5in29: Day 21

Jan 02, 2025

On this action-packed day, we drove 500+ miles, walked 5+ miles, and spent $500+ on the last dinner of 2024!

Special Moment #1: Visiting Diana and Family in Prescott

My first advisor Dr. Davison’s daughter Diana has gradually become a sister to me. I wish I had reached out to her sooner before I published Las Crosses. But it’s never too late.
She invited me to visit her home in Prescott where she, her husband Michael, and their daughter Edie came eight years ago. They have a beautiful big house that we were invited to spend the night in.
Michael is a busy city official who has a keen interest in all stories Roman and I told.
Edie is the most sweet girl I’ve met. An honor student with a full scholarship from U of A, she is observant, engaging, curious, sociable, polite, and has a sense of humor. These are all great qualities for a leader in the making. Born in the northwest region of China, her appearance reminds me a lot about my own daughters and girls from my hometown in Inner Mongolia. She is so fortunately to be adopted and loved by her parents and the extended families. It was such a pleasure to meet and get to know her.
It was touching to see several artifacts that belonged to Dr. Davison and now in good care of Diana. I was able to get two copies of his books, one of them can be handy as a reference for one of my next books when I write about the development of computer science and technology in China!
Thank you Diana for making this such a heart warming visit for me!

My colleague Goldie (pseudo name) and I collaborated together during my early years of my career. Her office was next to mine when we were in the old building during my first 10 years at Syracuse University (SU). We share many wonderful stories that I plan to put in my future memoirs.
Goldie was one of the most productive and influential scholars I know. Among loads of awards and recognitions, she was the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor, the most prestigious title for an SU professor. What’s even more amazing is that after retiring for 6 years and now at the age of 80, she is still working on research proposals, academic publishing, and providing continued support to librarians across the globe who use her research work.
Roman and I drove down from Prescott and drove up to Vegas after having a lovely lunch (I did taste the food and it was wonderful, although most of the time, I was absorbed by our conversation). It is such a high point of my trip to see her after not seeing each other since her retirement party.
Thank you Goldie for squeezing time to meet me on a busy day of your grand-daughter’s birthday!

Marco, my brother-in-law, lives in north Vegas. The street in front of his house is our boondocking spot for the nights we are in Vegas.
Marco planned a romantic New Year’s Eve with my sister Jade weeks ago.
We made it to meet them at Caesars Palace Americana Bar before their 9:30 PM Buffet (no walk-ins allowed and all booked out) reservation.
This is one of the few New Year’s Eve celebrations that we’d spend together as a family.

In Las Crosses, there was a photo of my standing in front of a Cactus Tree. I have been looking for a tree like that during the entire trip. Hard to find. I have to go with this one.

I have been to Vegas a few times for conferences. One time, I also brought my two daughters, 5 and 12 at the time, and stayed at the Circus Circus Hotel. But I ever spent a New Year’s Eve in Vegas—This was a first for me.
We parked close to Ahearn Hotel, one block from the north end of the Strip. We loved to walk after a long day of driving. Plus, the night views were magnificent.
More than two miles later, we stopped at Caesars Palace to meet with Jade and Marco.
We attempted to walk to the south end of the Strip and back. But it was too crowded—the major section of the Strip was blocked for automobiles and tons of people were walking in all possible directions.

My kids love to watch the show by Gordon Ramsey. Roman does too and learned a few dishes.
We saw one large store right outside the main Caesars Palace complex. “Someday, I want to dine there,” Roman said. “Why not today?” I asked.
We were sat at the bar and were shown the New Year’s Eve menu: a three-course meal for $199/person. The Amuse Bouche was Tartare Cone.
We ordered two separate dishes to share so that we could taste as many different items as possible.
All were wonderful except the main course Truffle Jidori Chicken Scallopini.
My favorite and most surprised dish was the main course Beef Wellington. I am not a beef fan but I thoroughly enjoyed this dish!
I won’t share the pictures of the dishes because they don’t do the justice of the dishes!

I put this attraction here instead of Jan 1st because at the time, we were hoping to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
For New Yorkers or others in the world who watch televised New Year’s Eve celebrations, the ball drops during the countdown to the end of the year. That was the most significant moment to remember.
Vegas celebrates the New Year at the moment the New Year starts! There is a countdown (shown on a large display by Bellagio) but nothing happens. At the exact moment the countdown reaches 0, fireworks shot up to the sky from 8 hotels for a total of 8 minutes! That is a moment to remember—a long moment of 8 minutes!
We stood in front of Planet Hollywood, which was one of the 8 locations and could see 6 others—the 8th one was not visible to us.

Happy New Year of 2025!