Finally bought some new batteries and uploaded the photos from my vacation. Wanna see? Well ok then, here they are:

Sunrise from my hotel window at the Marriott International Resort in Orlando. One of the benefits you get from jet lag is waking up with the crows…

And here he is eating the pistacios I left on my balcony…

After finishing the conference in Florida, I jetted back to San Francisco, the city on the bay…

On the way to my brother’s house, I took a stroll across the Golden Gate Bridge…

My brother Keith, his wife Kathy, and me…geez, I can tell from the “v” sign that I have been in Korea too long…

A wonderful drive through the mountains was just what I needed. Here’s a high Sierra lake I happened upon…

On the other side of the Sierra Nevada’s sits Mono Lake. Given its name, it may be best not to drink the water…

The road winds ever downward into the desert…

Then straightens out for the journey to Death Valley…

In the valley of death…

And on the other side is the oasis that is Las Vegas. My abode was the Monte Carlo, convienently located in the heart of the strip, next to New York, New York and across the street from the MGM Grand. I was quite comfortable there…

The aforementioned New York, New York hotel and casino. I left behind some money there to help pay for upkeep and such…

To be honest, I prefer old downtown Fremont Street to the strip. It’s more like the way Vegas used to be. And lots of single deck Blackjack….

The entrance to the Monte Carlo. More affordable than the glitzy new places, which suits me just fine. I got my room for less than half of what the MGM was charging. The money I saved was was instead invested in a failed attempt to get rich gambling. Alas…

Traversing the stip was made easier via the Las Vegas monorail. Good thing too, it was 110F which made walking not too fun…

The Paris hotel and casino. As close as I’m likely to get to France. Which suits me just fine…

A view of the strip at night…

The famous dancing fountains at the Bellagio…

I took a day trip to the Hoover Dam. Yeah, I am such a tourist.

On one side of the dam is Lake Mead….

On the other the mighty Colorado River…

Pretty damn impressive, eh?

I also took a plane ride to the West end of the Grand Canyon. Done the North and South rims previously, but I can’t get enough of this amazing hole in the ground…

The plane was small and full. I was in the last row, right next to the emergency exit. Luckily, I didn’t need to use it…

The west end is on the Hualapai Indian Reservation…

No photo ever does justice to the immensity of the canyon…

I did the new skywalk over the canyon. It was pretty freakin’ amazing. That first step onto the glass with nothing but a chasm below was a weird feeling, but definitely awesome. A whole new way to look at the canyon for sure. I took the $25. admission fee in stride, figuring it was just the red man’s way of getting some revenge on the white man for past injustices. Although I already repaid my debt in the Indian casinos I suppose…

The Colorado river from the air with Lake Mead in the distance…

Ok, I have a few shots of LA’s Korea town and the trip up the California coast but I’m have about enough of this for now. I imagine you have too, right?

Comments (3) | Permalink

Getting back into the routine of my life here, including the Friday night tourney at Dolce Vita.

The three week layoff has left me feeling a little uncomfortable with my throwing. I’m still getting decent results, but I just can’t seem to find my rhythm. Plus, I had some equipment trouble and had to replace my shafts with some that are a tad heavier. My darts seem to be highly sensitive to any aerodynamic alterations, and last night I was getting a lot of fallouts/bounceouts and a general lack of zip in my throws.

Regardless, Lonnie and I managed to finish second in the Early Bird tourney, and Dave and I took first place in the Die Hard event. Didn’t place in the Prime Time tournament, but my partner Margaret and I gave it a good run. So, coupled with my 100,000W payout from the challenge league championship I came home with more money in my pocket than I started with, which is good because I am definitely broke after my vacation.

Monday night the regular Seoul International Dart League season begins. We open with Alley Ratz from 3 Alley Pub, the team that beat us in the championship game last season. They look to be even stronger this year, so we have got our work cut out for us. Still, nobody has more fun than we do and I am really looking forward to getting back into the competition.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Comments (0) | Permalink