Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park is unique with its 558,000 acres comprising two different ecosystems.....the Colorado and Mojave deserts.

Joshua Tree iss located in the arid area of Southern California and is a short distance from the famous playground of the stars, Palm Springs. The Rat Pack played in one of these and the kangeroo rat the other. The latter sustained life from moisture derived from seeds, the other from "moisture on the rocks".


If the picture of rock formations look familiar to you.......they should! Dozens of westerns were filmed in this area. Outside of the Park entrance a complete "cowboy town" still remains. Gene Autry, the Cisco Kid, and many other stars made film, TV shows here. The National Parks are our national treasures.

Texas-Big-Big Big

EL PASO 876 Miles-Was this mile marker sign located in Kansas, Colorado or Mississippi? Howdy partner-welcome to the big state of Texas-this sign was located on the interstate entering from Louisiana.

I like Texas-rural Texas-Levis, boots, trucks, cattle, horses, and folks with manners-No Maam- You’ all come back!

About 30 years I met Elyse and her husband-owners of the 3 Springs Ranch. It’s a great ranch, located in the Hill Country west of Austin. This is cattle country-with some open range and cattle guards everywhere. For the edification of eastern dudes. cattle guards are shallow pits in the road with pipes or rails placed ever 3-4 inches. Livestock won’t cross the “threatening bridge”.

Creek crossings are also interesting. Each low area of the road has a water gauge located on the side. It is marked in increments of one foot-preventing “drive throughs” from becoming “float throughs”.

Vocabulary changes here: stock means cattle, not IBM; fix a little something means cooking; a big pond is a tank; you get the picture-RURAL! It’s a wonderful place to visit-peaceful, interesting, picturesque, and best of all, you can drive a “short piece” to Round Mountain and get the best chicken fried steak in Texas –so their sign reads.

As we headed west on I-10 towards El Paso, I couldn't help wishing I was driving a Vette. The road is straight as an arrow as far as the eye can see. Traffic is light-what a pace to "put the pedal to the metal (or fiberglass)".

One song was "stuck in my mind". It was the old Marty Robbins Hit, " Out in the west Texas Town of El Paso- I fell in love with a ....................".

New Orleans-Lodging

. . Lodging

Our favorite area to stay is the Garden District. The action centers around St. Charles Street-a main Mardi Gras parade route with old beautiful, classical New Orleans houses. Transportation is easy and fun with streetcars of the 1940’s vintage, whose routes terminate on Canal Street, a stone’s throw from the French Quarter.

This year we splurged for one night in the “Quarter”. Actually, we got a super mid- week deal at the Place d’Armes, a beautiful old hotel one block off Bourbon StreetWhat’s better than a second floor private room with balcony overlooking St. Anne? It’s a 50 yard line front row seat (more like a 40 yard-Bourbon St. is on the 50) with the “street stage” below-featuring vendors, street performers, drunks; you get the picture – a people watchers’ paradise.

New Orleans

Dining

Po Boys and Beignets-two famous gastronomical treats from “Narlins”- as the locals slur it. Po Boys are like our subs- a French roll swathed in mayo and stuffed with delicately battered fried oysters, shrimp, etc. A beignet is like the “heroin of pastry”- consumption producing a feeling of euphoria and extreme, well-being (I can only vouch for the beignets). I can’t figure out why some enterprising entrepreneur doesn’t start a “Dunkin Beignet” chain`

Mardi Gras

Lodging

Quarter.

Mardi Gras

Philadelphia has its mummers- New Orleans has its Mardi Gras or Carnival, as the locals say, Both are steeped in deep tradition To me, no visit to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World.. Blaine started making floats from day one-and today makes almost all of them. Some figures are paper mâché and some are fiberglass. Kern also makes all the figures and props you see in casinos and theme parks. Take the ferry across the Mississippi River to Algiers-named for holding slaves captured in Algeria. Kern has shuttle buses waiting to take you to his warehouses and workshops. Wow-Wow Wow-what a sight—like an ant colony with workers scrambling around making last minute preparations for the upcoming parades. Some are building and painting floats; others are stacking floats with beads to be thrown to the “partygoers”.
A float consists of a captain and a krewe (crew). Each person pays to ride and pays for their beads-300 to 600 $ each. Visiting Kerns is like being in the locker room before the superbowl.

French Quarter

French Quarter

Margaruitos-20$ for all you can drink-Big Ass Beers-a full quart ; these are some of the signs on Bourbon Street- in the heart of the party. Here you will see it all-another people watching paradise. What is more fun- the tourists or the street performers? The latter consists of musicians, dancers, singers, jugglers, and my all time favorites-the statues. They paint their bodies and clothing gold or silver-assume either a regal or physically challenging pose- and remain motionless like a statue. They usually break character-sometimes in a startling manner- if you make a deposit in their tip bucket.

“Narlins” is the magic kingdom for party animals. I don’t exactly know what it is but people tale on a different persona in this city. The quiet, demure librarian from Des Moines, Iowa, is suddenly flipping her top to a bunch of drunken conventioneers tossing beads from a balcony (so they tell me).
Bars and clubs abound and finding one to your liking is like finding your favorite food on a buffet. All the doors are open – step inside and check it out-from deafening hard rock to 50’s Rock-A-Billy! Laissez le bon temps roule’.

Bucket List

Bucket List

Other than fun, the new movie, Bucket List, has a message that has always been important to me-These are the good old days- have fun while you can! If you’ve never cruised, please put it on your Bucket List-it’s a must.

This year we sailed on the Norwegian Spirit out of New Orleans. It’s a beautiful ship with a crew of 850 and a passenger load of about 1800. The Spirit has something I have never seen on a ship-a glass viewing area of the captain’s bridge in the ship’s pilot house. The view is impressive-thousands of gauges, switches, monitors, and computers;-it is truly the “Starship Enterprise”.

Ship-Norwegan Spirit

Ship’s Dining

Why do I write so much about food? You Know! Ships have superb chefs (tongue twister) and the food is excellent-both preparation and presentation.

Almost as important is the wait staff-they can enhance or reduce your culinary experience. We were so fortunate as to meet Gabriela from Romania. We tried to sit at her table every evening. On the last day, I wrote her this note along with a generous tip (I know- I can read your minds).

Dear Gabby,

You are the best “waiter” we’ve ever had. We usually sail on ships with organized seating-sometimes we get the magic princess-sometimes we get the frog.
Freestyle dining is like gold mining-you mine in different areas-sometimes you find a nugget or two-infrequently, you hit the mother lode. Gabby, you are the mother lode.

Guatemala

I'm always getting the same cruise question-each year friends ask what ports we are visiting. I politely answer- I don't know-and I really don't-nor do I care. The cruises are reasonably priced (thanks to Carol Kasper) and we are escaping the boring cold sleet and snow. It's a win, win, situation.
Guatemala was one port that was new for us. Cruise ships have just started stopping there in the last few years. The country is rough, virgin, and very tourist friendly.
We seldom take the ship's excursions-I enjoy bargaining on my own. Our group of six headed to the mountain rain forest. It was one of the best I have seen-dense plant growth with numerous cascading waterfalls. The jungle was so thick-even Tarzan would be challanged to have a "swinging time"!

Guatemala

Guatemala

You would think a retired school teacher would never visit a school on vacation. I saw this “compound” fortified with razor wire and being, “Spanish challenged”, I finally figured it was a school. I walked to the barred door and peered inside-smiled at the receptionist and asked her, in “gringo sign language” if I might come inside and take a look. It’s amazing what you can see and do if you don’t fear rejection. The inside was austere but clean; devoid of pictures and posters, but functional (I must stopping watching wine tasting shows).
The kids were typical kids-waving and wanting their picture taken. After disrupting their classes, I’m sure the teachers referred to us as Pendejo Americans.