Naked Words is One Year Old!!

Naked Words has been around for a full year now! Wow! Thanks to all for following along, offering suggestions, hints, tips, thankfulness, joy, pleasure, enjoyment, wonder, appreciations, love, and gratitude for this blog being here. I have totally enjoyed writing each word here and publishing each Naturist photo too. For me it has been a time to meditate upon and deepen the Nude experiences I've had in Nature.

Enjoy the peace, silence, and darkness this part of the year has to offer. Take plenty of time to rest, reflect, and go inside. Honor the ones near and far that you deeply cherish and love. Celebrate and be Newd! Have a Super Newd Year from me!

Guided by Peace

How come every year I seem to stay in a "summer" mindset right up until the Winter Solstice? I'm pretty sure it is directly related to the fact that I grew up in Southern California, where we have no seasons- only rain, or no rain. Living in Northern California now isn't that much different, except it's a wee bit colder! In other words, I haven't gotten into any Nude winter activities yet. I still am dreaming about the swimming holes of the past summer and longing for some warm summer rays that somehow do not seem very far back in my past.

One little dipping spot that seems to capture that longing for summer for me was found along the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin river. Although probably flanked by snow right now, I still envision it in my head as the warm sunny place where I dipped in a cool flowing pool as a respite from the summer heat.

On the one hand this pool of the San Joaquin was a nice place to beat the hot weather. But on the other hand it was a magical connection to an aqua spiritual flow. What makes us come back to places again and again? Why are they so special to us? What makes the bond.. the emotional connective glue inside us.. what is it? Some might call it a connection with an "infinite intelligence"... or it could just be called a joyous all knowing moment! Whatever "It" is... it is surely a peaceful guiding force within me, and I am very thankful for it/me.

Here some sustaining words from Science of Mind magazine.

Floating on a stream of unconditional thankfulness, I love the world around me and in me. Life is good, and I eat it up, speak it out, and rest in a nest of love.

May you always enjoy the mindset of summer and Stay Nude!!

Acorns are fun to gather Nude!

For many years I have searched out ways to live more lightly on this planet. Ultimately there is not much of a lighter way to live than the way of our predecessors in North America. Native Americans relied on what could be found out in Nature, and although they cared for the land in many ways they left it relatively intact. They simply didn't have the means and techniques (as we do today) to so fully destroy the landscape. Living for thousands of years effectively "the same way" was in balance with the changes of plant and animal species. These various "beings" coexisted and coevolved over many, many, many human generations.

I have learned that to return to such an idyllic way of existence is a long educational road: spiritually, emotionally, culturally, and technically. I was raised basically "backward" in an environmental sense, to consume, consume, consume. "Get what you can"- don't worry about the other guy in other words. I believe we as local and global communities need to make the slow gradual change back to how things once were, in minor if not major ways. I think we need to act today, in honor of the 20th generation from now...

With the heavy weight of the last two paragraphs thrown over our spiritual shoulders, lets talk about picking acorns Naked!! For this is what the Native American all over California did historically, for thousands of years, on the very soil you walk on and drive over.

Basically, picking acorns is pretty easy (and fun!). All you need to do is find some bountiful group of acorns underneath a big ol' oak tree, and crouch or lay around it for hours putting all the acorns into a bucket/box/bag/whatever! All the different varieties of acorns will work. And none of the varieties I know of are toxic. They are not toxic, but you will have to leach them with water before you eat them.

Some basics: 1.) Get the acorns in the Fall before the first few rains hit and they start to sprout. 2.) Let them dry slowly indoors over a period of a few months. 3.) Shell them by hitting with a blunt hard object: hammer, rock, etc. 4.) Grind the acorn nut itself into a coarse flour/meal. 5.) Leach this flour/meal. Put in a court jar with water in your fridge. Remove water and add new each day for a week or two or until the bitterness goes away or is tolerable. 6.) Cook up the goods! You can use in many different things: breads, cookies, stews and much more!

At a recent acorn workshop Jen and I came across a very useful book (with plenty of photos) called It Will Live Forever that can guide you through the process of acorn collection, processing, and eating!

I wish you all a beautiful Thanksgiving. I am very thankful to you, my readers. You inspire me to keep getting Naked in all kinds of new ways! Thank you very much! I love you! Stay Nude!

