USA – Destination NOW

Tesla’s Maiden “Voyage”

I’ve already confessed in prior posts that I am not a “car person”. I’m not an engineer, or scientist or mathematician either. So, my observations about my first long distance drive will seem really basic to those who ARE any of the things that I am not. If any of the aforementioned happen to stumble upon this blog, PLEASE feel free to comment. I would be enormously grateful for your insights, corrections and helpful hints.

The Driving Experience
From my 1,450 miles of driving during my 5 months of ownership, I already knew my Tesla was pretty damn amazing, well before I set off on my first long distance journey. What I DIDN’T know was how incredibly relaxing a trip can be even when you’re the driver. Want to take your hands off the wheel to get a cold drink, or rummage through your cooler? No problem. Self drive has it under control. Are you usually tense when you are in stop and go traffic? That’s a thing of the past, because the car stops and goes with traffic, allowing you, the driver to enjoy your surroundings, eat, change up your music – whatever you want.

When I missed the turn off for the Tappan Zee (now Mario Cuomo Bridge, but old habits are hard to shake) I was forced to drive over the GW Bridge. What would normally be harrowing was just a long and least favorite experience. I didn’t have to worry about being hemmed in on all sides by trucks. The Tesla kept me safely in the middle of my lane.

About being in the middle of the lane, I have learned I normally drive much closer to the right side of the road, so as I was learning the ins and outs of self drive, I freaked out when the Tesla pulled me to the left. I was afraid it wasn’t going to self correct in time. I’m glad that I practiced using the self driving feature on the winding, hilly country roads in my area so I could gain confidence in its safety.

Trip Planning
When I used the Tesla trip planning app, it assumed that I would be starting on the trip at the current charge level. I had never charged to 100% before (the physicists know why, but WE don’t need to get into the technical details here) so the app led me to believe that I wouldn’t be able to make the 260 mile trip without stopping to recharge. Wrong. If I chose to do so, I discovered I could have easily made it the entire way, with at least 20% battery to spare.

The Tesla navigation app recommends charging stops along your route. Take a look at the information the app provides for each charging station:

The app is designed to minimize charging times, so for the return, the trip planner suggested just one stop of 15 minutes. (I started my return with less than a full charge). Here’s the thing. If you let the car sit after charging is completed, you get a 5 minute grace period. If you linger longer, as shown in the photo, you are charged $1 a minute idling fees. That’s one way to make sure that the charging stations are available to everyone who needs them. But, if you plan on stopping to have lunch and a bathroom break, you may WANT a longer charge time.

Sad to say, I discovered the battery has a much longer range than my kidneys. MY need to stop occurred WAY before I needed to charge. Here’s another thing: for a reason that is obvious to the physicists and engineers, (but a mystery to me) a battery charges faster when it is closer to empty than when it is closer to full, so that’s something else to factor when planning your stops. So many things to consider. I’m proud to reveal that I did somewhat better on the return trip mastering the car/body connection. One unanticipated snag was the charging station in Madison was “temporarily out of service”, disrupting my plan to charge while visiting with a friend. Fortunately, I knew that BEFORE I headed back, so was able to reconfigure my stops. All these “discoveries” will make my next trip stops so much easier to plan.

The “other’ charging stations
None of my family members have an outdoor outlet, so I couldn’t charge overnight using a regular household current. The closest chargers were two EvGo stations offering both slow and fast chargers. I had planned to use the fast CHAdeMO option but instead I experienced rude awakening #1: the adapter that came with the car didn’t fit. I would have needed to purchase the correct adapter for $450 from the Tesla store. I also discovered that the charging speed of even the FAST (CHAdeMO) connection was significantly less than what I would experience at a supercharger. (DEFINITELY not worth spending $450!) Next came rude awakening #2: I couldn’t get the included J1172 adapter to fit on the nozzle of the slower option. I was afraid of damaging one (or both) so I gave up and decided this would be something I would try once I got home (and had my trusty husband by my side). Luckily, there WAS a Tesla Supercharger about 15 minutes away, so that’s the one I used. The whole point of this stream of consciousness rambling is that home charging is essential for electric vehicle owners AND you need to give some thought to charging stops BEFORE you head off. It isn’t QUITE as easy and convenient as stopping for gas. At least not yet. So, no cross country trips in the Tesla will be in our near future. I’d rather plan our stops around where we want to be, rather than where we have to charge.

Energy Consumption
The discoveries keep coming. Here’s another. When you let the car drive itself, energy consumption improves. At least it did for me. Here’s how I could tell. The energy app shows average consumption over three different ranges. 300 watt hours per mile is the expected average, but the thick solid line in the graph below shows the expected average when the terrain (and possibly external temperature?) is taken into consideration. The dotted line shows my actual results for the past 30 miles. If it is below the solid line, I’m doing better than expected. (This is one example where being “above average” ISN’T a good thing). Notice the little green triangle? That’s when the battery was recharging itself. If I continued to drive the way I had for the past 30 miles, I would have sufficient energy to go another 157 miles. What’s puzzling is when you add the averages (actual and projected) you come up with 390 miles, which is far greater than the EPA range of 322.
This, by the way, was not my graph from the actual trip. Self driving widened the gap between the solid and dotted lines in a very positive way.

Everything Else
My 6 and 7 year old grand nieces proclaimed me their “coolest aunt” strictly on the basis of my car ownership. The ability of the car to fart upon command was definitely a huge hit, as was its ability to go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. They dubbed the fast acceleration “the rocket” and requested that I do “the rocket” again and again.

One final observation. Having self drive and navigation, however does NOT eliminate the “back seat” driver, even when he (and so far it has ALWAYS been a “he”) sits in front.

Love ya, dad, but one driver per car is sufficient

Western Pennsylvania’s Surprises – Part 2

I know, I know–there has been a bit of a gap between Western Pennsylvania’s Part 1 and Part 2. That’s what happens when you follow a lazy blogger.

So, to review: my last post pointed out our mistaken belief that Fallingwater would be the only attraction the Ohiopyle area had to offer. Were WE ever wrong. Instead, we discovered multiple highlights, many of them located at the Nemacolin Resort.

If you have never heard of the Nemacolin resort, join the club. Neither had we. The Fallingwater website listed several area hotels, beds & breakfasts and inns. Because this trip was an anniversary celebration, a Ramada, Holiday Inn Express or Days Inn was not what we had in mind. Okay, the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort was a splurge, but was it ever worth it!

First some background information: The resort is privately owned by 96 year old Joseph Hardy III, who still has a home somewhere on its 2,000 acres. He leaves its day to day operation to his daughter Maggie, who also is the CEO of 84 Lumber, the source of Joe’s wealth. You can read all about Joe’s history in the lobby of the Lodge.

We stayed in The Lodge, one of several hotels on the property.

Well, not exactly ALL. You need to go to Wikipedia to learn that he had FIVE wives instead of the three the display fessed up to. His first marriage to Dorothy lasted more than 50 years, which means that from his 70’s until now, he made up for lost time by wedding 4 more lovely ladies. Three of his brides were in their 20’s, which made the 50 something woman he wed (wife #4) appear age appropriate. Unfortunately, THAT marriage went the way of the three before, and Joe’s last (possibly current?) Mrs. Hardy was under 30 when he married her. The display tells about his founding of 84 Lumber and its financial success, but somehow I find his marital history far more intriguing. Admit it, you probably do too.

Joe’s interest was not confined to women. He also was fond of classic cars, which are displayed in a “museum” on the property. Here are just a few of Joe’s toys. Notice the motorcycle? That is a replica of Peter Fonda’s wheels, built from parts of the motorcycles used in the movie “Easy Rider”. The Captain America helmet is perched on the back.

Right by the private airstrip is a hangar containing classic planes, including Steve McQueen’s, from a movie I didn’t see and don’t recall. Sorry. THAT museum was locked up, but if you have a burning desire to get up close and personal with those babies, you can call security from the phone helpfully placed by the entrance and they will let you in. We weren’t that curious, so the photo was shot through the window. I’m confident you get the idea.

Although there are many diversions to thrill children and teens, we didn’t partake in any of those.

Instead, we rode the “free” shuttle to the Frank Lloyd Wright “tribute” restaurant located in another hotel (each room at THIS hotel comes with your personal butler. If you are anything like me, you probably are wondering “what does the butler DO??? Hand you your slippers, floss your teeth? ). Lunch outside was lovely, but probably not worth the price.

The walk back to our hotel, however was pretty delightful. In addition to stopping to visit the two museums, we enjoyed looking at the extensive sculpture collection scattered along the walkways.

My favorite thing, however, was our anniversary dinner. Pricy, yes, but very delicious and quite an elegant experience. Can you tell from the photos below which was the main course?

I chose the Wagu Beef, which is shown in the upper right hand corner. Makes one recall that commercial “where’s the beef”? Yes, I am old enough to remember both the original commercial and the political ad that used the phrase.

Enough about Nemacolin. I’m sure you’ve gotten the idea by now. ANOTHER big area attraction is Fort Necessity. I’m married to a man who never saw a fort that he didn’t love. Although this Fort Necessity isn’t very big, and is a replica of the original, the visitor’s center is fantastic.

I probably was taught this in either elementary or high school, but I had forgotten this fort was where George Washington started the French and Indian War. Here’s what happened: either the French or the British fired the first shot at Fort Necessity. The well done video makes it clear that each side claimed the other was the aggressor. What is important was the way the battle ended. The British had to surrender, and the terms were written in French, a language Washington didn’t understand. his translator wasn’t all that fluent either, and to make matters worse, it had been raining and the ink had run.

What Washington didn’t realize was that he had admitted to assassinating the French commander, and the rest is history.

One final note: if you are visiting the area, The Bittersweet Cafe is a great choice for breakfast. Don’t miss it!

Western Pennsylvania’s Surprises

Do you know where you find a section of the Berlin Wall, Peter Fonda’s motorcycle with Captain America helmet, Steve McQueen’s airplane, the Fort where the French and Indian War started, several Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces, and a five diamond restaurant? Hint: check out the map above, specifically the Ohiopyle area. It doesn’t look like there is much in the area, does it? At least that’s what I thought till I got there.

Did you ever plan a trip, thinking that it would be all about a particular site, then discover that the area had a whole lot more to offer? Enough for two posts, even?

We were drawn to the area by a newspaper article I had clipped about Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater decades ago. It sat in my “Fun Things To Do” folder until earlier this year, when I figured we either needed to visit the damn place or throw out the clipping. If I had done the latter, you wouldn’t be reading this post.

A quick internet search uncovered a special Fallingwater experience–a sunset tour, lasting three hours, ending with appetizers on one of the decks. The tours are only offered on Friday and Saturday nights, are limited to 10 participants, allow interior photography, and include parts of the house not shown on the other tours. For $150 per person, you can pretend that you are a guest of the owners. Just our kind of gig.

The newspaper article included a photo similar to this one

So how was it, you ask? Well, the house was quite fascinating, especially given that it was completed in 1937. As you can see from the photo above, the house was built over a waterfall. When the windows are open, you can definitely HEAR that water falling! Closing the windows successfully shuts out most of the noise…and also the cooling breezes. Fallingwater, you see, is not air conditioned. Did they even HAVE AC back in the late ’30s?

You’re probably thinking “What’s the point of living over a waterfall if you can’t stick your 10 little piggies into it”? Right? Well, Frank was also thinking just that, so here’s what he did.

The stairway leading down to the water is pretty cool, but what is even more impressive is the way the glass panels slide away.

Do you think he accomplished his goal, which was to bring the outside in?

Here’s another example. You are out in the middle of nowhere, so window coverings are not needed, but in the bathroom, why not have planters built into the window to form a natural curtain?

When we first entered the living room, it looked like the corner was completely open. It took a while to see what is obvious from the reflection on the window–that two panes of glass are joined in the corner.

Wright not only designed the building, he also created all the furniture throughout the house. I was surprised to see a king sized bed in the master bedroom. Our guide explained that it was actually two twins pushed together and united by a single headboard and bedspread, something TV in the 1950’s would never have shown. (It isn’t that visually interesting, so I didn’t bother posting a photo of it–everyone knows what a king sized bed looks like.) How surprising that it took about three decades for that great concept to catch on!

The kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms are all very small. The focus is on the large living/dining room and the outside balconies. Check out the banquettes in the living room. Not what I consider the most comfortable seating, but maybe if you imbibe enough from those nearby bottles, you won’t notice.

At the other end of the living room is the dining area. Are you expecting the tour to turn left or right into the kitchen? Well, it doesn’t. The kitchen is a tiny space down a flight of stairs and through a very narrow hallway. The owners clearly didn’t spend much time there. That was the domain of the servants. There are no photos, because the kitchen was so tiny, I couldn’t figure out how to frame it.

I was quite happy that our appetizers were not served in the dining room; instead, we enjoyed our hummus, crackers, cheese and veggies on one of the decks.

A staff member was getting everything ready for us. You can see from that blue pole in the foreground of this photo that necessary repairs are being made on the building.

While enjoying our appetizers, one of the other guests strongly recommended that we visit another of Wright’s nearby buildings. Kentuck Knob was built about 20 years later, for friends who were frequent guests of the Kaufmann family, the owners of Fallingwater.

Okay, so I know this is heresy, but I actually liked Kentuck Knob BETTER than Fallingwater. It has all of the usual Wright features, but it just seems more LIVEABLE. Interestingly enough, it is considered “usonian” (Frank’s term for his “middle income” houses.) This “middle income’ house was built for the Hagans, the owners of the ice cream company in Uniontown PA, and was sold to its current owner, Lord Peter Palumbo, who, since 1996, when not using it as his vacation home, opens it to the public.

A photo of the Lord and Diana (wearing her “screw you, Charles” dress) appears in the house. I grabbed this from the internet

Take a look at the cutouts under the eaves. They are a source of light into the living room and supposedly repeat design elements found in the building. (I’m taking that on the guide’s word. I couldn’t spot any of those elements.)

Notice how the carports–Wright’s invention — are nestled into the landscape. The hill behind forms a partial roof.

Although we weren’t allowed to take photos INSIDE the house, there was no rule against shooting through the windows into the interior, which is what I did.

Now take a look at the role the cutouts play in the interior space.

The wall opposite the banquettes is all windows and glass doors, offering access to a walkway and a spectacular view of the valley below.

The price of your admission allows you to wander through Lord Palumbo’s spectacular sculpture meadow. I was particularly taken with the part of the Berlin Wall. His collection also includes three red British phone booths at the visitors center.

A Section of the Berlin Wall
I don’t think these phone booths work!

I’m tired of writing and you are probably tired of reading so the rest of the area attractions I promised in the first paragraph will have to wait until the next time I post.

Planning to Visit Yellowstone? Here Are Some Helpful Hints

Okay, first off, full disclosure. We have only been to Yellowstone and the Tetons once, so I don’t pretend to be an authority, but having just gone through the experience, I don’t take for granted what more experienced National Parks travelers might.

Also, I am not, and never have been, a camper, not even in an RV, and don’t get me started on tents! So, if after all that truth telling, you are still with me, here’s what we learned from OUR experience.

Tip #1 Researching your Trip
I discovered this wonderful brochure late in the planning process. It has maps, showing where the various lodging options are located, plus information about restaurants, park activities, and many, many other helpful hints. Don’t be put off if you are traveling in 2019 and the 2018 brochure is the only one available. Trust me. The information doesn’t change much from year to year. Of course, the usual travel books are available at the library, but I found this brochure provided the information that I most needed in a brief and user friendly format.

And while you are at it, be sure to download the FREE Yellowstone App from whichever place you go to for your apps. For me, it is the Apple store, and on their site, the app looks like this.

Once you get the app, go to “settings” (The little gear on the bottom of the screen), and choose “Download Offline Content”. This is important because there are many areas within the park where internet access is nonexistent, but because YOU were smart enough to download, you can access the maps and important information about the sights that are nearby.

Tip #2 When to Book Your Stay
It is important to plan your trip WAY in advance, particularly if you want to stay inside the park during the summer months. Reservations open in March for winter bookings; spring, summer and fall reservations are accepted starting May 1, for the following year.

We made our Yellowstone lodging reservations for May 25- 29 in early December. I had mistakenly thought that by choosing a time when the season was just starting and while the kids were still in school, the competition for rooms would not be as keen. Wrong! If we had waited much longer, we would have been out of luck. So who else was visiting Yellowstone at the start of the season? While there, we heard German, Spanish, French, Chinese and Hindi being spoken, and saw buses from Australian and Chinese tour companies in the parking lots. It was nice to see people from other parts of the world enjoying the beauty that this country has to offer. Just don’t wait too long to book your hotel or cabin.

Be sure that you book through Xanterra, the official park concessionaire. I mistakenly thought the company I found via my internet search, entitled US Park Lodging, was the vendor through which one made hotel reservations within the park. Wrong. I should have contacted Xanterra, and my mistake increased the cost of our lodging by 10%. A non-refundable 10%. And if we need to make changes to our reservation, we need to do so through Xanterra–NOT US Park Lodging. So, YOU have now been warned.

Tip #3 Getting There
We flew into the Jackson Hole, Wyoming (JAC) airport, but other choices include Cody, Wyoming(COD), Bozeman, Montana (BZN) or Idaho Falls, Idaho (IDA). Cody and Jackson are the closest — a little more than 50 miles from park entrances, while Bozeman and Idaho Falls are almost double that distance.

Although United airlines offered a non-stop flight to Bozeman, we opted for a connecting flight to Jackson. The distance and the fact that we had never visited Jackson Hole or the Tetons were the deciding factors.

It took some playing around on the United Airlines website, but the difference in prices ($654 versus $1037 Round Trip) was worth the effort to determine which arrival and departure dates were the most economical and convenient. (We did our airline reservations before our lodging reservations).

Of course there are some who choose to drive from home to the park, and we met a few of those adventurous souls!

Tip #4 Where to Stay
For our first two nights, we stayed at the Snake River Lodge and Spa in Teton Village, because we wanted to experience as much of what the area had to offer as possible during our first visit to Jackson Hole.

If you are a skier, this is the place to be because the ski lift is a brief stroll away. If you are trying to save money, this is definitely NOT the place to stay. On top of the not inexpensive room rate, the hotels in Teton Village charge resort fees and village sales taxes, in addition to the regular taxes charged.

On the plus side: Because our son was staying with us, we opted for a suite, which was very nice, with bedroom, pull out couch and balcony.

P1190573 — The view from our balcony at the Snake River Lodge. Yes, we had a bit of rain during our stay.

Still, we preferred Springhill Suites by Marriott, in Jackson Hole. We stayed there for the last two nights of our trip. It is only 15-20 minutes from the airport, it offers free a great free breakfast, you can walk to lots of wonderful restaurants in the “downtown” area, it also offers rooms with a couch (our couch had a trundle bed), and it was significantly less expensive (58% of the cost of Snake River Lodge). Not only that, but it is right across the street from a FREE parking garage!

For our four days in Yellowstone, we decided to split our time between the northern and southern parts of this huge park– two nights at the Lake Hotel and two nights at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. That worked out really well for us, because it allowed us to easily visit everything we wanted to see.

If you look at the map below, you’ll see that the roads in Yellowstone make two big loops. As you would expect, the Lake Hotel is located across from Yellowstone Lake. This very beautiful, peaceful property, was recently renovated.

It has all the amenities you would want: coffee and tea making paraphernalia in the room, a hair dryer that is NOT attached to the wall, the bottles of goodies (shampoo, conditioner and body lotion.) It also has a gift shop, a restaurant and a snack bar.

The hotels within the park all practice “sustainability”. You can opt to forgo room service for a $5 per night credit to your room charge. We decided to do that, and donate the savings to Yellowstone Forever. I have to tell you, we really LIKED not having our room made up. It was easy to make the bed (we do that at home) and hang up our towels–and we were guaranteed that the maid would not be cleaning our room when we wanted to return to it.

But more about the wonderful Lake Hotel: The lounge is has a great view of the lake, and the piano music every night makes your before (and after) dinner drinks even more enjoyable.

The hotel has lots of interesting architectural features, like this beautiful fireplace. Be forewarned, though, this stay is not going to be a cheap. Our two nights here were the most expensive of our trip. If you are looking to conserve your vacation funds, choose a different option, but be sure to come here for dinner or lunch.

We also loved the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, but for different reasons. This hotel had NOT been recently redone. For example, the toilet seats are way lower than you might expect. Be sure to LOOK before you sit! There are no coffee or tea making supplies in the room, BUT there IS a hair dryer that is not attached to the wall. (Can you tell I HATE the “on the wall” hair dryers?) The shower is small and the shower head was located for people of below average height, but the hot water was plentiful and the beds were comfortable.

The location is fantastic. Even the elk agree–They would hang out right under the hotel windows.

The park rangers put up orange cones to remind the visitors that the elk are wild animals, and they should keep their distance. Not everyone heeds the warning, and some visitors have gotten injured because they got too close.

I also loved the photos in our room that depicted the early days of the park.

You can’t sit on these terraces any more. They are way too delicate and the ground is unstable/

It used to take DAYS to get through the park. The coaches averaged 6 miles per hour and there WERE stage coach robberies, back then, just like in those Saturday morning westerns of long ago.

Tip #5 Getting Around the Camp
We rented our car from Enterprise, which was one of three vendors that are on site at the airport. Other car companies are located in Jackson Hole, about 15 minutes away. Although renting from an airport based company increased our cost slightly, because of airport taxes, we thought it was worth the convenience, especially because we had an early morning flight home. Service was good, it was easy, and they upgraded us to the BIGGEST SUV I had ever seen in my life. (Our son picked up the car, it was not chosen by this Prius driver!) Presumably the other car companies offer shuttle service, but we didn’t see any while we were at the airport, so perhaps you need to call into town for that service.

So, that’s all I’ve got for the preparation phase. Next post will be about tours, dining and the actual park experiences

As I mentioned in my opening, this was our first trip to the area, so this Yellowstone newbie welcomes comments from any and all who have different hints/experiences/observations to share. Talk to us!

A Unique Flying Experience

After thoughtfully packing my carry on, I discovered that my trusty Eagle Creek, which had happily fit into MANY overhead compartments, mysteriously grew. It no longer fit into that silver box by the boarding gate door.

According to United’s website, the approved size is 9″ by 14″ by 22 “. Did these dimensions change? When I get home, the measuring tape is coming out.

I’m thinking a small duffel might be the way to go when I absolutely MUST do carry on.

It actually was no big deal. I would have had to gate check from Denver to Jackson Hole anyway. But I AM going to see if I can get the bag on for our flight home.

But THAT certainly was not my unique flying experience. You ready?

Once on board our flight from Denver to Jackson Hole, we learned that there would be a delay because of thunder storms in Wyoming. After about a half an hour wait, the crew told us the plane would have to be lightened. It seems that the Jackson Hole runway is “short”. Short, plus wet, plus heavy equals danger because, we learned, the pilot might not be able to get the plane to stop when it should. Oh dear.

How much weight? The equivalent of 18 passengers (about 20%) would need to disembark before the plane could take off. What? How will they decide who has to get off? Will they bring in a scale and have each of us step on? In all my years of flying, I never had anything quite like this happen.

Turns out, the crew had a better idea. Volunteers would be compensated with a $500 voucher for a future flight, plus a meal voucher (no value mentioned).

Well, we did a quick analysis of the situation. Although we were meeting our son at the airport, HIS flight might also be delayed, and even if it wasn’t, I could email him our confirmation for the car and the hotel, so he wouldn’t be stuck waiting at a tiny airport with nothing to do. We didn’t have any pressing work or family obligations, so why not help out those who did? And hell ya, that $500 voucher put a smile on our faces as we walked out of the plane, as did all the “thank you’s” from the passengers and crew.

So how did it all work out for us? Amazingly well. There was no weigh in, but enough tall and well proportioned men volunteered so that the 16 of us who DID, were deemed heavy enough. And we were a very congenial group, smiling as we waited in line to get all of the paperwork sorted out.

We were truly impressed by the professionalism of the United team in Denver. They were able to locate a plane with crew and get them to Denver amazingly fast…within two and a half hours. Wow! The 16 of us had the plane to ourselves. And because Mike and I were the last volunteers to get our paperwork processed, we were made the solo passengers in first class because we were so patient (or brain dead… I forget which).

Anyway, kudos to United for treating us so well for a weather related problem. And yes, my checked bag was waiting for me when we arrived.

Additional positives: we were pretty hungry, so getting off the plane allowed us to get something to eat. Okay, it was airport food, it was expensive, the $10 voucher per person covered less than half the cost of our burgers and beverage, but if you are hungry enough, you don’t care.

As for our son, he arrived on time, picked up the car, checked in to our hotel and returned to fetch us when we landed.

One more plus (?). Enterprise upgraded us from the Toyota Camry to the biggest SUV I have EVER seen. This Prius driver would definitely have refused the upgrade, but turns out it WAS good to have on some of the park roads.

This Nissan Armada Platinum was well named. It FELT like we were riding in a warship!

Off to a great start for our visit with our son.

Embarkation: Let the Fun Begin!

I’ll let you in on a little secret. My family’s nom de plume is Murphy. That law that you’ve heard about? We live it on a daily basis, and this day was no exception.

Sorta like being in the airplane’s middle seat, but with better beverages

I won’t bore you with the details. Instead, I will share some helpful hints so that YOUR embarcation goes more smoothly than ours.

Parking at the port was easy. We arrived a little after noon, drove to the terminal (entrance is on 55th and 12th Ave– the ship was berthed about another block or two south of the entrance) where porters were waiting to help unload the luggage.

If by any chance you have forgotten the preprinted luggage tags Disney sent out with your cruise package, not to worry. The porters had extra and quickly solved the problem.

Dad parked the car, while mom, the girls and aunt (that would be me) made our way inside to a terminal that was not crowded at all. Cruise parking at the Manhattan terminal is $40 per 24 hours, payable in advance.

The girls met some very friendly greeters. In case you’re wondering, their shirts say “My aunt is the coolest”.

Two other members of our group (my sister/girls’ grandmother, my nephew/ girls’ uncle) who drove from Massachusetts, reserved off site parking that charged half as much as the port. The best part–their service included driving you to the terminal in your own car, and helping unload luggage. Good thing too, because between more than one stretch of bumper to bumper traffic and getting lost, they almost missed the boat. They had no time to spare, to look for a space in the Port parking lot, park the car and high tail it back to the embarcation area. There’s a lot to be said for arriving the day before departure.

