While the High Plains Drifters were seeking sun in America's Southwest, we also were enjoying Spain. . .thanks to the books we were reading - one a novel and one a narrative - both set in our next destination.
Pre-trip 'research' is half the fun of our journeys. And our bags, no matter how small, will never leave home without a book or two tucked inside. Yes, the printed-on-paper-kind of book that whisks us into the history of the place or that is set in a place we may be visiting one day. Really it doesn't matter if its about a place we are visiting, might visit, may-never-visit. Books provide us a window on the world.
We are armchair travelers and armchair shoppers as well. Nothing like Amazon or Book Depository web sites to search for new reads. But often those are a game of chance: sometimes we find something and other times not - just like visiting the local bookstores. How often have I lamented, "If only there was a place that had all those books in one spot so I could spend my time choosing between them and not searching for them."
And then a few weeks ago while reading a favorite blog of mine, A Traveler's Library I was introduced to a virtual travel book lover's paradise, Packabook.com . Created by London-based Suzi Butcher, this site groups books by country: novels, memoirs, and guidebooks. Countries range from Afghanistan to Vietnam; Bosnia to Brazil, Thailand to Turkey and dozens of others in between.
Packabook also has a great on-line book club, One Country One Book. Each month a country and a book are featured. The first week the novel is introduced, the second week the country is the focus, the third week offers travel ideas and the month wraps up with reviews and ideas for the next destination. This month's book/locale is, "The Guernsey Literary and Sweet Potato Peel Pie Society." It's free and fun - I highly recommend signing up.
Me on "Zoba's' Beach - Joel Smith photo
Packabook has an accompanying blog of the same name. And I can't tell you how much fun it was to add our reading recommendations after Suzi invited TravelnWrite to be guest bloggers. Read our guest post to see where we followed Zorba and other novel characters on Crete.
We are in America’s Southwest this week and it seemed fitting to highlight the stark beauty that is found in this arid region of the country.
We were near Pinnacle Peak, to the north of Scottsdale and exploring the Four Seasons Resort . . .as we walked from the Residence Club parking lot to the hotel, this was what we saw between two of the casitas. It was as if the rock was addressing the two saguaro cactus . . . we could only imagine the stories the rock could tell.
There are certain clichés that travel editors preach against writers using. One of them is “Oasis” as in, ‘After miles of dry desert, we happened upon an oasis.’
So with all due respect to editors everywhere, I need to tell you that we happened upon a most memorable ‘oasis’ Saturday on our road trip between Las Vegas and Scottsdale.
We had taken Highway 40, a route that led us east through northern Arizona’s high desert along the Coconino Plateau; a route punctuated with road signs marking our climb in elevation to beyond the the 5,000+ foot level.
Our original plan was to have lunch in Prescott, the bustling town 95-miles north of Phoenix, but by noon we were still miles from there. . . however, we were nearing a turn-off to Ash Fork.
Ash Fork, with a population in 2007 of 2,300, didn’t make it on this map, but is near Seligman. It was Ash Fork, we decided, we’d have lunch. As we drove the two-lane street toward what we thought was town center a welcome sign told us this place was “The flagstone capital of the world”. The claim was illustrated in all types of construction -- homes, planters. . .there was flagstone everywhere.
What we didn’t see was any sign of was a commercial center, that is until the Oasis appeared. . .the Oasis Lounge, to be exact. As we got out of our car, two big black guard dogs barked out a welcome from their viewing stand deck above the red truck in the photo. (Click to enlarge the photo if you want to see the canine crew).
Three people were sipping beers at the small bar to the left of the entry and a shuffle board table and pool table served as the tavern’s centerpieces.
“You folks looking for food?” called out the leather-jacket-clad bartender. He gestured to the back room and said, “The food’s back there.”
We were the only ones in the ‘cafe’ section so we selected one of the six booths that ringed its perimeter. Our booth provided a view of a Van Gogh reproduction on the opposite wall, as well as a washer and dryer sitting next to two center tables in the cafe, and a hand truck propped against another booth. Near the kitchen's swinging doors, a booth was set up with computers – we assumed it was the business office -- and near it were a couple broken chairs and some kids toys.
