|
Post by pippsheadache on Jan 15, 2024 23:48:03 GMT -5
For sure I'd be happy to talk AZ all day. And you aren't wrong that those cliff dwellings start running together after awhile. We're seven hours ahead of EST here in Greece, so my responses will come at off-hours. If any of you on this forum have any experience here, I hope you will chime in. But back to AZ -- oh man, Canyon de Chelly is wonderful. I'm guessing you've stayed at Thunderbird Lodge -- very atmospheric-- how great it is to go out with one of the Navajo guides to explore. Obviously Monument Valley for the John Ford experience -- Gouldings Lodge on the Utah side has the million dollar views. Just thought of another favorite, the Gadsden in Douglas. I hope it's held its own over the years. And the Territorial Prison in Yuma -- a little too atmospheric-- no pretense in Yuma -- during a seemingly endless seige of rain here in PA I suggested to my better half that we should look at real estate in Yuma, which as nearly as I can tell is the driest metro area in the United States. Unfortunately she had been there and let me know with great clarity that if I wanted to move to Yuma I was on my own. I remember when the Cleveland Indians had spring training there. Rainouts were never a problem. I do think she could happily adapt to Scottsdale or Paradise Valley, but I didn't see many real estate bargains there. With your Santa Fe experience I am guessing you have been to Taos and Abiquiu in Georgia O'Keeffe country. And the Turquoise Trail, the back way to ABQ through the old mining and railroad towns like Golden and Lamy. In western NM places like El Morro and Acoma Pueblo. So much beauty. When we were kids our parents used to get Arizona Highways magazine and it definitely made an impression with the great photography and romanticized vision that I fully subscribed to then and now. Oh yeah, Westward Ho is another I needed to mention in the cool hotel category. I have no doubt you know it well. I hope I’m not annoying anyone with this travelogue. Just kinda fun to talk with someone with the same experiences, and there’s not much baseball to discuss at this time of year. Canyon de Chelly…yes, stayed at The Thunderbird. It is very interesting that the land isn’t federally owned, and many Navajo families still live and work inside the monument. But we didn’t make use of native guides…did a self-guided tour instead. While we’ve driven past Monument Valley many times, did not have a pleasant experience inside. Again, chose to drive thru rather than make use of the “guided” tour and quickly found the road too much for our vehicle to handle. Turned around at the first opportunity and felt fortunate to make it out. I’ll stick with the familiar view from the highway. Not familiar with The Gadsden in Douglas, but I know Yuma fairly well and have visited the Territorial Prison. You probably know that they used to take mug shot photos there using a mirror for the profile. I have a hilarious pic of my wife in prison stripes trying to look like a criminal. She'd kill me if I showed it to anyone. One of my grandsons had been recruited to play baseball at Arizona Western College in Yuma, so we took him out there to tour the campus and meet the coaching staff. A little too remote for him, so he declined the offer. There have been a few ML players to come out of there, including Sergio Romo before he transferred to Mesa State in Grand Junction. I know the Padres used to have ST in Yuma before moving to Peoria to share a facility with the Mariners. I'm looking forward to seeing Higgy there this spring. Really nice guy. I recall the Indians in Tucson before moving to Goodyear to share with the Reds. The Rockies were also in Tucson their first few years before moving to Scottsdale to share a place with the D-Backs. Yes…we’ve visited Bandelier NM and stayed in Taos several times, but have never been to Abiquiu. We took the Turquoise Trail last time up to Colorado and drove the Sandia Crest Scenic route up to the overlook. A totally different perspective from which to view Albuquerque. Stopped briefly in Madrid before heading up to Santa Fe. We’ve also visited El Morro and Acoma Pueblos, and driven thru El Malpais NM several times. We subscribe to Arizona Highways, which can be a good source for info re places to visit. They published a “40 Scenic Drives” book, but that version was mostly drives that require high clearance 4WD vehicles, which I no longer have. Not quite as adventurous in my "golden years". They’ve come out with a new “100 Scenic Drive” version, which I’ll order with the hope that there are more drives that don’t require high clearance 4WDs. Well you're sure not annoying me. I enjoy other people's travels almost as much as I enjoy my own. Of course we're probably annoying everyone else on the board! It brings back a lot of memories for me. Bandelier is where I saw my first mountain lion. I did a lot of work with Los Alamos National Laboratory so I often went through there. Another interesting part of New Mexico is the area around Lincoln with all of the Billy the Kid history. About four years ago my brother and I went to Clovis to see the Norman Petty Studio where Buddy Holly, among others, did most of his recording. The place is practically preserved in amber. Same equipment, same instruments as when Buddy was there. Very hands on -- Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs of "Sugar Shack" fame recorded there, and they let me play that riff on what I always thought was a flute but is actually a keyboard. Great place for rock history. Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox ("Party Doll") and many other TX/NM artists recorded there. How could we have discussed AZ this long without mentioning The Thing? If I recall there is a horrible curse awaiting anyone who reveals the story of The Thing, plus it set me back a dollar to go see it. I think I am permitted to say that you also get to see Hitler's car and a few other objets d'art at that place, and of course the usual moccasins and petrified wood are available at competitive prices as well. Today is a driving day so you'll be spared for a bit. They're relieved here because the temps are finally back in the mid-60s where they belong in winter. It's been great for us because what passes for cold here has kept crowds way down at the major archeological sites like Corinth and Mycenae and Epidaurus. You do a LOT of climbing here. Every historical settlement has an acropolis, and every acropolis has a steep jagged rail-free trail for your hiking pleasure. In the US these places would be goldmines for personal injury attorneys, but here they figure if you’re stupid enough to make the climb you richly deserve your reward. That's what I like about it.