IF you arrive around 12:30 PM, with proper documentation, you could probably be on the ship by 1:00 PM. If, however, you happen to be missing a legal document, such as an official birth certificate for a child, you CAN have someone either fax or photograph it and email or text it to you. See if you can figure out how I know this.

By the time some of us were on board, (2:15 PM) our rooms were ready. Checked luggage arrived around 5 PM.

All’s well that ends well, with everyone checked in and aboard by 4 PM. The wonder and glory of sailing out of NYC might have been lost on the smallest member of our group, who was far more interested in her burger, but the rest of us loved watching the city’s skyline and Lady Liberty roll by.

Mother, daughter, and a young, cool grandmother also known as my niece, great niece and my “little” sister

About those Fish Extenders (FEs) that I mentioned in a previous post? This is what they

look like. Notice the metal fish above the room number? That’s where the name came from. The idea is that group members leave little surprises for each others’ children in their FEs.

Wanna know how great some of the other passengers were? My niece discovered the Facebook group (and FEs) about a week before departure–too late for her to create or purchase surprises for other group members. Despite her inability to reciprocate, people STILL left gifts for her girls. The white board was one of the gifts–another was stuck inside the fish. No extender necessary.

Lots of VERY kind, considerate shipmates were aboard!

Grander than Grand

Magnificent! Spectacular! Those adjectives are far more accurate descriptions of the natural wonder that we call The Grand Canyon. It is very difficult to capture in a photograph the enormity of this “hole in the ground”.

An early explorer, with the catchy name of James Christmas Ives, was unimpressed. He dubbed it a “profitless locality” and predicted “the Colorado River, along the greater portion of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed.” Had cable news been around during his day, he might have had a brilliant career as a pundit. (I leave it to you to decide which station would hire him).

After meeting at the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort in Scottsdale, our group of 35 headed off to the Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs via Sedona and Flagstaff. Our hotel is on the reservation, right by the railroad tracks. Somehow that image didn’t make it into the hotel’s decorative window.It occurred to me that the trains’ engineers might have been a little annoyed that they were working while others were sleeping. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for blasting the horn multiple times as they approached the town. And yes, there were many, many trains–about 1 every 15 minutes. Made me feel really sorry for the people who live in the Peach Springs.

The big attractions for the western Canyon were the helicopter rides down to the canyon’s bottom, river rafting to Lake Mead on the “snout rigs”, and the Sky Walk.

First the Sky Walk. It wasn’t quite what I had envisioned. We didn’t go out on it, but we saw it from the top of the canyon,

then later from our river raft. It’s that silver oval, jutting out from the top of the photo. What do you think? Worth an additional $70?

View of the Sky Walk from the Colorado River

We didn’t think so either.

Back to the western canyon–here’s the view from the rim–very subdued colors, with a sediment laden river (that very brown ribbon) winding along the bottom. The Colorado River is quite low because of 12 years worth of droughts and the additional water needs of the area’s growing population.
Mike and I were in the last group of chopper riders, so we had time to become “one” with the landscape and to take pictures of our new friends as they climbed aboard.

The flat Colorado Plateau gave no hint of what was close by

I was lucky enough to get a front seat.

Prior to this trip, we had toyed with the idea of rafting and camping through the canyon. Our ride on the snout rig absolutely settled that issue!

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Those rigs are not the most comfortable way to travel. And if you are seated in the front, you are guaranteed to get wet, even when there are no rapids. Guess what–the water is COLD.

Our land transportation, on the other hand, was luxurious. Good thing, because we traveled from one end of the canyon to the other: from Lake Mead to Lake Powell, logging many hours on that bus.
Our next stop was the one most visited by tourists–the south rim. The advantage to going a little later in the season was that the park was not crowded. Fortunately, we didn’t go TOO late. Had we waited another week, we would have found the park closed, thanks to our fine congressmen. But that’s another story.

There are so many possible captions for this next photo. “Death Wish”, “Just one more step back, honey”, “Did you send the check to the insurance company?”…

For the more adventurous, the South Rim offers the opportunity to hike (or ride) along Bright Angel Trail.
Dinner at El Tovar was not part of our tour package, but we decided to forgo the Maswick Cafeteria and enjoy that beautiful setting.

Mike and Augusta on the porch at El Tovar

The next morning, while my two favorite traveling companions caught up on their beauty sleep, I returned to the edge of the rim to catch the sunrise.

I had the view pretty much to myself.

Our last leg of the journey was to Glen Canyon where we enjoyed another raft trip and a tour of the dam.

