Rik Pfenninger, Author
Tobi Pfenninger, editor and my main squeeze.
Click on the pictures to enlarge them!
Well, I am doing this at the request of several of my students, family, friends etc. I don't want to go on Facebook and brag about our year... That, after all, is what Facebook (IMHO) is all about. "Look at Me, Look How GREAT I am, Look at all the COOL things I am doing." My life is GREAT your life SUCKS! Etc.
We were supposed to depart from our cottage on Honeoye Lake on October 9th and head to Ann Arbor, Michigan to stay with Dave and Linda Calzone (good friends from my University of Michigan days) to see Michigan play Northwestern in the "Big House," but we woke up to a huge rainstorm and decided to leave very early on October 10th instead.
Honeoye Lake Fall 2015
We went through Canada with our van loaded with my VERY LARGE composing rig, saxophones, personal items and hopefully enough "stuff" to last us through January. The Canadian boarder dude was very nice, and also quite shocked by the amount of stuff in our van! But he let us continue!
We made our way through Canada and discovered a GREAT NEW TREAT called Tidbits at Tim Hortons! MUCH, MUCH better than Dunkin Donuts!!! You have to try these things.
US boarder dude was a TOATAL JERK! You might have thought we were invading our own country and had a van full of "weapons of mass destruction."
Made it to the big house! Michigan crushed Northwestern 38-0 and Tobi got to witness what it was like to see Big 10 Football in the largest stadium in the world with 110,000 other crazy Michigan fans. I got to relive my days of being in the Marching Band, which I hated by the way.
The Big House with Dave and Linda Calzone!
Tobi finally made it to a Big 10 Game!
With a few of our 110,000 friends at the Big House and the Marching Band on the field!
Next Stop Iowa
In my early days at Plymouth State College (it became Plymouth State University later) one of my best friends (despite the fact that he went to Ohio State) was Theory Professor Bill Dougherty and his wife Debi. Tobi and I spent our Thanksgivings with them until they departed for Drake University. Anyway, I contacted Bill since we were passing right through Des Moines and we really wanted to see them. Turns out Bill is also on a year's sabbatical (great minds think alike)!
Bill Dougherty and I proving that Ohio State folks and Michigan folks can be best friends!
Drunk and Distracted Driving
While leaving Michigan at 6:30 in the AM with maybe three cars on the interstate, I was jolted into action as I noticed there was a guy literally 6 inches from my side of the van about to side swipe me. I slammed on the brakes and then we followed him as he weaved all over the road. I then passed and we noticed that he was not texting and VERY drunk at 6:30 in the morning! Tobi called 911 and we reported him. Which brings me to the next topic "Distracted Driving." In our travels across the country thus far we have noticed a TON of people texting and driving! You REALLY have to be CAREFUL on our highways!
We were amazed at the size of these tires! We saw several trucks with this payload while driving through Iowa and South Dakota. Would love to see the truck/tractor that use these babies!
We were amazed at the size of these tires! We saw several trucks with this payload while driving through Iowa and South Dakota. Would love to see the truck/tractor that use these babies!
American Pickers
I love the American Pickers show and we realized that we were going to be driving right past their store in LeClaire, IA. Well, we found it and I have to say that it was VERY disappointing to say the least. Not quite as cool as I thought. Only big items that were VERY pricey! I mean I guess that I could have purchased a $10,000 1934 motorcycle that would not run....Cross that one off my bucket list!
Tobi was a good sport on this side trip to the American Pickers store!
We were not impressed!
Inside the Pickers Store! Not much for sale!
Wind and the Middle of Nowhere!
The next day we left Iowa and headed for Vermillion, South Dakota to the National Music Museum (I have always wanted to go there). They have one of the largest collections of historical instruments including saxophones!
Let me tell you! Man, was it windy! We were in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE, not a human in sight, the speed limit was 80 MPH (so you could get out of there as fast as possible) and all we saw were tumble weeds and coyotes. I told Tobi that if we started to see chickens and cows fly across the road that it was time to pull over! We eventually made it, spent the afternoon at the museum, and had the first of what would be many meals at Mexican restaurants!
Some of Adolphe Sax's original instruments from his shop in Belgium! Pretty cool!
Next Stop: Wall Drug Store
While driving through South Dakota we literally saw THOUSANDS of signs for Wall Drug Store and the free water. Naturally, we just had to stop. It was a tourist trap for sure, but still pretty cool to read about the history and how they grew into the thriving tourist trap that they still are! After an overpriced breakfast, and a tour through all of the stores that make up Wall Drug, we moved on!
Tobi did buy something there...I just can't remember what!
The Badlands
Still driving through the middle of NOWHERE. We took them seriously when signs were posted that read "next gas station 180 miles". WOW there was NOTHING out there except tumbleweeds and cattle. Not a human or house in sight! We were very glad that it was not winter! I really had no idea what the Badlands were about, but I have to say they were pretty cool!
Miles and miles of this! Pretty cool! You could actually walk out as far as you dared!
Our first "selfie" at the badlands!
You could walk out as far as you wanted to....
You could walk out as far as you wanted to....
We saw all these Prairie dogs popping their heads out. When you got close they went to their land down under.
Mt. Rushmore
On my bucket list was Mt. Rushmore so we actually got to stop there and walk around. I must say that it is pretty impressive! Well worth the trip! Too bad there is no way to climb up to the top! Tobi would have totally gone for it!
We were very lucky with our driving weather! We did not hit any rain, just wind!
