Hallowe'en in Branson, MO

Well, my travels have brought me to another "attraction" place in the USA.

Branson, Missouri
Mid west USA to be exact and the people here are just as entertaining as the place.
I love accents so when locals speak it's quite a hoot.
Missouri is just above Arkansas and I think one of the best southern accents is from that area.

I'm in the Ozark mountains. Not peaked mountains like the rockies but equally as tall and let me tell you the roads departments didn't make any concessions for the fact that you have to drive up and down these suckers! Wheee!
The good old Equinox has only struggled once, and that's getting out of the hotel parking lot up a 25% grade when she wasn't warmed up. It's no wonder you don't see many transport trucks around here. They'd never be able to make it!

Branson is known for it's live shows. Of all kinds.
Music, circus, comedy, anything. There are over 100 possible shows that you could see. Of course being me I have picked a weekend that things don't run quite as often because many of the shows are switching over to their Christmas programs. Never fear there is still tons to choose from.

I have gone to The Acrobats of China with the New Circus of Shanghai which was a typical Chinese circus show, a real difference from Cirque du Soleil but really cool because it was typical of another country. Being front row centre didn't hurt either, it was fun to make eye contact with the performers.

I have gone to Presley's Country Jubilee. This has nothing to do with Elvis and everything to do with a country variety show that is a throw back to the "old days". The Presley Family Show started Branson. It was the first one out on this little dirt road called 176. This is now the "strip" of Branson. It was a fun show with singing, comedy and some awesome guitar work and a guy that played the banjo like there was no tomorrow. It was GREAT! This is one show that everyone should see. The home made cinnamon pecans they sell in a little paper cone were fantastic too. Yee haw!

This afternoon (yeah, there are shows at 2 pm, 5 pm or 8 pm) I plan to go to the Rat Pack which is a bunch of guys who sing music of Sammy, Dean, Frank etc and that era. Or I might find something else to do. I have gone to the Wax museum and had a hoot there but there is a Veteran's museum that I might check out and then there is the lake and dam area that is pretty.

Later this week the Veterans start to arrive for nearly a month of celebration and honour. This town is VERY military friendly, as it should, and the whole place goes nuts for the armed forces. The hotel I'm staying in practically empty but in a few days the 400 rooms may all be full with military personelle. Good on them. The economy is hitting this area just as much as the others.

So Branson has been fun, if not quiet which is OK by me. This is the last part of the journey, the next nights will be "sleep stops" as I head back through a few more states. I have seen the colours change (yay!) in Branson, saw some of the devastation in Joplin Missouri that got wiped out by a tornado in May, seen snow on cactus' and driven through hail in Arizona! (Yikes)
And that's all in the last few days. 

What I won't miss (the list is quite short actually):

• styrofoam plates and bowls for breakfast
• weak coffee in styrofoam cups
• really bad soap in a some hotel rooms
• trying to remember what hotel room I'm in as the numbers are all running into one
• the feeling of being a nomad and living out of the beloved Equinox
• getting dressed for breakfast
• trying to find a place for dinner or late lunch
• worrying if the internet connection will work so I can skype or blog

But, really, this has been so awesome! What a journey.
What a pilgrimage.
Wow!

The Red Earth of Oklahoma?

Short post tonight as I've spent most of it behind the wheel of the beloved Equinox.
From the snowy landscape of upper New Mexico I traversed over the panhandle of Texas.
Scrub brush turned to flat, very flat, hugely flat land with little black mounds that were Angus cattle.
That's all you saw, nothing else.
Kind of like the Canadian prairies.

Then Oklahoma.
Red dust.
Red mud.
Red ground under the green grass.
Oh yeah, the best, nicest and fanciest Tourist Information stop. (Granite counters in the bathrooms!)
No big hoopla that I had arrived in Oklahoma (ie no big sign telling me so) just the sign for the information stop and a sign that I was now in Central Time.
Oh yeah, and the sign telling me the information stop also had a tornado bunker. Huh??
Thankfully I will not be in need of one of those on this tour. But, with this really flat land I can see how the storms could really pick up speed and become as dangerous as they are. I haven't seen any damage from any storms other than a silo that was crushed by the side of the road. Eerie though.

I40 drives right into Oklahoma City and I decided to stop before that to avoid the chaos of trying to find the right road to get up to Tulsa. Weatherford is a former cattle and truck stop on Route 66. There are cattle everything around here.
Yup, even saw a guy with horns on the front grill of his truck while I was driving along. Right ON!

So the lovely Comfort Inn that I have found myself for the night has a nice pool and is very spacious. Again, I guess it's what you pay for. This place is a little more expensive than the others (by 25 bucks) but it's great. After nearly 6 hours of driving it's nice to stop for a few hours. Booking on line is a real handy thing let me tell you. I know where I'm staying. I don't have to worry about figuring out what room I'm in. It's all done. I just arrive, sign a form and I'm in. Checking out is just as easy. Drop off the key and I'm done. Love it.

I'm on the road again tomorrow. This country is huge!  Then I'll stop for a couple of days and give the Equinox rest.

Ah, the pool calls me!

Cheers!

From the Red Rocks to a red nose

The tour has continued.
On the road again, heading pretty much due east.
First of all I had to go through a hail storm at the top of the canyon above Sedona.
Uh Oh.

They were forecasting a cold front but I didn't think it would be like this!
Slow and steady makes it safely.
A few hours down the road is Gallup, New Mexico.
Through some prairie type landscape with some read cliffs in the back ground and a pretty straight road.
The clouds were gathering though.

Gallup is a railway town and really that's about it. Again, it's really noticable that the economy has made a large dent in the overall activity in this town. There is very little going on. I stayed in a Days Inn that has been around for quite a while. The sign said that the rooms had been newly renovated but I have a feeling that that was in the last century. Well, I wasn't going to be going to be staying there for long. I was safe enough and everything worked. That's all I can ask. But it certainly was VERY different from my beloved Inn near Sedona. Oh well.

