Those dozen or so readers who have been with easyVegan since the beginning (meaning, June ‘06) know that I just came back from twenty-one glorious days of vacation a few weeks ago. Well, I finally have the inevitable vacation pictures available for perusal over at Flickr. Just a tad bit late, yes, but in my defense my little sis managed to infect me with her germies right before I left, so I’ve spent most of the past two weeks in bed or, during my more lucid moments, doing mindless dreg work on the ‘puter. I’ll only post a small selection here, so if you’re one of those sickos who actually enjoys looking at other people’s vacation slideshows (gasp!), check out my Road Trippin’ ‘06 set on Flickr.

First up - THOSE VEGAN DONUTS from Ronald’s Donuts in Las Vegas:

Yes, yes, I know - one of the donuts does have a huge hunk missing. It’s in my belly. Well, technically, I guess they all ended up in my belly, but that half was ingested in the seconds before I snapped the pic. You see, I was so excited by the presence of VEGAN DONUTS that I wolfed half of ‘em down before I even thought to take a picture.

Luckily, we bought a second batch before our departure:

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? It brings a tear. (Guess you’ve gotta be a veg*n to understand.)

Sadly, the donuts didn’t fare too well on the plane ride back. I still ate ‘em, though. Hey, it’s hard to completely annihilate such sweetness.

Interestingly, Grist ran a story on green/veggie food options in Sin City not long after we returned to Kansas. It wasn’t a huge kick in the arse - having spent an afternoon researching vegan eateries on Happy Cow before the trip, I was well-versed on all the guilt-free options available in Vegas - but it was fun to note which of the featured businesses we had hit up during our weeklong stay. We went grocery shopping at the new Whole Foods mentioned in the article, and ordered lunch from Rainbow’s End Natural Foods & Café. It isn’t nearly the dealio as is Ron’s Donuts (c’mon, what trumps VEGAN DONUTS!?), but it definitely rocks the strip. Certainly, Vegas is unexpectedly welcoming to veg*ns - just don’t go there during the summer months. Trust me.

And DO stop by Ronald’s, at least once. Screw the diet, it’s worth it.

While in Vegas, we also…

Back in Rochester, I:

* Saw my little bro graduate from hs (and bust his first-ever move at Liquid while our designated driver Shane nodded off on a couch in the corner of the club);

* Caught a Red Wings game followed by some post-show fireworks;

* Watched some gawd-awful “comedians” “perform” at Comix Cafe;

* Had a Chinese feast with the relatives a la the Royal Dynasty;

* Suffered through “Family Picture Day”;

* And was embarrassed at the Corn Hill Arts Festival by some strange man I don’t know.

Seriously. Never seen him in my life. And he certainly isn’t my father or anything.

Good times.

Of course, the doggies also had fun. My parents have two of their own, so for three weeks, there were five (!) hyper (and hyper-sexed, even though they’re all fixed…go figure) dogs running to and fro.

That made Shadow so happy, she was literally beaming!

I’ll leave y’all with a picture of my dogs’ pimped out ride - two wire cages, set side-by-side, cushioned by fluffy fluffy bankies, and cooled by crisp rear A/C.

Ralphie especially enjoyed his shiny new car cage. The wires were just perfect for pinning O-Ren up against while he tried oh-so-frantically to hump her.

Still no luck, though. As always, she wound up on top. That’s my girl.

(* Oh, and PS - don’t call me Mrs. Brady. Evah.)

(Crossposted.)