Our Vacation Blog

Trading Post map

2011-03-18T12:10:00.001-04:00

View MACUL in a larger map

Boston photos- September 2009

2009-09-22T20:30:00.001-04:00

100 Baseball things to do before you die

2009-07-12T21:00:00.009-04:00

Inspired by 1001 places to see before you die, I thought I'd come up with 100 baseball things to do before you die. So in no particular order, as my family and I brainstorm, here's our baseball bucket list:

1-30. Visit all 30 major league parks (either present or former)
31. Watch a game from atop the Green Monster.
32. Watch a game from the Wrigley bleachers.
33. See an all star game
34. See a World Series game
35. Visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
36. See the monuments at Yankee Stadium
37. Eat a Dodger Dog
38. Eat a Fenway Frank
39. Watch the sausage race in Milwaukee
40. Watch the presidents race in DC
41. Watch a home run derby in person
42. Visit the All Star Game Fanfest
43. Go to spring training in Florida
44. Go to spring training in Arizona
45. Go to a fantasy camp
46. Have your picture taken with Freddy at Yankee Stadium
47. Have your picture taken with John Adams in Cleveland (and maybe beat the drum)
48. Sing "Take me out to the ballgame" at Wrigley Field
49. Listen to a Hall of Fame announcer call a baseball game on the radio while watching the game in person
50. Catch a foul ball or home run ball or BP ball
51. Visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City
52. Go to opening day
53. Sit in one of the "mile high" seats at Coors Field
54. Throw out the first pitch
55. Run the bases after a game
56. Start the wave or the "clap"
57. Watch a Cubs game from one of the rooftop venues across the street
58. Slide down the Coke bottle in San Francisco
59. See a no hitter
60. See a double-header
61. Sit in a major league dugout
62. Tour a major league clubhouse
63. Have picture taken with a World Series trophy
64. Visit the Louisville Slugger factory
65. Visit the "Field of Dreams" in Iowa

Please add your suggestions in the comments.

Don't blink or you'll miss it!

2008-06-17T13:41:00.003-04:00

Big Papi, agility champion!

2008-05-22T19:58:00.003-04:00

We've been working on running through poles, but not weaving yet. I found the tunnel at ToysRUs. He really likes "training." I'll have to shoot video of him whining, running and jumping when he sees me getting the equipment ready to go outside.

Papi fetches the paper

2008-04-24T09:47:00.003-04:00

You may not be able to see this on the video, but in the street was a stick. He went to pick up the stick twice before I finally convinced him to fetch the paper. There are ads and an extra section in Thursday's Blade, so he normally has a tough time fetching it in one try.

Big Papi's video debut

2008-04-23T20:43:00.003-04:00

I'm trying out a flip video camera from work. Very cool, and only $129. You can shoot up to 60 minutes of video on the internal memory. It has a built-in USB connector, and there's even software pre-loaded on the camera that installs automatically when you connect it to the computer.

Papi loves to fetch my paper in the morning, and to go to the mailbox with me when I get home from work. He will sometimes "talk" in a much louder voice than he did in this short video.

See the Golden Gate Bridge from a helicopter

2008-01-31T22:49:00.000-05:00

I wish I could say I shot this video, but I didn't. I found it on YouTube. It was produced by Sandra Cannon for www.sfbayimages.com. October 2005.

I bought the bridge for $1000

2008-01-31T22:38:00.001-05:00

I met a real nice guy on the bridge. He sold it to me for only $1000.

But seriously, this is a cancelled $1000 bond that was originally issued on July 1, 1933. They sell them as souvenirs in the gift shop next to the bridge. They're really interesting looking and there are signatures on the bottom from the president and secretary of the board of directors.

Video of the parrots

2008-01-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

Me on the bridge

2008-01-31T21:05:00.000-05:00

There's a civil war era fort under the bridge!
I walked as far as the first tower. It was windy and noisy from all the traffic. The view of the city skyline was obscured by haze. It's a LOOOONG way down!

The Golden Gate Bridge

2008-01-31T20:57:00.000-05:00

This large cable is actually made up of hundreds (maybe thousands?) of thin cables, no bigger than the thickness of a pencil

2 or 3 hundred elephant seals! I can't remember how many

2008-01-31T20:52:00.000-05:00

The park rangers really do count the number of elephant seals and post it for all to see. This is the prime season for babies to be born. If I remember my statistics correctly, the babies weigh about 70 pounds at birth, and by the time they head back out to sea when they're about 3 months old they weigh 300-350 pounds!

A crew from one of the San Francisco TV stations was just leaving when we arrived. I caught the story on the news the next morning and we must have just missed a couple of bull elephant seals fighting. They weren't very active when we were there.

I love this picture of the lighthouse

2008-01-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

Here's what it looks like going back up!

2008-01-31T20:46:00.000-05:00

The steps have numbers painted on them about every 50 or so, either to torture you mentally, or to help you pace yourself.

Thar be whales!

2008-01-31T20:35:00.000-05:00

We feel very fortunate to have caught a glimpse of several gray whales on their southern migration. But let me tell you, it's no fun to look at them through a camera viewfinder. And by the time I reacted, found the whale in the viewfinder, squeezed the shutter and waited for the camera to do its thing, I had many wasted shots. And as the angle of the sun changed it became increasingly difficult to see anything through the viewfinder.