|
|
|
Post by kaybli on Jan 16, 2024 0:11:08 GMT -5
You guys aren't annoying anyone. I love hearing about travel adventures.
|
|
|
Post by inger on Jan 16, 2024 0:34:55 GMT -5
I’ve entertwined only a few of your Arizona travels guys. Albequerque, NM into the route 40 entrance of the petrified forest, where we parked and took a brief walk and agree that after you’ve seen a few downed and petrified trees there’s really no use to see more. It was nice, but I didn’t need to explore deeply. Hotel in Flagstaff, the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The Holiday Inn at Monument Valley which was about $129 a night when most of the others were only 45-50 dollars a night because… they had you. Nowhere else to go. Also just waved at Monument Valley on the way by. Up to Four Corners to see grown people spread out to pit a limb in each state like a poor man’s game of Twister and Indian jewelry…
I think Pipps has also been to Chama, NM which had some charm but didn’t live up to its billing for me. We haven’t made it to Sante Fe or Taos yet since moving here a few months ago but will likely make the journey next summer just for the fun of it. It’s a go to for people in the Valley that “need” a big box store and don’t want to cross the high passes to get to Salida or Pueblo in the winter. People do get snowed out of here sometimes when they use La Veta Pass or Poncha Pass.
I plan to return to San Antonio Mountain next summer since I’ve learned there is a significant amount of obsidian there and I’d like to add some to my landscape. An acquaintance of mine also found a couple of mortar and pestle sets there from the days the Native Americans ruled the land. Arrowheads, etc..NM Route 64 in the east side of I-25 has an interesting “dead man’s curve” that you can peer over and see several generations worth of cars at the bottom of, and generally a few memorials for some of the sad souls that never made it back up from the drop off… And in the middle of nowhere a bit east of that is a golf course that seems to spring up from nowhere and nothing…
|
|
|
Post by inger on Jan 16, 2024 0:35:32 GMT -5
You guys aren't annoying anyone. I love hearing about travel adventures. If anyone is annoyed they can look away…
|
|
|
Post by posadafan24 on Jan 16, 2024 5:01:52 GMT -5
This thread is titled misc , i dont get how anyone can be annoyed by that in this thread
|
|
|
Post by chiyankee on Jan 16, 2024 9:37:32 GMT -5
Today is a driving day so you'll be spared for a bit. They're relieved here because the temps are finally back in the mid-60s where they belong in winter. It's been great for us because what passes for cold here has kept crowds way down at the major archeological sites like Corinth and Mycenae and Epidaurus. It's a little warmer here too, up to -6.
