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San Simeon 2023 – Seal Beach

Posted on May 28, 2023 by JimG

May 29th, 2023

The name of the beach isn’t seal beach.  I have seen a few names for it including the San Simeon Seal Rookery and Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery.  It is something to see, according to the literature that I picked up, it is home to over 25,000 elephant seals.  The have built a walkway above the beach which allows people to watch and view the the seals basking on the beach.

They are entertaining to watch, they like to lie close to each other but one seal will get fussy which disturbs other seals.  It seems like they spend a lot of time lying there and then adjusting and readjusting.   We had visited this beach the last time we were here in the fall and we could clearly see that the seals were molting.

We also spotted some very friend squirrels, especially the baby squirrels.  They were cute and very friendly, only to realize that everyone was feeding them whatever snacks they had in their car. Continue reading →

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Margaret Brown House, Denver CO 2023

Posted on May 13, 2023 by JimG

May 13, 2023

Margaret Brown, also known as the unsinkable Molly Brown, lived not too far from our hotel, her house is not a museum. I have always been fascinated by everything related to the Titanic and how she survived the Titanic.  I thought this could be an interesting stop.

I was also aware that after she died, the American Socialite’s life became highly fictionalized and she became known as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown”.   I thought it would be interesting to learn about about the really Molly Brown who was a wealth woman, a philanthropist and a fight for women’s rights.

I thought this would be a quick stop and it was much better than I expected.  First, the house looks like a small house from the front. Once inside, I realized there were three floors and much bigger than I expected.  It was a glimpse into life around the turn of the last century. There was a wooden stove, fireplaces in almost every room. I wondered how many kids would recognize the wooden phone on the wall.

I was really impressed with how well everything was documented.  There was printed material in every room, you could read more about it on the internet and listen to audio tours.  The offered both guided tours and self-guided tours.  I opted for the self guided tour so that I could go at my own pace.

The following morning, we headed back to Los Angeles, overall a wonderful adventure.  I would have loved to have spent some more at some of the stops but you never really know how much time you need (or want) until you get there.  I will be going back to spend some time at some of those spots.   I am going to be looking at scheduling a Rocky Mountaineer trip in Canada.

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The Rocky Mountaineer – Glenwood Springs, CO to Denver – 2023

Posted on May 12, 2023 by JimG

Glenwood Springs Train station

May 12, 2023

We had time to grab breakfast before getting on the train, we found a spot called the Daily Bread.  On our way to the place, we spotted a “Mama’s Pierogi” food truck and at the restaurant they had blintzes on the menu and pierogies on the lunch menu.  Clearly, there was an eastern Europeans population in Glenwood Springs.

As we walked around, I couldn’t help but notice how picturesque Glenwood springs was.  It sits in a canyon along the Colorado river surrounded by the Rocky Mountains.  There are hot springs in the middle of town.   It has a small town vibe, an old town, something out of a western movie.   Gunslinger Doc Holiday is buried in the cemetery.

I could have spent an extra day or two exploring the area but it was back on the Train where out crew started the morning with a toast.  We then headed out through the Rockies to Denver. The scenery was just as amazing as the day before and we saw a lot of wildlife.   We went through areas that weren’t accessible by car.   The service on the train was outstanding and the crew made us all feel that this was an event – and it really was.

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The Rocky Mountaineer

Posted on May 11, 2023 by JimG

May 11, 2023

We were picked up at the hotel and we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer.  The Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail tour company.  It isn’t an Amtrak, and it isn’t about getting from point A to point B, it is about train ride and what you see on the ride.  We were boarding the train in Moab and heading to Glenwood Spring Colorado where we would spend the night at the Hotel Denver and then board our train in the morning and head to Denver.

We were greeted by our crew – one chef and three servers.  These four people weren’t for the entire train, they were for our car, each car had their own chef and servers.  It quickly became clear that they were aiming to make this an event.

While on board, we were served gourmet meals, and drinks. On the first day, we started out with hors d’oeuvres and then later dinner.  The Rocky Mountaineer employees kept announcing areas of interest and pointing out wildlife.   We spotted deer, eagles, eagles’ nests and bison.  We were also told that we should expect to see a full moon.  I had no idea that people rafting in the Colorado river liked to moon trains as they went by.   We saw it a few times!

There was plenty of room and we could wander back to one of the two bar cars or stand on a platform in between the trains to take pictures with unobstructed views.  Typically, I am always trying to get the best photograph, on this ride, I decided to focus in on taking it all in and not worry about the pictures.

We arrived in Glenwood springs as the sun was setting.  Our hotel, the Hotel Denver was across the street from the train stop.  We were handed the keys to our room and didn’t have to check in, our luggage had already been delivered to the room.

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Moab 2023 – Part II

Posted on May 11, 2023 by JimG

Park Ave

May 11, 2023

We were picked up at the hotel at 7:15 AM for our morning tour of the Arches National Park.  The night before, there were 24 people on a large bus.  This morning, there were two other people.  Although we were told these were pretty much the same tour, they ended up being very different.  The van could park in areas that the bus couldn’t, we didn’t spend as much time getting on and off the bus.  We ended up doing a lot more hiking!

Obviously the area doesn’t get much rain but I curious as to how hot it got, the guide said that it could easily reach 90 and 100 degrees start in June through August.   I was glad that we were seeing it in May.

There are over 2,000 arches in the Arches National Park. As I expected, seeing the park in different lighting conditions made it all look different and although I had seen some of the same arches the evening before, I was just as fascinated with seeing it all again.  This is one spot that I could have spent a few more days at.

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel and decided to have lunch at the BBQ place next door to the hotel and then it was time to start the best part of the trip – to board the Rocky Mountaineer!

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Moab 2023

Posted on May 10, 2023 by JimG

The double arches

May 9-May 10, 20223

We arrived in Moab mid afternoon and checked into the Hoodoo Moab Hotel by Hilton.   I had booked a sunset tour the following night and a morning tour the following morning. After checking in, we walked around the town to see where things were. We stopped into the Moab Adventure center who told me that the tour of the Arches park that I had booked were pretty much the same, I told them that I was OK with that, I wanted to see the park at different times of the day.

At dinner, we ran into Ellen and Carroll who was sitting in front of on the van from Las Vegas.  I remember Ellen saying something and I thought, her accent sounds like she is from Texas.   It turned out that they were from San Antonio, TX where I have spent a lot of time.  Everyone on the tour seems very nice and you begin to feel like you know them when you spend several days in the same van. .

The following morning we had breakfast at the Jailhouse Café for breakfast and then walked around the town. The previous days were up early with the luggage out by the door.  It was nice to have some free time.  We didn’t buy any t-shirts or refrigerator magnets, but it was fun looking.

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Bryce Canyon -2023

Posted on May 9, 2023 by JimG

Bryce Canyon

May 9th, 2023

The day before, we arrived in Bryce Canyon late afternoon.  Dinner was at Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill which provided a BBQ dinner along with a live country music show.  I don’t dislike country music but I am not a big fan of it either.   The BBQ was great and entertainment provided by the Bryce Canyon Wranglers was outstanding.  During the show they explained that Ebenezer Bryce had  discovered the canyon when he lost a cow and went looking or it.  “Helluva Place to lose a cow!”

We headed out early to beat the crowds. Like the previous days, I know pictures weren’t going to to it justice.  Although I took a lot of photos, I also wanted to experience the park and take it all in.   When we were done, we headed to Moab!

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Las Vegas to Zion National Park – 2023

Posted on May 8, 2023 by JimG

May 08, 2023

It was a rough start in the morning. One of my pet peeves is when you are on a group tour and someone is late.   I was that person this morning but in my defense, the documentation said the location was “To Be Determined”, I called the Rocky Mountaineer customer service number and asked and asked them and they said the hotel lobby.  The Nomad hotel is a hotel within a hotel, the meeting point was in the park MGM lobby, I was waiting in the Nomad Hotel Lobby.   We got it all straightened out but I felt like we were the ones who held up the group and as the last people on, we sat in the very back of the four row van.

There was  a total of 8 people on the tour bus besides the tour guide.   Las Vegas Blvd was under construction, as it always seems to be when I visit Las Vegas and it seemed like forever to go just a few blocks.  At one point the guy sitting in the front made a political joke.  I found myself wondering, why in a brand new group of people would he do that, it doesn’t matter if you are right or left, in a group of 8 people you are bound to offend someone. Yet I see the same types of political slamming on Social Media.

The tour guide didn’t miss a beat and said, “I once heard someone say, if you want to talk about religion, then go to a church, it is a place to  talk about religion, if you want to talk politics, the you can go to hell.” Everyone laughed and I thought it was a great way of shutting him down but I wondered, why in a group setting would you start out making political comments.

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Las Vegas 2023

Posted on May 7, 2023 by JimG

May 7th, 2023

We were staying at the Nomad Hotel which is a hotel in the Park MGM.   It was a nice hotel but as I said before, I am not a huge fan of Vegas and although temperatures were warming up (low 70’s) it wasn’t warm enough to lounge by the pool.  I noticed that there was an ABC store across the street.  I sent a picture to Cindy as we are always joking about the ever-present ABC stores in Hawaii.  I guess it makes sense to have one in what the Hawaiian’s call the ninth island. We stopped in and they had pretty much the same things they would in an ABC store in Hawaii.

Although they have built trams to get around you still do a lot of walking and we did a lot of walking.   One of my favorite hotels is the Bellagio, I remember the first time I saw the glass flower ceiling.  They put in a botanical gardens which wasn’t there the last time I visited.   It was very nice and I could smell the flowers as I went through it!

That night we saw Cirque Du Soleil’s “O”, it was very good.  I kept cracking up, the woman on the other side of us kept saying “Holy Crap!” and “Oh My God”, it was funny and the show was amazing!

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Las Vegas 2023 – Retro by the Voltaggio Brothers

Posted on May 6, 2023 by JimG

Retro by Voltaggio

May 6th, 2023

There isn’t a shortage of celebrity chef restaurants.  While searching through them, I saw that the Voltaggio brothers from Top Chef were opening up a restaurant called Retro. I had seen these chefs at a Hawaii Food and Wine Festival a few years back and one of the brothers had a restaurant in Los Angeles and I had dinner there a times and loved the experience.  This new restaurant was a modern takes on 80s classics.

My biggest problem was deciding what to have.  Everything on the menu looked good and I wished we were there with more people so that we could share and order more.  We decided on Cheese and Crackers or rather pork rinds whipped brie, chicken pot pie, and VoltaggiOs which was served out of can just like SpaghettiOs.  I couldn’t help but notice that we weren’t the only ones looking around to see what other people ordered.   and how it came out.  For dessert, it was a molten lava cake!

There was plenty of memorabilia throughout the restaurant and they played 80’s hits.  As we left, I noticed the payphone in the elevator.  I found myself thinking, it doesn’t seem that long ago when payphones were everywhere and yet now, they are almost extinct.  I left feeling full while trying to figure out if I could go back a second time to try some of the things that I didn’t get to try.

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Categories: Las Vegas, Nevada | Leave a comment

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