Only 302 steps to the lighthouse!

2008-01-31T20:33:00.000-05:00

Notice the yellow warning sign! They're not kidding! It's way more fun on the way down.

Point Reyes National Seashore

2008-01-31T20:29:00.001-05:00

We drove CA-1 from Muir Woods to Point Reyes. What spectacular scenery! What a scary road! Well, not really. But there weren't many places where the road was straight! After we got to the Point Reyes visitor center it was still about a 35 minute drive to the parking lot, a .4 mile hike up a fairly steep incline where I took this picture. This is very similar to the view from the Point Reyes webcam I posted earlier (scroll down).

Another photo from Muir Woods

2008-01-31T20:23:00.000-05:00

Wow that's a big tree!

2008-01-31T20:19:00.000-05:00

Jim behind bars

2008-01-24T14:25:00.001-05:00

Hummingbird on Alcatraz island

2008-01-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

Alcatraz was incredible! The audio tour is fantastic! After touring the prison, Susan and I began walking the trails on the island. I heard a very faint bird song, and when I looked around I saw this tiny little hummingbird sitting on the barbed wire. My first few photos of him (her?) were backlit, so I only got a silhouette against the blue sky. He flew away, but soon returned to about the exact same spot. I was able to sneak around to the other side of him where the lighting was MUCH better and take a few more photos before he left for good. I'm guessing it's an Anna's hummingbird. A website I consulted said it's the only hummingbird to be found in California in the winter.

The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill

2008-01-24T13:47:00.000-05:00

I first learned about these colorful birds while watching a fascinating documentary on PBS. I consider myself very lucky, because when I got to Coit Tower, several of the birds were eating berries in one of the trees. I got to within 5-10 feet of them to take these photos. A few minutes later another tourist startled them and they flew off.

Also see this website for more info: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/wildparrots/

Me in Muir Woods

2008-01-23T14:13:00.002-05:00

Flying over Alcatraz

2008-01-22T13:54:00.001-05:00

Special thanks to my son for staying up VERY late Wednesday night (Thursday morning) to capture this shot of our jet "flying" over the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz in Google Earth.

San Francisco is at the top of the photo. Alcatraz is above and to the right of our plane. The little colored dots are icons representing pictures that can be viewed of those locations in Google Earth.

GPS data in Google Maps

2008-01-22T13:45:00.000-05:00

As I explained in an earlier post, here's the data from the handheld GPS receiver. The GPS could not get a signal in the Muir Woods because of the thick canopy of the trees. I forgot to take the GPS with me on some of my sightseeing in downtown San Francisco, so you won't get to see the many streets I explored either on foot, cable car, or bus. But I did include our trip to Alcatraz. You can zoom in or out on the map below using the controls on the left side.

Point Reyes/Alcatraz at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

Point Reyes lighthouse video

2008-01-22T13:11:00.000-05:00

I just discovered this today! It's a short video on the Point Reyes lighthouse from the Discovery Channel.

Sorry I haven't blogged, but...

2008-01-21T22:53:00.000-05:00

...the Internet was ridiculously slow, and while I worked on a post on Friday morning and started to upload a photo, POOF! the Internet puked. I decided I would much rather ENJOY my vacation than to be a slave to the computer. So I hope that over the next few days (weeks?) I'll be able to bore you with several stories, anecdotes, photos and maybe even a video or two.

BTW, SFO was incredible! I wouldn't want to live there (nor could I afford to!), but it's a fantastic city and surrounding area to visit.

And MAN did my feet hurt!

Our (Jim's) itinerary

2008-01-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

Wednesday: Leave DTW at 4:20 PM, arrive SFO 9:40 PM after a 2.5 hour layover in Chicago (MDW).
Thursday: Muir Woods and Point Reyes National Seashore
Friday: Tour AT&T park, Coit Tower, North Beach, Beach Blanket Babylon
Saturday: Chinatown, Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf
Sunday: Alcatraz tour, ???
Monday: Leave SFO 7:25 AM, arrive DTW 6:35 PM after a THREE HOUR layover in Chicago!

Track our flights on a real-time map at www.fboweb.com Enter the airline and flight number on the left side of the page where it says Quick Track (FREE!)
Wednesday: Southwest 1343 Southwest 2987
Monday: Southwest 953 Southwest 1465

If you have Google Earth it's even cooler! Just click the "Track in Google Earth" button on the map page.

Remind me to tell you all about our hotel reservation "problem" when I get back. Just keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer that we really do have a room when we get there late Wednesday night like the lady from Jensen said we would.

I LOVE this photo!

2008-01-14T14:31:00.000-05:00

It's a picture of the Point Reyes lighthouse by Kathi Kaiser, posted on Panoramio and selected for viewing in Google Earth. I hope I can take one very similar to this when we're there on Thursday. It's about 300 steps to the bottom.

I need a pack mule!

2008-01-14T13:36:00.001-05:00

Here's a list of all the tech stuff we'll be taking with us:

1 laptop
1 Palm handheld computer
1 handheld GPS receiver
1 car GPS receiver
1 digital camera
1 digital camcorder
Spare rechargeable batteries
Cables and accessories for the above

I'll be using the Palm to run a free program called Metro. It has a list of popular tourist attractions and how to navigate between them on the buses, cable cars, streetcars, and subways in San Francisco. I've used the program before in Chicago, New York and Boston and it really works!

Point Reyes National Seashore web cam

2008-01-11T21:17:00.000-05:00

KQED: Lonely Island, Hidden Alcatraz

2008-01-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

Check out this fantastic website about Alcatraz:
http://www.kqed.org/w/alcatraz/flash/movie.html

Alcatraz Island multimedia

2008-01-11T20:59:00.001-05:00

Alcatraz Island - Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Some great photos on the National Park Service website. Click the hyperlink above to see them for yourself. The virtual tours are especially cool!

Golden Gate Bridge web cam

2008-01-11T20:34:00.001-05:00

Also from KPIX TV

San Francisco weather forecast

2008-01-11T20:27:00.000-05:00

I don't know if this photo will automatically update each day, but I hope this forecast from KPIX is correct:

PhotoMapper Rocks!

2008-01-09T14:42:00.001-05:00

I'm interested in "geocoding" my digital photos. I learned that there is software that compares the time encoded on a picture with the time in a track log on a GPS receiver, and then the software places the picture where it was taken in Google Earth and/or Google Maps.

So while reading the GpsPasSion blog I learned about FREE PhotoMapper software that does just that. Quite easily I might add.

The first picture is a screenshot of the software. On the left side is a list of digital pictures, on the right is the GPS tracklog.

The second picture is of Google Earth with the geocoded photos located almost exactly where they were taken. I haven't figured out why some are in the wrong location. But as easy as this was, and for FREE, I'm not complaining!

Guess where else I'll be going?

2008-01-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

View Larger Map

Happy 100th Birthday Muir Woods!

2008-01-08T23:00:00.000-05:00

January 9, 2008 is the 100th birthday of Muir Woods, another National Park we'll be visiting. Check out this web page for more info: http://www.nps.gov/muwo/planyourvisit/muir-woods-centennial.htm

A few years ago I visited the Big Basin Redwoods State Park and I was in awe of the gigantic redwoods. But Muir Woods is only 12 miles north of San Francisco, and from there we can continue on to the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Here's another interesting site to visit to learn more about how we can all help to preserve our nation's remaining redwood forests: http://www.savetheredwoods.org/

And here's another Google Map to check out:

View Larger Map

Point Reyes National Seashore

2008-01-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to go to the Point Reyes National Seashore! This is an excellent location to watch migrating gray whales, and elephant seals. We'll be driving right along the San Andreas Fault to get there!

Play around with this embedded Google Map.

View Larger Map

Earthquake mashup

2008-01-08T19:29:00.001-05:00

Although I can't get the embed code, here's a link to a map of the San Francisco area with a mashup of USGS earthquake data from the past week. If you zoom out far enough on this map you'll see color-coded circles that represent the strength of the seismic activity. Pray that we won't have any while we're there!

http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=37.859676,-122.603302&spn=0.446705,0.885773&z=10&om=1

Getting ready for SFO!

2008-01-08T14:50:00.001-05:00

While we're in San Francisco, I'm going to attempt to show you EXACTLY where we were by using a Garmin GPS unit, some cool FREE software, and an AWESOME free website.

The software is called EasyGPS and it allows you to download the data from the GPS unit and save it as a GPX file.

The website, GPS Visualizer, takes your uploaded GPX file and creates a "mash up" in Google Maps to display a map of exactly where you were. GPS Visualizer now has a partner website called Every Trail that saves the mash up and generates the necessary HTML code that enables you to embed your Google Map on your blog. Like this one:

Sample1 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

Boston Terrier video from Animal Planet

2007-09-08T19:04:00.001-04:00

Another Vegas webcam!

2006-08-11T16:10:00.000-04:00

KLAS-TV Stratosphere web cam???

2006-08-11T16:03:00.000-04:00

We'll see if this link is working again!

Red Rock Canyon web cam link

2006-08-11T15:59:00.000-04:00

For some reason the link I keep revising keeps going down.
So instead of posting the picture on this blog, I'll just provide a hyperlink to the original site:
http://www.instacam.com/showcam.asp?id=LSVRR

Photo of the Grand Canyon Skywalk

2006-07-26T19:28:00.000-04:00

http://media.marketwire.com/attachments/200607/274412_steelincanyon.JPG

MGM Lion Cubs

2006-07-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

Bellagio Fountains

2006-07-19T02:50:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, July 18

2006-07-19T02:20:00.000-04:00

Our last day in Vegas :(

We checked out about 10 AM. There was a problem with our bill-- they didn't apply our $15 food credit. But it worked out beautifully! When I returned about 2 PM, they had deducted our ENTIRE food bill! Including the god-awful brazilian steakhouse!! WOO-HOO!!!

We walked around the very upscale Fashion Square Mall. Neiman Marcus had a purse marked down from $1200 to only $491!!!! What a deal! I had to drag Susan away. NOT!

Had lunch at the Bally's buffet. We liked it better than the Flamingo and it was about the same price. After lunch we returned to TI to pick up our luggage and the rental car and drove to New York, New York casino. It's really cool inside, but they didn't have any full pay video poker machines. We crossed the street to the MGM Grand where I videotaped a couple of really cute and playful lion cubs (I'll post the video ASAP). We lost about $30 playing their video poker machines (which weren't full pay, but we were tired of walking). Then we went to Excalibur and got lost trying to get out of there! I didn't like it there at all! We checked out the Tropicana and got some free decks of cards for joining their players club, but didn't spend a quarter there.

We also went to the M&M store and the Coca Cola store for some souvenirs, then retrieved the rental car and went back to our favorite casino, Caesar's Palace. Within 10 minutes we had won about $40 playing video poker, so we cashed out and had a huge slice of pizza and a diet coke with our winnings. Then we proceeded to win a few more dollars playing video poker before we called it a vacation and returned to the airport, WHERE WE CONTINUE TO SIT AND WAIT FOR OUR FLIGHT TO LEAVE!

I hope we can return to Vegas some day. There is SO MUCH to see! We didn't get to all of the casinos, and a couple of the other attractions in the area. We didn't get downtown either. We have a zillion (or so it seems) players' club cards from the casinos we visited, so I'm sure we'll be getting offers in the mail or via email to lure us (and our money) back again. I had a blast despite the heat. By the way, while we at Grand Canyon the relative humidity was 9% and the dew point was 25!!!

I'm sure I'll be posting more pictures and videos so please check back. I hope you enjoyed reading our blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Monday, July 17

2006-07-19T02:06:00.000-04:00

Well, we're stuck in Las Vegas airport, our flight being delayed to the lack of a pilot and co-pilot who are still in Los Angeles due to "air traffic control" problems. So, to the best of my recollection, here's what we did on Monday. (The only good thing is we have free wi-fi at the airport, as long as the battery holds out)

We had lunch at the Flamingo buffet. It was pretty good for only $10 each. We also went to a couple of other casinos. We had $50 in free slot play at Casino Royale. What a joke! They only had a few "promotional" machines, and within a couple of minutes our free play was over.

We had $55 in free play at Treasure Island, so we hit the best video poker machine we could find. I cashed out with $50 in my pocket, so not a bad evening.

We had dinner at Samba Brazilian Steakhouse. When we were in Cancun last year we went to a similar restaurant and LOVED it. Unfortunately, this one was AWFUL! The meat was overcooked and dry and tough. The side dishes were creamed spinach (supply your own sound effect here), carrots, rice & black beans, and fried plantains (like bananas). We never did get a single refill on our $3 diet cokes. $90 down the drain! What a disappointment!

Our favorite casino is still Caesar's Palace. They have several 25 cent "full pay" video poker machines to choose from, and we have had pretty good success with them.

After dinner we ventured down to the Bellagio to see the fountains. While one show was finishing a kid about 8 years old ran smack dab into Susan with his bright green mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. I forgot to tell you she was wearing a WHITE long-sleeved blouse. Can you imagine what that looked like? The kid's mom's idea of helping was to get a dry napkin. Susan rushed off to the ladies' room to rinse out what she could.

The fountains are SPECTACULAR! I made a short video that I'll upload when we get home (whenever that might be).

Then we watched the Mirage volcano again. I'll upload a video of it too.

Las Vegas had a pretty strong thunderstorm last night. Lots of lightning and high winds and about 2 tenths of an inch of rain. Considering they've only had about 6 tenths all year, that was pretty significant. We were already in the casino by then, so we missed it. By the time we got to our room it was all over with. What a shame, they had to cancel the pirate ship show outside our window. The pyrotechnics didn't wake me up.

2006-07-17T20:18:00.000-04:00

One of Siegfried & Roy's white tigers. He's got the right idea. Man is it hot!

That's all until Wednesday

2006-07-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

Our Internet service runs out in about 45 minutes, so this is the last of the photos and stories until Wednesday. I had uploaded a third photo before this post, but Blogger, per usual, didn't work right.

See you soon!

More photos

2006-07-17T19:43:00.000-04:00

2006-07-17T19:42:00.000-04:00

This is a Utah Agave. It grows up to 14 feet tall, but blooms only once after 15-25 years, and then it dies! The stalk was a few inches thick.

2006-07-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

Can you find the raft in the rapids? Thank goodness for our 10X zoom lens!

2006-07-17T19:37:00.000-04:00

Female Western Bluebird (I think)

2006-07-17T11:39:00.000-04:00

Western Tanager

2006-07-17T11:18:00.000-04:00

These rock squrrels are everywhere in the Grand Canyon. They have no fear of humans, probably because so many people feed them, despite the signs that warn against that.

2006-07-17T11:16:00.000-04:00

You have to share the trail with the mules

2006-07-17T11:11:00.000-04:00

One of the tunnels on the Bright Angel Trail

Monday, July 17

2006-07-17T10:54:00.000-04:00

I still couldn't insert photos into a blog post, but I discovered that I could use Picasa and Hello software from Google to directly upload the photos with a caption.

You can click on any of the small photos to enlarge them.

I think I will put together an online photo album and put a link to it on the blog. I probably won't do that until we get back though.

Last night we walked down to the Bellagio to see the fountains, but because of high winds they cancelled. I hope we can see them tonight, our last night in Vegas. We did get to see the Mirage volcano though, and I'll attempt to post a photo.

There were severe thunderstorms that moved in right behind us along I-40 yesterday. Luckily we stayed ahead of them, and they passed to the south of Las Vegas. We had really high winds though.

The ti pirate ship show only woke me up twice last night. They set off some really loud fireworks during the show.

2006-07-17T10:53:00.000-04:00

Our suite is HUGE! We even have his and her bathrooms.

2006-07-17T10:52:00.000-04:00

Our suite at ti

2006-07-17T10:50:00.000-04:00

A hummingbird

2006-07-17T10:44:00.000-04:00

A tree lizard at the Grand Canyon

2006-07-17T10:35:00.000-04:00

Sunrise over Mather Point

2006-07-17T10:31:00.000-04:00

Sunset on Thursday

2006-07-17T10:28:00.000-04:00

The sun begins to set over the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon photo

2006-07-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

Caesar's Palace

2006-07-17T10:06:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of the spiral escalator in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. This is such a HUGE space that this picture doesn't convey its size.

Sunday, July 16

2006-07-16T22:01:00.000-04:00

We arrived at ti (Treasure Island) about 2:30 PM after a five hour drive from the Grand Canyon. I had reserved a Petit Suite online. Imagine our surprise that we had been UPGRADED to a Tower Suite! When the photo uploading works again I'll post a picture of our FABULOUS suite that overlooks the ti ship on the Strip. What a view!

We had a late lunch in one of the restaurants onsite, then took the tram to the Mirage to see one of Siegfried & Roy's tigers. Poor thing. He looked so hot. He was standing on his hind legs and scratching on the door with his front paws. And although it wasn't one of the white tigers he (she?) was still very beautiful.

This evening we're going to see some of the free shows on the Strip-- the Bellagio Fountains, the Mirage Volcano, and the Sirens of ti show. Tomorrow it's off to the south strip casinos.

Wish me luck with the photo uploading. I'm ready to toss this computer out the window on the 26th floor!

California condor in flight

2006-07-16T21:51:00.000-04:00

Susan shot this video near the Lookout Studio at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. About 60 condors have been released in Arizona so far. We saw about 5 or 6 that day. Their wingspan can be as large as 9 feet!

Sunset Stampede-- Sam's Town

2006-07-16T21:29:00.000-04:00

This is the laser and water show in the Mystic Falls atrium at Sam's Town.

We are experiencing technical difficulties

2006-07-16T21:13:00.000-04:00

We're here at Treasure Island, I'm uploading like crazy to Blogger, and for some reason MY PICTURES WILL NOT UPLOAD! I've tried at least a dozen times. It pauses like it's uploading the pictures, but THEY DON'T SHOW UP!

ARRRRGHH!!

Wednesday, July 12

2006-07-16T20:59:00.000-04:00

We had an excellent breakfast buffet right here at Sam’s Town for five bucks each plus tax and tip. GREAT made to order omelets! Then we hit the road for the Strip. We parked at Harrah’s and joined their players club and I got a free T-shirt (woo hoo!) Next we got a Craps lesson at the Imperial Palace. Right after the lesson I went to the adjacent craps table and won about $25 bucks before giving it all back and then some. I rolled a 7 on my first roll, but then 7’d out on my next point. Again, why didn’t I just cash out! I guess it’s just too much fun.

We went over to Caesar’s Palace and had a Las Vegas WOW moment. That place is just INCREDIBLE! Beautiful statues, paintings on the ceilings, fountains, a spiral escalator… and the stores go on for days! Susan joined their players club and got a free visor (woo hoo!). They were also having a special promotion where you have your card scanned in any of the six MGM casinos on the strip for a chance to win prizes up to $10,000 each day. And if you get 3 stamps from different casinos on a promotional card you get a casino prize. I got a nifty beach towel from the Flamingo, and Susan got a crappy key ring from Harrah’s.

We wandered around the Flamingo for awhile and visited their outdoor aviary. They had flamingos (well duh!), a variety of geese, swans and ducks, but, alas, the penguins have been sent to the Dallas Zoo. Lots of pretty landscaping and fake waterfalls, but man was it ever HOT outside!

Then we went back to Harrah’s for the Mac King Comedy Magic Show. We had a coupon that gave us general admission seats for the price of two drinks. Susan tipped the maitre d’ a fiver for a better table, so the grand total was about $25 to see an AWESOME show! I laughed really hard several times. The family right behind us had a very noisy child and Mac really embarrassed them! He asked them how old their child was (3), and then related how he remembered taking his own daughter to some shows and sometimes she would start to cry. But then he went on to say something to the effect of “but we always took her out of the room whenever that happened.” I think they got the hint.

The highlight of the show for me can’t be easily put into words, so if you’re interested I’ll do my best to tell it in person. It was absolutely hysterical!

After the show we went back to Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops where they have (drumroll please)… a Cheesecake Factory! And best of all, their prices weren’t artificially inflated just cause it’s Vegas. We had the pineapple upside down cheesecake for dessert and it was yummy!

Next we went to the Mirage, but unfortunately it was too late to see the white tigers and the secret garden, so I guess we’ll catch those next Monday. After that we headed back to Sam’s Town to rest up for tomorrow. We’re going to Red Rock Canyon right after breakfast, then back to the hotel to “freshen up”, and then off to who knows where!

Smoke from the wildfires in Southern California can be seen in the skies to the south and east of the city, but over the Strip I saw only clear blue sky. The mountains are beautiful! They rise up quickly out of the flat land, but they look very desolate! They look so close, like you could just reach out and touch them. This is such a harsh climate. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Saturday, July 15

2006-07-16T20:45:00.001-04:00

We set the alarm for 4 AM. That’s NOT a misprint! We wanted to see the sunrise at Mather Point. After that it was time for breakfast and then another highlight of the trip… hiking the Bright Angel Trail. We were on the trail by 6:50 AM. We made it as far as the second tunnel. SPECTACULAR! On the way back we had to make way for the mule trains headed down the trail. What a cool experience! If I weighed less than 200 pounds, I’d ride a mule to the bottom, spend the night, then ride back up.

Then we hopped a shuttle to check out about 3 other vantage points, took a zillion more pictures, and returned to our hotel room by noon for a nice nap. I’m reminded of the Army commercials that brag about doing more by noon than most people do all day. We were beat!

We ventured outside the park for lunch at McDonald’s in Tusayan, Arizona. We both wanted to go to the really unique looking Wendy’s they have there, but it was crowded with people from tour buses. Then it was back to the park to do laundry and souvenir shopping, and more sightseeing. Susan spotted a park ranger, and a guy with one of those antenna, tracking-type things. Based on their proximity to where we saw the condors the day before, we correctly assumed they were tracking the condors. We spoke with a very dedicated, passionate man from the Peregrine Fund (www.peregrinefund.org). He answered all of our questions, and spoke about his life’s mission to restore these magnificent raptors to their rightful place in nature. I wish I had recorded our conversation. It was fascinating! I ventured out to Hopi Point to take a few photos towards sunset, but then a cloud bank moved in and I returned to our room before sunset. It’s about 9:23 PM MST as I type these words and I am TIRED after a long, rewarding day.

Tomorrow we will take even more photos at a few more Grand Canyon vantage points, and then it’s time for the long drive back to Vegas. I’m sure we’ll stop for some more photos at Hoover Dam too. I hope you aren’t too bored by my storytelling, but I’m sure having fun telling them.

Friday, July 14

2006-07-16T20:45:00.000-04:00

We were on the road by 8:40 AM for the five hour drive to the Grand Canyon. The drive around Hoover Dam is very scenic! They are building a very high bridge that will act as a bypass to the switchbacks and hilly terrain surrounding the dam. I think it will be done in 2008. After 9/11 trucks and buses are prohibited from crossing the dam for security reasons, and I imagine there is quite the lengthy detour.

After getting past the dam, the scenery is like something out of an old western movie. The road is very straight, and to my recollection, the land is pretty flat. One thing we didn’t realize is THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS FOR ABOUT 60 MILES. We took a short detour, about four miles to Chloride, Arizona. Chloride is famous for having the oldest continually operated mine in Arizona, and also for some murals that we couldn’t drive to in our rental car. Maybe I’ll Google it and see what I can come up with. Well, anyway, we found a quaint little mom and pop store that advertised it’s “clean bathrooms”, bought several souvenirs, candy, earrings and sunglasses (for Susan) before finding our way back to the main road.

Once we hit the interstate it was time to put the pedal to the metal. The interstate speed limit is 75 mph, but as the friendly guy in Chloride told us, “there’s no speed limit in Arizona so go like hell.” Again, it was about 50 or 60 miles to the next service station, and when we stopped we noticed that regular gas was $3.499 a gallon! YIKES! I guess that’s why it’s a good thing to have a monopoly.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon about 2 PM, and wouldn’t you know it, our room wasn’t ready yet. No problem. We walked to the rim and were just blown away by the awesome, majestic, spectacular, beautiful… you get the idea… view of the canyon. I think the first word out of both of our mouths was WOW! Based on the recommendation of Frommer’s Grand Canyon book, we had lunch at the Arizona Room, which has large windows that overlook the canyon. The food was pretty bad, but while dining I noticed a GIGANTIC bird soaring past the window. It was a California Condor! After lunch we noticed the numbered tags on their wings. It turns out about 60 condors have been released in Arizona, and we just happened to see about 5 or 6 of these soaring above the South Rim. What a blessing! For me, that was the highlight of our Grand Canyon experience.

We finally got checked into our room in the White Fir building of the Maswik North Lodge. Very nice! I recommend you stay here. It’s about a 5 minute walk to the rim, and very close to all of the historic buildings in the Grand Canyon Village. Also very peaceful at night. We drove all the way out to the eastern end of the park, then watched the sunset at Lipan Point. The canyon was very hazy though, so the colors weren’t as nice as we had hoped.

