This One Has People

Back in the 70's, I went on summer vacation with my Aunt Eleanor, Uncle Lysle, and Cousin Jody. We'd gone on this particular vacation with an ultimate destination of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. From Southern California. Quite a drive, considering the freeway system back then was nothing to what we have now.

One route we took up I-15 had moose (at least I think they were moose) off in the distance. Since all I had back then was a 110 camera, it was hard to tell. Hell, it could have been a herd of Great Danes for all I know.

After the photos were developed, and again seeing my relatives, upon seeing the moose/Great Danes, my Aunt Eleanor asked "Where are the people?"

I've kept that question with me all these years, and try my hardest to limit the number of people in my photos. Apparently, to her, there's no such thing as a photograph, only snapshots. And snapshots have people.



This is another shot from my series of Santa Barbara sunrise photographs. It's a panorama, stitched from three separate photos.

I hope you like it. Aunt Eleanor would.

Sunset Gulls

Late afternoon seagulls, Santa Barbara:

On The Falls Hike

On the hike to Nojoqui Falls in California:

Santa Barbara Sunset

This was from the night before we left for Las Vegas on the way back to Utah.

Methinks I caught the sun at just the right time.

The surf helped too.

Volcanoes And The Jonas Brothers

Not necessarily in that order.

I've said recently when it's not a good idea to travel on an "ordinary" vacation. Primarily, one such post said not to travel anywhere on Thanksgiving weekend. This post is not so much when to travel, but when not to stay in Las Vegas.

Oh, we'd done the typical where to stay and what shows could we see bit before. But this is more for what shows or events are happening in Las Vegas and where NOT to stay.

Had we done our homework, we would have realized the MGM Grand was not the place to stay on the way to California. Too, had we done our homework, we would have realized the Mirage was not the place to stay on the way back to Utah.

I don't know who the Jonas Brothers are. Still don't. But every teenybopper this side of the Mississippi knew, and they knew they were going to be at the MGM Grand the DAY we checked in. For only one day. Two shows. One show was letting out as we checked in and one was just about to start. Unexpectedly, we were trying to find a parking space between shows. Yeah, good luck with that. And we hadn't yet figured out the whole "Do we really need to take ALL of our luggage to the room in one fell swoop" and "where the HELL is the entrance to the hotel" two-step.

By the time we were on the way back to Las Vegas, we'd figured out the bare essentials to put in only ONE suitcase. And that valet parking is the only way to go.

Before we left Santa Barbara, early-morning TV provided us with a scary scenario. One of KTLA's reporters was on-scene for what was to happen that afternoon. The Mirage (yes, THAT Mirage) was going to be unveiling their newly-remodeled Volcano. And when was it to be unveiled? Yes, you guessed it, at exactly the same time we were to be checking in.

In a scene from a poorly written "I Love Lucy" show, you've never seen two people move so fast. We couldn't move fast enough to get out and on the road. I barely had enough time to run down to the beach and get the photos I wanted since darkness had set in the previous evening just as the batteries died in the camera.

And we almost made it, but for a "quick" stop at the outlet stores in Barstow.

Arriving in Las Vegas, we heard the roar from the volcano, newly erupting, just as we realized the main entrance to the hotel was cordoned off!

An hour later, we were in our room. And fifteen minutes after that we were asleep.

Learn from our mistake. Check what is going on at the hotel you plan on staying at, even if you have no interest whatsoever in what that show or event is.

Johnny Lovato

Johnny Lovato is 84 years old.

He started his business 66 years ago. At age eighteen.

His shop is at 1900 Rosecrans Street in San Diego. It's one of those nondescript buildings you'd probably just drive by without taking much notice. I did. Twice. Back from the street a bit, the only identifiable marking on the building is a barber pole. A classic, red-and-blue striped barber pole, spinning maniacally. That, and the neon "Johnny's Barber Shop" in the window.

Yes, Johnny Lovato is a barber in the classic style.

He's been in this same location for forty years. The previous 26 years he was downtown, but moved out when the hippies of the day made the area un-workable. That would have been 1968 by my calculation. Man hadn't yet set foot on the moon, but Johnny knew he had to get out of there. To 1900 Rosecrans.

I spent what seemed like an entire afternoon talking to Johnny as he worked his magic on my hair. It was only an hour or so, but consider this: how long was your last haircut, let alone how long has it been since you've been to a REAL barber? We're not talking a salon, or a chain-store hair-cutter, no, a real barber.

He had many stories to tell, about being in that downtown San Diego location, about how his clientèle has dwindled, how he was a big draw during World War II since all the other barbers had been drafted. There he was, fresh out of high school and he literally was the only barber in town.

So how dows a guy from Salt Lake City happen to be searching for a barber in San Diego, California? Since I was to meet Marilee's parents the next day, she wanted me to be as spit-shined as possible - that meant visiting a real barber for a shave and a haircut. Well, beard-trimming anyway. We were staying at the Sheraton in San Diego, so I did the natural thing and asked the concierge for a recommendation.

Johnny's Barber Shop was the answer.

A real Barber. With a barber pole.

Here's Looking At You

Our room at the MGM Grand last week had several cool amenities, several of which were mounted on the walls of our room.

Very cool photos of movie stars which, I'm sure, were stars of many MGM movies adorned this wall. I'm not sure who the actress is on the left, but I'm fairly well certain that Marlene Dietrich is on the right.

While both photos were amazing to look at, there was a problem with the photo on the right which isn't at first obvious. Particularly from the angle shown above.

After we walked around, checking out the trappings of a ritzy room, we realized something about the photo.

From every spot in the room, Marlene was staring at us.

"Do something about it." was all Marilee had to say.

I had to agree.

Nojoqui Falls

No, I don't know who these people are. Not that it really matters, since the object of this photo is not of the people, but the waterfall in the background.

Nojoqui Falls is about six miles outside of Solvang. Part of Santa Barbara's County Parks System, Nojoqui Falls is one of my favorite destinations. From the photo, you can see that up above it's relatively bright, but down near the bottom it's fairly subdued; sunlight doesn't get down that far due to the overhead canopy of trees.

In the past, I'd been up the fifteen-minute-walk distance in the heat of summer, but you'd never guess it was warm. I trekked up there on our day in Solvang with a light jacket on, and it was still a bit chilly.

With benches along the route, there's a bit of respite if you get winded. And since the last time I'd been up the trail was twenty years and 50 pounds or so ago, the benches were a welcome sight!

Another post will have some forest scenes from the walk. If you happen to need a break from driving, and even if you're not heading into Solvang, stop by the falls. It's just off Highway 101 on Alisal Road.

Home

Getting off I-215 last night, we both heaved a sigh - but I'm not sure if it was a sigh of relief or of sadness. Our mega-vacation was about to end.

Chris was at the house awaiting us, as was Taylor, of course. And our multitudes of animals - Bambi, Lexie, and Princess. I'm sure they must have thought we'd abandoned them. They were all beside themselves. And Sundance began a cry/wail until Marilee accorded her some attention as well.

I spent a bit of time with Molly and Sherman; I'll spend more time with them today - I'm taking one more day off to tie up some loose ends I really should have done before we left.

Sleep came easily to both of us; we went to bed rather early. Lexie had her 11:30pm wake-up potty to attend to, and I was tempted to go outside late (early?) to find a cat wailing in the night. But then the wail turned into a squawk. Or was it a quack?

No, actually, it was a goose.

This was the view this morning when taking Taylor to school:

Yup - that there's a goose.

I called Animal Control after getting home, but they said someone wouldn't be able to come out till 10am. Mr. Goose must've known I was calling, since he had waddled away when I went back outside.

Figures - would have been nice to find out if this was the Golden Egg goose. After Las Vegas times two, a golden egg would be a nice surprise.

It's Only An Illusion

Late Monday afternoon and we're in Las Vegas.

Strange feeling that we were just here.

Yes, we were, but it was only nine days ago. This time we're at the Mirage.

We decided, early on, that we'd "use" our economic stimulus payment from Uncle Sam to pay for our trip; if you've wondered how we could afford the trip, now you know.

From a visual standpoint, this room at the Mirage is top-notch. The service, on the other hand, will be spelled out in the none-too-stellar review we'll make on Expedia's website. Hell, we could do an entire nit-picking on our hotels over the last week-and-a-half.

Next vacation - whenever that may be - we'll be less absolute and allow for a bit more leeway.

In the meantime, we'll enjoy our last night of extravagance.

If This Is Sunday...

...it must be Santa Barbara.

Now THIS is nice.

Right across the street from the beach!

HDTV, refrigerator, and microwave in the room. And since I picked up an eighteen-pack of Guinness in Dana Point, the cold Guinness will be a treat.

We're now at 1400 and some-odd miles, and have two legs to go, to Las Vegas and then home. Our vacation will be over far sooner than we'd like.

Sunny Fields

It's Sunday, and we're now in Solvang.

Solvang is a little town Near the Santa Ynez mountains - think inland from Oxnard. If you don't even know where Oxnard is, then think up the California coast from Santa Barbara.