Wyoming
Yes, we took this picture as we were speeding by (going at least 88 as speed limit was 80)
Devils Tower
I am a huge fan of Steven Spielberg and his movies, especially "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and I knew that we would be passing right by the Devils Tower. So, I just had to see it. I found out later that one of my relatives lives only 25 miles from there! Go figure!
We thought about driving up, but just stopped and took this picture.
Yellowstone
Also on our bucket list was Yellowstone and Old Faithful. We found out that Old Faithful is not one of the oldest geysers or one of the most faithful. Long story short; we stood in front of the dumb thing for almost an hour and a half and got nothing!!!!
This guy was on the side of the road. According to the Yellowstone Brochure:
"How fast do Bisons run?"
"Faster than you....."
I really loved that one. We did get out of the van to shoot this dude (with my camera). He pretty much ignored us!
We did find some other Geysers that were more faithful!
Craters Of The Moon
While we were at Bill and Debi's they told us that we really should stop by Craters of Moon while we were driving through Idaho. I had never heard of it, but this was the year to be "footloose and fancy free" so we gave it a shot. Very interesting place and IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! It is located around the sites where they tested nuclear weapons and the landscape looks like they tested quite a few!
Tobi was basically on a huge mountain of volcanic crushed rock that spewed out of volcanos millions of years ago. Pretty cool place and you almost did feel like you were on another planet. But WOW is it in the middle of nowheresville!
California!
After a stop in Bend, Oregon to visit with some friends we finally made it to northern California! Our first stop was to see the Giant Redwoods in Klamath, California. That is where you can drive your car through a giant redwood. Although we did not drive the van through!
I don't think that our Van would have fit through here!
While driving the coast of California we came upon a sign that read:
Elk Crossing
Look what we saw sitting on the side of the road right before the sign:
Our First House in Berkeley, California
We arrived in Berkeley, California on October 18th, 2015.
Front of Berkeley House.
Backyard of Berkeley House. We had the apartment on the first floor. Three bedrooms!
We ate lunch out here every day!
Trader Joe's and the Berkeley Bowl were very close to us for grocery shopping. We also found "Biking Boulevards" where cyclists have the right of way over cars! We basically parked our car in front of the house and rode our bikes everywhere! There was also a GREAT farmer's market every Tuesday and Saturday that we went to! We bought baskets for our bikes for shopping. We did "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock to see who got to take the milk home. If you are not familiar with the game, here it is:
I am a huge Big Bang Theory fan...more on that later!
Our first trip was a night tour at Alcatraz. It was cool and creepy at the same time. We learned that the Bird-man of Alcatraz never had any birds there and was a total psycho. The guards gave him a wide birth and left him alone! He spent most of his time at Alcatraz in a single cell in the hospital.
Not ANYTHING like Hollywood portrayed him to be.
Approaching Alcatraz Island as the sun is setting.
Alcatraz hospital at night. It was very dark in there but my camera flash lit it up!
We also got to spend 2 minutes in the "hole", which was in complete darkness. Kinda an erie sound when they slammed the door shut! I could not have imagined spending a month in there!
View of San Francisco at night from Alcatraz. They said on New Year's Eve that the prisoners could hear the partying in San Fran.
We did the touristy thing and road the cable cars and hop-on-hop off bus in San Fransisco. Great views!
Our ride is on the way!
Here we go!
Cable car selfie!
View of Alcatraz from the Cable Car!
Tobi on the Hop On, Hop Off Bus in San Fran
About to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge!
Nice view of the Golden Gate from the San Fran side!
Trader Joe's and the Berkeley Bowl were very close to us for grocery shopping. We also found "Biking Boulevards" where cyclists have the right of way over cars! We basically parked our car in front of the house and rode our bikes everywhere! There was also a GREAT farmer's market every Tuesday and Saturday that we went to! We bought baskets for our bikes for shopping. We did "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock to see who got to take the milk home. If you are not familiar with the game, here it is:
I am a huge Big Bang Theory fan...more on that later!
Our first trip was a night tour at Alcatraz. It was cool and creepy at the same time. We learned that the Bird-man of Alcatraz never had any birds there and was a total psycho. The guards gave him a wide birth and left him alone! He spent most of his time at Alcatraz in a single cell in the hospital.
Not ANYTHING like Hollywood portrayed him to be.
Approaching Alcatraz Island as the sun is setting.
Alcatraz hospital at night. It was very dark in there but my camera flash lit it up!
We also got to spend 2 minutes in the "hole", which was in complete darkness. Kinda an erie sound when they slammed the door shut! I could not have imagined spending a month in there!
View of San Francisco at night from Alcatraz. They said on New Year's Eve that the prisoners could hear the partying in San Fran.
We did the touristy thing and road the cable cars and hop-on-hop off bus in San Fransisco. Great views!
Our ride is on the way!
Here we go!
Cable car selfie!
View of Alcatraz from the Cable Car!
Tobi on the Hop On, Hop Off Bus in San Fran
About to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge!
Nice view of the Golden Gate from the San Fran side!
San Francisco's Muir Woods
My brother Randy told us that we had to go to Muir Woods, which is fairly close to San Francisco. After a fairly short and VERY CURVEY drive through the hills we arrived. These trees are HUGE!
Tobi in front of one of the Redwoods!
Words can't describe these trees, which live thousands of years! I am in the picture, just dwarfed by the tree!
Another shot and notice that I am on the "sanctioned path".
Tobi then decided to take a "short" 3 mile hike off the "sanctioned" path. Long story short, we got TOTALLY lost and just made it back to the park right before sunset! We estimated that we went over 6 miles! We had to use our cell phone to find out where we were! I guess that you could say that Siri saved us from spending a night in the woods!
We also spent some time walking around Fisherman's Wharf.
Tobi at Fisherman's Wharf
One day we went for a bike ride to Cesar Chavez park by the San Francisco Bay and stopped for a picnic lunch. We were visited by this fury guy, who stayed with us the entire time we were eating our lunch. We think that he was some type of Gopher.
I named him "Chubby"
Tobi in front of one of the Redwoods!
Words can't describe these trees, which live thousands of years! I am in the picture, just dwarfed by the tree!
Another shot and notice that I am on the "sanctioned path".
Tobi then decided to take a "short" 3 mile hike off the "sanctioned" path. Long story short, we got TOTALLY lost and just made it back to the park right before sunset! We estimated that we went over 6 miles! We had to use our cell phone to find out where we were! I guess that you could say that Siri saved us from spending a night in the woods!
We also spent some time walking around Fisherman's Wharf.
Tobi at Fisherman's Wharf
One day we went for a bike ride to Cesar Chavez park by the San Francisco Bay and stopped for a picnic lunch. We were visited by this fury guy, who stayed with us the entire time we were eating our lunch. We think that he was some type of Gopher.
I named him "Chubby"
While we were in Berkeley we also enrolled in a Chocolate Making class with Rachel Dunn. Even I had to wear the dreaded "Hairnet" REALLY????
Here are Tobi's creations, which were much better than mine:
Tobi's chocolate tray! Pretty impressive. Yes, we did eventually eat all of it!
Here are Tobi's creations, which were much better than mine:
Tobi's chocolate tray! Pretty impressive. Yes, we did eventually eat all of it!
Hearst Castle: Traveling to Long Beach
After leaving Berkeley and heading to Long Beach, we decided to stop at Hearst Castle. We went on the tour and got to see the castle grounds and take an inside tour as well!
One of the outside views of the castle.
Tobi doing the "tourist" pose! They had a nice view of the pacific. It took us 15 minutes to get up to the castle by bus!
Here is the outside pool. They had to drain it because it was leaking 5000 gallons of water a day and they could not locate the leak. They are tearing out the bottom and redoing it. The company that originally did the work was from Vermont. The same company has been hired to make the repairs.
The indoor pool, which is not leaking. The floor around the pool is inlaid with real gold! Just goes to show what you can do when you have too much money!
Here is the dining room. The longer you stayed, the further you were moved from the center of the table where the Hearsts sat. If you drank too much, when you returned to your room your bags were packed and you were escorted out of the castle!!!
One of the outside views of the castle.
Tobi doing the "tourist" pose! They had a nice view of the pacific. It took us 15 minutes to get up to the castle by bus!
Here is the outside pool. They had to drain it because it was leaking 5000 gallons of water a day and they could not locate the leak. They are tearing out the bottom and redoing it. The company that originally did the work was from Vermont. The same company has been hired to make the repairs.
The indoor pool, which is not leaking. The floor around the pool is inlaid with real gold! Just goes to show what you can do when you have too much money!
Here is the dining room. The longer you stayed, the further you were moved from the center of the table where the Hearsts sat. If you drank too much, when you returned to your room your bags were packed and you were escorted out of the castle!!!
Long Beach
We arrived in Long Beach on November 18th. Very nice digs in a gated community within walking distance to the Pacific Ocean! Tobi really came through with this Air B&B find. The condo is within walking and biking distance to EVERY possible shopping experience that you could imagine including a 15 screen movie theater (movie tickets were $15)!
The entrance to our Long Beach Condo. All gated in!!
This is the stream that runs through the entire condo complex including coy everywhere! We felt like we were in our own private jungle world!
Pool and hot tub just outside our condo! We used it a lot!
Living room of the condo. Very spacious with two bedrooms and two full baths! So far no complaints about my practicing!
This was part of Tobi's, and my, running route that Tobi found as we run toward the beach.
This was also on our running route! LOVE IT!!
The entrance to our Long Beach Condo. All gated in!!
This is the stream that runs through the entire condo complex including coy everywhere! We felt like we were in our own private jungle world!
Pool and hot tub just outside our condo! We used it a lot!
Living room of the condo. Very spacious with two bedrooms and two full baths! So far no complaints about my practicing!
This was part of Tobi's, and my, running route that Tobi found as we run toward the beach.
This was also on our running route! LOVE IT!!
Ethan and Paige Visit, Warner Bros and Disneyland
Ethan and Paige flew to LAX to join us for Thanksgiving week. They both had the week off and we are only 16 miles south of the LAX airport! Traffic (for LA) was actually not all that bad. If we lived here I would drive with my phone GPS everywhere that I went! Siri has recommended MANY alternate routes while we were driving around LA to avoid traffic and accidents.
Reunited with Ethan and Paige at LAX
We went on a tour of Warner Brothers studio with Ethan and Paige.
We also got to see all the Bat Mobiles from all of the Batman movies. Tobi was not as psyched as we were to see all of those cool cars!
Photo from the Harry Potter Museum at Warner Brothers. Gringotts Bank Goblin!
Tobi and Paige by the Harry Potter fireplace.
Ethan and Paige reenacting the Hobbit with some movie Magic!
Paige and Ethan with Bugs!
Had to get a shot of the Warner Brothers Tower, which we found out no longer holds water for the fire department there. It is now just a prop!
The Set for Friends. Can you see us behind the glass?
The whole family on the infamous couch at Central Perk on the actual set of Friends. Holding our empty coffee cups!
Reunited with Ethan and Paige at LAX
We went on a tour of Warner Brothers studio with Ethan and Paige.