Thursday, July 13

2006-07-16T20:44:00.001-04:00

We were up early so we could get to Red Rock Canyon before it got too unbearably hot. The drive out was really nice. We got to see a lot of Vegas, besides the Strip, and we drove right into the mountain on the horizon. Words can’t describe the beauty of Red Rock Canyon. We hiked a lot and took lots of pictures and video. We stayed a lot longer than we thought and the heat was brutal! When we got to the highest point in the canyon we received a pleasant surprise—a refreshing, cool wind. It was really strong! There was a lot more traffic on our way back to Sam’s Town, so the ride was not as much fun. We took a nice nap in the air conditioning, and then enjoyed dinner at Bahama Breeze. This is a restaurant chain that the boys and I discovered on our Spring break trip to Orlando. I highly recommend the Margarita Chicken, and Susan enjoyed a pizza cooked in a wood stove. After that we took advantage of the Arizona Charlies rebate offer for new members in their rewards club. We played video poker for over three hours, had a few drinks, and inhaled the equivalent of a pack of smokes, then had every penny of our gambling losses rebated at the end of the night. It’s a lot more fun to lose when you know you’re getting your money back!

Tuesday, July 11

2006-07-16T20:42:00.000-04:00

We were a little worried about getting from Detroit to Atlanta in time to make our connecting flight, but everything worked out beautifully. The rain held off so our flight wasn’t delayed, although we did push off about 10 minutes late. Got to our gate in Atlanta with time to spare. Both flights were relatively smooth, but overall it was a LONG day spent on airplanes! My back hurt, my teeth hurt (from my visit to the orthodontist), and it was tough to find a comfortable sitting position because my seat didn’t recline! AirTran has free XM satellite radio with free cheapie ear buds. I listened to a variety of music, then listened to the MLB All Star Game from Pittsburgh. How cool was that?

When we got to Vegas and set foot outside the airport air conditioning for the first time, it literally felt like we were in a furnace! It was HOT, even at 8:30 PM. We made a quick shuttle trip to Thrifty car rental and got THE LAST mid-size car on the lot! We were supposed to get a Dodge Neon and got a Dodge Stratus instead. A little bit later and we would have had to take a gas guzzling SUV. WHEW! That probably saved us $50 in gas money right there!

We checked into Sam’s Town, somehow managed to find our room in the maze of corridors and elevators, had a burger at Mickey D’s and then hit the casino. We could only find ONE full pay Jacks or Better video poker quarter machine. We won a little, then gave it back, and then repeated that process a couple more times Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. If only I would cash out when I’m ahead!

The room at Sam’s is an above average standard hotel room, but the price is right! We see a lot of families here, and a lot of Seniors in the casino. The cigarette smoke isn’t too bad in most places.

"All our bags are packed, we're ready to go..."

2006-07-10T23:33:00.000-04:00

Well, we're almost ready to go. A few things left to pack, gotta go to the orthodontist first thing in the morning, run a couple of errands, and then...

"We're leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when we'll be back again..."

Did you know John Denver wrote that song in 1967 while waiting for a plane? Check it out at Wikipedia.

Say a little prayer that we make our connecting flight in Atlanta. We only have about 30 minutes to make it after we land.

360 Degrees of Grand Canyon

2006-07-10T23:22:00.000-04:00

In a previous post I shared a link to a 360 degree view of the Grand Canyon from Four Chambers Studio. I was so impressed I bought the CD for $23.99 including shipping. It arrived today and it is WAY COOL! There are 75 or so of these 360 degree views from all over the Grand Canyon, including some places that you'd never see unless you hiked for miles. There are even panoramas taken inside some of the historical buildings.

The pictures are absolutely perfect! Who knows what the weather or the lighting, or the haze will be like when we're there? The images on this CD are gorgeous! And because it's interactive you can look up, down and all around, zoom in and zoom out. It's the next best thing to being there.

I'm afraid that my photos and videos will pale by comparison! But this will be so great to take with us and look at on the plane and in our hotel room. I'll share this with you when we get back, but until then check out the link below, and a complete description of the CD here. Could be the best 24 bucks I ever spent!

New Visa commercial filmed in Red Rock Canyon

2006-07-09T22:15:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the new Visa commercial with the Proclaimers "I'm Gonna Be" (aka 500 miles) background music? It was shot in Red Rock Canyon. I happened to see a sign near the end of the commercial that said "Calico Hills Trail" and I remembered seeing that listed on the Red Rock Canyon website. WOW! Gorgeous scenery! I can't wait!

Check out the commercial online here. It's called "Weekends."

Grand Canyon Video Podcasts

2006-07-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

While searching Google for Grand Canyon podcasts I came across a great site that has four VIDEO podcasts on the South Rim, in addition to several other video podcasts about other national parks. Check out the list of available podcasts at TRAVELBUDZ from ADVENTURE CROSSING. They also sell a variety of DVDs on their website. I plan to put the South Rim video podcasts on my iPod. They are EXCELLENT!

I emailed Adventure Crossing to ask permission to put a link to their podcasts, and I received this response from the president of the company, Jares Gallagher:

Our Video Podcasts are a spin off from what we do. Our company creates products to help prepare visitors for their national park adventures. We work with the Chief of Interpretation and othe park staff to capture their unique messages and features - so it is their messags we incorporate into our products. I mention this because we have created a product series entitled Park BasiX. It covers the basics you need to know as well we hike the trails so the viewer can see the trails first person and choose trails within their comfort zone.

We originally released our products on DVD format. However, in May we released all of our content for purchase and download for playback on mobile hand held devices such as Video iPods, etc. That website is www.ihikes.com

So if you're planning a visit to one of our national parks, be sure to check out this website.

$100 in FREE Money!

