My March Travel Maddness (2023)

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PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT - MEDICAL CONFERENCE IN SOUTH LAKE TAHOE

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I had to attend a medical conference in South Lake Tahoe to start off March.  There was a huge snow storm the night before!

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I made dinner reservations at Hell's Kitchen at Harvey's for dinner after the opening reception at the conference.

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I had the golden beet salad with greek yogurt to begin my culinary treat at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant.

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For my entree, I got the filet mignon with a side of roasted cauliflower.  My dinner was delicious!

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For dessert, I got speculoos ice cream which has Biscoff in it.  This is a local ice cream made in the Lake Tahoe area!

After my play in tournament," I flew to Phoenix the day after the conference....

ROUND ONE - CACTUS LEAGUE SPRING TRAINING IN PHOENIX

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I was happy to see the PHX Sky Train to the rental car center was now open!  Within minutes, I was at the rental car center!

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My Budget Fastbreak had me in this loaded Hyundai Sonata.  The semi-autonomous driving features were not bad on this car.

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My buddy and I went to get our coffee at Bikini Beans in Peoria.  The girls did a great job on our drinks!

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Time for some mood music as we headed to Surprise to watch my Rangers take on the Giants!

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Once we got to the Rangers Spring Training park in Surprise, we went over to the practice fields to check out the training.

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Some of the minor league pitchers are working out here.

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I am pictured with Phoenix native Trevor Hauver here.  He is in the minor league system of the Rangers and was drafted by the Yankees in 2020.

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This was the line up for that game!

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After watching the practice sessions, we headed to the Surprise Stadium for the game.  Sierra Nevada had free beer tasting.

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We met up with more friends at the game.  Bruce and Carol were in town also for Spring Training!

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That is Bruce Bochy, the new Rangers manager behind me on the field!

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I got great seats for us right behind the Rangers On Deck circle.  The Maddux brothers are sitting in front of us on the left.

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SS Cory Seager is on deck for us here!

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Slugger Seager is showing us how it is done!  He can sure hit home runs!

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Here is second baseman Marcus Semien!

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The new pitch clock really did speed up the game I think!

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We stopped at Rudy's for a snack on the way back to Phoenix from the game.  I had to get some Blue Bell Ice Cream!

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For dinner, we enjoyed a great culinary experience at the original Mastros Steakhouse in Scottsdale!

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The successful Medical Specialist is waiting for his table to be ready at Mastro's!  Life is great!

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I went with the Australian rack of lamb for my dinner entree.  We also got the truffle butter mushrooms too!

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Look at dem cars!  LOL.  It is Scottsdale.  Those are a dime a dozen out in that nice area.  It is not like shitty California!

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We went to Mill Avenue in Tempe to party with the ASU kids after dinner.  C.A.S.A. was hopping so we went somewhere else.

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Rodeo Ranch looked like it was a great place to hang out so we went in there.  That is a mechanical bull!

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My cute bartender girl is ringing in my Don Julio 1942 here.  I do not think too many college kids order such pricey drinks?

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I wanted a snack after Rodeo Ranch so we went to Slickable for the custom ice cream sandwiches!

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There was a Waffle House in the same parking lot as the Hilton Garden Inn so we went there for breakfast on Saturday!

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I went by Tempe Marketplace to get some custom letters put on the Spring Training hats for myself and a friend's son.  We were amazed at how clean Tempe was.  California is very dirty!

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We went to Oregano's for lunch in Mesa before the game that day.

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We saw the Indians (I mean Guardians) play the As in Mesa that day.  I yelled out Go Tribe since I hate the As and also will always think of them as the Indians in Cleveland.  LOL.

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My buddy and I went to Ojos Locos in Mesa for a drink after the game.  This is the Latin inspired "Hooters."

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Our Ojos Chica was very cute and nice!

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We went to the Dirty Dogg Saloon in Scottsdale for a drink before dinner that night.  Those are bars on the ceiling!  LOL.

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For dinner, we went back to Scottsdale and went to Eddie V's Prime Seafood.

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Eddie V's had live music in the bar area also.

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Of course, I had a smoked Old Fashioned which was prepared for me at the table.

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For our starter, we got the oysters.

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I got the seared ahi tuna rare for my entree.  Also, we got the crab fried rice which was the best fried rice I ever had!

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Is that a Bentley?  Ferrari?  It is Scottsdale.  That is STANDARD!  We are not in the armpit, Sacramento!

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Creamistry makes custom ice cream with frozen nitrogen!  We had to go in there!

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For my custom creation, I got a vanilla based ice cream with Cap N' Crunch!  I loved it!

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This is a picture of State Farm Stadium where the Cardinals play as I was driving back to Surprise on Sunday for a game.

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Bochy is looking on as Semien is taking batting practice here.

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I got utility OF Bubba Thompson to sign a baseball for me at the practice facility.

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Japanese sensation Yoshi Tsutsago was signed to a minor league deal by the Rangers.  He signed my ball too.

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The Rangers have a large lodging area for their players in Surprise too.

