Cleveland June 2026

Since we had a long weekend due to the Juneteenth holiday, we decided to take Avalanche on a little driving trip!

This was the first time ever he sat in my lap!
(he wasn't happy at first, but finally relented LOL)

We drove to Ohio on Friday, stopping north of Pittsburgh to have lunch with my dad before continuing on to our hotel. We stayed at Staybridge Suites in Stow and as usual, Avalanche was a perfect hotel guest for our two-night stay.

he really gets confused in an elevator

looking to C for an explanation
of what was happening

he is right at home anywhere that isn't the elevator

checking out the room

a very happy traveler

door magnet to let housekeeping
know that there's a
"Furry Friend Inside"

we;d been to Culver's once many years ago,
just for ice cream, so this was our first real dining
experience there...pretty good for a fast food place
and pleasantly surprised that they offer veggie burgers

On Saturday morning, we went to a local coffee place and then spent some time at Cuyahoga National Park, which is beautiful! Our visit to Cuyahoga brings our current total to 37 out of the 63 National Parks!

we loved the name of this place

the coffee was great!

I am obsessed with Togo, the sled dog who was the true hero of the 1925 serum run in Alaska and there is a Togo statue at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, so of course I had to go! C and Avalanche dropped me off and I went into the zoo on a mission to find the statue, but I did stop to admire a few animals along the way. The zoo was prepping for its upcoming annual Asian Lantern Festival, so it was fun to see some of that decor as well!

After our quick stop at the zoo, we went to Edgewater Park, which is home to one of the Cleveland Script Signs. It was a beautiful day and we spent some time wandering through the park and admiring the view of Lake Erie and the downtown area. Afterwards, we drove past the Glenn Research Center just to take some pictures before going to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, which was delicious! Our final stop of the night was back at Culver's...Saturday would have been my mom's 77th birthday, so we toasted to her with a turtle sundae, which were her favorite. This has become a yearly tradition every June 20th!

I love him so much!

On Sunday morning, we headed home, arriving mid-afternoon because it was only a six-hour drive. We had such a great weekend...all of our international trips are absolutely amazing, but there's nothing like a fun little road trip!

Happy Tails to you!

Las Vegas June 2026

We went to Las Vegas last weekend to see Bryan Adams! We are long time fans and have never had the opportunity to see him perform live, so when we found out he was doing an acoustic show, we couldn't pass it up!

We flew out of BWI, which meant a very long and painful drive after school on Friday through the atrocious rush hour traffic, but the payoff was an almost empty flight! C and I were the only two people in the 12 exit row seats and we were able to spread out and each have our own row during the flight. I generally have no trouble sleeping on planes, regardless of how uncomfortable a seat may be, but C doesn't usually get much quality sleep (unless we're on a super long flight), so being able to lie across three seats allowed him to snooze comfortably!

We stayed at the Conrad, since we are pretty loyal to Hilton hotels and it was within walking distance of the concert. We arrived after midnight, so we slept in on Saturday, went to the movies in the afternoon, and then to the concert Saturday night. It was an amazing show - just Bryan Adams with a guitar and harmonica and a pianist joined him for a few numbers. The stripped down versions of the songs were so good!

We took it easy on Sunday, wandering around a bit and taking a ride on the Vegas Loop before heading to the airport. Unfortunately, our flight home was nothing like our flight there; it was completely full and we had someone very annoying seated between us. After landing at BWI, we were back at our car at about 1:00 am and home by 2:30 am. We left home at 7:30 am to pick up Avalanche from his dog hotel before I headed to school and it seems fitting that I survived the final Monday of the school year in the same way I survived the first Monday of the school year - exhausted but happy after a fun weekend away!

I loved this art in the hotel lobby!

the view from our room

this was also the view from our room
and I did have several people ask if we were
going to Vegas for Game 3 of the Cup final
LOL

ate breakfast here on Saturday:
five stars!

I've always really liked the
signage for the Stardust

we rarely go to the movies at home because
*someone* doesn't like being left alone,
so we took advantage of the opportunity

humidity really does make a difference...
easier to handle this in Vegas than 80 degrees at home

the concert was at the Wynn

the hotel is beautiful

I really wish my pictures had turned out
better, but there were signs everywhere
about no phones or social media
so I just quickly snapped a few
(and despite the signs, tons of people
were recording the show, but I try to be a
rule follower)

it was a fabulous show and a great night!

ate breakfast here on Sunday:
another five star rating!

it was a pretty cool experience!

I'm always on the hunt
for rainbow things to photograph

thought this was a cool model

turns out it's a piano!

I found an extremely "Vegas" bathroom

LOL

the Capital One lounge at the
Vegas airport is super nice!

happy

Even though I have a few more weeks of work since my contract runs through June 30, now that the school year has ended for teachers and students, it feels like summer is finally here!

Happy Tails to you!