Here is a parting poem from Emerson titled Thanksgiving:

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends

Naked of Mind

I want to share with you all a tiny taste of Tibetan Buddhism. I have been reading a bit of it lately, and have found it wonderful in it's crystal clear wisdom, guidance, and truth. One of the great authors I have been reading is Lama Surya Das. He is a western author who has spent much time learning the wisdom of Tibetan Buddhist masters. Lama Surya Das writes in Awakening the Buddha Within:

What is meant by Big Mind is the essential nature of mind itself. This is our true nature- the pure boundless awareness that is at the heart, and part, of us all. The Buddha described it as still, clear, lucid, empty, profound, simple (uncomplicated), and at peace. It's not really what we think of as our mind at all. It is the luminous, most fundamental clear light nature of our ground of being.... This is raw, naked awareness, not something we've learned or fabricated.

Surya Das makes a distinction between Big Mind and Small Mind. He also refers to Small Mind as "monkey mind". It is the part of our mind that is deluded, clouded, unclear. It is what fools us, tricks us, and befuddles us.

I would love to hear any comments or "naked thoughts" from any and/or all of you! That is what this blog is all about- being naked in every sense of the word! I did a search on the internet yesterday for Naked Words, and came up with a plethora of porn links. Not that there is anything wrong with porn, but they are clogging the search engine so much that a blog of that name doesn't even remotely show up! I hope to reclaim the word naked in the name of truth, clarity, and nudity! This may take some work, but I've got time (at this point anyway)!

Pirate's Cove

Jen and I just made a trip down to So Cal, and stopped off at Pirate's Cove on our way there. It was a beautiful day, and once we were there a little while and had to leave to beat the traffic in LA, I really wanted to stay the rest of the day! It was really gorgeous and warm! As we were getting in our vehicle a man just getting there asked us if they had the volleyball net setup yet! This just sounded so awesome, we really considered staying... but ended up getting on our way. I was bummed too because Jen actually thought the weather was warm enough she would consider going nude at the beach! This could have been an awesome first time social nude experience for her. I'm sure she'll try social nudity when it's right for her. The possibility of it happening just really excited me, and I really look forward to future outings like this with her!

The gorgeous weather taunted me the rest of the drive down the coast. I even got out of the truck to look for the trail down to the Nude section of Gaviota state beach, but to no avail. All I found were some unused sketchy routes down to rocky patches of shoreline. I think the Nude section was probably further South at a well used turnout off of 101. More research required before my next visit.

Pirate's Cove is really a sweet beach. I highly recommend it to anyone who plans to be in the area! It is located near my hometown of San Luis Obispo. The beach itself is sandwiched between two beaches I spent the summers at growing up: Avila beach, and Shell Beach. I wasn't raised as a Nudist, so I spent my summers in soggy boardshorts. Nevertheless, I have spent so many happy days at these beaches body surfing and skimboarding and sunbathing, I feel an incredible bond with these beautiful pieces of seashore.

Oh yeah, I tried catching a few waves (as you can see in one of the photos above). The waves ended up swelling up all the way until they finally broke right on the sand. No riding possibility really at this point. The beaches are always changing and shifting, so hopefully there will be rideable waves there sometime soon!

Back from the Trail!

After six months and 2,400 miles my wife Jen and I are back from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail! We would have kept going to the Canadian border another 260 miles away, but there was just too much snow ahead, plus I had a staph infection on my wrist that needed to be rested and babied for a good week or more. We were also running out of money, so ending early wasn't all that frustrating. My in-laws graciously came to pick us up in Seattle and took us around to visit trail buddies for a few days before finally taking us back home to California.

On our way back, we had fun at Fish Brewing's brewpub in Olympia, WA. Lots of great food (including delicious fish tacos!), sweet ales, and nice locals! On the way out Jen filled up our Growler (a german styled glass 1/2 gallon jug with a "flippie" lid) at the bar with some organic IPA. As usual, plenty of compliments were given about the coolness of the Growler. This was the first time though someone asked us if we were hiking the PCT in the nude! She was quick to say that her husband had hiked some of the trail happily sans clothing. The local thought hiking naked was the only way to go! Woo Hoo!!

We are at a bit of a loss of what to do now.. It seems the easiest thing to do would be to just keep hiking. I'm sure we would go and hike the Florida trail this winter if we had the funds to do it. Instead, we are back in Ukiah looking for interesting work. We hope to find work somewhere new (to us) either around the country or around the world. We are looking at volunteering with the peace corp, seasonal forestry jobs, and seasonal organic farm internship positions. One of the organic farms is a nudist farm, Rising Sun Farm, that could be really cool!

