June 16, 2010--time to celebrate our Twentieth Wedding Anniversary.........

It's been a wonderful 20 years and now it's time to celebrate..........

I'm feeling nostalgic wearing the same dress I wore when I was a June bride all those years ago.......

As we pack the car, we are being watched by a special someone...............

Don't worry Winston, we're just going on a short second honeymoon--we'll be back................

So, as difficult as it is for me to leave my garden behind, I'm off because..............

After twenty years, I STILL DO!.............

"What the *@%#& is a 'honeymoon' anyway?".......................

See you soon, Winston............

So, it's goodbye to Cielo Azul for a few days.................

Gassing up the car, we ran into Uncle Junior. I think he said: "What the *@#%$ is a honeymoon anyway?"..............................

En route to Las Vegas, New Mexico where we celebrated twenty years ago, we stopped at the Pecos National Monument.................

An archaeological dig is underway near the ruins of the old church in the long abandoned Pecos Pueblo...............

These ruins have become one of the top spots for weddings in recent years...............

the huge adobe walls make for fantastic wedding photos...........

And the swirling winds make for some interesting "veil" shots...........

The silent witnesses of these adobe walls..............

We're playing newlyweds..............

Dwightie makes a handsome groom..............

This is the area where a lot of the ceremonies are preformed................

with a view of the bluffs in the distance...............

Not exactly kosher wedding shoes.................

Our "wedding" shot....................

From the high perch of their pueblo, the Pecos Indians had a defensive advantage of seeing any parties advancing towards them.................

We'll leave the site to the archaeologists...............

although one of the students took this windy shot for us..............

Back on the road--past one of our favorite exits..................

And into Las Vegas and the site of our first honeymoon twenty years ago--The Plaza Hotel..........

The beautifully appointed lobby.............

Dwight checks in....................

We tried to replicate the scene in our poster of this lobby, however upon returning home, I found out we had the wrong angle..................

Our room is in newly opened annex to the Hotel in the Ilfeld Building--at one time, this was the largest Mercantile in New Mexico................

Dwight told them we were returning after twenty years, and they gave us the Bridal Suite!..............

Complete with flowers and champagne!...................

It was a wonderful and exciting surprise!............................

This is the media room adjacent to our room.............

complete with the conveniences of today combined with the elegance of yesterday............

The beauty of the new wing is that all the bathrooms are modern and luxurious.................

a brief rest... before continuing to explore Las Vegas...............

It takes yards and yards of fabric for the drapes for these huge windows..................

It's like being Queen for a Day....................

Wonder if these folks stayed at the Bridal Suite in the original Plaza Hotel.................

The king of all he surveys.................

And what would you expect to see out the windows of the Bridal Suite of The Plaza Hotel?..................

Why the Plaza of course!--and that adorable little Cruiser...............

Thanks to the staff of the Plaza Hotel--we were truly treated like royalty...............

Our suite of rooms is right behind the white flag on the facade of the Ilfeld Extension........

This is the oak staircase up to the upstairs rooms from the Ilfeld lobby..................

Like all the hotel, this lobby is also decorated in period style.....................

"Hello room service? Can you please bring my carriage around?"......................

Dwight relaxes in the lobby...............

This is the new ballroom on the ground floor. I can imagine many a high school prom will be held here in the years to come............................

Chaise princess..................

We head out to the main drag for some lunch........................

At El Rialto--another spot revisited from our honeymoon...........................

It must be reasonably priced--Dwight's SMILING at the check............................

We did some shopping and one woman in one of the stores asked us where we were from and when we told her we were celebrating our anniversary, she said, "Oh, you're staying at the Bridal Suite of the Plaza Hotel! I had breakfast with the manager of the hotel this morning and he told me all about you!"--I guess Las Vegas really IS a small town...................

Next stop is a fabulous small museum....................

This piano is from the old Las Vegas Opera House.....................

More paraphenalia from Victorian times when Las Vegas was the primo city in New Mexico................

One local lady might have worn this to the Opera House..................

Period kitchen from a typical Northern New Mexican home of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century...............................

Another kitchen view.....................

A Victorian bedroom.....................

A group of prominent men from Las Vegas on a hunting party......................

An old Fire alarm and an even older Fireman's bugle.......................

Team uniform and other artifacts from the Montezuma Resort..................

The pride of this museum is it's Rough Rider collection--here is a sadle and a uniform from over a hundred years ago...................

New Mexico had more Rough Riders than any other state, and Las Vegas more than any other NM city. Here on the Rough Rider rolls, we find my Dad's old friend Stephen Easton listed.............

I don't remember Stephen Easton that well--I was very tiny when he used to take us for rides in his Model "A", but I think that might be him with the hat on his knee in the front row of this Rough Rider Reunion in Las Vegas...........................

An old time print of the Rough Riders storming San Juan Hill.....................

This Officer's uniform might have been appropriate for the heat of Cuba.......................

Dwight checks out more artifacts from the history of Las Vegas................................

As a military buff, he really enjoyed this stop...........................

The old Railroad depot has been restored........................

And we recognized the Crockett Block from a walking tour twenty years ago.................

But the greatest surprise was walking into an office and seeing my old friend Gay Beth who I hadn't seen for thirty years! What a magical day!.................

For dinner, I am finally taking off that hat I had to hold on against the wind all day.............

And even putting my old "wedding shoes" that Dwight helped me paint all those years ago.................

Folks are arriving for dance classes on the Plaza bandstand as we head out for dinner............

At the Landmark Grill off the lobby of the old hotel. We arrived for dinner at almost twenty years to the hour that we arrived twenty years ago......................

I toast my love with my diet coke--after all we have all that champagne to finish upstairs...............

Dwight is relaxed after such a grand day........................

And you must admit, his dinner says: "DWIGHT"........................

And it seems like the years just drop away, because we feel just as excited and hopeful as we did then..........................

Upstairs, Dwight enjoys his Anniversary gift--some old helmets....................

Goodnight Las Vegas!! This might not be Paris, but for these two "newlyweds", it's just as romantic....................

Because it is the culmination of twenty years with that perfect mate...........................

AND A GRAND TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!