But just so you know I really did go to Las Vegas:

I saw a Beatles group while there. It was very entertaining.  I didn’t gamble even one cent.  I had a very good burger at Fatburger.

There are some strange people on the strip.  I was there the day before Halloween. I can imagine what it looked like on Halloween.

It was good to be back in some high desert country for a bit.  Though I think Las Vegas would be too hot for me in the summer.  We took a beautiful drive up Red Rock Canyon. 

I was really wishing I had my bike for that loop.  There were many cyclists on the loop.

I also took a trip to tour Hoover Dam. It was  dam’ good trip.

After having lived in several states and visiting Las Vegas  I have come to one conclusion.  Here in the D.C. area we have a better class of derelicts.

“Bashir paused to watch a live CNN feed… Bashir was struck silent by the images of wailing Iraqi women carrying children’s bodies out of the rubble of a bombed building.

As he studied the screen, Bashir’s bullish shoulders slumped. “People like me are America’s best friends in the region,” Bashir said at last shaking his head ruefully, “I’m a moderate Muslim, an educated man. But watching this, even I could become a jihadi. How can Americans say they are making themselves safer?” Bashir asked, struggling not to direct his anger toward the large American target on the other side of the desk. “Your president Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years.”"

“Osama had something to do with it too,” Mortenson said.

“Osama baah!” Bashir roared. “Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to a America, Osama is in every home. As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy’s strength. In America’s case, that’s not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.

She had business there and said she had done it before.  So if she was willing to navigate, I was willing to drive.  What was going through the back my mind was “What the hell am I thinking?’

 The trip had a rather inauspicious beginning when I took a wrong turn before we got off the DC  Beltway and we drove for 15-20 minutes before it came to our attention. (Note: I was the driver not the navigator)

Here are my thoughts on the trip.

It was easier to drive in NY than I thought it would be.  No more difficult than DC and easier in some respects.  There is certainly more parking.

I would say it seems to be much safer to be a pedestrian in NY than in DC .  In DC cars rule.  In NY the pedestrians seem to rule.  I was surprised at the number of bicyclists I saw.

The aggressiveness and number of people on the street hawking services surprised me.  There was a Chinese Massage booth. As we walked by, the woman started to massage my back.  It felt really good.  I kept walking and she literally grabbed my shoulder and tried to pull me back to her booth.  She gave me the evil eye when I walked back past the booth a few minutes later.

I thought the futile honking was funny.  Cars would honk when there was no possible solution to the problem that had them stuck. What’s the point of honking?  But I loved it.  In fact, I loved it so much that I determined to make sure that I took the opportunity to honk at least twice before I left the city.  It was very rewarding.

It is most certainly an interesting place to watch people.  The number of languages  that one can hear while walking around is amazing.  The many variations of attire were also fun to look at.  Where do these people come up with such clothing schemes?

Here is a pic of me in Times Square.

It was a fun trip.  But let me tell you that up and back to NY in one day ain’t no picnic folks.  It rained for almost the entire drive both directions.  Fortunately we didn’t get rained on in the city.

The most interesting thing was this:

First off  I will admit that this is a terrible picture of me.    But when I saw the dump rake I had to take a picture.  The dump rake seems to be the most common abandoned piece of equipment one will see around farm yards and back on the edges of the waste land.

I remember seeing them all over the county when I was young.  Let me just emphasize that they were abandoned.  I am not so old to actually have used one.

Basically they are like a huge horse drawn lawn rake.  The rake is pulled along while the hay piles up inside the curved teeth.  When it gets full the operator  pulls a lever and the teeth rise and dump the hay in a pile. 

The farmer would later come by with a wagon and gather the piles.

You can also see one of these in the movie Oh Brother Were Art Thou.  Note the scene where the three fugitives come to the farm of  Cousin Wash to have their leg irons removed.  As they walk around the back of the house Cousin Wash is sitting there and to the side is a dump rake.

Pay attention when you are driving around the rural countryside.  I bet it won’t be long before you will see an dump rake some where along your route.

Enjoy your Friday fotos.

I have looked at personal trainers and group training.  One of them included a cooking class.  That would do me good I am sure.

I like many of them but at this point,  I don’t want to spend the money.   I am already spending money every month for a gym membership.

In the meantime, I am doing something cheap, free and simple.  Last week I started the one hundred pushups.  I am also doing the two hundred squats.

Because of my extremely sexy bicycling legs, I started the two hundred squats at week three.  I am not sure but I think if I put my mind to it I could do two hundred squats right now.

