing I had to keep me warm on the freezing flight back home! PHOTOS

Red Rock Canyon

Our final day in Vegas and I had five things I wanted to do before we got on our plane at 11:30 p.m.--go to Red Rock Canyon, go to the Anne Taylor outlet, shop for tacky Vegas souvenirs, go to the Venetian and go to Fremont Street downtown. Early that morning we headed for the first place on our list--Red Rock Canyon. This was a little like Valley of Fire, but I enjoyed it more. The drive to get there wasn't as long (only 19 miles west of Vegas) and there was a little more diversity in the sights. It was a perfect day to put the top down on the car and cruse through the 13-mile scenic loop. We stopped along the way at pull-offs to take photos. Next time, we're bringing a picnic lunch. This was the desert version of Cades Cove. There were bikers and hikers everywhere and a few rock climbers. I think I'd like to hike the next time also. We didn't see any of the wild critters we had read about in our Vegas for Dummies book, but the peaceful drive was worth the trip. Next on to Anne Taylor and the shopping was grand, that is, after we found a parking place. We also shopped in the tacky Vegas souvenir shop and bought the girls T-shirts and casino cards. (Like we need another deck of cards at our house.) Our final short stop was back on the strip to the Venetian. This was about as disappointing as Ceasars Palace. Unlike the real St. Mark's square with the huge campanillo and the millions of pigeons. However, it looks very similar on a small scale. It was a very beautiful hotel and casino. On to Fremont Street. PHOTOS

The Las Vegas Strip

We started on the south end of the strip and worked our way up, zig-zagging back and forth across the street to see the beautiful casinos. We took the tram from the Flamingo to MGM, the southern most point of the tram stops to begin our journey. Greg always stayed at the MGM when he used to go to Vegas for movie week. It was gigantic; the second largest hotel in the world. It is also very, very green at night, which makes it easy to spot from just about anywhere. When we stepped outside, we saw the MGM lion dressed in an NBA West jersey and across the street at New York, New York was the Statue of Liberty dressed in an NBA East jersey. The game was on. We crossed the street and headed for Mandalay Bay where all of the NBA All-Star Week stuff was going on. It was packed with people. We left Mandalay Bay and went to the Luxor, a giant black pyramid with lights running up the apexes and a giant spotlight shining straight up into the sky from the top point. Of course the decor inside is ancient Egypt. Next stop, Camelot--I mean, Excalibur--a giant medieval castle of a casino. We crossed the street on the overhead walkway and entered New York, New York, with the Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty and all of the other unique details of the city that never sleeps. There were even graffiti-covered mailboxes; it was like being in a miniature version of the city itself. As we headed north, we passed the Monte Carlo and the Aladdin, stopping only to go into the M&M Shop. Paris was next on our list and we knew we were the because we could see the Eiffel Tower and a gigantic hot air balloon covered with neon announcing that we were in Paris. We strolled the streets of "Paris"--actually the inside walkways, but the sky above looked so real. So much of the peaceful stuff, we were out the door crossing the street to see the fountain show at the Bellagio. It was beautiful the way the water danced. When we got inside the Bellagio, the decorations were up for Chinese New Year. This place was amazingly rich looking. From the Bellagio to Caesars Palace in keeping with the Eruopean theme. Now, unlike Paris, since I have been to Rome, this was a bit of a let-down. It was beautiful, but I just don't think we can recreate the magic of Rome in Las Vegas. The building materials were too perfect and new, nothing ancient here. The casino was absolutely gorgeous and there were more roped-off areas for high-rollers than any other casino we went into. Leaving Rome and heading to the tropics of The Mirage, we stood on the sidewalk and waited for the volcano to errupt, and it did. This is the big sight here, so we didn't venture into the casino. And by this time we were dog tired. We looked at the Venetian and decided to conquer it tomorrow. PHOTOS

The Valley of Fire State Park

OK, this was my first trip driving around in the desert. I'd been to Palm Springs before, but we didn't venture out into the desert where there's NOTHING. I didn't think we would ever get to The Valley of Fire State Park, which is only about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. At one point we stopped the car in the middle of the road and there was nothing or no one for as far as we could see in any direction. So we got out of the car (which was just sitting in the middle of the road) and took pictures--until Greg said the words "snakes" and "scorpions" and I quickly jumped back into the car. When we arrived at the park it was beautiful, in a desert sort of way. (No park can compare to the beauty of GSMNP!) Everything was an orange-red and there were so may different looking rock formations. This is were lots of movies are filmed if the setting is Mars! It's probably as close to Mars as I'll ever get. We had a great time. We drove through, stopping at different sites on our visitor's map and taking photos. We headed back to Las Vegas via a different route, by Lake Mead (the result of damming the Colorado River with the Hoover Dam). It was really neat. There were lots of people camping. It was so different than mountain camping. It looked as if people had just stopped their cars and pitched a tent or set up their camper on the side of the road--no trees, no grass, just desert. I don't think I'd like desert camping. PHOTOS

The Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam was amazing. I've seen lots of pictures of it and have seen it in movies and on televison, but to actually stand on it and look down on the Colorado river was surreal. It was really neat walking from one state to another and from one time zone to another. I would love to bring the girls here. PHOTOS

Las Vegas Getaway

Thursday night, Greg and I went to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas. Greg had been many times before, but this was my first trip to Sin City. When we arrived at the airport, WIVK was there doing a promotion for the airline. (We were on the "maiden" flight for this airline from Knoxville to Las Vegas.) Greg registered to participate in a contest of craps to win $5,000. He was competing with other contestants to have the best roll with giant dice labeled with the letters V-E-G-A-S. No one won the $5,000, but Greg did have the best roll and won two airline tickets to Las Vegas, which means----we're going back! Our flight left late and we got to LV around 9:00. We rented our car in the airport--a spiffy little mustang convertable--and headed to the Bolder City Hotel and Casino where we were staying for our first night. By the time we got there we were exhausted, we had both worked that day and it seemed to us like it was 1:00 a.m. (it was in Maryville) but it was only 10:00. When we woke up the next day, the weather was wonderful. So we headed to Hoover Dam. PHOTOS

Mary Alison in the Tennessee State Senate

Mary Alison spent the day as a page for Senator Raymond Finney in Nashville when the State Senate met. We drove down early that morning and arrived in Nashville at lunch time. It was freezing. As we drive across the Cumberland Plateau, the outside temperature (according to the car) was 17 degrees F and it snowed off and on the whole time. We stopped at the outlet mall in Lebanon so that I could get some long johns to wear under my pants. The wind was so terribly freezing that the lining on my pants felt like ice! We had lunch at Ramoes and it was fantastic. Mary Alison was scheduled to meet with Senator Finney in his office at 1:30. He talked with us and gave her a Tennesse Blue Book and took some photos. His intern then took us to the Capitol building and showed us around then took us to the Senate chambers and Mary Alison was given directions about what to do. She sat with Senator Finney on the Senate floor and was introduced to the rest of the Senate (Greg and I were in the "peanut gallery"!) She pushed the voting button when a voting issue arose. It was a great experience. PHOTOS