"Being Naked is Political"- Naked Jen

What is it we are trying to learn from nude blogging? Where are we going? What is it that ultimately, in the long run, that we bloggers wish to communicate to our readers? This is a good but challenging question that I posed to another nudist blogger known simply as Naked Jen. Here is her response:

being naked is political. so if you're going to do it, do it for the right reasons.

not to offend someone else.
not to get attention or to be provocative.
not out of shame.

do it to celebrate your beautiful body.

It isn't about shock. It's actually about awe! It's about the wonder that is our body, that it is unique and ours alone. And that is should be celebrated and not always covered.

Being naked is political. Just think about that for a second. Being naked is not only a fashion statement, it is a political statement! When we think we are being plainly ourselves, when we are bared to the world, not covered up, when we are at our most vulnerable, most alive, most sane, most omniscient, wonderful, incredible, viable, potent, flexible, and unimaginably free, that is when we are seen as a statement to the world. That is when we are seen as defending or threatening the world as it stands, because we are as the spring flowers, new, beautiful, and strange, always awaiting interpretation, and always redifining beauty and truth with the shifting of our bodies, and our selves. We define as we go, without realizing it, without seeing that we are a part of that whole, an integral little niche filler in the big grand eco-sphere of existence.

Nothing is anything less than sacred. Hidden well below our vision, in our day to day activities, each and every little one of them, is the possibility for transformation. We transform ourselves as we view others, bare ourselves to others, and step simply out of our own dark shadow into the light of day. When the secrets of self transformation are all known then we are enlightened. We are naked to ourselves, and we shine light onto the world. The power of nudity is incredible. It is amaqing to realize that this power extends into the realm of politics. In this realm, we too have an incredible voice, waiting to be heard.

You can visit her amazingly inspirational Nudist blog. Thank you Naked Jen for your beautiful and wise words!

Come ALIVE and into the light Naked Sun Worshipers!

What is it? Where is it that we go to cover up (in every sense of the word)? There must be a singular spot, a one location, a hot spot, a central hub, where all the hidings hang out. This place where all truth goes to be concealed, where all nudity goes to keep from being revealed, this place where we can lay all our fears to rest.. we can let any worries we have about being exposed all fall away into the deep deep darkness of unexposure.. of blank film in the can.. of blank movie theatre screens in the early am, before anything is ever shown. How deep, how deep does this place go? How far will we let ourselves fall into this sweet deep numb blind false temporary comfort?

Like the cycle of night and day our mind must go into the light as well as into the dark. We use the dark to rest our weary minds, we use the light to show our wonderful selves. For the mind to rest in the night, the dark is a good thing... but for the mind (or the body) to stay for a lifetime huddled in this chilly lonely massless dark is a simple failure of the mind to come alive.

Come alive! Come ALIVE in spirit and mind and body!!! Each second, each precious mental step, each physical breath is the gift of this world. Life as we know it. Microcosm. Gifts from the drops of rain on your window are the clarity of mind that is needed. Shafts of light from the sun strong up the mental foundation of everyday happiness. Nature bares herself in the nude each day for us. She is not huddled in the dark, but embraces and thrives on the light. We are born of the light. We are by nature sun worshippers. We thrive on the sun as nature does, we grow from golden rays, from cloudless days, from all the ways that light finds us!

They Whisper by Robert Olen Butler- Cravings and Powerful Desires

Wow, the border feels as if it is almost in sight! We leave today from Elk Lake Resort outside of Bend. This next bit is a long push up to Timberline lodge, 150 miles away. Then it is only a couple days to the Columbia River from there!

Have been reading They Whisper by Robert Olen Butler. Wow. I would love to hear thoughts on this book if anyone out there reads this one! It seems quite deep, complicated, and powerful! It taps deeply into the issues of writing, life, love, and more?

I have almost finished the book, about five pages left. I am wondering what it will ultimately say about these things.. but I wonder what I would think of them as well, this book having come this far, and brought them so thoroughly to the surface, already a remarkable achievement. The book already has shown, more clearly than I have seen anywhere else, what love is and what love is not. Wow! The words take us quite clearly, on a well defined path, from point A to point B, again and again, showing us what life is with love, and what it is whithout it. This is amazingly clear. The writing is very poetic, in the sense that you feel very strongly when you read it that you are expereincing a deeply felt life, a strong character connection. Then, as you put the book down, and try to tell someone about what you read, it feels slippery, like you can't hold onto the expereince, can't quite describe exactly what it was you were experiencing. It feels very intimate because of this. Like poetry and mediation, and now literature, you feel as if you are the only one experiencing this moment, and no one else can really know whats going on for you at the moment.