With just one week behind me with the pushups I am surprised at how much improvement I have shown.  I just might make it.

I have committed myself and my log is out there for all to see.  Just go to the pushup and squat logger on the links above and check out Nielki.  That is me.

Now for the challenge. 

I think my family and friends out there should  take  this up. 

I excuse Ammon from this challenge.  He can probably do one hundred pushups right now.  I guess I could also excuse Liz for a few weeks.  She can wait until she recovers from the baby. 

But the rest of you slackers need to get out there and do it.

One is by the Ogden paper.

The other is the Salt Lake Tribune.

When I was living in Utah I once had a Davis County Police Officer intentionally brush very  close to me as he passed.  It was pretty obvious that he had it in for cyclists.

On Saturday, I decided to leave with the fastest group and then drop back if I couldn’t keep up. This group included a woman who was lithe, lean and had skin like leather from  too much time in the sun training for  triathlons.  Hard to guess a woman’s age when she looks like that but I would have put her and much older than me.

After about five miles of warming up she announced she was going to pick up the pace for a bit.  Four or five of us took off with her. She led out over the next 15 or so plus miles at a pretty good pace.  She never let anyone else lead the pace line.

When we stopped she said we had average over 20 MPH for that interval. Whew! It has been sometime since I have ridden like that.  I’ve still got some of what I had a few years ago.  I am still one of the strongest on the hills.

The ride was 46 miles.  I ended with another older gentleman who was also very strong and put the lead  group to the test more than once.  I found out that he had his birthday just a few days before.   He turned 62 and the woman who was leading that crazy interval is also 62.

They are my idols.

We rode a total of 46 miles.  The pace was moving right along most of the time.  For the last  few miles I just had to tell myself I knew I could last until the end.

When it was done my average speed was 18.4 MPH.   That is the best I have done in a few years.  Now for the downside.  I can remember about 6 years and 20 pounds ago when I could easily have ridden a hundred miles with an average speed of 19 MPH.

When I got back home I saw the couple who live in the unit below me moving out.  What to do?  My legs are shot but I really should offer to help.

A half dozen oreo cookies and a cold glass of milk later I was ready to offer.  I helped them load the last half of the truck.  I then left with them in the truck to their new home.  We pulled up to one of those older homes that is on a hill.  We had several steps from the street to the front door.

I wonder why they didn’t mention that before?

The thing that really surprised me was after that was all done I really didn’t feel all that bad.  On Sunday I couldn’t feel any effects from the ride or the move.

Maybe I really do deserve this:

This was  gift from a work friend who recently took a trip to Austin, TX.

Check this bike parking out:

The very nice thing is that it is roomy and in a covered garage.  Now for  the bad news.  Notice how people have parked with the bikes running parallel to the racks instead of using the racks the way they were intended. 

One bike takes the space of four bikes.  But in this good designed but poorly placed rack there isn’t much choice.  The rack is set so close to the wall that you can’t park your bike the way it is intended to be parked.

What is even more interesting is that on the day I took this picture I ran into this same situation at two different places on the same day.

The other annoyance is people parking scooters at these bike racks.  I had a scooter and never used bicycle racks.  Again they take up the same space as about three bicycles.

When there is no official bicycle parking it is generally pretty easy to find a place to lock your bike for short errands.  Like next to a sign post. 

I did this a few weeks ago and came back to find a letter on my bike telling me it wasn’t allowed.  If they didn’t allow bikes to park there why don’t they put a sign up?  Of course they had tons of car parking.

What I really find ironic is when I go to a bicycle shop and they don’t have a bicycle rack.

You can read about the area here.

It has a very interesting mix of housing  styles.  Here are two of my favorite houses.

Most of the houses in the area don’t have such fascinating colors.

I am very close to a wonderful avenue with lots of cafes and various types of boutiques.

And the very best custard in the world is available at the Dairy Godmother.  I have spent a bit of money there since moving here.  It is so good that President Obama and his daughters went there for ice cream last month.

If you want to check it out you can go to their custard cam. So be careful or you may get caught cheating on your diet.

On a Friday or Saturday night the line stretches from the counter to the back of the building and then turns and goes out the front door.  There is no grumbling, pushing or shoving.  Everyone is just happy to be there.

You can get your custard or sorbet and then go out on the street and find a place to sit and watch the people go by.

That’s it for Friday Foto Fiesta.  Go see Carrie to join in and have a great weekend.  I think I will go for custard.