Hillary's Wedding Day!

Saturday July 31, 2020. Las Vegas

Congrats to the Clintons, Chelsea made a beautiful bride! It has been the lead news story out here for a week now, except if it rains, that is really big news.
Friday we did the Hoover dam with a least a million other tourists. The traffic is unbelievable to
this amazing wonder, but a bridge is to open soon and named to honor Pat Tillman, the soldier/ pro football player who fell to friendly fire.
Today we spent the day and most of the evening in Las Vegas, and oh what an overdone city!
But I loved it, it was so visually stimulating and of course I shot a million pictures. It was hard not to, every time I turned around I saw the same thing in a different light. Poor Ken! We started at the Bellagio, which was more than I could imagine, the outdoor water show in front of the bldg, the atrium in a summer theme with rare sculpted olive trees, and if that wasn't enough the lobby ceiling was done in Dale Chihuly flowers, unbelievable. We also took a trolley tour which gave us the history of Las Vegas, passed the hotels/casinos on the strip and made 17 stops. We sat in seats on the top of the open trolley, well covered in sunscreen, but it was still about 106 degrees and oohed and aahed for two hours.
After the trolley tour we went to the Aria Resort Hotel/Casino for brunch at The Buffet, it was also unbelievable. I should not have been surprised, everyone has said the food is pretty wonderful in L.V. and it was. The buffet was very classy, no one breathing on the food, fresh, well cooked and nicely presented. They had Alaskan crab legs, steamed shelled shrimp, sushi, lox, salad greens, Italian pastas dishes, etc, etc,. They had an outstanding, beautiful assortment of desserts, like flans, gelato and just everything, again beautifully presented, very impressive.
After eating for at least 2 hours and enjoying a lovely relaxing meal we hit the streets and saw up close what we saw from the trolley. Then we hung around until it got dark so we could see all the lights. Spectacular!

Tomorrow: Death Valley National Park.

Thursday, July 29, 2010. We're in a cafeteria in Grand Canyon National Park trying to remember what we did since our last blog. Oh yeah...on Monday, 7/26, Chris and Neal took us to Coronado to visit the Hotel del Coronado, where part of Some Like it Hot was shot. It's the largest remaining wooden hotel in the US. Just beautiful! In 1963 an entree in the hotel's dining room cost $2.50. How times change. Had dinner at a "happenin place," per Neal, called Fresh Greens and then returned home to pack and watch Star Wars. Tuesday morning we bade the Wichards a fond farewell and headed to the Grand Canyon. We stayed overnight in Flagstaff and had dinner at "Black Barts" on Christine's recommendation. It looks like an old western saloon, with a piano player and waitstaff that hop on the stage and sing between serving. Very entertaining, and good food.

You can't describe the Grand Canyon in mere words: it really is more than just a big hole. You have to see it to appreciate its beauty and enormity. We walked along the Rim Trail (flat) and took a brief hike on Bright Angel Trail (not flat). Fortunately, the weather here has been much cooler and cloudier than normal, so we've been able to hike around without dying in the heat. People do die in the heat here. We took a very strenuous hike this morning down into the canyon on the South Kaibab Trail that would have been a killer if it weren't cloudy. Very steep. We started the hike with a ranger at 7AM. They tell you to stop hiking by 10 because of the heat. After the hike, we changed our sweaty clothes and hopped on the free shuttle to explore the park more leisurely. Now 7PM and time to get Serry to think about eating. Tomorrow we will do more of the canyon before leaving for Hoover Dam.

Sunday, July, 25, 2010. Before leaving Twentynine Palms on Friday, we went back to the Park to hike to Barker Dam, which was built by ranchers in the early 1900s to provide water for their cattle. The ranches failed, but the dam and the water are still there. It's now a stopover for migrating waterfowl, with ducks, herons, etc. In the distance, we could see bighorn sheep resting in the shade of a rocky overhang, watching us crazy people standing in the blazing sun taking their pictures. What must they think of us!?

After the Park we set out for La Jolla, at one point driving down a huge hill (several miles long) into a valley whose name I can't recall. At the bottom of the hill, towards Palm Springs, there's a wind farm with thousands of turbines. A little while later we entered one of California's infamous freeways, and people started to speed up and weave from lane to lane, something we hadn't seen since I-95 in southern Florida. Anyway, the road gods were with us, and we arrived at Chris and Neal's in La Jolla a couple of hours later. Their home is beautiful, and La Jolla is very picturesque. But it's overcast and unusually cold here near the ocean. Just as we were getting used to temps in the low hundreds, we're now in the high 60s. A few miles east it's around 90. After dinner, Neal and Chris took us for a walk on the boardwalk along the beach, and then for a drive to Mt. Soledad, where we looked out over La Jolla and San Diego.