I had to wait to leave Gallup this morning as the I40 that I was travelling on was snow covered around Albuquerque! Yikes!
I know we had a good rain storm last night and the temperature was just above freezing when I turned off my light but I didn't think that we'd get that much snow in New Mexico.
If it wasn't for the mountains coming down from Colorado there wouldn't be this issue but the Rockies do make a difference in the climate around here.
The news folks said that later in the day the higher elevations should be clear of the snow but in Santa Fe they had received nearly 18 inches of snow and the roads were rather challenging at 9 am. So, I made the decision not to go that route. I was going to take I25 north to see the Santa Fe area, which I was told was quite pretty.
Safety first and play the game I figured so I just stayed on I40 into Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa is small and really, I think, a shadow of it's former self as there are many places closed up on Route 66. The days are gone of the romance of travelling on Route 66 as I40 is faster and parallels it. There used to be so many motels, bars and diners along this strip of 66. Many of them are closed, and have been closed for several years or even decades. Sort of sad really.

I did find a laundromat to do my clothes as it was time for that and the people I met were all really nice. You get a real feel for a town hanging out at the local (only?) laundromat!
I was the only one in the Sante Fe diner (one of the originals still on this part of Route 66) and had a great BLT with a side of quacamole! I'm in the south after all. I chatted with the owner for a while and expressed that it's hard to keep things going when the weather switches so drastically but he said he had a good spring and summer.

The motel is very nice and clean and a sight better than last night's I must say. There is a little park across the road and if the sun comes out I will go and take pictures. There's not much to take pictures of when I'm driving so much but it's still nice to add a memory or two to the data banks.

I'm glad I broke the trip through New Mexico up into two parts as with the weather I don't know that I would have been able to do it all in one day. Sometimes things just work out for a reason.

The compass is stuck on East as I continue to witness and enjoy new places and scenes.
I could do without the snow though...

It DOES rain in Arizona!

Who would have thunk it.
It does rain in the desert.
When it rains, boy does it rain.

This afternoon we had a couple of great storms. The kind that you pull up a chair for.
SoI did!
The dark cloud comes along then POW! Rain. Big, huge, ploppy drops.
Then it stops.
Then another cloud comes along and the same thing happens.
The rain comes in pockets of clouds then stops. No long drawn out showers.
Just RAIN.
Then nothing and the sun comes out.

We actually had a thunderstorm too! Two of them.
People celebrate.
So do the plants and trees.
Golfers do not.
Sirens going off in two different directions from the Village.
Yikes!
Ah, yes, golfer warnings so they don't get zapped.
Should have had the siren BEFORE the lightening was seen. Storms kind of sneak up on you around here. Guess you take your chances out there.

It's dark out.
All is quiet.
This is a very quiet part of the desert. Except when the coyotes are howling, that'll be later.
No lights.
No lights on the streets, no lights on the intersections (they have roundabouts here so there aren't any stop lights), even gas stations have "dimmable" lights. Everyone wants it this way.
Big protest over local town council trying to put street lights in West Sedona (business area). People freaking out over it. They want their dark.
Many stars to see. So cool.
Lightening to the south, no thunder.
Very, very quiet.
And it's only 7:45 pm!!!

Tonight is my last night in the lovely place I've called home in Oak Creek, Arizona. I highly recommend coming here. Adobe Village Graham Inn is simply the most comfortable, homey amazing place to stay. As I wandered around today I kind of had the place to my self and it was awesome. What a perfect way to wrap up my visit to Arizona. (No, I didn't get a discount for saying the above, I just really, really like it!)

So the beloved Equinox will be packed up again for the journey to the east.
Then to the north east.
I'll cross the Mississippi.
Neat.
I've seen mountains, and prairies and lakes and rivers and oceans and rocks and dust and sand.
I'm glad I took pictures! Phew. They'll help me remember!
But how can I forget!
It's been fantastic.

What a pilgrimage!

Deer print in the red dust.

Abandoned miner's store in Jerome, Arizona. One of the leading Copper mines in the US until 1971.

The hot tub and view at Adobe Village Graham Inn, Oak Creek, Arizona

Bell Rock, a Vortex; a place of balance and harmony on earth. Mysticism is big here and this huge rock formation is like a Mecca for many. I just think it's pretty.

Cactus (a prickly pear cactus) grow pretty much anywhere they can get a hold. This one is below the Church of the Holy Cross. Guess it's blessed....

Towering Ponderosa pines on top of the Oak Creek Canyon. Notice no green underbrush that you would normally see. It's too dry for anything to grow.

Driving in Arizona is fun! I'm driving up a 5% grade into West Sedona (I know, I know, I'm not supposed to do this but hey, I was in the slow traffic lane...:-)

Just one of the many beautiful rose bushes at the Inn. I had to take a picture, remember this is OCTOBER! Oh yeah, they smelled amazing too.

This is how I'll remember Arizona.
Awesome, simply awesome.

Hey! There's a cloud! Wow! Cool!

I post this sitting in the back yard of the wonderful Adobe Village Graham Inn in Oak Creek Arizona. I'm listening to the birds as they flit between the feeders and the fountains on the terrace around the side. It's a balmy 80 F. I'm in my bathing suit.

Horrors!!! There's a cloud! What you say? A cloud?
Yes, after 2 weeks of not seeing a cloud in the sky, one has come along, or should I say several.
The red rocks are now orange in colour and there's actually a breeze!
Could it be that the state that gets only 1.6 inches of rain in October might get some today?
Weird.

This area is so parched that drying anything takes only a matter of minutes.
Mould doesn't grow.
It can't.
Any moisture is sucked right out of what ever it's in.
Your drinks don't even leave a ring on the table.
Can't.
Too dry.
Right on!

Being asthmatic this climate is lovely! Even today when I was up at about 8000 ft on top of a canyon I was doing okay. Not great but okay.
This place rocks.

• I have not felt any pull to the vortecies that are supposed to put one in "balance" with the earth and self. I think they're just big red rocks. The mysticism of the Vortex's is huge here. Maybe my mind isn't ready for that balancing stuff yet. I just take pictures of the vortex and move on.
• I have seen the change from desert (no living thing above 3 feet tall) to the Ponderosa Pines of the Upper Oak Creek Canyon (now there's a fun drive for you folks-narrow switch backs up 2000 feet of rock cliff!).
• I can tell the difference between a hedgehog cactus and a sprawling prickly pear cactus.
• I have had the best prickly pear lemonade (oh yum!)
• I've eaten more types of salsa than I can remember.
• I have yet to eat rattlesnake but it's on the list for tomorrow or today, who knows.
• I found the most incredible restaurant in the middle of nowhere (literally) run by a chef that needs to have his name submitted to the Food Network. Hmmm I think that's a plan.
• I am finding everyone here is so friendly and seems to know that I'm from Canada. I don't get that....Anyway...eh?