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Bruce and I are having some cider before the game against the Angels here on Sunday.

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The players are warming up here.  On Sunday, it was a split squad for the Angels so we had mostly minor league players too.

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I had to get a souvenir cup.  They put a lid on it like one should.  In CA, the stupid liberals do not get us lids for sodas at games.

A week after Phoenix, my "tournament" continued as I flew to Las Vegas to attend a bachelor party before a national meeting...

ROUND TWO - LAS VEGAS FOR A NATIONAL MEETING AFTER VISITING MY NEPHEW AND A BACHELOR PARTY

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I flew in on Saturday so I could hang out with my nephew first.  He is looking at the baseball alphabet book I got in at Spring Training.

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We are building one of the Legos I got him during Christmas here.  He asked my brother if I was staying over that night so I could tell he likes me a lot!

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I noticed that my nephew colored over the 1 on the age for this racing boat I got him for Christmas.  LOL.  He thought they goofed since he is only four.

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In the morning, my nephew made me a Nespresso as usual.

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I met an old high school friend of mine for lunch at the Great Greek after leaving my brother's house.

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I headed over to O'Shea's Casino after lunch to meet up with some more friends who were in town too that weekend.  We did some Irish Car Bombs!

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We went over to Tilted Kilt for a snack and more drinks also.

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We decided to go to the O2 bar at Harrah's and try it out.  The massagers they had were pretty good!



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We checked out a speakeasy called Here Kitty Kitty Vice Den at Resorts World after I took some of my friends back to their hotel there.  It is hidden behind these doors.

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We got these drinks that tasted like a miso soup at the speakeasy.  There is Remy in it too.  I think I paid about $80 for these three drinks for my buddies and I.

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We went to Hofbrauhaus afterwards to meet up with the rest of the Bachelor Party crew for my friend Matt here.

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I got Matt a bottle of Smoke Wagon bourbon since we were in Vegas.  This local bourbon is highly rated now.  Matt rented a huge Air BNB for the party!

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In the morning, we were picked up by a real HumVee to take us to Battlefield Vegas so we could shoot some exotic guns!

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The ride in the HumVee was really cool!  We are ready to go to battle!

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Battlefield Vegas allows people to shoot a lot of crazy guns!  We got a package that let us shoot a Glock, AK47, M4, and a twelve gauge shotgun!

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I am firing the Glock here.  Since I love handguns, I really liked this one.

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This is the AK47 I believe.  I loved when they put in automatic mode for me!  The M4 was cool too!

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The twelve gauge shotgun was crazy!

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We are out by the tanks here.

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I recommend going to Battlefield Vegas!  We dropped $195 each for the experience!

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After I returned my rental car, I had a Lyft Lux get me at the rental car center to take me to the Venetian where I was staying for my national meeting.  They sent a Tesla Model X.

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The suites at the Venetian are very nice with a sunken living room!

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This is the bedroom area for my suite.  The drapes are controlled electronically via the buttons near the night stand.

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This was my view from the suite on the 26th floor.

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I went downstairs to get a snack at the Bouchon Bakery after I checked into my suite.  There were no meeting activities that first day!  It was a travel day!

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I got a macaron and this take on a Nutterbutter cookie along with my iced espresso based drink!

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I checked out the pool deck later that afternoon.  This is a view of the Venetian from the pool deck.

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The Venetian has several pools.  Each floor is assigned to a different pool.

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That night, I met some colleagues at the Wynn for dinner.  I was able to walk over since it is next to the Venetian.

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I joined two of my colleagues for drinks first at the Aft Bar at Wynn.  I got the Elijiah Craig made just for the Wynn, and I had it smoked too!  This was amazing!

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The Lakeside Restaurant at Wynn has amazing views of the light show that is focused on the water fall outside.

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Medical Specialist Anirban Roy is ready to enjoy his fine dining experience at Lakeside here.

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Would you like some San Pellegrino Mr. Roy?  But of course!  LOL.  Life is great!  My company is very generous!

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The octopus and scallop appetizers were delicious!

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The bouillabaisse was so good!  They poured the broth into my dish at the table.

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I had to get dessert!

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I love having the drapes open at the touch of a button at the Venetian!  My meetings started early on Tuesday at 8:00 AM.

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I can not complain about the food at our national meeting.  Here are some of the desserts during lunch on our first day!

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We were supposed to have a stretch SUV Limo to take us to dinner at the top of Delano on the first day.  However, they had to send us the party bus limo since it was broken.  First world problems!

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I used my VIP status with MGM Rewards to have the concierge set up a private dining room for us at Alain DuCasse's Rivea at Delano!

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We had amazing views of the Las Vegas Strip from our private dining room!

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Alain DuCasse has the most Michelin Stars of any living chef as of the posting of this webpage.  My lobster was amazing!

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The views at night from our table were so cool!

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My wife and I ate here for New Year's Eve!  I never get tired of the view from the top of Delano!

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They had chair massage stations set up for us the next day at the lunch!