Okay, I have to be honest – I was ready to leave, but Joel reminded me we travel for ‘the experiences’ and this had promise of an experience.
Our waitress was also the cook. We had a selection of a half dozen Mexican dishes from which to choose from on the 'lunch specials'. Joel got the combination plate; I ordered two chicken tacos. Although they came out as beef tacos, our food was steaming hot. We were too early for the rice to be quite ready but our cook/waitress had us taste it anyway – (it was good). In fact all the food was good, with a home-made good taste to it.
While we waited for the food we chatted with the bartender who told us the place had once been a car repair garage (note the front door in the photo – it was the car bay entry once).
The town, he told us, had once been a railroad stop and is right off the old Route 66.
The train comes by these days - it no longer stops. A section of old Route 66 is a scenic bypass between Kingman and Ash Fork.
As we drove out of town we noted two other more traditional diner-type eateries down the road a bit, but our stop at the Oasis Lounge at 346 W.Park Ave., Ash Fork, AZ 86320, phone 928-637-2650 proved those editors wrong: you can find an oasis in the desert!.
The old adage ‘the devil’s in the details’ comes to mind as I tell the latest segment in the High Plains Drifters travels. Those details are important when it comes to travel. . .and this time we slipped up and missed one tiny detail. A costly little one, at that.
Rental cars are not cheap commodities these days no matter how good a deal you get. There are the usual add-ons like city, county, state taxes to which are added “concession recovery fees, facility fees and vehicle license cost recovery fees'” and, in the case of Hertz, the second driver (me) fee of $12 a day which we passed on.
. . .ah, yes, then there is that drop off fee if you don’t return the car to the same place you picked it up.
That’s the one that nailed us. We thought we’d confirmed we were picking up in Vegas and dropping off in Phoenix but somehow missed that detail. A costly error indeed.
The Hertz counter agent quickly recalculated our rental and without blinking an eye our six day Nissan Versa ‘economy’ car (meaning ‘tiny’ not ‘cheap’) skyrocketed from the $285 to $604.
So with our accommodations pre-paid in Phoenix and our plane tickets home from there, there weren’t many options before us. (Yes, we considered turning it in immediately upon arrival in Phoenix and renting a car there but that created a one-day rental fee of $245, pretty much defeating the purpose of salvaging some of the cost).
So we set off in what I am calling our ‘tiny silver limo’’ on a great route to Phoenix. More on that in our next post. For now, if you have a trip planned, go check your documents – one more time.
By Wednesday it was clear this would not be the trip we envisioned when we left the dark, damp Pacific Northwest last weekend. The same clouds we thought we’d left behind were covering this sun-seeker paradise, rain was falling, and that, coupled with wind blew any plans for poolside basking out the window.
So what to do?
Here’s our Strip Tip for rainy day entertainment: A Do It Yourself Art Tour that costs nothing (unless of course you can’t resist buying a piece to take home).
First stop: Bellagio Resort Casino lobby where internationally-known-glass-artist-Pacific-Northwest-son Dale Chihuly’sflower sculpture , a 2,100 square foot chandelier fills the hotel lobby ceiling. There are 1,600 individual hand blown glass pieces (each weighing about 50 pounds.) that make up the piece inspired by Italy’s Lake Como and created at the Venini Factory in Venice.
Walk through the lobby to get to the the seasonal garden displays at the Bellagio’s Conservatory. Designers have again created a seasonal whimsical setting that shouldn’t be missed. This fall’s display includes a pumpkin made of 2,000 fresh carnation blooms and red apples made of red rose buds. And a framed art piece (pictured) made of flowers and greens.
Walk through the Bellagio casino to the Cirque du Soleil “O” Theatre Lobby and gallery that showcases the figurative sculptures of Richard Macdonald. His passion for dance is captured in the dancers, mimes and performers highlighted in his pieces. Watch a video of dancers and the artist capturing their moves as a piece is created. No admission cost, art is for sale.
Macdonald is currently working on a massive piece – a tribute to the founder of The Royal Ballet that will be installed next year in London’s Hyde Park.
It will cost to tour Bellagio’s Gallery of Fine Art (admission $15/adult) but in the current display (through January 2012) you’ll see pieces from Monet to Hockney that compare and contrast expressionism in landscape art.
