Teaching an old Travel Dog New Tricks

Little Princess goes to Paris
j smith photo, (c) 2011

This southwest road trip through a part of Nevada and a lot of Arizona a test of the post's title.

For decades my travel attire has included a mandatory camera draped around my neck.  The reason was best expressed by a friend when she once said of travel photography,"taking a photo makes the trip seem real, like it really happened"..

And I'm a reluctant late-comer to the digital world having only a couple years ago I left my SLR and photos behind, when I inherited a then-several-years-old digital camera.  Joel was immediately delighted as it no longer required that huge package of film canisters nor my bulky SLR.  That first digital still looked like my SLR, and I quickly became charmed by the little contraption and named her Ol' Betsy. Sadly, she began showing signs of age while we were in Greece last fall and her impending retirement was confirmed when they quit selling memory cards that she could handle and the repairman used the horrid words, "garbage can". (Betsy is resting comfortably on our kitchen counter right now).

So for months I've searched for a replacement: big bulky DSLRs, smaller point and shoots that look like DSLR's but that fit in the travel bags a bit better. What I vowed I wouldn't ever buy was one of those small things with no eye viewfinder that you can hold in the palm of your hand.

New Tricks

So, here we are am on the road; me with my Little Princess, as I have named the new camera..  She arrived from Amazon.com the afternoon before we left on this trip.  And she's everything I said I'd never buy:  compact, no view finder, and so small there is no neck strap, there's barely a wrist strap. (Joel loved the camera the minute he saw its size, "less to carry" he noted without concern of its capabilities.)

But reviews I have read from the dozens of travelers who love this camera say that this Fuji Fine Pix F300EXR (the name is bigger than the camera) is the perfect travel camera. Many said they've compared their photos from this camera to the DSLRs and they have rated well. I've read the small 'how-to-use' pamphlet, but didn't have time to load the 150-page PDF users manual, let alone read it. I figured out how to charge the battery and install it, along with the memory card.  But I certainly have no idea how to make the bells and whistles it offers sing any sort of photographic melody, let alone result in a digital image (I still prefer the word 'photo')

For now the old travel dog is busy snapping digital images and telling myself that travel - even travel photography - should remove me from my routine comfort zone.  Little Princess has certainly done that.

The Jockey Club - a Las Vegas Gem



The Jockey Club

You see that little building dwarfed by the new Cosmopolitan Hotel in the photo above?

Well, that's The Jockey Club, a Las Vegas throwback to the days when names like Sinatra and The Rat Pack were headliners here. 

We hit the jackpot when we picked this place for a week-long stay on The Strip.

We are in a one-bedroom suite with full kitchen and living room, huge closet and a small bathroom (not everything can be big) at the rate of less than $35 a night.  The decor is fitting with a jockey club, deep greens and burgundies and horses - but not for long as the entire place (which looks very good now) is getting a face lift of new furniture and flat screen televisions.  (I need to tell you the beds are as comfortable as Marriott - and here, unlike Marriott, we've had daily maid service as well.)

This gem of a place, a Las Vegas fixture since 1971, is snuggled up against the new Cosmopolitan Hotel. . .psst, a secret: We have access to a hidden away elevator that whisks us up to the Cosmopolitan!  Our picture window opens to a direct view of the Eiffel Tower at Paris and the dancing fountain at Bellagio.

The Vegas stay is the result of a promotion from Interval International, the company that has for years managed Marriott Vacation timeshare exchanges, as well as a host of other properties.

Taken for a ride in Vegas

We hate to be scammed when we travel. But we were last night.
And sometimes it happens so fast, that there isn't much you can do about it.
Or is there? 
We will see.

What's real irritating is that I had just sent an article to a friend warning about Las Vegas cab drivers that appeared in the Los Angeles Times this week.  My friend hasn't been here in years and I wanted to make sure it didn't happen to her when she comes here next month. So you can imagined how furious I was when it happened to us. . .two days after the article had appeared.

Our flight from Seattle had been delayed and had been a bit rough, so the charming English-accented taxi driver was a welcome sight. . .we told her we were going to The Jockey Club (a gem of a find, by the way) on The Strip. It is 4 miles from the airport.  So as she mumbled about heavy Saturday night traffic, mumble, sigh, mumble, sigh, she pulled onto the freeway.  Too late. . .we couldn't stop her.

