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Feb 20

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White Stuff

Week 1: Vail

Our first day of skiing is at Beaver Creek, which also happens to be hosting the World Cup Championships.

Finding parking on the mountain was impossible, so we resorted to catching the gondola from Avon.

Expecting it to be crowded; we find no-one is skiing, they are all watching the racing.

It doesn’t take long before our muscles start protesting, as its been three years since we skied.  We take it easy, viewing the day as a warm-up.

Our accommodation is at Eagle Point, in West Vail (another timeshare).  Whilst not ski in – ski out, we have our own shuttle service to drop us at the Lion’s Head Gondola.

I’ve mentioned the Haviland family before.  I stayed with Lindsey in Connecticut in October.  We are finally catching up with Sue Haviland and her husband John.

I haven’t seen Sue for way too long; haven’t met John, nor Sue, Don.  Now living in Colorado, they drive-up to spend the weekend with us.

The years quickly dissolve, it’s not long before we feel like we’ve all know each other forever.

Sue spent time in Australia and knows my family well.  She worked for my brother Simon, played netball with my sister Jane and baby-sat my nieces.

We had a great weekend, chatting more than skiing – I don’t think any of us stopped talking for the entire weekend.

Sue and John, both have a love for travel and adventure, so we got lots of tips from them on our future travels into Central America.

Whilst the ski season in Colorado was not one of their better seasons, it still surpasses Australia.  Vail is such a large mountain, you can always find somewhere good to ski.

The George is an out of the way, hard to find bar, though not that hard, as it can get crowded.  Happy hour starts at 3pm and we’ve found ourselves sipping two-for-one martinis each trip we’ve made to Vail.

Another favourite spot is Vin 48, with a superb selection of wines, it also does a happy hour with a delicious selection of small plates.  A couple of these does us for dinner.

As you can see, we are a fan of the “Happy Hour”. Why not?  It’s certainly allowed us to eat (and drink) at some great places for much less.

Skiing is not a cheap sport, but you can be savvy with your money.  Firstly, we bought secondhand skis, much cheaper than renting them and better quality.

We also bought a season pass. The Epic Pass (which has just added Perisher Valley in Australia to it’s list), covers multiple resorts, which just happen to be the places we were skiing anyway.  It paid back after 5 days.

Someone on our shuttle to the gondola made the comment; “Even if I had all the money in the world, I don’t like being ripped off”. The prices on the mountain are extortionate; I get it, we’re in Vail, but US$6 for a coffee and it’s not even good coffee?

There is something in both our psyche that just wouldn’t allow us to pay US$12 for two (crap) coffees. Each day we packed an energy bar and shared one (crap) coffee between us.

We don’t seem to be able to go far in the US without one of Don’s golf buddies being nearby.

During the week Jeff Hall and is son (playing hookie from school) drive up from Denver for the day to watch some of the World Cup and we spend a few hours skiing with them.

The following week, another golf connection; Neal Zahn also happens to be skiing at Breckenridge and was the benefactor of Don’s ski helmet that we’d purchased for the trip (he’s got another at home).

Week 2: Breckenridge

We’ve moved up considerably in the luxury stakes.  Our accommodation for the week is One Ski Hill; Ski-in, Ski-out and a Ski Valet.

Each morning your skis are waiting for you. When you finish for the day, step out of your skis and someone is waiting to pick them up. This is my type of skiing!

The resort runs a Women & Wine ski lesson mid week.  A few hours skiing with an instructor, followed by a glass of wine (or 2).

I quickly realised that whilst after 10 days of skiing, I’d got a little bit of my fitness back, it still had a long way to go. The few hours skiing with a group of good skiers, pushed me to ski much harder than I do when skiing with Don.

It was also a great way to explore parts of the mountain that I wouldn’t otherwise take Don, as well as meet other people

Breck is an interesting mountain. With a better snow base than Vail this year and being slightly higher, the quality of snow was better.  We also got some fresh snow during our stay – fresh powder is always a highlight.

The black runs are not really black, even Don didn’t find them difficult.  I say that with the exclusion of the moguls.  Some people love moguls, but my knees buckled in long ago and I don’t hunt them out.

There are some good long runs, but the mountain is badly planned.  The mountain is divided into 5 peaks, called peaks 6-10.  Peak 6 is the newest and has one lift.

If you are energetic and like hiking up-hill in ski boots, lugging your skis to reach off-piste chutes and powder bowls, it’s fantastic.

My philosophy is; the lift takes you ‘up’ and you ski ‘down’, no additional ‘up’ required!

Week 3: Park City?

We had planned to continue our skiing in Park City, where our dear friend Andrea (who we saw in Austria), now resides.

However, the culmination of a number of factors, has bought us to the decision to return to Australia earlier than scheduled.

We still stop-off at Park City for a night en route to LA.  Donating our skis to her growing collection, perhaps with the hope to make it back for a future ski season.

It was a lovely surprise to find her Parents also visiting.  Whilst the stay was short, we had a great night catching-up and meeting her friends.

Once again, thanks Andrea.  And the bed is heavenly!

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Feb 6

Route 66

Route 66 would have to be America’s most iconic highway.

It’s a road trip full of nostalgia; classic American dinners, bright neon signs, vintage cars and Airstreams.

In 1926 it was planned as one of the first continential highways in America.

Transecting the country diagonally from Chicago to LA and known as the “mother road” for decades, it remained the primary highway into the 1980’s.

Replaced by larger/faster interstates, the route was decomissioned in 1985, to the demise of many towns along the route.

However, the route has been immortalised in pop culture through songwriters, authors and filmmakers for decades, which ultimately led to it’s revival

Most famous would be the highways unofficial anthem by Bobby Troup; “get your kicks on Route 66…”

The 2006 Pixar movie Cars is also believed to have significantly contributed to the roads regained popularity (and, perhaps a stagnant economy encouraging road-trip vacations rather than overseas destinations for the average American has helped).

We join Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona. This is apparently some of the best surviving stretches of the route.  It’s a nice change of pace after whizzing along the I-40.

Our destination for the night is the town of Williams, which turns out to be a laid-back, charming place.  After a pre-dinner aperitif at the local wine bar and a chat to the friendly staff, we follow the recommendations to dine at the Italian Bistro.

Williams
Route 66
Williams

Bearizona is a cheesy, but fun detour we make on the way from Williams to the Grand Canyon. It’s a drive-thru nature reserve.

They provide a GPS audio guide to talk you through the animals, which include: Mountain Goats, Bison, Alaskan and Artic wolf and American Black Bears.

After the drive you can visit the Fort Berizona with a petting zoo, as well as say hello to some bear cubs (no the bear cubs are not in the petting zoo).

Bearizona
Big Horn Sheep
Bear
Tight-rope-walking

Grand Canyon
From the east end of Williams, Hwy-64 continues to one of the natural wonders of the world – the Grand Canyon.

After visiting Copper Canyon in Mexico we are both looking forward to comparing the experiences.

Spending two nights at the Canyon we toured the Rim and enjoyed two spectacular sunsets. It’s an overnight hike to visit the Canyon floor, so we ventured into only part (a very small part) of the way into the Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is 277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep.  Whilst the Copper Canyon is larger and deeper, I would probably say the Grand Canyon is just that; Grander.

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wpid-img_20150415_141343.jpgMonument Valley
In the distance fragile pinnacles of rock rise from the desert floor, carved by natural forces for over 50 million years to create a very dramatic landscape.

Monument Valley is recognisable to anyone that’s ever watched a John Wayne western. “Monument Valley is where God put the West”, he claimed.

We stay at The View Monument Valley, simply because it had just that – a spectacular view over the valley.

Watching the sunrise at 6am is chilly, but spectacular.

 

 

 

Some more pics…

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Jan 31

Palm Springs – Golf

Don has made a lot of friends through his love of golf, which is how we find ourselves staying with Tom and Diane Caress in Palm Springs.

Don randomly met Tom on a golf course in Perth (Australia), in 1994.

Tom loves his golf, possibly more than Don.

I think Tom, has probably played more golf courses around the world than even Don has!

Diane an Tom, along with their daughter Kym and her son Lincoln (who are currently residing with them) welcome us warmly into their home.

Diane kindly hands over the washing machine and we make good use of it!

Tom gives us tickets to the PGA Humana Challenge at La Quinta Country Club and we head out and watch the Pros for the afternoon.

Having spent two nights with the Caress’, we move down the road for a week at the Marriott Desert Springs, for a week of ‘resortville living’.  That’s another timeshare week used up!

Don has bought me new golf clubs – in the hope that I will take my golf a bit more seriously.  

If he’s prepared to follow me down snow covered mountains on two planks in a few weeks, I guess I can chase a little white ball around the grass for a week.

Throughout the week I have three lessons including a playing lesson. The golf Pro is Johnny; he’s straight out of college, but I like the way he approaches the game and imparts his knowledge.

Don of course is like a pig in mud!  He is surrounded by golf courses.  Actually there are over 130 golf courses to choose from in the Palm Springs area.

The highlight of the week would be PGA West TPC Stadium course. No easy course and whilst I started off with a par, it went downhill from there.

Aside from playing three games with me (though the playing lesson probably doesn’t count), Don squeezes in another three.

My golf did improve – but I’m not planning on turning professional anytime soon.

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Jan 21

Californication

From Fort Lauderdale we make a quick stop-over in Dallas, as we’ve stored some non-essentials with the Hillsabecks (In addition, Katrina kindly bought our ski gear over from Australia earlier in the year and had it sent to Dallas).

It was very quick hello to Ang (Chris was away on business), as we arrived, repacked everything into as few bags as possible and left very early again the next morning.

We are very lucky to have Chris and Ang in Dallas; it has been a great jumping-off point for our travels in America.

Our next destination is LA and we have a guest joining us for three days – Jamie.

Jamie is an ex-work colleague and golf pal of Don’s. The three of us have been traveling companions before – we go back to the very first OS holiday I took with Don, which was in 2005.

I joined Don and Jamie on a three week trip around Ireland and Scotland. Yes, it did include golf and it culminated with spending a few days at the British Open in St Andrews.

Looking back now and understanding the ritualist tribal rights that surround the lads and their golf trips, I can’t believe I was invited. I think the only reason I got a gig was because Michael and Dianne also joined us at The Open, so I wasn’t the only female.

Anyway, back to 2015…. Arriving in LA and we are informed that Jamie’s flight is delayed a few hours, so we go and collect the rental car. On the advice of the rental agent we head to Uncle Bill’s Pancake House at Manhattan Beach for breakfast.

It’s January, the middle of winter, and LA feels like a balmy Melbourne day. It must be about 21-22’C, people are enjoying the outdoors; surfing, cycling and rollerblading along the beach promendade.

Jamie finally arrives and we collect him from the car rental location.

A little tip – over the years we have often used the rental location as a meeting place. Much easier than navigating airports, especially with security these days.

Most major airports around the world have car rental locations off-site and provide free shuttles. I’ve never been cheeky enough to pick someone up from a car rental I’m not using, but it’s probably possible!

With Jamie on board we head north out of LA, arriving at Ventura early afternoon.

We found a reasonable last-minute price for The Holiday Inn overlooking the Harbour, providing wonderful sunset views.

wpid-sideways-winery-map.gifHave you see the movie Sideways? If not, we highly recommend it.

The ‘Sideways Effect’ is folklore in the wine industry. A derogative comment about Merlot in the movie claims to have bolstered the sales of Pinot Noir and stymed Merlo; though there is much debate as to the truth in this.

Regardless, it put the Santa Barbara wine region on the wine tourist map.

We follow the ‘Sideways Wine Route’ stopping off at some of the highlights in the movie – not looking as good in real life!

We visited a couple of wineries en route, but generally the tasting rooms cluster in the towns, such as Los Olivos.

Wine tasting in the US is run a little differently than at home as there was always an upfront tasting fee (although this is happeing more in Australia). I don’t have an issue with this, as it’s generally deducted from a purchase, if you make one (and, we always seem to make one).

However, the US tasting fees were $10-$15 per person (so we shared) and only deducted if you bought a case of wine, not just a bottle. This could turn into a very expensive day!

Heading back to Santa Barbara we stop off at Cold Spring Tavern, which opened in 1865, an historic stop on the old stage coach route.

Our hosts for the night are Martha and Doug, friends of Ann and Bob. Martha is a talented watercolourist and has some fantastic pieces throughout their home.

Doug is full of intriguing facts; he works with a think-tank on predictability of events, which provided endless topics of conversation.

Doug also makes an excellent coffee at breakfast, blending various coffee varieties.

We had a wonderful night with Martha and Doug, such generous and lovely people.

Our stay in Santa Barbara is brief, as Jamie is flying out to Orlando for a work conference and we need to get him back to LA for his flight.

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The following day we are heading to San Diego. On the way we catch-up with Jean, Lisel and their son Jesse, at Newport Beach. Don worked with Jean in a past life and they are now living in LA.

Don comes down with ‘man-flu’ in San Diego (really it was just a cold), so we took it easy for a few days. Whilst San Diego was a nice town, one of the main reasons you’d go is for the zoo.

We had a fun day at San Diego Zoo. Though I’d much prefer to see wildlife as just that – wild, this zoo plays an important role in protecting rare and endangered species and is one of the largest zoological research centres in the world.

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Jan 13

Mustang Sally

We arrive into Fort Lauderdale an hour later than scheduled and face a two hour queuing process to get through Homeland Security. Oh the joy!

We’d had a similar experience arriving from Cuba into Cancun, where the flight was quicker than the time it took for us to get out of the airport.

Due to the often unreliable Cuban flight schedule, we had decided not to risk missing a connecting flight from Cancun to the US and overnighted in Mexico.

We had decided to stay in PM (Puerto Morelos); unfortunately – or maybe fortunately, Casa Caribe was full.

Having got to know Catriona, the Australian expat running the B&B, she generously offered for us to stay the night at her place.

Catriona has been living in Mexico for over 15 years and has become a successful entrepreneur. On arrival in PM, she saw a need for a dive shop – not having ever dived herself!

Two years later (and competent diver), she sold the successful dive business to explore other opportunities; these include: developing property, running a cooking school, operating a B&B and a charity. In her spare time (what spare time?), she plays Polo.

We arrive early evening – to her surprise (she couldn’t remember which day we were arriving). Not fussed, she pours us a wine and beer, whilst we start telling our tales of Cuba.

Catriona rounds up the troops; there are also two others staying with her, and she takes us all along to a party. It’s a spectacular full moon night and we are partying in a spectacular beachfront house.

These people know how to party – there’s a band playing on the roof, margarita’s flowing and people dancing and chatting away.

Jon and his wife are welcoming hosts and we have a great night, met lots of people including Chas, Marilyn and others whose names escape me – probably due to the many margarita’s! Thanks Catriona for your hospitality and we hope to see you (somewhere in the world), sometime soon.

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After the lengthy process to get into the USA, we take the rental car shuttle to the bus stop where you pick-up the rental car shuttle for your particular rental location! This is turning out to be a very long day.

I have a surprise lined up for Don…our wheels for the next week is a convertible – a late birthday present. It turns out to be a silver Mustang (Sally) – what else should you be seen in, driving through Miami and the Keys?

Once we have the car we have a 1.5hr drive across to Naples to meet up with John and Holly Bracknell.

Don met the Bracknells in Santa Fe in 1997 and have remained great friends ever since.  John and Don share a love of golf and it is through the generosity of John that Don has managed to see the Masters in Augusta several times.

The friendship between Don and John surpasses distance and time.  No matter how long it’s been between visits, it immediately feels like you saw him yesterday.  The last time was two years ago, in New York.

John has kindly driven his camper down from South Carolina for us to stay in. I had been reticent at first to go ‘camping’, but our home for the next few days is more ‘glamping’!

The well appointed camper has a lounge/dining area and separate bedroom, shower and toilet, along with a fully stocked kitchen (thanks Holly). John’s got all the comforts of home, including satellite TV, so he doesn’t like miss a football game.

We’ve stayed in some pretty basic accommodation, especially recently in Mexico and Cuba. John’s camper rates in the luxury end of our world wide experiences.

After a quick catch-up with John – it’s been a long day, we both happily crawl under soft cotton sheets, place our heads on perfectly soft pillows and sleep soundly.

Recreational Vehicles (RV’s if you haven’t worked that out by now) are serious business in the US. Some of the RV’s parked around us would be worth the price of a house in the US – well into six figures.