A new Bellagio gallery that opened within the last year– Jeff Mitchum Galleries–is next door to the Fine Art Gallery in a space once occupied by the fine art gallery shop. Walls are filled with Mitchum’s stunning light and landscape photography. Open daily at 10 a.m. Free admission, art is for sale.
Staff in each gallery were eager to talk about their artist and his work. At the Mitchum gallery art consultant, Jerry Olivarez, who was staffing the gallery desk, was a great source of information about the Las Vegas visual arts community.
One of our ‘fun finds’ this trip was on the second floor of City Center’s Cosmopolitan Hotel, just south of Bellagio. As its name, Art-o-mat, implies it is a vending machine for art. It is one of six they have in this property – reportedly the only place in Nevada you will currently find them. They are old cigarette vending machines that have been recycled into hip, retro style art vendors. Insert $5, choose an artist and out comes a piece of art boxed and wrapped inside cellophane.
To our way of thinking, there is nothing better than a walk on a beach – preferably, a warm sandy one. We took many such walks in January while on the island of O’ahu, Hawaii. But it was one particular beach, just beyond Ko Olina on the northwestern shore, that gave us a Sea Foam Saturday to remember.
Each wave glazed the sand with sea foam, sweeping over our feet before being drawn back to the sea.
It is a month now since Travelnwrite became a part of Travel Photo Thursday – a weekly travel photo show that spans the globe. Check out the photos submitted by others at Budget Travelers Sandbox.
We’re ‘at home’ just a half block off the Las Vegas Strip, that sexy sounding multi-lane asphalt path that visitors follow from one glitzy, glamorous casino to another. The Villas at Polo Towers is where we’ve been ‘playing house’ in a timeshare unit that feels much like a regular condo. Our views out over the mountain ranges to the south, gives no indication that we are anywhere near the Strip’s glitz and glamour.
However our location puts us an easy walk from many casino – the MGM Grand to the left, City Center to the front and Planet Hollywood, Bellagio and Paris to the right.
And heading south on The Strip - just a short ride on the public transit – there’s . . .the grocery store.
Some of you might balk at the thought of grocery shopping and cooking on vacation, but when that is the only household duty required, it really does take on the feel of an adventure – not a chore.
And grocery stores always provide a ‘local’ flavor, like the honey we purchased: Local Desert Honey, a produce of Mojave Desert plants.
The maid arrives each afternoon to change towels and remove the garbage and does a thorough cleaning mid-week, giving us plenty of pool or reading time.
Four years ago we entered the timeshare world and have found we like the ‘home away from home’ comforts of these temporary digs. One of the nicest parts of our timeshare lifestyle allows the flexibility to trade our time and place for others around the world. We can also take advantage of owner getaways and perks. . .like this one.
Did I tell you this week’s stay is free as part of a promotion through the timeshare exchange company, Interval International? Because we booked that week back in February at The Jockey Club here in Vegas, we earned a free week’s stay to use at any number of places. We chose to return to Vegas – the only thing we paid was a $139 booking fee.
Note: These units can be rented through sites such as Expedia, or Diamond Resorts - you don’t need to own a timeshare to stay here..
The High Plains Drifters are settling into their home away from home only footsteps off The Strip in Las Vegas. We came seeking sun and warmth. We got the warmth - today's predicted high temperature is 90.
As for the sun. . .that seems to be a continuing quest.
The Strip is known for its late night bright lights and thunderous music. This afternoon The Strip was lit with bright light when lightening filled the skies, and thunder rattled the windows and then. . .no joke, the rain came pouring down in Seattle-like buckets. Weather forecasters said Sunday it would be the first winter storm of the season. Sigh.
Our one-bedroom, one-bath condo at The Villas at Polo Towers, that I wrote about last week exceeded our expectations with one exception, the internet connection -- they say it is there, my computer says it isn't. So this post is being written on one of those communal computers in the lobby where fellow guests wait a impatiently for their turn at emails and Facebook.
I have tales and photos and some Strip Tips to share but it's going to be a few days before those are posted. Now, I am heading upstairs to dig out those Seattle umbrellas that I never travel without.