If you look closely at the next photo, you will see our rafts on the left hand side of the river. We get there via a two mile tunnel carved through the rock.

Drew, our fantastic river guide, kept us informed and entertained, as he guided us down the river. A former Marine and lawyer, he chooses to spend his days piloting rafts on the river, and we all benefited greatly from that decision.

Drew explained the significance of the petroglyphs, including the “modern” one. Can you make out the word “Trent” carved into the rock? it seems Trent just had to leave his mark, and in doing so, he also contributed many dollars and hours of community service for defacing a historical site. Yep, he got caught.

Some people never learn. Once again, I sat in the front. Once again, I got SOAKED from head to toe.

We spent our final night in Marble Canyon.

Here it is--the town of Marble Canyon — Here it is–the town of Marble Canyon

The best part about being in such a remote area is the skies are magnificently dark. We were lucky enough to have a professional astronomer with us–Mike gave us a wonderful impromptu lecture on the heavens. It was a great finale to a fantastic trip!

Big, proud, and quirky…Texas, we’re talking about y’all

There aren’t many states that construct grills in their own image, at least none that I’ve encountered yet, other than Texas.

It might be hard to have a Texas shaped lunch or dinner, but fear not. Breakfast has y’all covered.

Given that I was traveling with a “native born Texan”, (and yes, there ARE bumper stickers that say just that, or at least there were back in the days when we lived there, ) I feel I can safely poke a little fun.
We hadn’t had enough of Route 66 yet, so we caught a few more of its notable sights. I don’t think this one made it into any guide books, but I happened to like it. Besides, Italians make a big deal about THEIR tower, so why shouldn’t WE do likewise. I give you the Leaning Water Tower of Route 66.

Groom, Texas has the biggest cross in the USA, visible for miles around. Greg once again was put to work as my point of reference. His 6’3″ body is the dark smudge at the base in the photo.
Here’s a close up of the sculpture of the Last Supper. Not sure why there are only six apostles. Did the sculptor burn out? Run out of money, take artistic license? No explanation was given.

Our very favorite Texas experience was at the Cadillac Ranch, located just outside of Amarillo. Here’s the view from the road.

As you can see,it is in the middle of nowhere.

Greg was the first to realize that this was participatory art, and quickly went to work.

The finished work:

I also left my mark…hey, mom is a lot easier than Shelley, that’s for sure, especially when the wind is blowing spray paint droplets back at ya.

Next stop, Albuquerque.

Cross country jaunt…well, almost

The very best thing about being retired is when opportunity comes a knockin’ you can say “come on in, pull up a chair and make yourself comfy”. That’s exactly what I did when Greg announced that he was driving to his summer internship in New Mexico. Mike had prior commitments, so Greg didn’t need to ponder which parent would be the better traveling buddy. Instead, he first had to decide if he even wanted someone riding shotgun, and then determine whether he had room in his car for me and my baggage (not emotional, the kind used to carry clothing–good thing, huh?) He did and he did.

This trip will be the longest that either of us have ever driven. Google Maps calculated the distance at a little over 2,000 miles. Had we kept going through Arizona and California, the total would have been 2,750 miles. So, although the ride won’t be from sea to shining sea, it will be pretty darn close.

Our destination for Day One was Greg’s apartment at the University of Virginia. It took us just about 6 hours to cover the 375 miles. Aside from a short cloudburst, the ride was quite beautiful. Not much traffic at all.

Great lookin’ set of wheels, no? Here’s the thing. The car’s a standard. One of the many skills I never mastered was the ability to drive a stick. Some might argue that I never completely learned to drive an automatic, but they would just be being mean. Lucky me. I get to sit back and enjoy the scenery while Greg does all the hard stuff, which he does very well.

Charlottesville is such a fun little town. Dinner was at Frye Spring Station, a gas station reincarnated as a great place for pizzas, salads, sandwiches and beers. What makes the place really special is that the huge doors where the service bays used to be are still in working order. When the weather is nice, one wall can be opened up. You feel like you are eating outdoors, except you are sheltered from the sun and the rain. Good thing, because that cloudburst followed us.

Next stop was the Charlottesville Downtown Mall, for drinks at the Sky Bar. Given that it was only up one flight, the name seemed a bit of a stretch, but the bar did afford a nice view of the mall.

I loved the artwork. Isn’t this couch great?

Day Two’s destination is the greater Knoxville area. We plan on getting to Memphis by Sunday, and to Santa Fe between June 1 and 3 but the rest of the itinerary is still in the formative stage. By keeping it open, we can take advantage of random opportunities as they occur. We’ll be listening for those knocks!

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