We also got to see all the Bat Mobiles from all of the Batman movies. Tobi was not as psyched as we were to see all of those cool cars!
Photo from the Harry Potter Museum at Warner Brothers. Gringotts Bank Goblin!
Tobi and Paige by the Harry Potter fireplace.
Ethan and Paige reenacting the Hobbit with some movie Magic!
Paige and Ethan with Bugs!
Had to get a shot of the Warner Brothers Tower, which we found out no longer holds water for the fire department there. It is now just a prop!
The Set for Friends. Can you see us behind the glass?
The whole family on the infamous couch at Central Perk on the actual set of Friends. Holding our empty coffee cups!
Disneyland
I'll admit that yours truly, and our family, are Disney junkies! It has also been on my bucket list to visit the place where it all started. This year was the 60th anniversary of the opening of Disneyland. It was VERY crowded and we found the park to be quite small (and quite dark at night) when compared to the Orlando park! The Christmas parade and the fact that the Haunted Mansion was reconfigured to represent "Nightmare Before Christmas" made the experience totally worth it!
Getting ready to enter the park.
Waiting in line for the Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster. Notice the look on Paige's face!
Ethan in line for one of the new Star Wars' rides with C3P0 in the background.
Getting ready to drive the motocross course with Tobi in the driver's seat! Good thing the cars were on a track!!!
The Disney Christmas Parade!!
One day we decided to see how far we could ride our bikes along Long Beach. 12 miles!
Bike routes along the Pacific at Long Beach
Ethan at the end of our route in front of the Queen Mary Cruise ship
Ethan and me at the end of our short cycle trip along the Pacific (which by the way is quite cold)!
Tobi at the beach. We did walk along and wade in. SO COLD! No way we were going swimming!
Long Beach also has a rowing club. They were out there most mornings on our runs!
Getting ready to enter the park.
Waiting in line for the Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster. Notice the look on Paige's face!
Ethan in line for one of the new Star Wars' rides with C3P0 in the background.
Getting ready to drive the motocross course with Tobi in the driver's seat! Good thing the cars were on a track!!!
The Disney Christmas Parade!!
One day we decided to see how far we could ride our bikes along Long Beach. 12 miles!
Bike routes along the Pacific at Long Beach
Ethan at the end of our route in front of the Queen Mary Cruise ship
Ethan and me at the end of our short cycle trip along the Pacific (which by the way is quite cold)!
Tobi at the beach. We did walk along and wade in. SO COLD! No way we were going swimming!
Long Beach also has a rowing club. They were out there most mornings on our runs!
The Big Bang Theory
I have to say that The Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite TV shows! Tobi somehow managed to get standby tickets to the show, which is filmed on the Warner Brothers lot. She did a ton of research and found that if we were to have ANY shot of getting into the studio for a live filming of the show that we needed to get there as early as possible and just camp out and keep our fingers crossed. This being the year of no real deadlines, we decided to GO FOR IT!!!!!
Our Big Bang wait hang, which was actually in the shade!
We arrived at the Warner Brothers Studio at 11:00 and camped out here until 5:00. I spent over 45 minutes trying to park our van in the Warner Brothers parking garage with no success. I finally went to one the parking attendants and was informed that they would take my van and park it when a spot opened up for free! I went back to the van several times during our wait to get things and drop things off and the van never moved! We were number 6 and 7 in the standby line, which eventually grew to over 50 people. They take 200 into the studio. The folks from the Ellen show were also there with all of their Christmas bling...of course Tobi had to run up and find out what they got! It was quite a bit!!!
SUCCESS!
At 5:00 we were informed that we made it and were going in! We ACTUALLY DID IT! It was very cool seeing all the actors do two takes of each scene. While the producers were viewing the scenes to see if they could move on, a comedian entertained the audience, which got up and did stupid things for pieces of candy. We were also fed pizza about midway through. They filmed from 6:30 to 10:00 and we arrived back to Long Beach at around 11:15. LONG DAY!!! But TOTALLY worth it! There were some funny moments. We don't know when our segment will air.
Our Big Bang wait hang, which was actually in the shade!
We arrived at the Warner Brothers Studio at 11:00 and camped out here until 5:00. I spent over 45 minutes trying to park our van in the Warner Brothers parking garage with no success. I finally went to one the parking attendants and was informed that they would take my van and park it when a spot opened up for free! I went back to the van several times during our wait to get things and drop things off and the van never moved! We were number 6 and 7 in the standby line, which eventually grew to over 50 people. They take 200 into the studio. The folks from the Ellen show were also there with all of their Christmas bling...of course Tobi had to run up and find out what they got! It was quite a bit!!!
SUCCESS!
At 5:00 we were informed that we made it and were going in! We ACTUALLY DID IT! It was very cool seeing all the actors do two takes of each scene. While the producers were viewing the scenes to see if they could move on, a comedian entertained the audience, which got up and did stupid things for pieces of candy. We were also fed pizza about midway through. They filmed from 6:30 to 10:00 and we arrived back to Long Beach at around 11:15. LONG DAY!!! But TOTALLY worth it! There were some funny moments. We don't know when our segment will air.
Chill and The Queen Mary
While we were Long Beach we saw ads EVERYWHERE for an annual Christmas event called Chill. They recreated the Christmas Carol in ice sculptures under a giant dome, where the temps plummeted down to a "bone chilling" 9 degrees. Of course we went...what a tourist trap! As soon as we entered we were offered full length parkas, which we declined. People thought we were crazy walking through that place without the standard issued parka. We had to explain that without any wind, and being from New Hampshire, that this was really a "walk in the park" for us. And it was! Aside from the ice sculptures, all of the rest were rides and food venders to lure the parents into spending a lot of money to make their children's Christmas wishes come true! Glad that we did not have any young children with us!
