That's "NeVADa"

My friend (make that BEST friend) Beth, tells me that she has run into very few true "locals" since moving to Las Vegas last year. Almost everyone who lives in Vegas is from somewhere else. So those folks may not take the time to correct you in your pronunciation of their state's name.

However, on a recent trip to Reno (actually to Sparks, which is to Reno like Gretna is to New Orleans), we were fortunate to run into a few locals who love their state and will quickly set you straight on the pronunciation. It's not "Nevaaaada", but "NeVADa". They say the only people who pronounce it the first way are either "not from here", or are hoity toity. These gals were Sparks locals, so there was not a scent of hoity toity on them! But I don't blame them. It's annoying to hear someone say "New Orleeens" or even "N'awlins". What's wrong with just plain old "New Orlins?"

I was not too good about pulling out the camera on the trip, but fortunately Beth has written an extensive and humorous post on her blog, complete with a few pictures. Here's the link, if you're interested and haven't already read it.

http://thejackson4-lasvegas.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html

Scroll down until you get to "Ray and Susan Visit" and then read all of the stories through the end of that page. We had a great time, and I miss her and her family, as usual.

I'll get the camera out and see if I have any pictures from Reno (I mean, Sparks), but I don't think I do. It was fairly uneventful. Ray and I didn't even go on the group outing for the Lake Tahoe cruise. The highlights (for me) were going to Long John Silvers (of course!), the Reno Harley Davidson shop, to Boston Market twice, and to In 'N Out Burger almost every day. Man, I wish we had a Boston Market and an In 'N Out Burger here. Yum!

Sorry if I took the easy way out on the Vegas trip, but Beth is so much more eloquent than I am. I didn't even remember half of the things she wrote about until I read her blog.