Barb and I arrived in Las Vegas late in the evening of September 11. We stayed at the Cannery – East Casino/Hotel for two nights before moving over to the homes on the west side that were rented for the Carr family reunion. By the way, the media was saturated with news of the horrible flooding that had occurred earlier in the day of our arrival. Here is what I posted to FaceBook at the time:

“We landed in Las Vegas last night, and learned that the city had been hit Tuesday afternoon with record-setting daily rainfall that swamped cars, flooded the county courthouse, had the Fire Department rescuing more than 50 people from their vehicles and responding to about 40 swift-water rescue calls. At first, the news sounded “just like” Trinidad. But then we learned the amount of rain that had set the record and caused all of the problems: 1.17 inches! Doesn’t take much to drench the “driest city in North America!”

We later learned that there was also one death: a worker was swept from his tractor when it was caught too near a drainage ditch that was swept by a flash flood. The reunion ran from Thursday until about mid-day Sunday. All five of Barb’s brothers were there, and two of her sisters. And her father and her son, both of whom live in Las Vegas, and grandson Zane who came down from Idaho. Plus, lots of the immediate family’s significant others and offspring. Almost all of us bedded down in one or the other of the two rented homes, and almost all of the meals were prepared in the larger of the two kitchens or else unpacked and assembled there. Lots of time was spent just hanging out and visiting, but there were also major expeditions to a go-cart track and a laser-gun arcadia and several casinos. On Monday I flew on to Bismarck to visit my mother and sister; Barb stayed back until Friday to visit some more with her son and father. But before catching my flight Barb and I drove out to Hoover Dam, where we walked out on the pedestrian shoulder of the new bridge that stretches across the gulch just to the south of the dam, and thereby provides a great observation platform for viewing the spectacular dam.