How do we share the feeling that we cannot share? Perhaps this is the most innate, deep, and wonderful sense of ourselves. I get the sense that we are, as the saying goes, all unique, just like everyone else. But there is much more than this here. It goes into the nature of religious expereince. It mentions catholocism, buddhism, and just plain expereince of nature as all ways of dealing with the world. It is hard to determine at this point exactly what the writing is arguing for. The overdone sensuality is certainly there to bring the issues of the flesh to the surface, but does it do more than merely bring the issue up? Does it argue for a certain conviction, a certain way of seeing things?

From a Buddhist perspective, is the main character too attached to these women? Too attached to his own craving or desire? He certainly identifies very heavily with his desire. That is his religion. Or is it truth that is his religion? Is his own personal truth simply that he loves women, that is what drives him, gives him life, fills out his senses, draws him closer to his own personal sense of God? Or, alternately, is he in his own personal hell? I don't really think so.... except, when he is denied enjoyment of the pleasures of women. Then, he is in his own personalized hell. This is the tricky grey area of religion and of life. In the Buddhist tradition, it is the challenge of the rose. To enjoy the beauty of the flower, but not to be cut by the thorns. To not grasp the thorny stem too tightly, to not hang on. To be able to let go is divine.

Writing itself is incredible. Life is incredible, and this is certainly a great boook to read!

to Fig Leaf or Not that beautiful body?

Have you seen the latest article in the New York Times called When Do They Need A Fig Leaf??. Here is a link if you haven't seen it yet. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/garden/16nudity.html?_r=2

It sure bring up a lot of the intense emotional duality that exists on the subject of children being nude. This article brings out a fairly broad spectrum of entrenched beliefs. Wow.. it makes me wonder how do we get past this? It also makes me think that this is all just a silly preoccupation. Like we could be solving world peace or global warming or helping others towards enlightenment you know?

Perhaps the real solution is to see it for what it is, rather than get enraged that my viepoint doesn't match that of someone else. All it really is is that they have "hang ups" as the article says. Some people just frankly are VERY uncomfortable with naked children around.

Here is a link to the letters to the editor too. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/garden/23letters-NUDEORNOT_LETTERS.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Skinny dip in a freezing pool before hiking to Ashland

Typing fast on the Ashland library computers now- fifteen minute time limit for guests, ouch! This town is wonderful. We love the quasi hippy/enviro culture that is somewhat pervasive here. We are really liking the Co-op and hostel- both are super gems for anywhere, not just on the PCT. We may head up to a little skinny dippin spot up from the park called the Fairy ponds. This could be nice and relaxing- it has been up to 100 degrees here, but has cooled off to the high 80s or low 90s.

Last skinny dip was the day before we got to Seiad Valley. Freeeeeezing cold stream.!!! Beautiful, clear, water in a nice constrained little channel. We have been dipping in the creeks every few days to keep the body-dirt somewhat reduced. It has been a delightful alternative to showers. It is so much easier to dip into a creek. Don't need to worry about bumping your legs and arms into the walls of a shower... Don't have to wait for minutes as a low flow showerhead slowly gives up enough water to drain the dirt off of your legs...

Until next time... Be Nude.. Feel Loved.. and Be Well.. Take Care!

Aloha Lake and Feather River skinny swims!

It has been awhile since I blogged last. No computer access; we've been hiking too much! Lazing in Bishop, healing our bodies was a great chance to catch up on blogs though.

Hiking out of Echo Lake was really beautiful. It was sunny, warm, and boats zoomed cooly across the lake. We soon ascended away from the lake, reaching Aloha lake (as seen in the top photo) in the early afternoon. I had been told there was great swimming here, so I went down to a big rock that dipped deep down into the lake and stripped off my sweaty hiking attire. I found a wonderful little rock island to swim out to, just about 150 feet from shore. Here I sunbathed and dried out for a good half hour. I felt like I could laze here all day! The rock curved perfectly to my back. The water was just cool enough to be very refreshing. The sun was hot, the air still but not stuffy. A beautiful day!

Another awesome skinny dip, perhaps the best so far on the whole trail, was at the middle fork of the Feather River, where the river passes under a very high and long foot bridge. This was just a delightful magical swimming spot in a deep narrow constrained (rock lined) channel far beneath a long narrow foot bridge. The water here was really very warm, but too cool to just sit there; nice and fun and refreshing! Jen and I swam, cleaned off, and just played around in the water for several hours. It was great for her to have one of her first nude swims on the trail! I think we both had a wonderful time and would love to hike back to this spot. It would be worth the 37 mile hike from Belden, CA!

