No Elvis's in the Building

My parents and brother came to visit. We met them in Vegas on Saturday. We stayed at Planet Hollywood and had tickets to see Cheech and Chong. Good times. We had a very small gambling budget, you know, because the economy is crashing around us.


We stayed until Monday and then we all piled into the Jeep and drove back to Phoenix. We stopped at the Hoover Dam so the tourists could take a look.


It is expected that when my family is in town we do some caching. No matter the temps, I heard them out to the desert and walk them. This trip was no exception. Most of you are freezing your bum off, but it is still 90 degrees here. This little tid bit of info has no bearing on the story, I just wanted to rub it in. I found a fairly easy trail with several caches on it. The last cache took us up a hill to a great view of the preserve.

An unusual cache

nice view

Before the hiking I treated my family to an eagle feeding. I love that I can do this for my guests. Knowing me is simply awesome! I talked to the eagle trainer about putting on a little show for the folks. He said no problem and said I could feed Libby. I have fed her only once before and I was terribly nervous. This time I was calm and it went great. She did fling rat chunks on me but I took it like a champ.

Lady Liberty

Next, Joe got Phoenix out. We went to the flight pen and watched Phoenix fly a few times. Once he was done Joe offered the chance to wear the glove and have Phoenix step up. Brian was first in line for this opportunity. Phoenix is a playful eagle and likes to bite and nibble on things nearby. While on Brian's arm he thought it might be fun to nibble on his nipple. That kinda freaked him out and he ended the session with Phoenix. My dad was next. He got Phoenix on the glove and this time Phoenix only nibbled on the glove. Being so close to an eagle, in my opinion, is a wonderful opportunity and one that doesn't come around very often if ever in a lifetime.

Phoenix

To top off the awesome bird day, I was able to get a great horned owl for release. We took him to a nearby preserve and as darkness was almost on us, I handed him off to my mom for release. He flew great and is now finally back in the wild.


Thanks for the great visit family, see you soon.

-Nina