Many of the RV parks are like mini resorts. Ours has a swimming pool and there are water aerobics class each morning, along with other park activities. Everyone is very friendly and whilst doing the laundry, I chatted with Canadians and Americans who make an annual pilgrimage south to escape their snow buried homes.

John and Holly are staying with Holly’s parents, who also escape the cold in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to spend the winter playing golf and relaxing in the warmth of Florida. However, they don’t do RV parks; they do a condo on the golf course!

Air boat through the Everglades

Air boat through the Everglades

After meeting up with the gang for lunch (John and Holly, along with her parents Hollis and Sally), John has planned an adventurous afternoon. The three of us are heading out to the Everglades, whilst Holly runs some errands with her parents.

The Everglades is one of the largest wetlands in the world, covering over 1.5million acres (>600,000 ha).

It conjures up images of undiscovered bodies and TV shows like Dexter and Miami Vice, or a John Grisham novel. I’m waiting for Horatio (CSI Miami) to speed by, fully suited and Rayban sunglasses on!

The air boat flys across the water, through twisting mangrove tunnels, making high speed turns into open water prairies – hold on! Home to hundreds of bird species, we spot plenty; ibises, spoonbills, egrets, herons and pelicans (Alison Brown, you should be proud).

The Manatee, a dolphin like mammal is elusive. They only come up to breathe every 15 minutes; unfortunately we don’t spot one. We do meet a baby alligator, its eyes just peaking above water unperturbed by our presence.

We spend a few days exploring Naples. Don played Golf with Hollis one afternoon; we all have a delightful lunch of clam chowder and chicken wing at Buzz’s lighthouse cafe – an iconic landmark; and John and Holly take us to a local crab shack, famous for their soft shell crabs.

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Having helped settle her parents in Naples, Holly is heading back to work. John (with a sparkle in his eyes) is joining us for a few days. We are taking a road trip to Key West – the most southern tip of America.

We move the camper over to Fort Lauderdale, so it will be closer to the airport (we have an early departure). Leaving the camper and truck, we take the convertible down to Key West.

Our first stop is breakfast; we pull into a typical roadside dinner in Key Lago, the first of the Keys.

Florida’s Keys are the largest coral reef chain in the United States. I counted 23 Keys/islands from Key Largo to Key West and 42 bridges, the longest being the Seven Mile Bridge, so named for it’s length.

Key West, being the most southern tip of the US, is also at the upmarket end of holiday destinations   White and blue weatherboard homes surrounded by palm trees, American flags flying proudly. The boys go off in search of somewhere to sleep and they find a B&B a few blocks from town.

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John & Don – Sunset Key West

Everyone heads to the pier to watch the sunset. The promenade is lined with entertainers working for tips, some are very creative; a man with a pig (I’m not sure what he does with the pig!), a man eating fire and a man in a straight jacket are just a few.

After a light dinner at a french influenced cafe, we find a jazz bar. John loves Jazz and we also discover that he is an avid American Idol fan(?).

Tonight’s guest is Kristen McNamara, who was a finalist in 2009. She’s now eking out a living in Key West, a regular guest in this particular bar, whilst writing songs and reinventing herself for the umpteenth time; her new name is KMac.

Suffering a bit of a head cold, I bail early and leave the boys, to enjoy themselves and support KMac through to the end.

The following day it’s a leisurely drive back to the camper. On a whim, we pull into a seaside restaurant for lunch. It turns out to be a popular spot and served a delectable She Crab bisque. We also couldn’t resist sharing a serve of Key Lime Pie – a specialty of the area.

Back to the camper, it’s a lazy night – Over pizza, John tries to impart the tactile intricacies of American Football. I retire and leave Don and John to debate that topic and solve the problems of the world.

The following morning at 5 AM, we bid John farewell and head to the airport.

You’ve probably heard the term ‘Southern Hospitality’, there really isn’t anything like it. The Bracknells excel at it; there generosity is beyond measure and we are so glad to have spent time with them (and Hollis & Sally).

We can only hope John and Holly will come and visit us in Australia soon, so we can attempt to repay them in some small way.

All our thanks go to John and Holly for an enjoyable time spent with such wonderful friends.

 

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* Borrowed some photo’s from the web since my photos are now in Australia! Sources available on request.

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