Tobi posing with the Christmas Carol Ice Figures.
Yes, Tobi had to do the Chill tube ride down the massive slope where she reached speeds of over 3 MPH!
After that we toured the Queen Mary, which has been docked in Long Beach since1967. It was first launched in 1936 where it was frequented by Europe's elite and the rich and famous of Hollywood. It was stripped during WWII to carry troops and was called the Gray Ghost. It has quite an interesting history.
They also had the queen Mary decorated as well for Christmas.
Tobi on the deck of the Queen Mary circa 2015 :-)
While on the Queen Mary we were approached about listening to a Time Share presentation where we got a free dinner, an American Express $100 credit card and a $25 gift card to the Queen Mary's onboard gift shop. We are on sabbatical...of course we did it! We sat through the 1.5 hour presentation, had a good dinner, and bolted with our free gifts when they told us it would only cost
$66, 000 and we were locked in for life...how could we pass up such deal????????
Long Beach Christmas Trees on the inlets from the Pacific Ocean.
We also attended the Long Beach Annual Christmas Parade. A TON of people, and also a ton of dogs marching in the parade. We did not stay to see Santa. I think the entire city of Long Beach came out for the parade!
Next was the "walk of fame", which is quite a bit longer that we envisioned. We also found out that once a person is nominated, they have two years to accept and they also have to pay a mere $30,000 one time fee for lifetime star maintenance. WOW! Sign me up!
Leave it to me to almost instantly find Spock's Star! I don't think that Leonard is getting his $30,000 worth. The star has a crack in it!
Yes! I just had to get this picture!
There was a GREAT Farmer's Market right in the heart of LA. We stopped, we ate, we BOUGHT VERY LARGE COOKIES!!
At one point there was an elderly woman walking in front of us with her designer bag and jeans that were ripped at the knees. She thought that she was the "cat's meow"! All I could think about was that the guy who ripped those jeans and sold them to her for $200 a pop is laughing his @#$%@$% off!
In the short time we were there we saw a Bentley, several Mercedes (they and BMWs are VERY common in southern California) a Maserati, a Tesla, a Porsche, and a partridge in a pear tree... not a single Kardashian though....so sad!
Next adventure:
Tobi posing with the Christmas Carol Ice Figures.
Yes, Tobi had to do the Chill tube ride down the massive slope where she reached speeds of over 3 MPH!
After that we toured the Queen Mary, which has been docked in Long Beach since1967. It was first launched in 1936 where it was frequented by Europe's elite and the rich and famous of Hollywood. It was stripped during WWII to carry troops and was called the Gray Ghost. It has quite an interesting history.
They also had the queen Mary decorated as well for Christmas.
Tobi on the deck of the Queen Mary circa 2015 :-)
While on the Queen Mary we were approached about listening to a Time Share presentation where we got a free dinner, an American Express $100 credit card and a $25 gift card to the Queen Mary's onboard gift shop. We are on sabbatical...of course we did it! We sat through the 1.5 hour presentation, had a good dinner, and bolted with our free gifts when they told us it would only cost
$66, 000 and we were locked in for life...how could we pass up such deal????????
Long Beach Christmas Trees on the inlets from the Pacific Ocean.
We also attended the Long Beach Annual Christmas Parade. A TON of people, and also a ton of dogs marching in the parade. We did not stay to see Santa. I think the entire city of Long Beach came out for the parade!
LA and All That Glitters (not)!
We played tourist once again and booked a trip on the LA Hop/On Hop/Off Bus. First stop the La Brea Tar Pits, which we found to be very interesting (and a bit smelly). Hard to believe that this resides right in downtown LA!
This is what you see when you enter the Tar Pits. No, the elephants are not real and there is a fence around all of the tar pits so you (or your loved one) don't somehow wind up in there with the elephants!
They have found thousands of well preserved bones in the tar pits. The tar gets into the bones and preserves them! Here is Tobi in front of a Wooly Mammoth. We went through the museum there and looked at a lot of bones!
After we left the park we came across an expensive "Modern Art" piece called Levitated Mass at the Los Angles County Museum of Art. If only I had been the one to bilk the city of LA out of a lot of money for this!
We, of course, had to walk under it. We later found out from our bus guide that he would NEVER walk under it because of the possibility of an earthquake and the boulder crushing him to death. Being the naive travelers that we are...we never thought of that mode of certain death. And Tobi says I'm pessimistic!!!
This is what you see when you enter the Tar Pits. No, the elephants are not real and there is a fence around all of the tar pits so you (or your loved one) don't somehow wind up in there with the elephants!
They have found thousands of well preserved bones in the tar pits. The tar gets into the bones and preserves them! Here is Tobi in front of a Wooly Mammoth. We went through the museum there and looked at a lot of bones!
After we left the park we came across an expensive "Modern Art" piece called Levitated Mass at the Los Angles County Museum of Art. If only I had been the one to bilk the city of LA out of a lot of money for this!
We, of course, had to walk under it. We later found out from our bus guide that he would NEVER walk under it because of the possibility of an earthquake and the boulder crushing him to death. Being the naive travelers that we are...we never thought of that mode of certain death. And Tobi says I'm pessimistic!!!
Next was the "walk of fame", which is quite a bit longer that we envisioned. We also found out that once a person is nominated, they have two years to accept and they also have to pay a mere $30,000 one time fee for lifetime star maintenance. WOW! Sign me up!
