One, and ONLY ONE, Day Off Before Hitting the Road Yet Again!

 

Thurs.&Fri., July 14-15, 2022

Restless as always and in need of another adventure, we were joined by Michael and Jacob after recharging our batteries for a day.

Where too?

To Las Vegas for an international

soccer exhibition game on Saturday

Of course, we were staying with Andrew, Jenn and Kevin but the game itself would be an all boys event as Laurie and Jenn opted out quite voluntarily.

We left Camarillo at about 5:15 a.m. to try to beat both the Los Angeles morning traffic and the scorching midday heat of the Mojave Desert along our route to Sin City.

About two hours from home, we made our usual breakfast stop in Victorville at . . .

. . . our favorite roadside diner

From their elaborate menu

Michael opted for Ham and Eggs

The waitress asked if he wanted a half or a whole ham steak.

He responded by saying, "A half, please."

We pressured him into changing to the whole ham steak.

That was a mistake on my part

Fully sated and somewhat shamed by our combined inability to finish Michael's whole ham steak.

The second of our usual three stage ride to Las Vegas lasts about two hours and 15 minutes and places us at the Prima, Nevada shopping/dining center where Interstate 15 crosses the California and Nevada border.

This is our final restroom stop before arriving at Andrew, Jenn and Kevin's home in about 40 more minutes.

It often also includes . . .  

. . . a coffee break for Laurie

at Starbuck's

An EXPENSIVE coffee break

as it turned out

There is a reason that I don't normally buy coffee at Starbuck's but prefer to patronize the smaller, independently owned cafe's that we run across.

Having to pay $9.81 for a venti iced caramel macchiato seems a tad excessive to me.

Oh, the things one does for love. 

Jacob and a weird guy

named Pinky for some reason

By the time we got to Las Vegas

at about 11:00 a.m. it was still

a balmy 96°F

We were looking at a mere 104°F for a high today but Saturday and Sunday look to be somewhat of an inferno to me.

There are some football items to report.

The Men's and Women's Gold Medal

Games in Birmingham, Alabama

The USA team finished

with a 5-0 record

Team Italia finished the tournament at 5-1 with the Silver Medal in hand, truly a great moment in the saga that is the extended American football experience in Italy.

A stunning upset in the

Women's tournament

Team Mexico (6-0) cruised convincing win over the Team USA (5-1) squad.

The Mexican ladies simply dominated the World Games outscoring their six opponents by a whopping 241-38 margin.

First Bye Week in the

European League of Football

Well, actually, only six teams have a Bye this weekend. Next week the six clubs listed above with games will get to experience their first Byes of the campaign exchanging roles with the six clubs resting this week.

Reading Is FUNdamental!

A suggested read by Brian FitzGerald

It was an interesting and thought provoking read to be sure.

Now it's on to the joys of international football in toasty Las Vegas on Saturday.