The most important advice ever when in Las Vegas!

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T FEED THE BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vegas!

So, decided to head to Las Vegas for a quick weekend getaway, since I will be going on post-deployment leave soon, and Tally won't be able to go with me, since she will be working.

We don't gamble much, but we still managed to have fun. We went to a show called "Le Reve" at the Wynn hotel (the picture of Tally and I above is at the Wynn), which was pretty neat. It's similar to the Cirque de Soleil (French for "The Orange Monkey") shows in that there were lots of cool acrobatics. Also, since it was set in a pool, the swimming and diving mixed in with the story was pretty neat. Tickets for these shows are pretty expensive, but good ol' Tally found out that there is a 1/2 off military discount, so it was great to get that.

Tally thought the fall decorations at the Bellagio were beautiful, as you can see by her wistful gaze upwards.

Also, we decided to have a once-in-a-lifetime meal at a really nice restaurant to celebrate my getting back from Iraq. We decided to go to a place called Carnevino, which is an Italian Steakhouse. It was wonderful. Very expensive, but a lot of fun, and we were able to try some dishes we will never be able to try again. However, they served us our wine in five-gallon buckets, as you can see by the picture of me.

Updates...

OK, so Tally and I have spent the last couple of weeks making several small trips, since she will be working and won't be able to go on leave with me. We went to Los Angeles last weekend, which was nice. Quinn and I took in a Dodgers/Giants game, which was fun.

However, the price of major-league sporting events is (I think) just getting completely ridiculous, and it wasn't event that bad for us (baseball is one of the cheaper live sports to go see). Quinn got us pretty good seats for $12.50 apiece, which was a good start. However, the rest of things went like this. Tickets: $12.50, Parking: $15, Dodger Dog, one beer, caramel corn: $22.50, arriving in the second inning and leaving in the sixth to beat traffic: priceless. OK, maybe not, but you get the idea.

Sorry, no pictures. Maybe next time.....

I'm back!!!

So, the last part of our Battalion (including me) got back early Monday morning. It is great to be home. Sorry for not doing much blogging while I was gone. However, I am deeply disappointed in any (formerly) loyal Tinjblog readers who have switched to other more "cool" blogs since I've been gone.

Tally and I have just been hanging out this week. I have to work the next two weeks, then I'll have two weeks off, during which I'll head back to ND.

I don't have the greatest pictures from Iraq. It all looks similar and, thankfully, it wasn't too crazy for us. I'll try to get some stuff up here eventually. Also, stay tuned for: LA Dodgers game with Quinn, Las Vegas, cycling, triathlon for Tally, weird classes at the gym, and quinoa.