Belden to Etna- fast forward through Naked bathing country!

We are in Etna! Wow, what a rush. It was only a few days back that we passed the half way point South of Chester, CA. Had a little sense of being fast forwarded, since we hitch hiked around the Old Station Burney complex fire, about 180 trail miles! Now we have only a hundred miles or so to the Oregon border and little over 1,000 miles of trail left till Canada! The hike is going excellently well. Since we've dropped out of the Sierras the streams and lakes have become much warmer. Whenever we have time we stop and bath our dusty tired bodies.

The photo of Jen (Lionheart) with a very large sugar pine cone was taken just outside of Belden, CA. What a great find! Not long after this great cone find, we hit a sweet little cold bathing spot. This pool was very cold. I couldn't stay in for long and relished sunbathing on the warm rocks for a good while.

The Feather River photo was taken near Belden as well. It was along this stretch of river that I got to skinny dip for several days, as it was right across the road from where we were staying! The water was almost too warm, but still refreshing when the day got well into the 90's and beyond. Our small river section had a delightful little beach where we could lay out. The water was deep and mostly slow moving in long pools.

Have been reading about Buddha and Buddhism for the last week. The book Awakening the Buddha Within has been very captivating so far, and I'm nearly half way through the book. Surya Das really challenges a lot of the common "western" misconceptions about Buddhism. For example, I had long believed that all Buddhists believed that life was suffering, painful, miserable.. not worth living. This was after reading a translation of the first noble truth "Life is suffering." Surya Das gives several alternate translations, such as "frustrating" or "difficult". The way he described it made much more sense to me.

Ok, I can agree life can sometimes be frustrating or difficult... but I just couldn't swallow that all life was about is suffering! There are so many beautiful wonderful and joyous moments to life! He talks about how much Buddhism really focuses on the positive joyous moments.. and of course enlightenment itself! I have a very different improved perspective now, thanks to Surya Das. I look forward to reading more about Buddhism; if any of you readers have anythng to reccomend related to Buddhism please leave me a message!

Tyndall Creek skinny dip, Forester Pass and more!

Just so many beautiful pictures to share! This is only the start of the Sierras! We keep hitting these beautiful and cold streams. It is just amazing. I can hardly resist to dip into each one! Jen agrees that they are cold and so far hasn't taken me up on the invitation for a dip into the streams. I hope she will pop in at least once before the summer is out- it is an awesome experience!

We have ran into a few skinny dippers along the way. First, there was a hiking pair that highly recommended a high elevation lake to us. Their hair was wet as they hiked off, leaving us to explore the lake they said was "warm". I hesitated to go in the shallow lake up at timberline. But, finally I splashed in all the way, quickly retreating to the shore, shivering and red all over. It was still fun!

The other occasion we had to run into a skinny dipper was just down from Forester Pass, the highest point on the PCT at 13,200 ft. This guy had just submerged himself into the cool blue lake in the above photo. What a fun time for a PCT hiker!

The most fun I have had so far has been all within a 24 hour period. The first element was a great stay at Tyndall Creek. A skinny dip here was so incredible. The rock just moves the water around in all these refreshing looking interesting ways. Next morning we headed up and over Forester Pass. This was so fun. We got a big adrenaline rush from the fear factor of crossing over ice chute drop-offs, and we had a fun thrill glassading (aka sliding on our butts!) down the back side of the pass.

Summit of Mt Whitney

The summit of Mt Whitney was an incredible "breathtaking" experience. You get to the top of the world, and you can see down the Owens Valley, up to the White Mountains, all around you to various high points in the Sierra, and down to the lakes you've hiked past on your way up!

It was pretty cold, lots of people, and I was feeling a bit ill from the elevation on the way up- otherwise I would have loved to have made the summit in the nude. Oh well, it was incredible nonetheless, and I'm sure there are many more nude summits in my future.

It was a real shining moment for my partner Jen. She has come from having no energy under the influence of a cancerous thyroid to having the strength and will to climb to the top of the United States and beyond! Congrats to her, I am so happy for her and her super achievement in the mountains.

If any of you get a chance, hike up Mt Whitney! It is a real pleasure- just take your time, and be acclimated if possible.

Naked Hiker Day!