On Saturday Neal and Chris (and David Moonan, Chris and Serry's nephew) took us to Palomar Mountain to see the Palomar Observatory, something I never expected to see in person. Along the way we stopped in Julian, an old western-type town now noted for its apple pies. Today, Sunday, Serry, Chris and I went for a hike on the paths overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the Torrey Pines Nature Reserve. In the afternoon, Serry and David went for a 19-mile bike ride on a path near the ocean, and Neal took me for a ride in his restored 1964 Shelby Cobra sports car. Beautiful, loud, and fast! In the evening, we walked along the cliff overlooking the beach in downtown La Jolla before having dinner. In addition to people-watching, you can see cormorants, pelicans, and sea lions. Chris said that in the winter you can see whales migrating to the waters by Baja California.

We expect to leave this beautiful place Tuesday morning, so we'll have to make the best of tomorrow.

Thursday, July 22, 2010. We're now in Twentynine Palms, California, just north of Joshua Tree NP. This place is home to a sprawling Marine Corps base that trains marines for desert warfare. Our hotel desk clerk"s husband is here getting ready for his fourth deployment to Afghanistan!
We spent part of the day exploring the park. It's not the most exciting park, as one Joshua tree looks pretty much like another one, but there are some interesting rock formations, and from the highest point you can see several mountain ranges, as well as the San Andreas fault. Tomorrow we're heading to La Jolla to visit Chris and Neal.

Now for the highlight of my day, our visit to Salome, AZ. While Ken was driving out of Goodyear, I decided to ask Stella (our GPS lady) to find Salome, AZ. She located Salome, Ken agreed to take me there even though it was 13 miles of, rocky, dusty, hilly roadway. When my family moved to CA from NY in the 60' s we drove cross country and one of our memorable overnights was a stop to this very small town on the Mohave desert. It was memorable for so many reasons, one being the motel had no locks on the door and our Mom was not going to sleep with those conditions and possibly risk her 3 daughters lives. She had our Dad move all the furniture in the room against the door, just in case. Ken and I stopped at the post office, met the post mistress, took a pic with her, went to the motel, met the new owner who gladly showed us a room that had never been renovated. She had no guests at this time and showed us the pool which is now salt water. If we can figure out how to upload pics to this blog I would include some of Salome. There are only 2000 residents.

Wednesday night, July 21,2010. We're spending the night, and doing laundry, in Goodyear, Arizona, about 40 miles west of Phoenix. Very nice town. Lots of stuff. We would have gone further, but the next town with accommodations is 90 miles away! Today we took a 5 mile hike in Saguaro NP East. Saw our first jackrabbit, a roadrunner, and some ground squirrels. And lots of saguaro cactus, though not so many as in SNP West. This was more like I had expected the park to look--more like the pictures you always see. You can take a picture of a single cactus without a million in the background.

Something else about rattlesnakes. Because of the availability of antivenin, it's rare for someone to die of a bite. However, a single course of treatment (some people need 2 or 3) consists of 21 vials of antivenin, and each vial costs $6,000! So be careful out there, you young, tattooed, drunk males.

Tomorrow we're heading to Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Tuesday July 20, 2010

Early entry: 4:30 - early for us
Returned from the park about 3pm, Ken has a toothache and Dr. Aks (our dentist in
Germantown) called in a drug prescription for him. picked up this afternoon so Kenny is resting . And I am hoping he will be feeling better soon, so we can get the heck out of this room. We had a wonderful day at the desert museum, we walked about 4 miles in hundred deg. heat, but it was a leisurely walk for us. I will let Ken tell you about the four legged animals and I will relate a 2 legged animal story. There are about 350 snake bites (Western Diamondback Snake) in AZ each year, and one fatality every 2 years. They have a profile of the person who is most often bitten and there are four things that are almost always guaranteed:
MALE, 18-35 YEARS OLD, TATTOOED, AND DRUNK. Does this surprise you?
Also, most people are bitten because they have to see it up close, take photos, etc. Stephan suggested taking a giant step (3-4 feet) backwards if there is one in front of you.

Wednesday, July 21. I (Ken) had a toothache (better now) so we didn't get to Saguaro East, but spending most of the day in the desert museum was well worth it. We saw coyotes, javelinas, owls, falcons, prairie dogs, bobcats, Mexican wolves, an ocelot, and a Harris hawk, as well as a rattlesnake that was not part of the exhibits! Neat, but very hot! 105 or so. I've drunk more water the last few days than my whole previous life.

