As Christmases go, this one ranked bottom barrel for me, as it did, I know, for many others. At least, I was able to zoom into our church's Christmas Eve service. I listened to our wonderful pastor Rona's comforting voice, sang the hymns softly to myself, and flipped back and forth between mini-images of Sophia and Anna on the banner of attendees. But, the best part of Christmas Eve was our zoom watch party of Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.
Christmas, itself, was a work day for Greg. While he was at the stadium, I caught up on some blog posts and took a long walk on the Las Vegas Strip. It was late afternoon and a few folks were milling about, taking in the sights. Unlike our usual white Christmas in Vermont, this one featured blue skies and neon.
Finding reasonably healthy, tasty food on the road has been a major challenge for us all season. So we were grateful that Fox decided to order room service Christmas dinners for the crew. The turkey and fixings were delicious -- and I didn't have to cook, so that was a bonus.
Our long driving days tend to take a toll on our bodies, especially our backs. We try to take breaks to walk around and stretch, but sometimes the demands of the "miles-to-go" take precedence. That happened on the long journey from Green Bay to Las Vegas. And Greg ended up aggravating a previous back injury. So, in addition to the regular challenges of his job, he had to deal with pain, as well.
He was managing it fairly well -- limping along (the theme of this year, that's for sure) until game day morning when things took a turn for the worse. Greg took a wrong step and was suddenly in excruciating pain. After several horrible minutes, we came up with a plan -- the hotel staff lent us a wheel chair and helped us find a nearby urgent care. The doctor there gave Greg a shot in his back and set up a medication regimen that enabled him to recover enough to do the game. Phew! Below are some shots from game day.
Las Vegas's space-age stadium.
(Above) Greg on game day and with cameraman Jesse Liebe and producer Mark Teitelman.
If you saw the 12/27 Dolphins vs. Raiders game, you'll know that, even with his injury, Greg did an amazing job. I watch enough football to recognize when the crew goes above and beyond. In this case, they certainly did. If you didn't watch the game, you should google the video of the final play. Here's how Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes described it.
With the game in the rear view mirror we had one thing to look forward to in Las Vegas -- a socially distant family visit. As it turned out, Greg's mother, sister and brother-in-law were in Las Vegas visiting Greg's niece and her family. Sue (Greg's mom) has a house in Montpelier, but she wasn't able to come home this year after wintering in Hawaii with Sharilyn and Roy (Greg's sister and husband) because of Covid. It had been a year since we'd seen her. We braved the relatively chilly weather and sat, chatting happily, for a couple of hours. It was so wonderful to connect!
Sue, Greg and Sharilyn Sharilyn, Sue and Me
On the field: NFL Week16, 12/27/20, Miami Dolphins @ Las Vegas Raiders -- In an up and down game, the Raiders appeared to have clinched the win with a touch down in the final minutes. Then a last second throw from Dolphins back-up quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (whose face-mask was being yanked at the time) stole victory from the jaws of defeat. Final score: Dolphins 26, Raiders 25.
On the map: distance from last week at Green Bay, Wisconsin to Las Vegas, Nevada -- 1,848 miles.
The map is getting pretty dog-eared (above). The journey from Green Bay to Las Vegas starts in blue at the upper right corner and ends in blue at the lower left corner (below).
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