Naked Hiker Day was a blast! I hiked from about nine in the morning to four in the afternoon completely in the nude! What an awesome day! It was sunny, sunny, sunny! Up at elevations of 9,000 and 10,000 ft the air temperature stayed very comfortable.

Hiking along the cool drafts of breeze felt wonderful all along my totally exposed body. The warm rays of the sun were free to hit along skin rarely exposed to the sun, creating wonderful large amounts of vitamin D reserves for the winter!

Lunch was had at a small sandy ridge. The wind that was light and playful throughout the day settled down completely during lunchtime and the warm air just hung out. It felt just like the beach, out there on the sand engulfed in toasty warm lazy air!

We hiked on carrying only about a liter of water, since the supply is so ample throughout the Sierra. When we needed water we journeyed over to a beautiful meadow to draw water from a small stream that ran silently through it.

The day ended with lively conversations around a campfire at beautiful Chicken Spring Lake. This is also where we saw our first marmot on the trail. In the days following we have seen dozens of them, playfully dotting the upper elevation meadows and rockscapes.

First week in the Sierras with Naked Buns

Wow. First week in the Sierras was incredible! I've grown up hiking in Southern California: the San Gabriels, the Lost Padres, and the San Bernardinos. What a difference the Sierras are! They are more like a hiker's Disneyland than the comparable Wasteland that I'm used to. I love the forests of Southern California, and I really enjoyed hiking there because I grew up there. But, as far as face value scenic quality the difference is huge, and the magical quality of the Sierras is stupendous.

There is no shortage of beautifully inviting lakes and streams. These turn out to be terribly ice cold, and can only be tolerated by me on the warmest of sunny days. They are so beautiful though, I hope to become acclimated to the cold water!

During our first week we: climbed up over the highest point on the PCT- Forester pass, summited the highest point in the contiguous United States- Mt Whitney, and hiked on the most important day of the year- Naked Hiker Day!!! I'll do another blog just about Naked Hiker Day soon!

Zumanity, Blue Man Group and Hooters all in one place?! Vegas!

Jen and I took a little side trip from the trail- a two night stay in Las Vegas! Wow, we had plenty of fun the whole time we were there. Highlights include: Zumanity show by Cique du Soleil, show by Blue Man Group, gambling at Hooters, free beers at Pour 24, and the fountain show at the Bellagio.

Most of all I have to say Zumanity stood out. I would love to go see it again immediately! The show included all kinds of sexual fantasies along with amazing gymnastics/acrobatics and some great humor thrown in too! I would say the show was relatively pretty liberal about nudity. They did not show the genital areas, but everything else was fair game. Maybe half or so of the performers wore some type of simulated skin suit. Maybe this was to help with the acrobatics, or their comfort level with nudity. The fantasies were directed to both male, female, gay, and straight. How evenly balanced between these I can't say.. but they seemed to give a good attempt at not just appealing to the standard straight male psyche. I was really stoked with this performance! I think it is a pretty positive force in the world of Vegas shows. This may be the only experience people have with real naked people standing in front of them for a 1 1/2 hour period!
For me this show was truly incredible.. and perhaps transcendental of Las Vegas? It did not just provide a tantalizing or teasing kind of experience. It actually felt truly fulfilling! It seemed that the performers and the show/script combined to create a wonderful giving experience. I got the feeling the cast was giving to me, they were sharing genuinely with me, and that they wanted me to really enjoy myself. What an incredible feeling! If you can do so, go see this show!

Blue Man Group was very funny, and the music was sweet! Where do they come up with that stuff? It is totally wonderful, wacky, and very talented. They can get a little messy when you sit in the front row, so we had to don plastic suits!

Hooters was a treat. They gave us some free slot play, and Jen ended up winning some pretty good cash! We got free drinks, and or course some tantalizing eye candy too (for better or worse- this type of boob display is kind of like caffeine.. a big up and then a down later.. not really healthy.. but an all too frequent addiction for some I'm sure...)!

We were given some coupons for free drinks at Pour 24. This place was at the hotel we were staying at; New York New York. It had the most amazing bar! It was made up of these thin cross sections of blue geode! Incredibly beautiful. This is my most favorite bar ever! Oh yeah, the beer was good too. Got to try Dogfish head 90 minute IPA, and Stone Ruination IPA, both on tap.

This was the first time Jen and I had seen the fountain at the Bellagio; it was spectacular! We watched it several times. The whole light and fountain show is set to this beautiful opera music.. Wow.. a must see!