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On Wednesday night, we had our big awards night dinner.  My district won District Of The Year so I was able to go up on stage!  They poured the reduction on my steak at the table.

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On Thursday, we had the traditional costume party.  The Spazmatics band performed at the event!

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My district went as "Bay Watch" since the theme was TV shows.  The Game of Thrones decor is behind me.

Immediately after flying home from Las Vegas, I left for Monterey to attend a medical conference.  Joy was able to come with me!

ROUND THREE - MEDICAL CONFERENCE IN MONTEREY

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I was not too happy with the reusable water bottles the Hyatt Regency gave out in lieu of bottled water for elite guests in Monterey!  Boo!  I just expensed all my bottled drinks.

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Although I booked the Hyatt Regency for myself, the conference was at the Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey.

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My boss and I ended up having lunch at the Monterey Pier on that Saturday.

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Since I was in Monterey, I got scallops!

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We had a nice view of sea lions swimming around from our table.

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The conference ended early enough for me to work out at the Hyatt Regency.  Yes, I did bring my single use bottled beverages with me.  I do not believe in reusable bottles!

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The hammock was a nice way to relax after all the partying during the week in Las Vegas!

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Joy and I had plenty of time to explore Monterey the rest of that day.

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We walked around Cannery Row also.

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For dinner, we went to the Sardine Factory in Monterey.  I am enjoying Angel's Envy here.

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My ahi tuna was just right!

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The front desk sent a golf cart to get us at our building to take us to the main building for breakfast on Sunday since it was raining.

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The breakfasat at the Sea Root restaurant was delicious!

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The view of the golf course and plants on the Hyatt Regency property from breakfast was amazing!

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My boss told me to just enjoy Monterey with Joy on Sunday and not attend the breakfast session at the conference so we went to the 17 mile drive.

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We went to the Pebble Beach Visitor Center.

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They hold so many PGA and LPGA events here.

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Look!  There's Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods!

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Pebble Beach is really pretty!  I think this is the nicest part of California!

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We enjoyed lunch at the Still Water Cafe at the Pebble Beach Lodge which overlooks the 18th hole!

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The abalone served over forbidden rice was so tasty!

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This dessert was amazing!  There was cognac ice cream inside!

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Continuing on the 17 Mile Drive, we saw Spanish Bay.

We went back down to the southern part of the Bay Area the following weekend to attend Matt & Brittany's wedding...

FINAL FOUR - Headed down to San Jose to attend a friend's wedding

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After the valet took my company SUV, they drove us up to the venue on a golf cart at the Boulder Ridge Golf Club.

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The views of the Boulder Ridge Golf Course and the surrounding area were amazing.

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Chris and I are pictured here before the wedding ceremony began.

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Each table had the name of a place the couple visited.  We sat at the New York table.

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The bride and groom are pictured here with us at our table.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP - Ready to go celebrate a friend's milestone birthday in Palo Pinto County, Texas on a ranch!

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Joy and I are ready to depart on March 31st for the D/FW Metroplex!  The car service got us prior to our flight out!

THE STORY CONTINUES IN THE NEXT SECTION!

    In 2023, March Madness had a different meaning for me.  I had a "March Madness" of travel!  Starting in early March, I attended a conference of respiratory therapists in South Lake Tahoe after a heavy winter snow storm!  The highlight of that conference was having dinner at Gordon Ramsay's "Hells Kitchen" in Tahoe.  The day after, I departed for Phoenix for my annual Spring Training trip to see my Texas Rangers!  This year, we got to see the Rangers play twice, and I got two signatures on a baseball!  Bubba Thompson and Yoshi Tsutsago signed a Rangers baseball for me.  The Spring Training hats in 2023 were the best I had ever seen too so I had to get one!  We also enjoyed fine dining as usual!  This year, we went to the original Mastro's in Scottsdale as well as Eddie V's Prime Seafood.  Let's Play Ball (Faster) as the pitch clock rule took effect too in 2023!

    As I kept advancing in my March Travel Madness bracket, I headed to Las Vegas the following weekend for a national meeting.  I flew in early so I could see my adorable nephew and attend a friend's bachelor party!  For the bachelor party, we ended up going to an exotic gun range where we fired some crazy guns like an AK-47 and M4!  Sweet!  For my national meeting, we enjoyed a lot of great fine dining.  We went to Lakeside at the Wynn as well as Rivea at the top of Delano!  Our meeting was at the beautiful Venetian Hotel.

    Immediately after flying home from Las Vegas, my tournament continued in Monterey as I had to attend a medical conference there that weekend.  Joy was able to go with me however.  After attending some sessions on Saturday, my boss told me to just go have fun and enjoy Monterey with Joy so we had a great dinner at the Sardine Factory.  The next day, we toured Pebble Beach!

    The following weekend, Joy and I attended my friend's wedding in San Jose!  We loved their venue!  The Boulder Ridge Golf Course was so nice!

    Keep advancing to the next section to see an amazing trip to Texas that Joy and I took to begin April!  Hee Yaw!  Life is amazing!

Last Updated:  April 9, 2023 9:10 PM
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