Leave it to me to almost instantly find Spock's Star! I don't think that Leonard is getting his $30,000 worth. The star has a crack in it!
Yes! I just had to get this picture!
There was a GREAT Farmer's Market right in the heart of LA. We stopped, we ate, we BOUGHT VERY LARGE COOKIES!!
Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive
and
Superficial Hollywood Types
We just had to do it! Had to visit Beverly Hills and hob knob with the rich and famous and the Kardashians (because I so admire the ENTIRE family)!
Tobi in front of the Beverly Hills sign and town fountain. I guess that the town could not afford to get the fountains working on the day we visited!
You just knew that we were going there!
This was one of my favorite pictures that I took as we first set foot onto Rodeo Drive. Notice that I actually got the Maserati in the shot as it flew by? Cleanest streets ever! We did not set foot into a single shop! We were too afraid!
We called this the Harry Potter street on Rodeo Drive.
And yes, even Rodeo drive has Christmas Carolers!
Tobi in front of the Beverly Hills sign and town fountain. I guess that the town could not afford to get the fountains working on the day we visited!
You just knew that we were going there!
This was one of my favorite pictures that I took as we first set foot onto Rodeo Drive. Notice that I actually got the Maserati in the shot as it flew by? Cleanest streets ever! We did not set foot into a single shop! We were too afraid!
We called this the Harry Potter street on Rodeo Drive.
At one point there was an elderly woman walking in front of us with her designer bag and jeans that were ripped at the knees. She thought that she was the "cat's meow"! All I could think about was that the guy who ripped those jeans and sold them to her for $200 a pop is laughing his @#$%@$% off!
In the short time we were there we saw a Bentley, several Mercedes (they and BMWs are VERY common in southern California) a Maserati, a Tesla, a Porsche, and a partridge in a pear tree... not a single Kardashian though....so sad!
Next adventure:
The Last Man Standing Show with Tim Allen
December, 15, 2015. We ACTUALLY did score tickets for this show so we did not have to wait in line for 7 hours!
CBS TV Studios
One of the film stages on the CBS Lot.
GREAT show! Jay Leno was a guest star and the banter between him and Tim Allen was a hoot.
Funny moment:
Tim Allen totally blew his lines on one scene and then said "I have to get something out of the microwave." He then pulls out the script so he could read his lines for the scene.
Our show airs on January 15th at 8:00 EST. The show is titled "Mike and the Mechanics".
Traffic through LA and back to Long Beach was actually not that bad (for LA). We leave tomorrow for Vegas!
We saw Paris! Although I remember it differently from our travels through France.
This mall was pretty cool!
Tobi, who is nice to EVERYONE got lured into a cosmetic store for a demo of something. I will give the ladies credit at that store! They tried their best to get me in there with her, but I ran far, far, away and sat with another guy who's wife was also trapped in there. Kinda reminded me of the La Brea Tar Pits in LA; a Woolly Mammoth wanders in, gets stuck, the Mammoth's spouse wanders in to save his wife, and also gets stuck. They both die a horrible death! But evolution has made me somewhat smarter than the Woolly Mammoth and I did not go for it! 3 hours later Tobi emerged with a "new face." She looked the same to me, which is OK!
And yes, you can also go to Venice, which is MUCH CLEANER than the real Venice, and with no pigeons!
We went to the Venetian hotel (same place where the GOP debate took place the night before) to see a musical called "Rock of Ages." It was pretty good but our ears were bleeding when we left. Despite being deaf for a couple of hours, we really did enjoyed the show. We wanted to see Celine Dion, Penn and Teller, or any other Vegas headliner, but they knew we were coming and all took the week off!
Of course, no trip would be complete without seeing the Statue of Liberty.
Tobi won "big" in vegas! $2.25! We gave it to a homeless woman on the way out! I lost my $5 almost instantly!
I just put this here because I thought this was funny. I AM SURE that this guy is somewhere on the strip right now looking for a handout.
Time to wake my wife up so she can hit the gym in this place. I am going to take my $5 and give my left arm a good workout, while inhaling second hand smoke, maxing out our credit cards, stopping Paige's tuition payments, and winning enough money to retire. I WILL BE LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM!
Onward to the power source of Vegas. The Hoover Dam...After we go to an "All You Can Eat" Vegas Breakfast Buffet... And we will put it on our credit card :-)
CBS TV Studios
One of the film stages on the CBS Lot.
GREAT show! Jay Leno was a guest star and the banter between him and Tim Allen was a hoot.
Funny moment:
Tim Allen totally blew his lines on one scene and then said "I have to get something out of the microwave." He then pulls out the script so he could read his lines for the scene.
Our show airs on January 15th at 8:00 EST. The show is titled "Mike and the Mechanics".
Traffic through LA and back to Long Beach was actually not that bad (for LA). We leave tomorrow for Vegas!
Sin City (Las Vegas)
December 16-17, 2015
We left Long Beach and the traffic to head to Vegas, which is about 4 hours away.
We drove through the Mojave desert on the way to Las Vegas. We were back to open landscapes and not a living thing around. I did not miss the LA traffic! It was a nice change.
As state signs go...not too impressive!
I have always wanted to visit Las Vegas just to see it. I am not a Gambler, in fact, Tobi and I are going to take a whopping $10 and play the slots before we leave and I will have a VERY hard time parting with that $10.
I am sitting in the Lobby of Ballys (our Hotel) at 6:00 AM writing this. And when I say Lobby I am lying. There is no lobby that I can find. There is, however, a GIANT room full of slot machines, craps tables, and poker tables. Which, by the way, people are already up and playing. WOW!