 

Can you see the road in the above picture? Yup, me and the Equinox drove up that sucker!

I have a feeling after I leave here the roads won't be as hilly and I'll miss the challenge of the switchbacks.

Oh, have to go now. The hot tub is at the perfect temperature to enjoy!

 

Beautiful, awesome Sedona Arizona

This is more like it!
After a challenging day driving from Las Vegas to Sedona I have found what I think is probably the neatest place on earth for many reasons.
Maybe it was arriving in the dark last night and waking up to the amazing sight of the sun rising on Castle Rock outside my window (nothing beats getting up early to see stuff). Or maybe it's the really friendly people at the place I'm staying, or maybe it's the birds that are congregating in the back yard around the pool in the feeders.
This place is awesome.
The red rock is really something to see.

Okay, the Grand Canyon and Hoover dam yesterday were really, really cool too but there's a real peacefulness about this place. Oh yeah and it's still 85 F too. That helps. I think.

I'm excited to be here. There's so much to do in Sedona and the area. Hiking around the fantastic rock formations, watching the stars come out over the rocks to give me sights that I've only seen on The Mother's jigsaw puzzles. But I'm seeing it for real. In real life. In person.
How cool is that.

The rock and the "vortex's" that are believed to bring positive energy and are sacred to all faiths bring people to sit and contemplate, perhaps meditate around them. For me, sure, they have that kind of pull but they are also incredibly beautiful in any light. The picture above was taken at 10 am.

This one taken at 6:15 am from the balcony of my room (which is awesome too I might add)

This, I think, is better than the Grand Canyon in some ways. There's a quietness about the whole scene.
Yesterday I was at Grand Canyon West and the Skywalk. The drive also included a 12 mile stretch of washboard gravel (not warned about this little tidbit) but once I arrived and sorted out what is expected (there is a bus that takes you to the sights) and then the same drive back out to the highway.

Really though, it is a once of a lifetime thing to see. I think everyone needs to see it at least once.
It is so majestic. So huge. So unbelievable. The colours, that you hear about are there in the layers of the rock but being there at 1 pm in the after noon on a 90 F day means that things get a little muted in the picture but you get the idea I think.

One thing I've noticed in the south west is the dryness. It's so dry, really dry. In October the average rain fall is 1.6 inches. Everything here is parched. Where there is any moisture around it disappers really fast. When I was washing the windows in the car I had to re wash them before I could sqeegee them clean! Yikes!
The plants, of course, have adapted but I still haven't seen my big huge cactus yet (the one that looks like a person standing with there arms up) but I know I will!

The Adobe Village Graham Inn is a small hotel like B and B 5 miles south of Sedona. I found it on line. I am so glad I did. Usually I don't say where I'm staying but this place is so fantastic that I can't help but blow their horn. My room has a gas fireplace which is two sided, one side is on the "living area" side and the other is on the whirlpool tub side. Right on. There is a plate of home made cookies on the bed at "turn down" time and the outdoor hot tub and pool are a fantastic place to unwind. Oh yeah, there's even a really comfy robe in the closet! This place rocks. The breakfast is to die for. Right, so I've never had chilli grits before but along with the breakfast burrito they were a great addition. Anyone needing a place to just chill this is the place. I am soooo glad I picked it.

So I have recovered I think from the insanity of Las Vegas and so enjoying my time in Sedona.
This is a part of the country that is so different. It just is. There are so many reasons why. Tomorrow I'm going to take more pictures of pretty red rock because I don't want to forget this place.

No wonder people find it sacred.

Below is a picture of Holy Cross Church. This spot is awe inspiring too!

These are cactus flowers...weird...



Maybe tomorrow I might see a cloud in the sky... I know I'll see some neat, red rocks!

Cheers!

The New vs. Old Vegas... a perspective

Like many cities and towns in the US there are challenges financially.
I was surprised to see that Vegas is no different despite the millions of dollars spent by visitors each day (all day I might add).

I walked to the northern part of The Strip. The old part I guess you'd call it. Locals (I found 1!) call it the "other end". I saw why.
There were two resorts in mid construction that had stopped. Some time ago by the look of the rust stains on the concrete. The whole area was boarded up and there was no action or movement.
On the other side of the street the stores needed some refurbishment as there was an old smell coming from them. As if they had never had the rug cleaned in 60 years.

The hotels, Circus Circus, the Riviera, the Stratosphere are now very outdated and in need of something to glam them up a bit. Not saying that the glam stuff doesn't get to you after a while but they are very tired looking and to top it off the people you meet right inside the door aren't the nicest. The 5 uniformed security guards I saw when I walked into Circus Circus did throw me off a bit.
To say the least I didn't linger long in this part of the strip. It certainly wasn't as welcoming as the part I'm in.

The other thing that is curious is there is a Trump tower on the block bechind Treasure Island hotel. I wanted to go to see what's in a Trump tower. You know, just to snoop, see what all the hype's about.
Well, at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and the street that has Trump on it there was a now abandoned demo/model suite store front and the side walk kind of ended after that building. Hmmm I decided I didn't need to get to the Trump tower that bad.
When I came back to the hotel I looked it up on "accommodations" and it wasn't listed. All I can figure is that it is a "residential" hotel and not for rent. It looks like it's occupied, I think, but it's hard to tell around here as windows don't usually open in hotels around here.

With the temperature climbing I figured a pool time was in order so after purchasing my Cirque du Soleil ticket for the evenings performance I went lounging by the awesome pool here. Now that's the life.....Pina Colada in hand I enjoyed myself for a couple of hours doing nothing!

The evenings around Vegas can be chaotic so I have learned to pick my battles with the mass of people around. The Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere (which was awe inspiring to say the least and tons of fun) got out around 9 pm. There was a convention going on in the hotel and across the road was the West American Presidential Debate going on. Yikes! People everywhere (of course where there's a debate there are protestors!) The throng of people was really something. Oh yeah, to top it off the people waiting for the 9:30 Cirque show were all out in the hall too. Hold on kiddo we're heading for the elevators. The casino was jammed! Holy Cow!
I've never seen so many folks in this place! I'm outta there. Back to the safety of the room.

