Homer's Odyssey

We picked up Homer from the Las Vegas airport on late Friday afternoon and were heading straight to one of the casinos on the “Strip” for dinner. We spent the evening with a nice meal, great conversations and lots of laughs. Homer, George and I seem to have a lot in common and were hitting it off right from the start.

After a relaxing morning we drove to the Valley of Fire State Park, north of Las Vegas. The area is covered with mountains of red sandstone and bizarre rock formations. “Star Trek” fans may recognize the landscape from “Star Trek Generations,” where Captain Kirk dies at the end of that film. It was quite warm that day but the weather was perfect otherwise. One needs the sun and clear blue skies to experience the true beauty of this area. Homer enjoyed our little excursion out to the dessert.

Being an archaeologist himself, he also appreciated the archaeological exhibitions and artifacts shown at the visitors center and the original Native American petroglyphs one can still see carved into the walls in some of the canyons.

We also took Homer to the Lost City Museum in Overton, just a few miles away from the Valley of Fire. He seemed to like this little museum as well. He bought a present for a friend of his and even got himself a vintage-looking T-shirt that was on sale. There was some kind of problem trying to ring up the merchandise and it would eventually take five women to solve that mystery. Being the gentleman as he is, Homer patiently played along and humored them. This little episode gave these ladies enough material to gossip about for the next few days. It probably has been a while since they’ve had a couple of handsome studs in that little obscure store.

Homer is quite the charmer. And the photos here don’t do him justice at all. He’s far more good-looking in person and such a wonderful person to be around.

When we returned to Sin City we had to make a stop at a supermarket to buy a few things we still needed for our home cooked dinner. We had pasta with a delicious marinara sauce that George prepared from scratch with tons of vegetables. And after all this hiking and exploring we sure had a big appetite.

Below are some picture from that day.

Homer is enjoying a relaxing morning in our back yard.

Valley of Fire State Park, north of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yo, it's Homy. Sup!

Blog buddies.

Ever the archaeologist. It's what Homer does for a living after all.

More of the fiery valley.

Chest out, stomach in...that's right, we're manly menz!

Reflections.

Inside the canyon leading to Mouse's Tank.

Here the canyon walls are still covered with ancient petroglyphs.

Huh? Who?! Me?