Founded by Danish immigrants in 1910, Solvang (meaning "sunny fields") has become a very special place where old world charm and customs have been successfully linked with the American way of life. (Text partly from the History of Solvang from the Elverhøj Museum).

My family (up until the late 1970's) always came up to and through Solvang on the way to another family retreat in Pismo Beach. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions - not to mention distance - the last two times I made it to Solvang were in 1980 and 1986. Now twenty-two years later, time has taken its toll.

Marilee and I are staying at the Kronborg Inn, and I'm sure that in the heyday of Solvang this place was far more, well, Danish looking. But this isn't the forum for making less-than-stellar reviews of - no, I'm not even going to say it. I'll leave that for Expedia's website.

Let's just say we've become spoiled after staying at some really nice four- and five-star hotels over the last week...

Grimace

This ring begs the question "How are rings designed?" Does someone on crack draw a picture and present it to a ring maker (looking away so as to not see the grimace on the ring maker's face) and a ring is produced? Or does some jewelry house (also on crack) design multitudes of crap and say "Take your pick?"

Maybe some ring-savvy person out there can answer the question.

Dana Point

We're staying at the Laguna Cliffs Resort and Spa while in Dana Point.

Pretty nice accomodations, if I do say so myself. On par with the Sheraton in San Diego, but there's no battleship in the harbor.

We're going to burn off some calories from room service's great breakfast this morning, and I'll be taking the camera along.

One more interesting note: While it's customary to find certain items in hotel guest rooms, some things aren't as common - at the MGM Grand, in the nightstand was the ubiquitous Gideon's bible. At the Sheraton, there was no scripture reference of any kind.

But here at the Laguna Cliffs, we were surprised to find a Utah reference. While it's true that this particular hotel is part of the Marriott chain, it then becomes no surprise what is in the nightstand along with a Gideon's bible.

Yes, there's a Book of Mormon in there, too.

Cubed

It's now Friday morning, and now we're in Dana Point. Marilee and I had dinner with her Mom and Dad. and her brother and his wife. Funny thing about Marilee's Dad and brother - while there's an obvious family resemblance, there's another obvious relationship. And with me there, it was thrice the fun.

The Brilliantly Stimulating conversations lasted for quite awhile, with Bob the Dad, Bob the Brother, and me.

It was bobsbs, bobsbs, and bobsbs.

Fun stuff.

THESE People Went On A Cruise

They must have docked overnight.

Beautiful sunrise this morning. Hope "Red sky in morning" doesn't pan out.

Where We Are

Or I suppose that could read "Where Are We?"

Between San Diego Bay and the airport. Pretty much the gist of it.

That previous photo shows that we're near the bay and downtown, not so much in relation to the airport. So how close IS the airport?

Pretty damn close.

San Diego At Night

Night view from our hotel:

That's Downtown San Diego in the background; foreground is part of the San Diego Marina.

Gorgeous.

Gilligan Never Showed Up

Or the Skipper for that matter.


The Harbor cruise didn't happen. Marilee had a bit of intestinal distress Monday; she spent the entire day in bed. She was up and around for the first day of her conference Tuesday, though - she's feeling much better.


Monday night I took my Aunt Mary Lou to dinner, a leisurely 40-mile trip inland from San Diego.


But the day wasn't all tending Marilee's sour stomach - I had picked up some travel brochures in the lobby Monday morning and brought them back to the room. After perusing all the things we could be doing, Marilee said that I should partake of one of the activities, even if she didn't come along. So as it turned out, though we didn't go on a cruise, I went a light-year or two on a trip of my own.


Star Trek: The Exhibition is now showing for a limited engagement at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The tagline "Explore the History of the Future" was all it took to get me excited about going. Props, costumes, models, the works. Even sets from the ten movies and five TV series.

No photography is allowed - major bummer - but they do have souvenir photos available with a typically touristy price.

So if you have the chance, beam over to the Museum. It's in Balboa Park.

Thankfully Gilligan's Nowhere In Sight

Marilee had THE most serious expression on her face this morning. "I need to call the front desk!" So after perusing the labels on the phone and showing her which button to push for "Guest Services", I breathlessly awaited her question.

Since I was only hearing one side of the conversation, I imagine the expression on the young lady's face at Guest Services was more than bemused. Marilee said her reply was "About 10am".

Marilee and I are interested in taking a one- or two-hour harbot cruise today, hopefully way before we go have dinner with my Aunt.

The question had to do with the harbor cruise, albeit a bit indirectly.

"What time does the fog lift?"

I'm not going if the ship's name is the "Minnow".