This is our Hotel. It is HUGE!!! I have no idea where our van is. It will be a small miracle if we locate it! Our room, which is very nice, was $32. My coffee this AM was $5!
It is HUGE! Much, much bigger than I thought. We learned that there are 62,000 hotel rooms in Vegas.
You can smoke inside the Hotels and Casinos. The smell is killing me! I wonder how I did it 6 nights a week when I was on the road with clubs FULL of smoke?
You can carry your VERY large drink around outside, talk loudly, and walk into people, walls etc. It is all part of the Vegas experience!
We have not seen too many "High Rollers" here. In fact, 99% of these folks look like they should not be here. They should be home paying down their credit card debt, watching their 65" large screen TV (which is on their credit card) while dressed in their "Snuggies" and driving their Ford 750 Pickup Trucks (which are financed for 7 years at 8.5%). I am 99% sure that the slot machines will accept credit cards....
As expected, there are some WEIRD folk here! But, I knew that. Tobi, who runs just about every morning has wisely decided not to run around here. I am glad! I would have followed her in our van while she ran, BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE VAN IS!
Here is a picture of Michael Jackson taking a picture of not one, but two, Elvis dudes! Now, you gotta love that!
Bellagio Hotel Fountain, which was pretty cool! I think that all of the power generated from the Hoover Dam is used to light this city and keep the 10,000 slot machines running!
We left Long Beach and the traffic to head to Vegas, which is about 4 hours away.
We drove through the Mojave desert on the way to Las Vegas. We were back to open landscapes and not a living thing around. I did not miss the LA traffic! It was a nice change.
As state signs go...not too impressive!
I have always wanted to visit Las Vegas just to see it. I am not a Gambler, in fact, Tobi and I are going to take a whopping $10 and play the slots before we leave and I will have a VERY hard time parting with that $10.
I am sitting in the Lobby of Ballys (our Hotel) at 6:00 AM writing this. And when I say Lobby I am lying. There is no lobby that I can find. There is, however, a GIANT room full of slot machines, craps tables, and poker tables. Which, by the way, people are already up and playing. WOW!
This is our Hotel. It is HUGE!!! I have no idea where our van is. It will be a small miracle if we locate it! Our room, which is very nice, was $32. My coffee this AM was $5!
Several things strike me about this WEIRD place:
It is HUGE! Much, much bigger than I thought. We learned that there are 62,000 hotel rooms in Vegas.
You can smoke inside the Hotels and Casinos. The smell is killing me! I wonder how I did it 6 nights a week when I was on the road with clubs FULL of smoke?
You can carry your VERY large drink around outside, talk loudly, and walk into people, walls etc. It is all part of the Vegas experience!
We have not seen too many "High Rollers" here. In fact, 99% of these folks look like they should not be here. They should be home paying down their credit card debt, watching their 65" large screen TV (which is on their credit card) while dressed in their "Snuggies" and driving their Ford 750 Pickup Trucks (which are financed for 7 years at 8.5%). I am 99% sure that the slot machines will accept credit cards....
As expected, there are some WEIRD folk here! But, I knew that. Tobi, who runs just about every morning has wisely decided not to run around here. I am glad! I would have followed her in our van while she ran, BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE VAN IS!
Here is a picture of Michael Jackson taking a picture of not one, but two, Elvis dudes! Now, you gotta love that!
Bellagio Hotel Fountain, which was pretty cool! I think that all of the power generated from the Hoover Dam is used to light this city and keep the 10,000 slot machines running!
We saw Paris! Although I remember it differently from our travels through France.
This mall was pretty cool!
Tobi, who is nice to EVERYONE got lured into a cosmetic store for a demo of something. I will give the ladies credit at that store! They tried their best to get me in there with her, but I ran far, far, away and sat with another guy who's wife was also trapped in there. Kinda reminded me of the La Brea Tar Pits in LA; a Woolly Mammoth wanders in, gets stuck, the Mammoth's spouse wanders in to save his wife, and also gets stuck. They both die a horrible death! But evolution has made me somewhat smarter than the Woolly Mammoth and I did not go for it! 3 hours later Tobi emerged with a "new face." She looked the same to me, which is OK!
And yes, you can also go to Venice, which is MUCH CLEANER than the real Venice, and with no pigeons!
We went to the Venetian hotel (same place where the GOP debate took place the night before) to see a musical called "Rock of Ages." It was pretty good but our ears were bleeding when we left. Despite being deaf for a couple of hours, we really did enjoyed the show. We wanted to see Celine Dion, Penn and Teller, or any other Vegas headliner, but they knew we were coming and all took the week off!
Of course, no trip would be complete without seeing the Statue of Liberty.
Tobi won "big" in vegas! $2.25! We gave it to a homeless woman on the way out! I lost my $5 almost instantly!
I just put this here because I thought this was funny. I AM SURE that this guy is somewhere on the strip right now looking for a handout.
Time to wake my wife up so she can hit the gym in this place. I am going to take my $5 and give my left arm a good workout, while inhaling second hand smoke, maxing out our credit cards, stopping Paige's tuition payments, and winning enough money to retire. I WILL BE LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM!
Onward to the power source of Vegas. The Hoover Dam...After we go to an "All You Can Eat" Vegas Breakfast Buffet... And we will put it on our credit card :-)
Hoover Dam
December 17, 2015
Made our way from Vegas to Hoover Dam. Very short drive and it is getting cooler! 45 degrees today.
When we arrived, our car was searched! The women who did it were AMAZED at how packed it was. When one of them noticed our Keurig coffee machine she said "wow, you guys did pack everything!"
You can see that our van is a "bit" full and we even removed the front row passenger seats before we left NY!