So today, my last full day in Vegas I plan to check out a couple of things and head to the pool for the afternoon. I think there's another souvenir Pina Colada glass with my name on it!

Cheers all!

Still a cloudless sky in Vegas

The sun is just rising over the hills to the east and lighting up the mountains to the west. It's pretty!
Las Vegas is in a pretty part of the desert. It's kind of like glitz meets the rugged hills and they fight back and forth.
This is the only place, so far, that I've seen smog in the later afternoon, if there's no breeze. Las Vegas is in a bowl and with little wind the orange haze hangs above it. We had some gusty winds yesterday so the smog got blown away for the most part. It still amazes me that many years ago a bunch of people decided that this little area of Nevada was going to be good for a hotel/casino town. That idea certainly has grown.

As I walked around the strip and in and out of some of the hotels and casinos the opulence of the whole place is over whelming. If there is a fancy schmancy store then it is here. Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Jimmy Choo, Coach, Louis Vuitton...you get the idea. All I can even think of doing is taking a picture of the front display.

Somehow I just can't bring myself to spending $1,200.00 on a hand bag (which I don't use anyway). And Gucci shoes? $800? Naw, I'm just not cut from that cloth I guess. I did have fun looking and no, I didn't have the guts to walk in, wearing my San Fran t-shirt, shorts and running shoes to actually check anything out. I know when I'm beat.
Did you notice in the picture above that the hand bags are displayed on little flamingo legs? Right, anything goes in this town. Weird.

Every hotel here has a casino and some of them are really, really old. Like the Flamingo. It's one of the originals. As I wandered down the strip I visited a few of them. Being the big spender that I am, me and my little 5'er sat down at a slot machine to see what would happen. If I lost it all I'm only out 5 bucks, if I won it back great, if I doubled it I'm outta there. (I can hear you all saying, "What? That's it? Go for it!" ) Nope, that's the way I roll.

Some of the casinos really take glitz to a new level, like the Cosmopolitan, which looks like a huge, high ceiling, ball room.

With lots of crystal accents and some natural light it was neat to be there. At 10 am this place was pretty much deserted but it took me nearly an hour to lose my $5!
Then there are places like the old Flamingo. The ceilings are only about 12 feet tall. The cigarette smoke lingers in the air (yeah, everyone smokes everywhere pretty much) and there is no natural light. It's dark, noisey and I think what it used to be like in the "old days".
No wonder Vegas had a bad reputation...
Oh yeah, and I lost my 5 bucks in about 20 minutes. Boo Hiss.

I am a people watcher by nature and nothing beats Las Vegas for doing that. There is so much to see and fun things to watch. There are street performers that are great. There was an Edward Scissor hands that scared the crap out of one group of ladies and those of us walking near there all laughed! It was fun. There are lots of other "statue people" that amaze me. They are real! But truly look like marble. Weird.

Las Vegas' strip has been planned to be a pedestrian area along with 8 lanes of traffic. The sidewalks and road crossings are very well organized to keep both people and vehicles moving. Every few blocks you are forced up to an over road walk way then back down either on to the same side of the street or the other, but it's a neat way to keep moving down the street. It's also a good chance for pictures. This is looking north along the Strip.

But there's also all the fountains and statues to take pictures of too. Caesar's Palace is the best for that.

So it was a great day wandering around and looking at the craziness of Las Vegas. Since my hotel is nearly at one end of the strip I only have a little bit to go to see the rest of it. Then I think it's a pool day. Though the high is only supposed to be 88 F I think I can manage.
Life's rough here.
Really, it is....

NOT!!!

Cheers all.

In Vegas! Anything goes here!

I have finally found a place that I think overwhelms me!
Being brought up in one of the largest cities in North America I'm pretty used to the crowds, the noise, the stuff that goes on.

Then I came to Las Vegas, Nevada.

wow.
That's all I can say!
wow.

Everything here is over the top.
WAY over the top.

I am staying at a hotel on The Strip. Again, I chose here because I didn't want to drive anywhere, didn't want to have to take a taxi anywhere and wanted to be central so I didn't have to worry about being out after dark.
Not a problem here. It doesn't get dark.
There is enough neon lighting here to keep any small country out of the dark for years.
This place never, ever stops.

There is music everywhere, slot machines everywhere (I'm up $10 so far!), people everywhere, and stuff to do everywhere.
Everything you've heard about The Strip and it's non-stop action is true.

My hotel has an outdoor pirate vs "siren" show and there are lots of scantily clad ladies on one pirate ship and lovely topless men on another "fighting it out" across the front of the hotel. There are fireworks, great light show and loud fun music. It's awesome! I am glad though that my room doesn't over look that show as the shows run 5 times a night!

The other thing that is really neat about this oasis in the desert is the fountains and water features. They are spectacular. At the Mirage, which I see outside my 19th floor window, has a "volcano" that goes off 3 times a night with great explosions of fire and water. Something else.

Driving here from Bakersfield, California was through some of the most desolate, barren land I have ever seen. The Canadian Prairies had more to look at than his area. The Mojave desert really is dry, really dry and Edwards Air Force base is in a perfect spot because of the flatness of the ground in that area and the remoteness of the whole place. If there's a problem it probably won't bother anyone!

At one point I was driving up to 5000 feet and there were warning signs not to run AC during the climb as it may cause your vehicle to over heat. Yeah, right. It's 90 F out. I'm running AC and taking my chances. No prob but it was quite a drive as it never seemed to stop going up.
Then, of course, we came down and right to some dry lake flats that there was a "driving strip" put on. There were some people out on it and I can only guess that they were testing something fast.

As you reach the Nevada border it's really obvious. The hotels and casinos are right there. Boom! No guessing there. We're in gambling country. There is so much to see. Between the signs luring you into the casino and "join" their club for free points or chips to the attraction and show signs. After the flat, dried out ground of the drive it was really an oasis to see all of this.
Then I arrived in Vegas.

YIKES! 

I drove The Strip first and found my hotel and the rest of the attractions and then decided it was time to get out of the vehicle and into the 95 F heat. EEEEkkk.
It took me 2 hours to get everything organized, between the checking in part to getting my things from the car (parking is in a covered building behind the hotel and you have to walk through the casino to get there, natch).
Even the pool has a DJ! This place has music everywhere. There is something going on every second of the day. You don't need to sleep at the normal times. There are black out curtains on the windows of the room and it makes the room REALLY dark!

