Las Vegas Neighbors

Viva, Las Vegas! We have moved all over: Milwaukee, Cleveland, Toledo, Denver, back to Fort Wayne, and now Las Vegas. I've only been to Las Vegas once, on a trip with my family out west. I never have even thought of vacationing her let alone live here, but here we are. It is definitely an usual place to live. The first thing that appealed to me was all of the palm trees and green every where. I new it was a big vacation spot, but I didn't expect palm trees or green because it is a desert. The city must have a huge water bill! Not that there's a lot of green, but it seems like what little grass everyone has is considered precious and so most everyone takes good care of their small yards. There are many houses that don't even have grass. We have a small plot in our front yard, about 6 feet by 8 feet. Our backyard is complete with patio and rocks. I do love having a huge patio though and I really don't miss the huge backyard... yet.

Then their is the Strip. We've only been down there a few times since we moved here. I think most locals only go down to go to shows or some specific restaurant. It is a wild experience. So many different people wandering about with drink in hand, many different nationalities and languages spoken. You would never guess that we are in the middle of a recession.

Navigation is easy here. In Denver I always knew where I was if I could see the Rocky Mountains. In Las Vegas, The Strip is the focal point of the city. My favorite time to drive is night, due to the beautiful lights of Las Vegas. It truly is a sight to see at least once in your life. Our park is located high above the city and the view of The Strip is astonishing.

Now to our neighborhood....which I think is pretty normal for Las Vegas. I picked this neighborhood because it was had a cute park right down the street with a larger 55 acre park next to it. The neighborhood school is one of the best in Nevada, one of the worst education systems in the country. The houses start at about $200,000 and I've seen one sold for as high as $500,000. That to me is a pretty big range in one neighborhood or subdivision. Our street is just as diverse as the city. On one side of us is a Vietnamese family with 3 older boys and a grandmother living with them. They own a nail salon in Henderson and drive black Mercedes. They always wave to us, but we haven't become fast friends just yet. They like to have parties on their patio during the weekdays. I always smell the best aromas coming from their house in the morning while I'm up with the dogs.

On the other side is a young couple with a sweet one year old girl named Ava. Rachel, the mom, is from England, but has grown up here in Las Vegas, and her husband, Orlando, is from Vancouver, Canada. They both work for the schools, so we've seen them the most this summer. I love Rachel. She is very down-to-earth and always lets you where you stand with her.

Across the street is a beautiful ex-military man who must be around 49 because he just went to his 30th class reunion in Ohio and his wife (I think) Veronica. They both work in the casinos. Guy is a DJ and works at the best clubs in Vegas. While I'm getting ready for bed each night and taking the dogs out, he is leaving for work. When I get up with the dogs around 5 am, he is just getting home. I usually chat with him while he's washing his newer gray Mercedes.

Next to Guy lives another young one that I haven't met yet, but he too drives a Mercedes and can't be older than 30. He is single and works odd hours. I love to see the friends and females that he brings home. He has a beautiful home, but for some reason he is letting his grass die. One of his dates sarcastically chided, "Nice grass, honey!" Made me smile!

Next to Rachel and Orlando lives our local drug dealer. I guess (as the gossip goes) after he got out of jail, he moved in with him mom and step-father. Eventually his new-born son and girlfriend moved in and out went the parents. Can you imagine parents leaving their own house? His 5 chihuahuas are always barking and get out on a regular basis until my dogs scare them back home. He has been very nice to us always saying hello. He must not be a very good drug dealer because he only drives a beat up old Chevy.

Next to him is a German man who only John has met with a Hummer.

Across the street from our German neighbor is a single mom with a 5th grade son. She has the same model house as us. She is a realtor which is good to know and always has lots of advice for us.

There are two families from Chicago next to her who are very friendly, but my other favorite neighbor is the last house on the street. I think they must own a monster truck business. They also have monster dogs, at least one german shepard and one monster rottweiler. Needless to say, the neighborhood isn't very happy about this family. I haven't met them yet, but there are monster trucks parked all over the street mostly at night. I only know someone lives there because the dogs bark when we walk by. It looks like they are going to jump over the fence, but the Rottwieler is so fat that I know this will never happen. I'm impressed he can move to the gate at all. Their grass is about a foot long and pretty dead with soggy old newspapers scattered along the driveway and what used-to-be gardens. Sounds like a house you'd see in the inner city except this house probably costs over $4 or $5 hundred thousand dollars.

Lastly are my favorite neighbors and first friends. Melanie and John are from England with 3 beautiful children, Henry, Oliver, and Annabelle (my favorite little 3 year old with the sweetest english accent who loves to be naked). John owns a helicopter company that does trips to the Grand Canyon. One day he took his boys to work and they spent the day catching tadpoles at the Grand Canyon. Quite the life! Melanie is working part time for a company that arranges dinner parties by plane. I'll have to get more details on this now that I really think about this, I don't really understand how this works. She mentioned a table on a platform that is suspended in the air by a plane. Sounds loud to me! This is Vegas though.


Basically, these are my thoughts on Vegas. It's all very interesting to me coming from the midwest. Lots of unusual people and place! Can't say that we are bored yet!