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It’s no secret that we love Las Vegas.  Our favorite city never ceases to surprise us with new things to do.  Recently, The Coffman Team heard about land sailing just 30 minutes from the Strip on Ivanpah Dry Lake – and had to give it a try.  The fact that we had no sailing experience (water or land) was not a problem.  After some simple instructions from our great tour guide Pete, we were off and sailing.  We even have the video to prove it!

Land sailing is an amazing experience (it feels like you’re flying), and we will definitely be sailing with Pete again.  To get more information on land sailing and Land Sailing Tours, go to www.golandsailing.com.

As The Coffman Team, we are both family and co-workers. And, most of the time, we get along pretty well. But, there is an on-going disagreement that has split The Coffman Team in two – where is the best burger place in Las Vegas?

In one corner, we have Team Burger Bar. The Burger Bar, located in the Mandalay Bay, lets you build the burger of your dreams. Starting with your choice of meat (Angus or Kobe beef, turkey, lamb or veggie), you can add any topping you’ve ever thought of, and some you haven’t (anchovies? truffles?). You even have a choice of fries (fat, skinny and sweet potato). The members of Team Burger Bar feel that if you want the ultimate burger experience, the Burger Bar is your place.

If you are looking for a great burger, but don’t want to drive to the Strip, then you are a member of Team LBS. LBS: A Burger Joint, located in Red Rock Station, offers a choice of meat (beef, turkey or veggie) and a smaller, but still respectable, choice of toppings. Team LBS points out another benefit of their favorite burger place: it’s close to a Ben and Jerry’s (also located in Red Rock Station). This is a purely theoretical argument since no member has ever had room left for ice cream after eating the gigantic burgers at LBS, but they wanted it stated for the record anyways.

Where to get the best burger is a debate that might never be settled among The Coffman Team, but we are always on the look-out for new and better places. Perhaps there is a burger out there that will unite the team. I’ll keep you updated!

A new store has opened up in our favorite city, and we love it. The Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop offers over 500 different bottled soda pops (both old and new) and a great selection of nostalgic candies. My favorite, the little bottles of Coca Cola made with the real cane sugar - now that's what Coke is supposed to taste like! It's great fun to look through the huge selection and try out the sodas (Empire Cream Soda is a new Coffman Team pick). The Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop is located at 5130 S. Forte Apache #260. For more information, visit www.rocketfizz.com.

Kerry's Marine Rider's group participated in the 11^th Annual Police Officers Riding 4 Kids (or P.O.R.K.) Charity Run to benefit the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. It was a great opportunity to help a good cause, and get the bike out for a ride. For more information on P.O.R.K. and up-coming events, go to www.pork4kids.org.

The Farm, located at 7222 W. Grand Teton Drive, is a Las Vegas institution and a great place to get fresh eggs, jellies, fruits and vegetables year-round. But in October, The Farm goes all-out for the Pumpkin Squash Festival. The Coffman Team braved the chickens (who, while huge, mostly stayed in their pens - which I stayed out of) to pick up some pumpkin chips, squash pie and peach preserves. There weren't any fresh eggs available when we arrived, but there were some by the time we were leaving (it doesn't get any fresher than that), so we were able to get a dozen of those, too. The event also has carriage rides and a petting zoo, and is a great place to pick out a holiday pumpkin.

The Pumpkin Squash Festival is a reminder of the small town Vegas used to be - The Farm's owner, Sharon Linsenbardt, is there to visit with her guests, just like she has been for the last 42 years. The Festival is free, and runs every weekend in October, from 9 am to 9 pm.

To celebrate the 9^th annual Las Vegas BikeFest, Las Vegas Harley Davidson offered demo rides of their 2010 models. Kerry was the only one to actually ride the new bikes, but the rest of the Coffman Team was on-site for encouragement and photography. Make sure to ask Kerry what he thought of Harley's new line-up next time you see him!

The Coffman Team was able to attend one of the many events that took place around Las Vegas in remembrance of 9/11. Las Vegas Fire and Rescue joined fire departments across the country to honor the 343 firefighters who lost their lives eight years ago. At 6:55 am, firefighters gathered at the flagpole in front of each fire station while a set of five bell tolls was played three times over the firefighters’ communication channel.

Before radios, fire services communicated using fire alarm boxes on street corners. When a fire alarm was pulled or dispatch needed to alert the department members of certain events, the bells at the fire stations would ring in a code telling the location of the box or the type of event. Three sets of five bell tolls told everyone in the department that a firefighter had just been lost in the line of duty.

In addition to the tolling of the bells, an American flag that once flew over the World Trade Center was flown at half-mast at Fire Station 5 on Hinson Street, where a piece of steel from the World Trade Center is also on display.

The Coffman Team recently braved the chickens (more on that later) to have some of the best steak in Las Vegas at Bob Taylor’s Original Ranch House.

Established in 1955, the Ranch House is the oldest existing restaurant in Las Vegas. It started when the original owner, Bob Taylor, would barbeque for his friends and neighbors. When demand for his barbeque grew, he turned his ranch house into a restaurant. The barren desert that surrounded The Ranch House back then has been enveloped by the ever-expanding city, but the wood-paneled house covered in western memorabilia still serves great barbeque.

It’s a favorite of the Coffman Team, even though a pair of chickens wanders the front yard lawn. Every member of the team has been attacked by fowl during their childhoods (a hazard of growing up on a farm, or else we just have bad luck with birds) and some members still have a fear of chickens. These chickens don’t seem like the attacking type, even if they did follow us to the door (I think Andrea might have been encouraging them in order to get a better picture). Don’t let the threat for chickens keep you from this Las Vegas tradition, just walk briskly through the yard (like I do) and you’ll be ok.

For more information on The Ranch House, go to www.bobtaylorsranchhouse.com.

It's no secret that the summers in Vegas are hot, hot, hot. So The Coffman Team is always on the lookout for air-conditioned activities. When we heard that the Orleans Arena was offering indoor, off-road motorcycle racing - we had to go see EnduroCross for ourselves.

Tons of logs, boulders, sand and water were brought into the arena to form outdoor obstacles for the racers. There was even a "night" race - where the lights in the arena were turned off, and riders had to race using only their headlights.

EnduroCross is returning to the Orleans Arena in November, and is definitely worth checking out.

From school children riding bikes with training wheels attached to Kerry's Marine Corp Riders on their motorcycles, from horse-drawn wagons to Segways, from Native American Dancers to Storm Troopers, the Summerlin Patriotic Parade is not only a Vegas tradition, but a perfect example of the city‘s diversity. The Coffman Team (less Kerry, who was negotiating the parade route very slowly - since his motorcycle club had to keep pace behind the aforementioned bike-peddling children), had a great time cheering from the sidelines as babies in parent-pulled wagons to retired military veterans went by in their red-white-and-blue best.