The Strip when we finally reached it was normal traffic, certainly not the mess she had us picturing it was.   We'd traveled nearly 10 miles during which time she told us how bad traffic had gotten in recent years and how much she hated driving in it and had helplessly watched as the meter as it raced to $23 and then she added $1.80 for an airport fee.  The article uses the word kidnap - it is a good word.

As Joel paid the ransom and got the bags, I got the cab number and company phone number.  By now, we were very out of sorts and told the receptionist what had happened.  She shrugged, shook her head and said yes, it was too bad, "but I have heard worse."

That sent me over the top. 
I didn't even unpack bags before I had dialed the cab company (and I have no backbone, so this should tell you how furious I was).  The manager I was referred to apologized profusely and said they try not to have this happen, but they get an occasional 'rogue driver'.  Turns out I wasn't the first one to call about this. . .woman.  Yes, making me even madder was the fact that a fellow female had scammed us.  He said they would investigate my claim and took an address where he could send a refund check.

I'll let you know how it ends, but for now, our new -- and sadly, less friendly approach will be -- "We are going to the blank destination and we do not want to get there by freeway."  I encourage you to read the article - it is right on target.

Think Hawaii ~ Think Hula

Palm trees sway under a tropical blue sky along Waikiki's famed Beach Walk. And depending on the route and time of day, you may see groups of people under those palm trees gyrating madly to the beat of drums or swaying to the gentle rhythms of the ukulele's melodies.

You'll be reminded that Hawaii is the land of Hula.

Hula c lass in Kapiolani Park -Waikiki
j.smith photo, (c) 2010

I've always loved watching hula dancers and have even been tempted to take a class . . .but never having been known for moving my feet and arms/hands in synchronized movement, I've opted not to give Beach Boy the pleasure of seeing Hula Babe trying to live up to her self-christened name.

What I think is absolutely the best part of this wonderful performance art is its history. Before the 1820's when a written Hawaiian language system began, all stories, tales, and lore were passed from generation to generation orally,through mele (song), oli (chant) and hula (dance).  Children learned from elders of gods and goddesses, family wisdom and history and were introduced to worlds both real and imagined. . .all without using a 'Google search'. 

Even today listening closely to the words being sung as a hula dancer performs, you will hear stories of lost loves, places and a yearning to return to those magical spots.

One of the free Beach Walk Hula Shows Waikiki
j smith photo, (c) 2010

If you find yourself heading to Hawaii in April 24-30, 2011and don't yet have a set itinerary, head to Hilo for the Merry Monarch Festival where you can see some of the finest hula ever performed.

Hanford: Unveiling its History and Mystery

Wind-swept Hanford
J. Smith, photo (c) 2010

I grew up just a hundred miles or so up the road from the wind-swept Columbia River Plateau; home to the secretive -- and for a kid back then -- scary place called Hanford.  I knew they made something to do with bombs there, I mean the high school in Richland, the town nearest this once-hush-hush place, is known as Home of the Bombers

Hanford's impact on nuclear history is now well documented.  Today it is an enormous hazardous  nuclear waste site.  The good news is that the Department of Energy, that agency managing, the site has a number of gargantuan cleanup projects underway.  The even better news is that they've been offering FREE public tours of the place since 2004. 

Control Room - B Reactor - Hanford Tour
j. smith photo, (c) 2010

Last fall I took one of those tours and was blown away - absolutely, blown away  -- by it. We traveled from those mysterious World War II years into the future in a matter of hours.

I wrote about the Hanford Tour and my article appears in today's Seattle Times.  Click the link to read it, then make a note to yourself to try and nab a spot on one of this year's tours. You won't regret it; and I can assure you, you'lll never forget it.

A 'Fill-in-the-blank-cation'

Vacation  

That word was the focus of on one of my favorite writing blogs this week, Macmillan Dictionary (yes, they do have a blog and I sometimes read it) and it got me thinking about travel. . .what else is new, right? Some of you are convinced that I think of nothing but travel. 

But, back to "vacation". . .have you been thinking about one of late?

If you are, or even if you aren't, consider some of the new variations to that once tried and true definition of this word meaning "freedom or a respite of time away from something."

The recession brought about the concept of the Staycation, staying at home, camping out in the back yard, saving money.
Then there was the 'skip-it-all' talk of such activities with the Naycation.
The quick getaway became a Daycation.
Hoteliers with spa features quickly captured the concept of Spacation.

The blog suggested that if you start off somewhere and change your mind midway through the trip, could it be a Straycation?
Or how about starting an adventure and quiting before it is complete? Of course, a Halfwaycation.