Monday, July 19, 2010. We're in Tucson, Arizona! The very word makes me want to strap on a six gun, hop on a horse, and join a posse. But it's 105 degrees! So maybe I'll just go to 7-11 and grab a slurpee.

We drove here through beautiful scenery from El Paso. We toured Saguaro NP West. The cacti are amazing. Because they're protected, I always figured saguaro were rare. Not so; there are zillions of them. Tomorrow we're going to the Sonora Desert Museum and then Saguaro NP East, which is supposed to be different than the western park. We'll see.

Ken forgot to mention the 2 ghost towns we stopped to visit on our way here, both are now double ghost towns, no longer open to the curious public.
The Sugaro's are amazing to see and have an interesting life story. I think most surprising to us was seeing the skeleton beneath the fleshy part of the Sugaro. It is quite beautiful, delicate and intricate, like a wood carving. We plan to be at the museum at 7am, we want to wake the animals...

Sunday, July 18, 2010. We spent a good portion of the day in El Paso, down near the border crossing area. The streets are loaded with cheap (e.g., 6 bras for $9) stores that cater to Mexicans that come to El Paso for the day. Also toured the El Paso Museum of Art. Very hot in El Paso, so we drove to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where the motel desk clerk said it was 102 degrees, So naturally, we went to historic Old Mesilla, the original town around which Las Cruces grew up. Kind of cute--old adobe buildings now containing shops and restaurants that cater to tourists crazy enough to venture out in the heat. Of course, July is the worst part of the year here. In Spring and Fall the weather is moderate, wildflowers are in bloom, and nobody gets heat struck walking out in the blazing sun. Tomorrow we're heading to Tucson, Arizona...where it's probably even hotter!
Serafina's take: I felt a little like an intruder in the shopping area of Old El Paso, we were obviously tourists and fortunately I was not loaded with jewelry. I also tried to be discreet in my picture taking, like shooting without looking at a subject. (I've seen Michael do this) I was impressed with the order of these very small shops, well displayed, huge, huge amounts of merchandise and very neat and colorful. I could not keep from taking pics, a riot of colors, too much visual stimulation for me. There are not any grocery items sold in any of these shops, which I thought unusual, they must not be permitted to take back to Juarez.
Ken and I were advised to avoid El Paso, and I am glad we went, it is another world and should be seen.

Saturday, July 17, 2010. We're in the West Texas town of El Paso We can see Ciudad Juarez below. Today we hiked in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX, where the El Capitan mountain is located. We walked almost 8 miles...in 100 degree heat! (But it's dry, right?) Saw a rattlesnake, a bull snake, and a mule deer. Pretty cool...er, hot. The ride from the mountains to El Paso is spectacular. Not sure what we're doing tomorrow. Maybe we'll go to downtown El Paso and watch a gun fight.

Friday July 17, 2010 (It's getting to post these things every night--and remember what we did during the day when we don't.) Anyway...We went to Austin Wednesday morning, 7/15, and started our tour at the Texas capitol building. These capitol buildings are always interesting and Texas' is no exception. We then visited the LBJ presidential library on the grounds of U. Texas. Very well done and very interesting, particularly because Serry and I lived through the Johnson era--we remembered everything. Had dinner in a great restaurant in the trendy downtown area. My best meal so far. That night we went to see the Mexican free-tailed bats fly out from under the Gov. Ann Richards Bridge--a big attraction in Austin. There are about 1.5 million of the critters, and they're supposed to fly out at dusk so you can see them against the darkening sky. Unfortunately, they didn't leave the bridge until 10PM, so we couldn't really see them. Very inconsiderate of them. Austin is a neat city; we liked it.

Thursday, 7/16, we left Austin heading west to New Mexico to see Carlsbad Caverns. A very long driving day through a very desolate part of the country (which I guess is part of its charm). Along the way, we stopped at the visitor's center of the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City. We didn't have time for the ranch itself--we'd still be there!

Then we stopped at Sonora, TX, and got caught in a traffic jam, undoubtedly the only one this little town has ever had or will ever have. A couple of trucks were transporting two immense tanks of some sort. These things must have been 80 feet long and 20feet high. So big that the power company had to dismantle the traffic lights at the interstate intersection and nobody could move. Then on to Ft. Stockton, TX. Serry and I "toured" the virtually empty one-street downtown area. We parked in front of a closed funeral parlor and took a little walk. When we got back to the car, a man drove up and asked us if we were looking for an undertaker. We assured him we weren't. We wound up for the night in Pecos, TX, the home of the famous Judge Roy Bean. Nice hotel, and they had free pizza and beer for the guests!

