DONALD LEBLANC

One of our neighborhood friends is turning 50 this year and a bunch of us headed out to Las Vegas to help her celebrate.  Her husband rented a really big van to haul everybody in style.  Everyone was staying in Vegas from Thursday to Sunday and then heading out to Laughlin for a couple more days after that.  My wife and I had to head home in Sunday afternoon so she rode up with them and I followed in my car.

We stopped at the Barstow Del Taco for lunch.  This location is known for having Barstow Tacos, Barstow Tostadas, and Bun Tacos.  The tacos and tostadas have double the meat, double the cheese, and a full slice of tomato on them.  The bun tacos are exactly that, tacos in a bun.  I like to get the 2 Barstow Tacos meal and my wife likes the burritos.

After lunch we got back on the road.  A few miles up FWY 15 we passed Rock A Hoola waterpark.  I attended a few great Mini Truck shows there in the early 2000’s.

Once we got to Las Vegas my wife and I headed to our mini suite at the Linq Hotel and Casino.  It was one of the bigger rooms that we have stayed in and was very comfortable.  Most of the other people in our group stayed across the street at Caesars Palace, but we were able to get this room for less than half the price of getting a standard room there.  It is across the street from Caesars Palace and it took about 5 or 6 minutes to walk over there.

We relaxed in our room for about an hour and then headed across the street to hang out in the birthday girls suite on the 28th floor of Caesars Palace.  That suite was probably 4 times the size of ours and all 12 of us were able to hang out there with plenty of room to spare.

We enjoyed some adult beverages and then headed down to the Cafe Americano for a late night snack.  I cannot recommend that restaurant at all.  It was very overpriced, the food took forever to get to us, and then it wasn’t very good.   We had originally planned to hit up the Ice Bar afterwards but it ended up getting too late and we missed it.  Next time!

We headed back to our room about 1:30 am and hit the sack.

At the beginning of October, a friend of mine on Facebook shared a post by a lady who had taken an old dollhouse and painted it black.  She added a few paint touches and some moss and made it look spooky.  As soon as I saw it, I was totally hooked and had to make one.

I searched the Facebook marketplace for a couple of weeks and found an old used dollhouse/castle for $10 and picked it up on the way home.

Take the dollhouse apart as much as possible by removing screws and popping out tabs.  Clean each piece thoroughly and let them dry overnight.  They must be fully dry before you apply paint.

Come up with a color scheme and paint the pieces accordingly.  In this case I decided that I wanted the walls black, the roof bronze and all the leftover pieces for the interior copper.  Do not try to spray 1 heavy coat of paint onto everything as it will take forever to dry. They should all get 3 to 4 lights coats of paint with at least an hour wait time between each coat.  Patience is your friend and you will be rewarded for it.

This is the fun part. Once again, come up with a color scheme and paint in all the fine details to your hearts content.  I chose to paint all the roses a metallic red and with light metallic green leaves. The clock tower received silver highlights. I tied the walls and roof together by using the same light silver to highlight the bricks. I used re and blue to paint the birds. I used red and silver on the handrails inside the front doors. The front doors got bronze hinges and silver handles. I used a little of all the colors on the stove.

Put the dollhouse back together by pushing all the tabs back into place and driving in all the screws. Take your time as you do not want to chip off any of the paint.

My buddy Dave and I have been attending Knott’s Scary Farm together every year since 1996.  It is an annual tradition.  Some years there are up to 15 people with us and other years it’s just us and 1 or 2 of his sons.  Either way, we always have a good time walking the mazes and watching the show “The Hanging”.

The last 3 or 4 years has seen the number of people attending the event go up, the lines get longer, and The Hanging lose some of it’s edginess.

I have always looked forward to watching The Hanging for it’s numerous pop culture references and bawdy humor.  About 4 years ago, they changed the actor that played the main character, The Hangman, and pretty much eliminated all of the adult humor.  It made the show nearly unwatchable.  I hoped for better the next year and got the same boring show.  Then, last year, they started bringing some of the humor back.  This year they added a new devil character that I really enjoyed.  He is irreverent, politically incorrect, and humorous.  The show is not back up to it’s previous level but they are on a good trajectory.  Unfortunately, the surprise ending may signal the end of the show’s run.  We will have to wait until next year to find out.

We usually attend the 1st or 2nd Thursday of the event as going on the weekend is  always a crowded nightmare.  In years past we were able to go in every maze at least twice and maybe a ride or two.  This year we barely made it through all the mazes once and the log ride one time.  We walked through the last maze at 12:50 am, 10 minutes  before the park closed.

This year, I purchased the Scary Farm annual pass and parking.  This will allow me to attend the event as many times as I want and covers my parking as well.  By my estimate, they will pay for themselves in 2 1/2 trips.  Last year I went 5 times and this year I hope to make it 6 or 7.

I am going again next Thursday and hope that the park will not be as crowded as it was this time.