2006-07-08T21:13:00.000-04:00

I just saw a great story on Las Vegas on the KCAL CBS TV website. It talks about why July is the second best time (after November and December) to visit Las Vegas. Sure the weather is HOT, but so are the bargains!

What interested me the most was the great deal going on at Arizona Charlies. They will rebate you up to $100 in gambling losses! So I can try my luck at the slots and video poker with $100, and if I lose I can get my money back! Talk about a win-win situation! If I win I don't need to get my 100 bucks back. And looking at the map, it's right down the road from Sam's Town Hotel and Casino where we are staying the first three nights.

Another web cam: Red Rock Canyon

2006-07-08T17:25:00.000-04:00

Here's another web cam from the Red Rock Canyon, courtesy of WeatherBug. If you click on the hyperlink above you'll see a time lapse of the last 24 hours or so. You can hit the Stop button to view the pictures individually.

Secret weapon #2

2006-07-07T17:33:00.000-04:00

Check out the fortune cookie I got with my lunch today...

Google Earth Grand Canyon kmz File

2006-07-07T04:31:00.000-04:00

If you are a Google Earth user (and you should be if you have hi-speed Internet-- download the software for free at http://earth.google.com) you can download a nice kmz file that will show many of the popular landmarks in Grand Canyon National Park. This hyperlink will take you to the correct page.

I captured this picture of Grand Canyon Village using the Google Earth software. I couldn't quite locate the lodge where we're staying though.

Las Vegas Strip Web Cam

2006-07-07T04:03:00.000-04:00

From KLAS TV, this webcam is located on the top of the Stratosphere. Apparently they change the position of the camera throughout the day, so you'll see the Strip at night, and some other scenes throughout the day.

7/9/06: Hmmm... for some reason this webcam doesn't seem to be working any longer.

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

2006-07-06T21:02:00.000-04:00

It's not ready yet, but the Skywalk being built by the Hualapai Nation at Grand Canyon West will be absolutely BREATHTAKING! If the video below doesn't satisfy your curiosity you can read more on this website: http://www.destinationgrandcanyon.com

FreeVideoCoding.com

Grand Canyon Web Cam

2006-07-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

Check out the view from Yavapai Point on this live web cam link.

There's lots of other data and information on this site. Just click on the links on the right side of the page. It looks kind of hazy today.

Panoramic View of Grand Canyon

2006-07-06T15:12:00.000-04:00

Wow! Click on the link below to see an amazing QuickTime panorama of the Grand Canyon from 360parks.com's website.

I wish I knew how to do that!

Our new license plate (I hope)

2006-07-05T20:49:00.000-04:00

Create your own license plate at: http://www.acme.com/licensemaker/

A sign we hope we don't see

2006-07-05T20:39:00.000-04:00

Make your own sign at http://atom.smasher.org/vegas/

My Secret Weapon

2006-07-05T16:55:00.000-04:00

While we were at my mom's house cleaning out my dad's old dresser we came across this lucky coin. My dad used to do pretty well playing the slots at Casino Windsor, so I'm going to keep this as a good luck charm when we hit the Vegas casinos. It's a ten dollar coin from Liberia that's been hand painted. There's a little brochure that explains what all the symbols mean and it even has a carrying case. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Mac King's Magic in a Minute Cartoon (click to enlarge)

2006-07-04T21:50:00.000-04:00

Mac King's Magic Show

2006-07-04T21:33:00.000-04:00

One of the highest rated shows I've found on the Strip is only 20 bucks a ticket... it's magician Mac King who performs at Harrah's. Below is a clip from his website, http://www.mackingshow.com

FreeVideoCoding.com

Latest news on the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas

2006-07-04T21:22:00.000-04:00

To see the latest news from Google News click on the links below:

Grand Canyon

Las Vegas

And to see up to the minute weather conditions and the forecasts for Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, click on the Weather Underground links that I've posted on the right side of this blog.

Casino gambling

2006-07-02T12:06:00.000-04:00

While reading a book on Las Vegas yesterday I learned that Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall is the second largest casino in the Vegas area. Only the MGM casino is bigger! There are some pictures of Sam's Town posted online at tripadvisor. com that other visitors have uploaded. Check out this picture of the 25,000-square-foot Mystic Falls Park!

I've also been reading up on video poker to improve my chances of winning some money (or maybe not losing my money as quickly). I've got some strategy cards I can take with me into the casino so that I keep and discard the correct cards. The author also suggests practicing as much as possible before actually gambling with real money, so I managed to find a free online video poker site to do just that: http://www.freeslots.com/poker.htm

I was on a hot streak yesterday! I started out with 100 imaginery dollars and ended up over 400 imaginery dollars before I quit. WOW, if only it was that easy in real life!

Great info on Vegas

2006-06-29T21:27:00.000-04:00

Check out this website: www.ratevegas.com It features information about EVERYTHING there is to see and do in Vegas. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of questions from site visitors with thoughtful, first hand account answers from the site operator, Hunter. If you register on the site, you can even post your own questions for Hunter, which he'll attempt to answer in less than 48 hours.

There are pictures and videos on the site of such attractions as the Bellagio fountains and the Mirage volcano just to whet your appetite.

If you're planning your own trip to Vegas, you really should check out this FREE site.