So, I'm  here. I'm really looking forward to checking out The Strip and all the craziness that goes on here.
There is a Cirque du Soleil show right here in the hotel that looks great and I'll see what else is cool (like the whole place). I really think Las Vegas must be visited once in your life. Just to see it, be in it, watch what happens and enjoy the over the topness (new word by me) of this place.

Right, so before it get unbearable out there (supposed to be a high of 90 F today with no clouds of course) and I go live in the pool I'm outta here.

Viva Las Vegas!

Or viva New York, New York! (dontcha just love it???)

Gee it's hot in California!

It feels like August in Ontario out here right now.
About 90 F.
And humid.
Yick!
Glad there is airconditioning in my room. Phew!
The drive today took me away from my beloved ocean and through the mountains which were totally burnt dry and golden. I drove through pistachio, almond, apricot, cotton and walnut farms. It was totally neat to see! The farms go for miles and miles! Now I know where my favourite bags of pistachios come from !

The temperature got warmer and warmer as I decended from the mountains. I actually had to turn on my AC in the truck!
One of the big issues here in California is the use or mis use of water. There are signs all along the interstate stating that without water there are no farms. No farms means no jobs, no jobs means no towns and the rest is easy to figure out. Again the economy is really a challenge here.

The land became really, really flat too. I mean prairie flat! Wow! What a difference! Without a cloud in the sky it made for a very interesting drive. I really enjoyed the difference again.

Arriving fairly early here in Bakersfield I had a chance to review my maps and plan my next part of the journey. I think I have it all figured out. Some days will be long drives but I think I'm going to see what I want to see across the US. There might be a stop in Branson Missouri to check out a few shows and what all the hoopla is about that place.

So, on the road again  and heading east now. My time at the Pacific has been great and it's now a new adventure! Oh yeah, I have to have my fill of glitz and glam and all things over the top in Vegas. Bring it on! I'm gonna like it! I just wish it was a little cooler! Oh well. I will remember this heat when I'm back in Ontario and thinking how nice it was to be in shorts in late October!

Cheers all!
Saying goodbye to California tomorrow!

Thanks San Fran for an awesome visit

Alcatraz...check
Tour on the bay...check
Aquarium...check
Old boat tour...check
Cable Car ride...check
Mexican lunch...check
Best sushi ever...check
Phenominal views...check
Sun tan...check
Laughing at the Sea Lion's antics...check
Crab dinner...check
Having a great hotel room with the views of the lights of Oakland and the northern part of San Francisco Bay ...check

Now it's nearly time to check out of here and on to the next part of the pilgrimage.

I have had such a great time here checking everything out. I even went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum! Something a little different.

The weather out right now (it's 4 pm) is about 85 F and the sun fairly melts you. I have been doing my sight seeing early in the morning and back "home" mid afternoon before the worst part of the day hits. With no parks around the shade is very hard to find so I figure the morning is the best time to move around. The weather I guess is a little surprising for the locals too. It's so nice that everyone is out doing things.

San Fran has very little in the way of green space. As it's built on a cliff or series of cliffs the buildings and structures are all shoved together much like Prague! Narrow little streets and some crazy hills and cable cars and trams and everything else thrown in makes it a challenge to move around.

The Cable car was fun but trecerous to ride on if you were just "hanging on"! The ride was not smooth by any means and when the driver decided to go, we went! It was a blast though. I was at the back of the Cable Car for part of the ride on the back "patio" they call it. It was great!

I walked back to the hotel (about a 2 hour walk) from the Cable Car end depot as the line up to go back was way too long to hang around in just for a ride back to the waterfront. The walk took me through the financial district and the fancy schmancy shopping district (think Saks 5th Avenue and the like). What a great walk!
I think I've covered quite a bit of San Francisco and totallly enjoyed everything!

Yesterday I was at the Aquarium of the Bay for 2 hours! It was so AWESOME! It's one of the type of aquariums that you walk through. So, so cool! There were two tunnels to go through, one of smaller fish and one of larger fish. The whole experience was fantastic.

The manta ray touch and play pool was really neat! I've never touched a manta ray before. They are so soft and a little slimy. They were so curious too! They kept coming to the sides to have a look at us. It was kind of eerie! 
The most relaxing part was watching the moon jelly fish go up and down like an aquatic lava lamp. There was even relaxing music playing too. They should have this at a spa!

Oh yeah
Alcatraz!
I didn't mention anything about that.
What a great tour! The boat ride across the bay to the island was great. Super views and a super ride.
Once on the island there are many options. A 20 minute movie is shown to illustrate the history of the island, a steep walk up to the cell block where an audio set is picked up to take you on a very effective tour of the cell block and the life there.
It's narrated by a former inmate and there are lots of sound effects through out the tour. Really something.
After you return the headset you are off to explore the island for the most part. The lighthouse pictured below is one of the most photographed in the world. A light has been here for over 200 years. The ruins are of the Warden's home. The staff lived on the island.

The cell block was eerie and neat all at the same time. Al Capone had been here. Movies have been shot here (Escape from Alcatraz etc) and there is lots of history in these cells.
Let me tell you that 6 X 9 is really, really small!
Yikes!

Well, I think every single thing that I had on my "do in San Fran" list is checked off. I've even had original San Francisco Sour Dough bread!
Yum!

Off to the next adventure....

San Francisco California-So much to do!

Hi there
After a short break, due to a very poor internet connection in Santa Cruz I'm blogging again...

First of all Santa Cruz was awesome and fun too! Watching the surfers in the swells of the Pacific off of the shore was great, the views were great. Meeting and acquaintance for lunch in Pacific Grove (she said she'd haunt me if I didn't call her when I was in California!) and drinking in the opulence of Pebble Beach was fantastic too. The fog and drizzle enshrouded the gigantic fields of strawberries, artichokes and brussel sprouts (now I know where they come from when they say "California" on the tag) were neat to see and the century old Boardwalk was so fun to walk on during a holiday weekend.

When planning a trip on the fly like this it's hard sometimes to figure out how long to stay in one place or another. Santa Cruz was a stopping place for other things that were out there to see. The hotel, though nice, was not as comfortable as I've been in other places. (Okay, a car alarm going off at 1:30 am today didn't help the overall experience, and it wasn't mine yay!)
Santa Cruz is not the most wealthy of towns and only a few miles away is one of the wealthiest, Pebble Beach. The difference is so vast, as is the terrain. To drive to the south means driving though fields and fields of crops. Then to huge sand dunes, then to lush treed and gated homes of Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and the 17 mile drive. So beautiful. So manicured. So fancy.

Yeah, I went to Pebble Beach Golf Course (if you're a fan of golf you'll know that this is like going to a holy site, Mecca is Augusta National in Georgia, this is a close second to that).
A round of golf costs $495 a round and the caddie is expected to receive a significant gratuity and I didn't even ask what the cart would cost. There had been rain so carts weren't allowed when I was visiting. But there was no shortage of players lining up to be sent off.
Really something to see and just be part of. I sat quietly on a bench for a little while and watched a couple of groups tee off. Way out of my league. I took a score card for The Mother, she'll have to compare her distances with the one's at Pebble Beach. Good luck on that!

The fog here can be rather a challenge to drive in, or a pain, depending. Highway 1 along the western edge of California was lovely, I'm sure for part of the drive, as I didn't really get to see it I have no real clue. The traffic reports in the morning give a fog density rating for the bridges and highways. It's what can hold things up around here. Today the fog was to clear later in the afternoon on the highway but I didn't want to wait until later in the afternoon so I ventured out and other than a couple of spots of "where'd the road go?" I did just fine.

San Francisco roads reallly are steep. Very steep. Steeper than they should be for any safe driving. But I did it! Okay, I did catch myself saying "Wheeeee!" a couple of times and thanked God again for my nav system which guided me to the Best Western here down town. Driving here makes a roller coaster ride seem like a bunny hill. I can see why they shoot car chases for movies here. You could get airborne very, very easily.

There is so much to do here and I chose a place very close to Fisherman's Wharf and the downtown core. I'm 2 blocks from everything I want to do. I have already booked my ticket (no it's return) to Alcatraz and checked out the Trolley cars, acquarium, Chinatown and the rest of the sights I want to see. I missed the complimentary "Manager's Wine hour" here at the hotel because I was having way to much fun on the Piers having dinner and watching all the boats go back and forth. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and the Golden Gate Bridge is RED not gold. Someone lied. Or picked the wrong colour. Maybe when the fog really goes away (right....it's San Francisco) I'll see it in a different light.

Better go charge up the camera!

Some sights for you.

First is a bronze statue at Pebble Beach Golf Club entitled "Just Like Dad".
Next is "lone cypress" from the 17 Mile drive between Monterey and Carmel, California
Then, "Alcatraz emerging" (I like that one).
Then my view from my sushi restaurant overlooking the bay. Alcatraz in the distance and just some of the boats whipping around. Busy place!

Cheers from San Fran

Wine country California-A pretty place

Yesterday I had a lovely time going through the Charles M. Schulz (spelled correctly now) museum. It was so much fun to read some of the early comics. See how he put them together and what the process was for some of them and also see what a humble and giving man he was.
Though not political he sometimes had a slant like that in his work or an educator but he also taught so much with his comics. He is also known as a child behaviouralist and observer of the joys of play and development in young people. So fascinating. I would suggest this visit to anyone who visits the Sonoma Valley and the wine country here.
As I'm not a wine person per se I didn't do a "wine tour" but enjoyed learning about the art of wine making in this area in downtown Santa Rosa. Very similar to the Ontario version but the air and mountain sides that the grapes are grown on are supposed to be superior to anything that we have. I guess that's one side's opinion. It's all very pretty to me and seeing the hills covered in vineyards is neat.

Santa Rosa is a divided town. The highway (101) divides it in "old" and "new" but is easily accessed from each side by tunnels. There is a junior college here and their hockey team (yeah! Hockey!) the Polar Bears, plays at the Redwood Empire hockey arena that Charles Schulz had built due to his love of hockey. The little cafe, the Warm Puppy, is right inside the door with lots of good viewing of the rink. The rink itself looks like it should belong in the centre of the Austrian Alps with lots of mock ups of Austrian chalets on the end walls and huge murals of the Alpan countryside. It's really quite fascinating (pictures later friends, I'm on the hotel computer). There was an "old guy" team that was playing when I was there and they were pretty good. Mr. Schulz played with this same team that was playing I later found out. He loved hockey. As did his Peanuts characters.
He spent a lot of time at the rink and at the Warm Puppy Cafe and had his "usual table". That table now has a "reserved" sign on it, as it always did, but now it has no chairs around it and just a vase of flowers on it. Very touching I thought.

Santa Rosa is a railway town as well and I think, like many places out here, that's how it came to be. It's now really supported by the wine industry and the off shoots of that (hotels, restaurants etc) but it's just a little town in the middle of California.

Surprisingly I haven't seen any of my tie dye clad hitch hikers around. I guess they don't do wine country. The hitch hiking in California is next to a sport I think. There are so many of them all over the place. I don't know where they are all heading but most of them have zero money and just moving on. The economy in this town appears to be good, sort of the first place I've noted that, the other's not so much.

Today I am heading to the coast again for a few days. Where I'm going I hear there's a surfer museum, a long board walk and a nice beach. I'm looking forward to that!

Oh yeah, the tree I thought was a lime tree is actually a lemon tree and I found a pretty good fruit to take and try. I'll check it out tonight and see if it's really edible. Okay, okay, I know for a tourist like me I think it's pretty exciting but really... a lemon tree! Right out side my door. Cool.

Yesterday I saw a Kiwi plant in the gardens I was visiting. Very neat too. I like this area. Everything grows here!

Right folks so it's off to stick my tootsies in the surf and see if I can find any sea lions or seals. I haven't seen those yet. I have seen huge herds of elk that are starting to gather for the winter. Quite a sight.

Later dudes!
(Hey, I'm in surfer country, I have to get that in!)

Giant trees to Vineyards and Palm trees

This state truly has everything in it. This morning I woke up to the fog and mist rising up off the Pacific and the waves and now I'm in the middle of the vineyards of the Sonoma valley. I have checked out the Avenue of the Giants. Seen huge piles of the biggest seaweed I've ever seen and elk on the move getting to their winter feeding areas.

I've seen over 2 dozen hitchhikers (4 I saw repeatedly as they got lifts to where I ended up stopping) some decked out in very interesting outfits. Yes, there were the dudes in tie dye!
I'm settled in my nice hotel for a couple of nights where I have a palm tree outside my patio door and the pool is just steps away. Oh yeah, there's a lime on the tree around the corner. How cool is that!

The crashing waves of the Pacific this morning were interesting because they were muffled in their sound. The foam on the top of the waves was so thick that I think that dampened the sound. It was really different to hear. The waves were very powerful despite the fact that there was no wind. There were many warnings over it.

The drive continued to be twisty but there were also warnings about having headlights on at certain points. Not a problem for me (Canadian cars) as my headlights are always on and come on automatically full if it gets darker. There were times today, driving in the morning with the sun out that my headlights came on because the TREES were blocking out the sun. The huge, gy-normous, towering redwoods blocked out the light. The road was slick from the heavy rain we had last night and it was dark and just weird to drive through that area but oh so beautiful. I opened the windows a bit to get the scent of the forest. So clean, and clear and fresh smelling. Fantastic.

Out of the trees the ocean was the attraction. At the Redwood forest information place I checked out the beach and the weird stuff that comes up on the waves. First of the waves can be very unpredicatable and there are things called "sneaker" waves. Guess they come along and sneak up on you and take you down and sweep you out to sea! Love the name!

California rocks dude!

The adventure continues in the Sonoma vine valley! Vineyards as far as the eye can see!

Pacific Coast ...WOW I'm in California now! Dude!

Well everything you've ever heard or seen or read about the drive on the Pacific Coast Highway (by-way!) is true.
It is a challenging, beautiful, breathtaking, overwhelming and AWESOME drive.
I was excited to drive it. It was so fun!

Highway 101 is not a straight road and it was through tunnels, over bridges and around mountains.
The Pacific ocean is so much more majestic than the Atlantic. The waves were simply pounding onto the shores. The shores are weird too. Lots of rock formations in the middle of the shore.
I saw my first pelican!

There are so many look outs along the way that I decided that stopping at every one would mean a really late arrival in Crescent City. I stopped at the most scenic of them and was awed by the whole scene. I can't really tell you how it made me feel. It was breathtaking.

There were some storms that had passed by but no snow on the roads, some in the forests when I was at one of the higher elevations. I guess the area is getting it's fall rain storms and that seems to cause some problems. Hey, I'm used to that.

I am really impressed how the Equinox (all wheel drive, dontcha know) held the road. Some of the roads were quite narrow with no room for error! I was completely confident in the way it held the road.

One of the things I noticed in the west coast is the little Espresso bars all over the place. Ontario has Tim Hortons, here it's little shacks that sell espresso and coffee. Neat!. Okay I'll have to try one of those tomorrow.

After a number of hours of driving (6 or 7 I think) I arrived in Crescent City, California. This is a fishing town and not really a tourist place. It's one of the places that being out after dark is probably not a good plan or at least that's the way I felt. The Quality Inn is clean but not  many services and I'm hoping the blog will post. They have a breakfast that sounds pretty good and there's a fridge and microwave too. Other than that there's not much going on here. That's okay, my real goal is tomorrow's destination and checking out all the big red woods around me here!

Well, there's a cold California rain falling outside and I'm hoping the internet here will let me post.

Cheers all!

Finally at the Pacific!

Today, this evening I finally touched the Pacific ocean to put part of my goals behind me for my pilgrimage year.
I have gone from sea to sea.
Wow!

Today I arrived, in the pouring rain, in Seaside Oregon after an eclectic drive from Surrey BC (after quite the questionning by the lady border crossing lady who wanted to know my complete agenda, I seemed to have satisfied her I guess as she let me through finally).

I have driven through potato farmland, grazing land, over mountains, through dark green forests and even took a little car ferry across the Columbia river. I've seen Mt. Ranier, Mt. St. Helens, the Seattle Space needle, the huge Astoria span bridge over the Columbia river delta, several huge liners ready for loading with grain and crops and tons of different crops and animals being transported to the shoreline. It's been really amazing. The last 2 hours of the drive was pretty rainy but that's been pretty typical for this time of year I've been told.

Seaside, Oregon is really a town on the seaside (really original in the naming of this place) and because it's October it's a little quiet but I still really enjoyed walking the couple of blocks to the beach to check it all out. I'm not too concerned about the stores not being open it's the ocean that I'm totally enthralled with.
This town is also the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail. I'll have to research that a little more but there is a large statue on the seashore. I did drive along the Lewis and Clark trail for most of the day. Perhaps it's where they ended up when they finally made it west! That's neat!

Tomorrow morning I hope to head back down to the shore before I leave to take daytime pictures.

Right, I know, I know I'm driving all along the Pacific coast and I'm going to be seeing this body of water over and over but....it's just so neat to be here.

Ahhhh I made it!!!

There are lots of hotels and motels here and some are right on the ocean and lovely (probably really expensive too) but the good old Comfort Inn is on a river that winds through town and my room as a little balcony overlooking the river and there are some ducks wandering around. It's really neat. I'm only 2 blocks from the ocean too. Oh yeah, there was a good sushi bar a block away too! Nice spot.
This is somewhere I'd like to come back to in the summer time and really enjoy the miles of beach in the nicer weather.

So tomorrow I really start to drive on the Pacific Coast By-way Route (as it's called) and enjoy the sights and sounds of this ocean!
I really can't believe my dream of being here so many months ago has come true. It's so great!

West Coast Hang out-Monday October 3

Hey gang
It's now October and I can't believe that! What a blast I've been having!
I arrived in Surrey on Wednesday the 28th in the evening after a fun drive through the Fraser Canyon from Salmon Arm BC to Surrey. It was an amazing drive! The land scape was so desolate but so beautiful too and the Thompson River was really moving. The road only had a few points of construction on it so it wasn't too bad but there were times that I think the poor Equinox had no idea what a straight piece of road was. The sun was shining and the breeze nice as I zipped up and down the hills and valleys.

Quite something isn't it! Wow, what a neat drive.