We walked over this bridge when we first arrived at Hoover Dam. This is the new Route 93, which was built after 9/11. Before 9/11 Route 93 traffic passed right over the Hoover Dam. No more! You can still drive over the Dam, but only to get to a parking lot on the Arizona side.
View of Colorado River after it leaves the Dam. We were standing on the top of the dam when we took this.
That is a LONG way down!
The other side of the Dam. Lake Mead, which is the largest man made lake in the world, 525 ft deep in places, and it took almost a year to fill!
Here is Tobi walking through the tunnel at the bottom of the Dam. We took an elevator ride down to the bottom. Pretty cool!
Here are the turbines in Hoover Dam. Presently, Hoover Dam can produce over 2,000 megawatts of capacity and a yearly average generation of 4.5 billion kilowatt hours to serve the annual electrical needs of nearly 8 million people in Arizona, southern California, and southern Nevada. They were hummin'.
Tribute to the thousands of workers who made it out there to build the dam during the depression.
After that we went to the dam restaurant, had a dam sandwich, a dam drink, and some dam french fries. Tobi told me that my joke was getting REALLY OLD, but I still think it is damn funny!
Made our way from Vegas to Hoover Dam. Very short drive and it is getting cooler! 45 degrees today.
When we arrived, our car was searched! The women who did it were AMAZED at how packed it was. When one of them noticed our Keurig coffee machine she said "wow, you guys did pack everything!"
You can see that our van is a "bit" full and we even removed the front row passenger seats before we left NY!
We walked over this bridge when we first arrived at Hoover Dam. This is the new Route 93, which was built after 9/11. Before 9/11 Route 93 traffic passed right over the Hoover Dam. No more! You can still drive over the Dam, but only to get to a parking lot on the Arizona side.
View of Colorado River after it leaves the Dam. We were standing on the top of the dam when we took this.
That is a LONG way down!
The other side of the Dam. Lake Mead, which is the largest man made lake in the world, 525 ft deep in places, and it took almost a year to fill!
Here is Tobi walking through the tunnel at the bottom of the Dam. We took an elevator ride down to the bottom. Pretty cool!
Here are the turbines in Hoover Dam. Presently, Hoover Dam can produce over 2,000 megawatts of capacity and a yearly average generation of 4.5 billion kilowatt hours to serve the annual electrical needs of nearly 8 million people in Arizona, southern California, and southern Nevada. They were hummin'.
Tribute to the thousands of workers who made it out there to build the dam during the depression.
After that we went to the dam restaurant, had a dam sandwich, a dam drink, and some dam french fries. Tobi told me that my joke was getting REALLY OLD, but I still think it is damn funny!
The Grand Canyon
December 18, 2015
We stayed at a hotel that was about 6 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon. When we woke up it was 14 degrees and they had eight inches of snow from last Monday. We went from 70 to 14 degrees in the span of two days!
View from the south rim. We were 7000 feet up!
We walked the outer rim for 7 miles today! The sights were incredible. There was some snow on parts of the trails. So much so that Tobi and I walked on the highway for part of the way back. It was a perfect day! Started out cool but the temps got up to 48 by noon!
We even saw this guy, which is a mule deer. I guess that sometime long, long ago, a mule and a deer went out for a candle light dinner, drank a lot of wine, forgot to use birth control, and now TOTALLY regret their amorous night out! Hey! It happens...
Tobi on our hike!
We ate lunch at the damn Grand Canyon restaurant...just kidding and then headed for Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Even got to drive on old route 66 today! On to Santa Fe.....
We stayed at a hotel that was about 6 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon. When we woke up it was 14 degrees and they had eight inches of snow from last Monday. We went from 70 to 14 degrees in the span of two days!
View from the south rim. We were 7000 feet up!
We walked the outer rim for 7 miles today! The sights were incredible. There was some snow on parts of the trails. So much so that Tobi and I walked on the highway for part of the way back. It was a perfect day! Started out cool but the temps got up to 48 by noon!
We even saw this guy, which is a mule deer. I guess that sometime long, long ago, a mule and a deer went out for a candle light dinner, drank a lot of wine, forgot to use birth control, and now TOTALLY regret their amorous night out! Hey! It happens...
Tobi on our hike!
We ate lunch at the damn Grand Canyon restaurant...just kidding and then headed for Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Even got to drive on old route 66 today! On to Santa Fe.....
Santa Fe
December 19, 2015
We made it! One thing that I did learn is that people from Arizona and New Mexico LOVE TO DRIVE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE EXPRESS WAY!!!!! This, as Tobi will tell you, drives me crazy!
Outside of our Santa Fe house. They have snow here!
It is an adobe style house with two fire places, two bedrooms, and two full bathrooms. No office so my composing rig is now on our kitchen table. Do I have an understanding wife or not?
Tobi relaxing in the living room.
Nice kitchen and radiant floor heat! We also have two bathrooms and two fireplaces!
Fireplace in the master bedroom.
More later...we are off to explore Santa Fe!
We made it! One thing that I did learn is that people from Arizona and New Mexico LOVE TO DRIVE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE EXPRESS WAY!!!!! This, as Tobi will tell you, drives me crazy!
Outside of our Santa Fe house. They have snow here!
It is an adobe style house with two fire places, two bedrooms, and two full bathrooms. No office so my composing rig is now on our kitchen table. Do I have an understanding wife or not?
Tobi relaxing in the living room.
Nice kitchen and radiant floor heat! We also have two bathrooms and two fireplaces!
Fireplace in the master bedroom.
More later...we are off to explore Santa Fe!
