BACK FROM VAC

So we are back! Are we refreshed? Hardly. But that is the nature of this particular trip.
Recap.
After spending our first night in a luxury king room we went to the desk and upgraded to a large players suite like we stayed in last year. It was nice to have the extra room, the spa and two huge walls of windows with incredible views. Just snuggling in the amazingly comfortable bed on the 23rd floor and gazing at the full moon hanging in the black sky over the city was so worth the price of the upgrade.
Sadly we did not win. Everywhere was very tight as they say so we concentrated on doing  other things. We were up early every morning and back to the room in the afternoon for a few hours to relax then after a little gambling and dinner we were back in our room and into the spa to soak surrounded by thousands of city lights. 
We ate at the Little Nugget and split the awful, awful burger twice.......what a great burger!
I know I wrote on my post previously that it was called the Terrible burger. Well let us just say that was entirely a senior moment. We also had good Asian food, tasty salads and soups and brick oven pizza twice.
So now it is no junk food for a long time.

The drive through the desert is so pretty this time of year. The oak and birch trees, poplars and dogwoods and more were all bright with their fresh new foliage. The higher distant hills and low mountains had snow and the sage brush and desert grasses were spring green.
The same was true on the way home over the Willamette pass. In one weeks time everything had leafed out. I just kept saying to my hubby as he drove that I could not take my eyes from the trees. The sunlight was filtering through the new born leaves and all was sparkling with  green new life in every hue imaginable.

It was good to drive into our driveway after so many hours on the road and I am always so thankful for a safe trip.

Now back to daily matters. The washer and dryer are doing their thing as I type. Hubby was off early this morning to start another job schedule. I walked early no one about at seven-thirty on a Saturday morning. I loved the quiet and seeing how all the flowers, trees and plants had bloomed out while we were gone. It is truly a grand spring scene right now. I always say there is no where prettier than this valley in late April and May. Tis true.
After my walk I drove to the car wash to get the hoards of bugs scrubbed from the car. I would have normally done this myself but there were just to many insects to deal with.
The house now is tidy but I still have some unpacking to do and will clean the inside of the car.

I have a small pork loin in the slowcooker. I seasoned and browned it before placing over a half dozen cloves of garlic in the crockpot.
I deglazed the black iron skillet I browned the meat in and poured the reduced sauce into a cup and added some apple cider and poured that over the pork loin in the pot. All is smelling good at this point.
So a little comfort food this evening. I will make sides of red potatoes rough smashed, make gravy from the slow cooker drippings and saute spinach for a green.

Well off to finish my chores then out to the deck to hose everything off and give my violets a drink and perhaps plop in my comfy deck chair and read.
It is a perfect spring day here today. Yesterday we topped out at 77 degree's. I love the mild temps and am looking forward to more of the same.

Have a wonderful spring weekend.