Thankfully the nav system took me right to my cousin's place because the part of Surrey they're in is all numbered street names. I'm okay with those but it's a little confusing in the subdivision they're in. My cousin T was out visiting with a neighbour when I drove in so it was nice to see a friendly face right off the bat. I arrived to a home. It was nice to "move in" for a few days and just hang out with family members I don't get to see very often let alone spend some quality time with. They have two puppies, Monty and Maya who are the cutest things on the planet. Bishon Frisee and Shitzu crosses. So adorable and so loving. They are fun to watch too.

On Friday I decided to head up to Whistler, the weather was supposed to be good for Friday but not for Saturday and Sunday so back in the good old Equinox and off to the Sea to Sky highway. After getting through the crazy construction on Hwy 1 and over the Mann Bridge I was smooth sailing to Squamish then on to Whistler. The highway, again, didn't have a straight piece in it the whole way. It was a fun drive but I'd hate to think what it's like on a snowy day. Little time for views on the way there but I noted a number of pull out places to stop and figured I'd do that on the way home.

Whistler is pretty quiet this time of year and I enjoyed walking around in the sunshine. The Olympic Plaza was a lovely place to sit and enjoy people watching.

I had hoped to go on the peak to peak gondola ride between Blackcomb mountain and Whistler but that was only running on the weekends weather permitting but no biggie. I loved wandering around the town and enjoying the sights. One of the chairlifts was working taking mountain bikers to the top of Whistler mountain. What a trip that must be coming down. All the riders I saw were very experienced and had all the right equipment and looked like they really knew what they were doing. I watched these guys and some girls too, for quite a while.

The drive home was good and I stopped to take some pictures along the way.

This is the Tantalus mountain range and is quite sacred to the First Nations here in BC. It was pretty despite the sun had gone behind the clouds.

On Friday T and I ventured off to visit my aunt, her mom, and go to downtown Vancouver. This was quite and adventure for T as she says she really doesn't go to Vancouver that often. Surrey has everything she needs. So it was a fun time for her as well. I had been in Vancouver about 5 years ago, maybe 6, I can't remember really but it was fun and I remember the downtown core quite well as I was staying in a hotel there. I remember the Skytrain (transit system) was really a neat way to get around. I also had another goal. Getting a ticket to the BC Lions, Edmonton Eskimos CFL football game. The stadium, BC Place, has been closed for a number of months while the roof was being fixed and the whole place upgraded. This was the opening game for the stadium. I wanted to go. So there was our quest.

We stopped by the seniors facility where my aunt lives and had a very nice visit with her. She's 91 and still bopping along. She loves her hugs and loves a good story (oh yeah and her trashy National Enquirers too)

We were giggling in this picture because she thought I was nice and warm and snuggly! Hey, what ever works for you when you're 91.

T and I set off for the Skytrain station and downtown. T was having a blast as we boarded and headed off. It was just starting to rain when we got off at Stadium station. I thought I might buy my Lions ticket there but the box offices weren't open. Not to worry I would find some where to get a ticket and the tourist info places would tell me.

I had remembered a really good sushi bar on a street downtown, I couldn't remember which of 2 streets it was on so off we went to find it. Not locating it but hungry we went to a crepe place. Holy Cow! was it ever good. I had a proscuitto, brie and egg crepe and T had a spinach, feta and egg one. Oh yeah, we both had coffee milkshakes too. This was completely awesome! The food was so good and so amazing. We had a blast.
As we exited I found my sushi bar had been in the building across the road from our crepe place but that building was being destroyed! Alas, I was on the right road though! 

Fortified we headed off to the water front to the tourist information place and Woohoo! I got my ticket! Being a sole ticket seaker I got one 3 rows from the turf off the 10 yard line right in front of the TSN broadcast stage. How cool is that!
Shopping time now and we headed to Gastown. T wanted to go to the jade store(s) and just be a tourist, I was looking for anything unique. In the jade store I found a necklace with 5 jade peas in a gold pod. It was the cutest thing (on sale too!) and so neat. I had to get it. T got a nice necklace and some earrings too. Very worthwhile stop.
At the beginning of Water street in Gastown there was a native artist store that featured silver jewelry with Haida carvings on it. We were both entranced. They had these silver beads (more like a band of silver) with totems carved into them. Each totem (frog, moon, hummingbird, raven, sun etc) has specific meanings. T was so taken with these pieces and their meaning that she decided we should get one each that "speaks to us". So I now have a silver frog totem bead and she has a silver moon totem bead. The beads are created by artist Travis Henry and mine indicates communication, stability and power of sound. Doesn't that fit me to a "t"?
T's is tranquility, inner peace and guidance. It too is perfect for her.
T was soooo excited that we had done this. It was fun!

After a stop at a coffee shop we parted ways and I headed over to BC Place for the beginning of the whole hoopla before the game. The Premier was there as was the mayor of Vancouver and the first person through the doors to the "new" BC Place was the longest holding season ticket holders. It was nice, the crowd was into it and all was good.
The fans were really into the whole experience inside too, the roof was retracted (where everyone oohed and ahhed) at the beginning of the game (think a huge Russian type blind that retracts into itself) and Sarah McLaughlin sang O Canada! Oh yeah, and the Lions won as well. The concession stands really had a problem but I got my hot dog and pop so I was okay but I know the whole food and beer thing has been a news maker out here. I had fun regardless. 

 Usually on my tour I don't go out at night but this was a different occassion and T had said it was no problem to pick me up at the Surrey Skytrain station so I was good there.
Just at the end of the game there are folks that throw little stuffed footballs out to the crowd. I had my head turned to make sure I had all my stuff and one bounced off my head into the guys lap in front of me! He said that I had really caught it and gave it to me and he and his wife and I started to chat. Seemed they were heading to Surrey on the Skytrain too and I could walk with them if I wanted. Great! I knew where to go but it was still nice to have a couple of people with me. Off we ventured. Crammed into a Skytrain we picked the right way to go by walking a bit to the first stop on the system so we could get a seat. It was still squishy but at least we were sitting.
It had been a long day. I was pooped! I think I needed a day off! So.... I took a couple! L and I watched sports on the big screen, T and I looked at family pictures and swapped stories and we had tons of good times. A good rest from my travels.

But the travelling bug was buzzing again so yesterday morning I looked at my maps again, planned my strategie and am now set to get on the road again and find new things to look at and enjoy.

I can't express enough my thanks to my western family for having me hang out with them and we've had a blast! It's been great!