As I thought about the wretched weather we've had in the world the last few months we might want to add: Delay-cation for those whose flights have been cancelled.  Or for those who make a vacation out of seeking minor elective medical treatments, does it become a Medi-cation?
Is a get-away for boys a Mancation (with Womancation for the opposite sex)? Similar to Man- Caves and Woman-Caves.

Just think what Dr. Seuss could do with this. Like his Cat in the Hat, put on your vacation dreaming hat. . . what type of 'cation' would you take?  Share your ideas in the comment section below:

The House Without a Key

Kanoe Miller performs at - House Without a Key

One of our favorite outings in Waikiki is to the House Without a Key in the ultra-posh Halekulani Hotel. We go there for a taste of yesteryear Hawaii and high-end entertainment. We sit under the courtyard's centerpiece 100+-year-old Kiawe (key-ah-vey) tree, sipping wine, while being serenaded by musicians - masters of Hawaiian songs - and watch Kanoe Miller as she tells tales through her gentle hula moves; all against a backdrop of the setting sun.

But almost as good as is the setting and show, is the history of how the place got its name. You see, this indoor-outdoor gathering place, honors the book that kicked off the Charlie Chan detective series, The House Without a Key, written in 1925 by Earl Derr Biggers. 

And, as we were told, that story goes. . .

The Halekulani, originally a private beech front residence, had accommodated guests since 1917.  And it was owned by a retired sea captain. Biggers is said to have conceived the series while staying in a nearby Halekulani cottage.  The House Without a Key has detective Charlie Chan solving the murder of a sea captain.  There's a belief that Charlie Chan was based on Chang Apana, a real detective in Honolulu in the 1920's, but there are questions as to whether Biggers knew him or only knew of him.

We've been hooked on the Charlie Chan series since 2008 when Academy Chicago Publishers brought the books back into print.  And after becoming enamoured with Charlie, I always wonder if Biggers might have been sitting under the same tree sipping a libation when he came up with the idea for my favorite fictional crime fighter.

Note: Click on the Kanoe Miller link above to see a video from YouTube of her performance.  The House Without A Key is on our Amazon carousel, found on the lower right side of the http://www.travelnwrite.com/  homepage. I've also added the beach books I wrote about last week to

Diet to Go: Tropical Feast - not Famine

Okay, the truth is, we've never lost weight on one of our extended trips. . .until now.

Our culinary journey, our 'Diet to Go' (DTG), kicked off in Kirkland's safe confines.  A quick trip here or there and not of the length that would throw a monkey-wrench into the efforts. Truthfully, our hopes for Hawaii were to not gain as much as previous years. (Four pounds each last year and --oink --about six the year before).

So the fact that I am telling you we are each down 1 - 1.5 pounds from when we arrived, is amazing.

Remember, we were following the Glycemic Load Diet (the book's on the Amazon carousel on our homepage) by Dr. Rob Thompson, who also wrote a guest post about travel and dieting for us. We've not spent time 'thinking diet' but what we've done differently is:

• Maui potato chips gave way to Kim Chee,  home-made Korean spicy cucumber chunks that we discovered at a local farmer's market.
• Baked potatoes of previous years were history with many green salads taking their place; locally-grown Manoa Valley lettuce melts in the mouth.
• We've not had any crackers or corn chips or cookies.

What we have had: 

• a milk shake, a couple Starbucks frozen mochas dripping in chocolate and whipped cream, macaroni salad (in small portions),chocolate covered macadamia nuts every night along with quantities of wine far in excess of what we would have at home. 
• We've also eaten lau lau, the Hawaiian pork and fish wrapped in taro leaves and steamed in tea leaves, steak, fish, and  Hawaiian 'plate lunch' (substituted green salad for the usual scoops of rice and mac salad).
• We've eaten more than a dozen papayas and nine pineapples.

For a number of reasons, but primarily the view from our deck and the cost-savings, we've eaten every meal 'at home' since arriving at Ko Olina. We've been inspired by the discovery of a nearby farmer's market and helped by a new grocery/deli at Ko Olina.

The local fare at our nearby farmers market has been a culinary journey.  Farm fresh eggs, lettuce, fresh fish, homemade goodies have all tempted. We  sampled dark chocolate covered fresh strawberries last week at our Waianae Farmers Market and they gave me the recipe.  I think it fits in with our Diet to Go, so here it is: