Vegas Baby!

Is spotting a rainbow on your way into Vegas a sign of good fortune? We certainly hoped so!

I never thought in a million years that I would end up visiting Las Vegas and actually liking it.

Before I hear a collective groan from most of you, let me explain.

When we were planning this trip, John was insistent that we go to Vegas. I had always heard negative comments about the place, and was sure I would hate it, but felt that as long as we were out that far west, why not see for myself what all the fuss was about.

We left Yosemite National Park on a Monday and drove the 410 miles across the desert to Vegas. When I say desert, I mean Las Vegas literally sits in the middle of it. It pops up on the barren horizon like Oz in the famous film. It had rained a bit and there appeared a gorgeous rainbow in the sky. A message that said "have fun, keep smiling, and enjoy".

We drove along the "Strip" as they call the main avenue in the city. Large hotels line the way, each with a theme. One is called The Venetian, another Paris, still another New York and so on. I know there are people in Vegas who actually think they have been to Venice or Paris or New York after their stay in one of these hotels. We were booked into the Tropicana which is located at the far end of the Strip. An older hotel, but it has recently been nicely renovated to make guests feel like they are in some sort of tropical paradise.

We walked that evening, our idea being that it was the best way to get a real feel for it all. The spectacle is amazing. Vegas is not just for gambling anymore, although every hotel has a casino on the ground floor. These days one can gamble-in one form or another-in nearly every state in the union. Las Vegas is a place to see even if you don't gamble. I could feel the energy and adrenaline everywhere I looked, and I was stunned at the variety of gambling and entertainment outlets, the dealers, the level of stakes and the sheer number of players at the tables.

The people watching is sometimes beautiful and famous looking, sometimes middle of the road, and sometimes beyond description. It was fascinating to observe.

Food is big there. There are scores of world class restaurants of all cuisines. Emeril, Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batalli all have five-star restaurants in Vegas. We had a wonderful meal at B&B, one of Mario Batalli's many eating establishments. The difference between Vegas and New York is that we could literally walk in without a reservation and be seated. In New York you'd have to wait six months on a reservation list.

We wanted to see a show and asked at the hotel what tickets were available. Elton John was sold out, but we were able to get in to see Cirque Du Soleil. Amazing show with acrobats swinging high above our heads-a little frightening as they don't use nets, but we loved it.

After that we walked under a starlit sky, among throngs of people past the Bellagio where we stopped to see the famous fountain spectacle we all marveled at in "Ocean's Eleven".

A perfect ending to a short visit in Sin City.

Will I go back? Don't think so. Maybe. I prefer the real Paris and the real Venice, however

I liked Vegas's fun, crazy, Candyland attitude, and the idea that I forgot any reminders of daily routine.

The flamboyant, sometimes seedy Vegas is like nowhere I've ever been.

A must see side trip was to the Hoover Dam and the recently opened bridge connecting Nevada and New Mexico that is an engineering marvel. We loved the art deco of the Dam and the beauty of the new bridge. Then it was back to Vegas and the casinos!

Breakfast at wacky Hash House A Go Go which is so popular that the venue is now in several casino's in addition to it's original location. This was a recommended "must do" from John's long-time friend and colleague Diane Newell. Thanks Diane!

After two whirlwind days of visiting man-made marvels we were ready for a return to natural beauty and Zion National Park, our next destination, was sure to fit the bill!

Yosemite National Park

We met Jay for breakfast that Saturday at Mel's Diner, a Hollywood institution. This place is a total throwback to the 50s and made famous in the movie "American Graffiti". The walls are covered with photos of movie stars, and our waitress informed us that there is a Hollywood Museum on the premises, she assured us that is is the best sight in Hollywood. We didn't have time to tour the museum, but promised ourselves we would "next time".

We had a delicious meal, visiting with Jay, and then it was time to say goodbye. After two weeks in LA with him, I found it difficult to say farewell. How I wish he didn't live so far away, but he is following his dream and is happy in California. Get a grip Mom. So, as I wiped a tear away, we drove off with a wave to meet our friends, Jaqui and Steve Zwick in Yosemite.

We arrived at our hotel, and our pals met us with wonderful Sonoma wine, cheese and warm hugs. We spent the afternoon catching up on each others' lives and enjoying the warm sunshine. Dinner was at the local spot: The Miner's Inn, where a prime rib dinner is $12.99!

The next morning we were out and at the park bright and early. Our friends know Yosemite well, as they have been going visiting for years, in fact, they Honeymooned there in the 60s. They wanted to show us around and we were happy to let them.

We started out seeing El Capitian, rising 3,593 ft.-more than 350 stories-above the Valley. It is the largest exposed-granite monolith in the world. People have been climbing its entire face since 1958, and we could see tiny, moving adventurers with our binoculars. Then we drove to Glacier Point for a bird's eye view of the entire Valley. And then there is Half Dome, another astonishing "rock" of granite that tops off at 4,700 ft. above. Again, with our binoculars, we could see tiny spots of color climbing to the top. This is done by hiking 8.5 mi. (one way) on a trail whose last 400 ft. must be ascended while holding onto a steel cable. No thanks. We were happy with photos.

After lunch we hiked up the Mist Trail to get a good view of Vernal Falls. The trek up and back is about 3 mi. of steep, rugged, rocky trail. It was a hot day, and we were happy to have the Merced River tumbling down the falls on it's way to a tranquil flow through the Valley, cooling us as we panted on our way. The breathtaking falls and view at the top was well worth the hike. None of this trail has guard rails and the drop offs are intimidating at the least. On our way, we noted a poster and photos of two "missing" hikers who fell in August this year. Some times people think they can step out on the edge of one of the slippery rocks that jut out over the river, accidentally slipping to their deaths. We were told that the park looses one or two visitors a month on average. Respect for these dangerous heights is important.

The topography of Yosemite is so spectacular, that words cannot describe it. I have never seen a place where the landscape literally takes over the sky. It totally overwhelmed me with it's magnificence, beauty and sheer size. Remarkable and amazing. I could not stop exclaiming, I ran out of descriptive adjectives.

That night we had dinner at the famous, historic Ahwahnee Hotel. Opened in 1927, this grand hotel boasts the Grand Lounge, 77 ft. long with magnificent 24 ft. high ceilings and all manner of Indian artwork on display. It is the most special interior space in Yosemite. What a perfect day. We saw the beautiful, awe inspiring Park, and spent it with special friends, laughing and enjoying time together.

Next morning after breakfast, we bade our friends a fond adieu and drove out by way of the scenic Tioga Road. Few mountain drives anywhere can compare visually with this 59 mi. seasonal road. As we climbed 3,200 ft. up to the 9,945-foot summit of Tioga Pass, we encountered broad vistas of the High Sierra with it's craggy but hearty trees and shrubs. Just a bit too rugged in my opinion-steep, steep drop offs and (naturally) no guard rails. Lots of hairpin switch backs and narrow lanes of traffic. I loved it, but was happy when we finally reached the end and were on turf that was somewhat flatter.

We headed to a very different place indeed. Vegas, here we come!

Leaving Zion

The drive out of Zion on SR 9, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, is a special transition from the towering rock formations of the Park to the striations of the volcanic upheavals on the 24 mile breath taking stretch of road carved in the mid- 1930's that includes two tunnels. One is 1.1 mile in length and has three portals carved as "window's" that offer glimpses of cliffs and canyons. As you emerge from the tunnels you find that the landscape has dramatically changed. Of course to reach the tunnels, as at Yosemite, you must successfully navigate many "switchbacks", some without guard rails and plunges of 2,000 to 3,000 feet. As the drops were on Sarah's side, I was happy to be driving and on the "inside"!

The highlight of the trip to the Eastern Entrance/Exit of Zion is the Checkerboard Mesa. The distinctive pattern on this huge, white mound of sandstone was created by the combination of vertical fractures and the exposure of horizontal bedding planes by erosion. While the area is home to lots of big horn sheep we only saw other awed tourists!

After exiting Zion we dropped almost 2,000 feet to the valley before starting the long climb to Bryce National Park which tops out over 9,000 feet. Even driving you can feel the change in elevation and minor efforts are much more noticeable as the air is so much thinner. It began to turn colder and we went from a/c to heater. As we approached Bryce we noticed snow on the peaks, then on the steep hillsides and finally on the side of the road! This was not something we had anticipated when packing over three weeks ago. Both Sarah and I had brought technical "hoodie's" but not much more. Arriving at Bryce we noticed that most people, especially the Europeans (Oh did we mention that half of Germany is traveling the Western U.S. this year?) were comfy in ski garb. "Yikes" we thought, how's this going to work out?

Then we saw the Hoodoo's and forgot about the cold!

Look Down: Bryce Canyon

From Johnny G:

Bryce is the smaller and younger sibling to Zion NP. The Park is named for Ebenezer Bryce, a hard luck pioneer rancher famous for his saying that Bryce is "a hell of a place to lose a cow!". The land he describes captures your imagination with it's fanciful Hoodoos. Bryce is actually an amphitheater and the Hoodoos took on their unusual shapes because the top layer of rock, the "cap-rock" is harder than the layers beneath it. As the softer layers underneath the cap-rock erode, the Hoodoos are formed. "Hoodoo, a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion. Hoodoo, to cast a spell.". These shapes were formed starting 10 million years ago and the process of erosion results in new shapes and continues every season. As you look upon them, especially as the light changes during the day, these formations take on new shapes as if by a magic spell.

Diametrically opposite of Zion National Park, at Bryce one looks down into the canyon and the shapes and forms of the Hoodoos formed by millions of years of erosion. The most fantastic and largest of the formations is the Bryce Amphitheater, composed of various formations called Thor's Hammer, The Queen's Garden, Wall Street and Silent City.

As usual, words can't describe what the eye sees, nor may a camera fully reflect the stunning beauty of these formations of sandstone laid down over so many millions of years. Instead, the camera serves as a memory for the human eye to recall many years later.

We arrived with snow on the ground and in 33 degree temps. Yikes, what a difference from Zion and our 60 degree temps. The rain at Zion was snow at Bryce, over 3,000 feet higher. Believe me, during our hikes into Bryce Canyon, our lungs felt the difference!

The view of the Hoodoos from the Canyon floor are stunning, but more of a singular perspective versus the gestalt from above. Looking up at a single 600 foot Hoodoo like the one in the Queen's Garden versus the perspective of the whole garden from above could be the subject of a 1,000 Art History Ph.D. dissertations.

Oh, did I mention that when you hike down, you must also hike up to get out of the Canyon? If the Hoodoo is 600 feet tall, and the Canyon Rim is above that, hmmm, you get the picture. But worth the effort! This wasn't the first time we thanked our friends the Grazianos for the loan of their hiking sticks.

Our Bryce exploration was more or less as recommended by the Fodor's (thanks Chrissy!) guidebook; an 18 mile drive to the end of the canyon (technically it's a Mesa) and Rainbow Point with stops at each viewpoint as we made our way back to the Visitor's Center. As we had arrived from Zion in the early afternoon this gave us a chance for lunch at the venerable Bryce Canyon Lodge, built in 1924 for the Union Pacific Railroad to draw tourists to Bryce and Zion. The drive back from Rainbow gave us an opportunity to take some photo's (Sarah's new Raven buddy) and scope out our plans for the next day, including our hikes.

On our afternoon drive we saw several prong horned antelope which quickly became a Sarah fav! So pretty but fast and we couldn't get a good picture of them. Unlike the Mule Deer which stodgily posed for photo's, as did the squirrels. While the Europeans gawked at the Mule Deer we paid them little mind as deer to us are a menace to our landscaping at home.

An interesting hiking side trip was to Mossy Cave and Falls, a less visited part of the Park. We had our own private waterfall surrounded by Hoodoos. After two hikes we were ready for some Two Buck Chuck (thank you Jay) and dinner at our rustic family run restaurant. We retired early in our homey cabin and looked forward to the next adventure, John Ford Country at Monument Valley!

The Tonight Show

Before we left Connecticut, John contacted the web site for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We thought it would be lots of fun to sit in the audience for a taping while in LA.

We scored tickets for a Tuesday taping and were excited to be able to see how the show works before it actually airs. They tape it a four in the afternoon each day and we were instructed to be at the studio no later than 1:45.

We arrived early and were subjected to security checks. No liquids, (?) and the usual pain in the neck routine just like the airport. After that we waited in the heat, in a sort of "holding tank", with about 300 other people until they filed us all into the theater.

That's when the fun began.

Two different guys, both young and cute, came out to warm us up and tell us rules: no rushing the stage, no heckling the guests, no booing, no yelling out. But we were told to clap often and loudly. After those two finished, Jay himself came out in his jeans and answered some questions from the audience, talk about the show and the guests for the night.

There were two guests: Lauren Graham from the TV series "Parenthood". She is beautiful and smart. The second was Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the series "The Family Guy", who does the voice of Stewie and 21 other characters. He also came out and wonderfully sang with a 17 piece band. Think 1940s Big Band sound ala Tommy Dorsey or Jackie Gleason. We loved it.

John and I have never watched either show, but these guests were so much fun that we decided that they were worth checking out.

But the best for me was Ricky Minor and the Tonight Show Band! This 12 piece band is absolutely fabulous and the most fun ever. One of them, Dorian Holley, sings and moves and I couldn't keep my eyes off him-he is a total hottie. Before the show they played and during every commercial they rocked the place. We were lucky enough to be seated right in front of them and were thrilled to watch these most talented musicians play and have a great time doing what they love-entertaining people and laughing all the way.

Ahh Hollywood!

Hollywood & Vine

From Johnny G:

This was a fun day, our last as it turned out, with the Jay-man and our sojourn in LA. We decided to do some fun stuff. I had worked in the music biz in the late 1980's and had an office
in the Capitol Tower (top floor center in the photo) as well as one in Abby Road Studio (yes, that one, where the Beatles recorded) so it was a must that we take a photo of the Capitol Tower, built to resemble a stack of 45 RPM's. The old epi-center of Hollywood was at Hollywood and Vine, just down the street from my old office, so we took in the sights. One of the interesting places from old Hollywood was the Frolic Room, opened in 1929 as a speakeasy next to the hotel so patrons could sneak in and grab a drink during Prohibition. And lo and behold, right outside the door was the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of Randolph Scott, my favorite B movie actor from the 30's and 40's. Scott's last film was a great one, "Ride the High Country" with Joel McCrea, in 1962. Of course, Scott plays a bad guy gone good who is the hero in the end, dead of course. A bar fly was hanging outside and he was astounded, "Everybody looks at Gary Cooper's star! You're the first person I've ever seen stop at Randy Scott". No flies on Coop, also a fav, but nobody in Blazing Saddles sang the praises of Gary Cooper.

Onto the Kodak Theatre, now permanent home of Oscar (go Jay!). A great behind the scenes tour for any film fan. Red Carpet, Green Room, Eastman bar for the biggies and all sorts of Oscar night trivia.

Dinner with Jay on our last night followed by breakfast with our star at the famous Mel's Drive-In, filmed to perfection by George Lucas in American Graffiti.

Great two weeks in LA hosted by the next star of film and fame!

Then, Happy Trails to You as we head for our Yosemite National Park rendezvous with our dear friends Jacqui and Steve Zwick, joining us from their wonderful home in Santa Rosa, CA. Steve is promising to bring some of his favorite Sonoma wines, yummy!

Crazy and Glamorous

When Jay first moved to LA, he lived in Venice Beach and worked at a restaurant called The Sidewalk Cafe. I had never been to that area before, but had heard many stories about what goes on and so I was anxious to see the famous Venice Boardwalk and this other side of CA living.

Hugging the Santa Monica Bay in an arch, the desirable communities of Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice move from the ultra rich, ultra casual Malibu to the bohemian/seedy Venice. They have cleaner air, mild temps and an emphasis on the famous beach focused lifestyle that is considered the hallmark of Southern CA.

We met Jay's childhood friend, Lanny, at Jay's former job, wait-staff at the Sidewalk Cafe when he lived a block away in Venice Beach. He was greeted all around by the staff like he had seen them yesterday, although he hadn't been out that way for about four years. We ordered Bloody Marys and burgers and sat in the outside cafe watching the scene in front of us. What a spectacle!

Boardwalk is something of a stretch, it's really a five-block section of paved walkway-but this place offers up year round entertainment.

There are clowns, (some rather frightening), bikini-clad rollerbladers, magicians, fortune-tellers, tattoo parlors, jugglers, all vying for attention from the crowds. One man stood very quietly watching it all, then donned a black cloak (look carefully at the photo) and stood with his arms straight up, like a statue covered in black fabric. As the tourists walked by, he would reach out and tap them on the shoulder, instantly getting back into statue mode. It was hilarious watching the reactions from passers-by as they turned to see who had touched them. After that, this same person (Jay told us his name was Jules and had been doing this same routine for years) watched the crowd and began to mimic people at random. Following close behind, he would imitate their strut and facial expressions. It was terribly funny to see these poor clueless folks who had no idea why the crowd was laughing.

There are rock bands playing loud music on the corner, bodybuilders pumping iron, bicyclists zipping along and skateboarders weaving in and out of the throngs. A true carnival atmosphere. I admit to thinking to myself:. "I know I'm not in Connecticut anymore". It was fun and I'm glad we went, but I'm happy Jay doesn't live there anymore.

Another attraction we visited was the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

I don't think I would have been interested in seeing this elegant old ocean liner except for the fact that my parents crossed the Atlantic on her in 1950.

This beautifully preserved ship was launched in 1934 and made 1001 transatlantic crossings before ending up in Long Beach in 1967.

On board we took a behind the scenes tour, excellent and informative. Amazing to visit this old fashioned era of glamorous, ocean travel which eventually was overtaken by jet airplanes. Unlike Titanic, no gates between classes but there were classes. First got the center of the ship (top to bottom), the most stable, second was aft (they felt the rumble of the engines and prop shafts), and third, "Oh My", they were in the bow which had the most movement of any part of the ship. Think 30-60 foot waves and how much the bow would have moved versus the center of the ship!

There is a new namesake, the Queen Mary 2, and our grandchildren can see her from the top floor of their home when she is docked in Redhook, Brooklyn. They are fascinated by the sight and call her the Mary Queen. The new ship is very high tech and fast, and fun to travel on, in fact my sister and her husband have taken several trips aboard the Queen Mary 2.

Throughout the tour, we saw photos of celebrities who traveled aboard such as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Fred Astaire, and the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor, all dressed in formal attire and looking very chic.

The highlight for me was stumbling onto an enormous ship's manifest. It is the size of at least two NYC phone books, and I found my parents' name and the name of my aunt and uncle who had traveled with them in 1950. Our Uncle Ray, whom we all remember very fondly, was a Ford dealer, the owner of Lee Motors. He shipped a brand new 1950 Ford in the hold which was off-loaded in La Havre and my parents and Uncle Ray and Aunt Betty were driven across Europe by Jacques, a French driver hired on the dock! Someone in the fam has the photo's of Mom and Dad in their French beret's (Em's?). They took what was then known as The Grand Tour.

I was thrilled to be walking the same decks on the Queen Mary that they had strolled all those years ago. It brought a tear.