Friday, 7/16, we drove to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and toured the caverns. Very interesting. At night we finally got to see those bats we missed in Austin; the caverns are full of them. We are now in a motel in Carlsbad, NM. The motel's sign advertises "new rooms." Maybe they were...in 1959! Oh well, it's all part of the fun.

Tuesday July 13, 2010 10:41 central time

Darren served us breakfast at 8:30 and we were in Old Town San Antonio by 10 and beginning
our history lesson on the Alamo. After the Alamo, we got on the RiverWalk and walked to the
San Fernando Cathedral, which is lovely. Remains of Crockett, Bowie and others who died at the Alamo are buried here. To the Mercado, which is very colorful, and full of items we were not interested in purchasing. We needed a cool drink and Ken chose a really neat bakery/ restaurant/ bar which is tastefully decorated in a Mexican/Southwestern theme. We received an education on Tequila from our bartender, a very nice young man who did not seem old enough to drink. Two things we remember: Good tequila is made from 100% agave, and tequila is mescal from the Tequila region/state of Mexico (like champagne is sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France). To the Spanish Governors Palace, then back to RiverWalk, which is beautiful, gorgeous trees, flowers,and lots of people, all of them very nice. Tomorrow--on to Austin!

Monday July12, 2010

We've begun our great american road trip, and I am finally, getting to do some posting to our blog. Working back, we left Boca on Saturday the 10th comfortable that Auntie Vera is recovering beautifully, like the true Zino she is!

After a long, boring ride on I-10 on the Florida panhandle, punctuated by a couple of terrible thunderstorms, we arrived at US 98, which follows the coast According to Michael (and our NatGeo atlas), 98 is supposed to be a scenic route. I guess it is compared to I-10, but not much else. We had a nice seafood dinner at Floyd's Shrimp House on Ft. Walton Beach and finally arrived in Pensacola. Finding a motel was somewhat difficult because the Blue Angels Navy flying team was there for a show, but we finally got a place around 9PM.

On Sunday we drove into downtown Pensacola and walked around the historic district. Everything was closed, of course, and except for people going to church (what's up wit dat!?), we were the only ones on the streets. The area is pretty neat--lots of cool restaurants and art places, and architecture reminiscent of New Orleans, what with all wrought-iron balconies.

After that we drove to Pensacola beach to check on the oil spill cleanup efforts. Saw a bunch of guys scooping up tar balls. It's awfully hot work, but the guys told us they were happy to have the work. We gave the admiral in charge the benefit of our vast experience in these matters and left Pensacola for Mobile, Alabama.

We planned to take a free trolley around Mobile but, being Sunday, it wasn't operating. So we walked the route in the 98 degree sunshine. The historic district where we walked is just beautiful. Grand old homes and enormous live oaks. We had lunch in an oyster house-type restaurant. When the waitress found out we were yankees who didn't know what cheesy grits are, she gave Serry a complimentary dish of them. Very nice folks down there...but they talk funny.

After that we got back in the car and drove to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was quite late, so about all we saw of the city was the state capitol building. At the request/demand of Gov. Huey Long, it's the tallest capitol building in the US. A little strange, but also rather impressive.

Today, Monday, we intended to drive straight to San Antonio. But not too far out of baton Rouge, we were driving on I-10 on a huge bridge across the Atchafalaya Basin, and we stopped at an elaborate visitor's center for the Basin and talked ourselves into taking a boat tour of the Atchafalaya Swamp, the largest freshwater swamp in the US (or maybe the world; I've already forgotten). The swamp was really something--lots of birds, alligators, etc. And the guide was a real character, a guy in his mid-60's who has lived near the swamp his whole life. Lots of fun!

After the tour we stopped at a crawfish restaurant the guide told us about and finally got on the road about 2PM. We arrived in San Antonio a little after 9. We're downtown in a really old house (1906?) that's been turned into a B&B. Tomorrow we'll start our tour of San Antonio.

Ken

Friday July 9, 2010

We plan to leave Boca Raton tomorrow if all is well with
Auntie Vera. She is feeling well today, after a rough day for her yesterday.
She is used to being active and sitting around is not her cup of tea; after all
she is a Zino and a vital 90 year old lady!

We've enjoyed cooler than DC weather here for most of our visit and for that I've been grateful. It meant I was still able to get out and do my walks, even in the middle of the day.

We are in the library at the moment and tomorrow we hope to be in a lovely hotel
on the FL panhandle. I am not anxious to see the destruction the oil spill has caused, but perhaps the money we spend will help the city of Pensacola, just a little. I think it is good reason to make it our first stop.