Viva

(I forgot to post this but it preceded our Disney sojourn)
I couldn't resist the old photo-in-the-rear-view-mirror shot, especially with a gorgeous sunset behind and desert all around.  The sunset driving into LA was far more spectacular but I was driving which somewhat precluded the taking of photos.

We left Arizona after a very sweet Thanksgiving with cousins and second cousins (there may have been some third cousins there too), and our nearly-missed-it trip to the Canyon and drove to Vegas.  There was a lot of Elvis being played in the car  (luckily the girls are on board with Elvis, though we discovered Lily has a here-to-fore unknown fear of devils, brought out by Devil in Disguise).  Looming out of nothing suddenly came a sea of lights. Vegas is certainly a surreal experience.  I can see why it might appeal or even inspire some, but it wasn't my cup of tea.  One night was enough.

And speaking of cups of tea, I would be willing to pay quite a bit of money for a decent one.  This is a land of coffee drinkers.  Every hotel room, however basic, is equipped with a coffee maker, and places to purchase coffee abound, but tea drinkers are given short shrift.  In cafes, I'll be given a paper cup with hot (but not quite boiling) water and a selection of teas in bags.  If I'm lucky, one will be good old black tea but frequently it's a selection of weird herbal blends (green tea with pomegranate for example).  Milk is apparently not drunk in tea.  Non dairy creamer (what exactly is it?) or, at best, half and half (half milk half cream I think) is all that's provided.  I've not been able to source loose leaf black tea, even in Boston - surely the one place you'd expect to be able to find a cup of tea.  Perhaps after the taxes on tea the nation swore off the beverage and never went back to it.  I'm aware, even as I type this, that I sound like an old fogey.  Who would have thought that tea would be the thing I miss?