|
|
|
Post by azbob643 on Jan 16, 2024 11:31:36 GMT -5
How could we have discussed AZ this long without mentioning The Thing? If I recall there is a horrible curse awaiting anyone who reveals the story of The Thing, plus it set me back a dollar to go see it. I think I am permitted to say that you also get to see Hitler's car and a few other objets d'art at that place, and of course the usual moccasins and petrified wood are available at competitive prices as well. Can’t escape “The Thing” (at least the signs) along I-10…but I’ve never stopped in to check it out. Fool me once… Drove from NY to CA for the first time in a ’65 Chevy Biscayne. NO AC…just a water filled canvas “desert bag” hanging from the side mirror. Started seeing signs advertising dinosaur fossils and “captured live reptiles” somewhere in Western New Mexico. Could barely contain my excitement when I finally reached the roadside gas station and asked the guy pumping the gas where the reptiles were being held in captivity. He pointed in the direction behind the station, where I found a hole dug about 6’ into the ground covered by a BBQ grill. At the bottom of the hole was what I think was a rattlesnake…not even sure it was a “live” reptile. I think the dinosaur fossils were just chunks of rock from the hole that had been dug for the captured reptile.
|
|
|
Post by inger on Jan 16, 2024 18:05:53 GMT -5
In December 2017 Huffington Post posed this question:
If you could pick one to build a baseball team around for the next five to ten years, Would you pick Bryce Harper or Yasiel Puig?…
|
|
|
Post by chiyankee on Jan 16, 2024 19:00:34 GMT -5
In December 2017 Huffington Post posed this question: If you could pick one to build a baseball team around for the next five to ten years, Would you pick Bryce Harper or Yasiel Puig?… Puig certainly didn't last long in the league.
|
|
|
Post by bomberhojoe on Jan 16, 2024 19:48:47 GMT -5
In December 2017 Huffington Post posed this question: If you could pick one to build a baseball team around for the next five to ten years, Would you pick Bryce Harper or Yasiel Puig?… Puig certainly didn't last long in the league. It's a shame. Puig was abundantly talented.
|
|
|
Post by inger on Jan 16, 2024 20:42:20 GMT -5
Puig certainly didn't last long in the league. It's a shame. Puig was abundantly talented. Billion dollar talent, ten cent brain 🧠…
|
|
|
Post by bomberhojoe on Jan 17, 2024 11:51:43 GMT -5
It's a shame. Puig was abundantly talented. Billion dollar talent, ten cent brain 🧠…
|
|
|
Post by chiyankee on Jan 20, 2024 14:02:10 GMT -5
It's a reunion of Yankee arms at Jameson Taillon's wedding.
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Jan 22, 2024 3:29:32 GMT -5
I wanted to check in during a bit of a lazy day during our Big Fat Greek Winter. Still gallivanting around the Peloponnesian Peninsula, still climbing climbing climbing, and every day has been a wonderful adventure.
I finally came up with a sports-related angle here yesterday when we visited Olympia, site of the original Olympics from 776 BC until almost 400 AD -- a pretty good run of over 1,100 years. (Well, there was a gift shop in Nafplio called Arod's, but I don't think it was the same guy, so I didn't count it as sports-related.)
Olympia is a truly amazing archaeological site, both for its sheer enormity and for how much is here, albeit mostly as ruins. The photo op place is the original starting block for the foot races, which was the only event for the first twelve Olympiads. It is set a short walk from the tunnel through which the athletes entered the stadium, which itself has been excavated as an embankment which held about 45,000 spectators. The original race was 200 yards, basically from one end of the stadium to the other. Naturally people make videos of themselves doing the race, complete with wild celebration at the end. I managed to avoid this ceremony.
Something I thought was funny was that in the tunnel the athletes went through to enter the stadium, there was a series of statues of Zeus, in whose honor the games were held. These statues were financed by fines levied on athletes who had cheated. On the base of each statue was inscribed the name of the athlete and the infraction for which he was cited. Talk about in your face. Sort of a reverse Monument Park.
Also at Olympia is the site where the Olympic flame is lit, in front of the Temple of Hera. Without putting much thought on it, I had assumed that it originated in the modern Olympic Stadium in Athens, which is a four-hour drive away.
Among the other places within the complex is the Temple of Zeus, which once housed the 40-foot gold and ivory statue of him and is always listed among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was leveled by several earthquakes in the sixth century after having stood for over 900 years. The remaining pillars show how massive the temple was. The architect was Phidias, the same guy who had just finished designing the Parthenon. A pretty good couple of years for him. His workshop is directly across from the temple and you can still make out the different rooms he operated in.
It's a rather remote site, the last stretch of which is via narrow twisting roads where mostly you just hope no one is coming the other way.
We've been seeing some jaw-dropping historical sites here, but this one ranks right up there. And the crowds in January aren't one-tenth -- maybe even one one-hundredth --of what they would be in summer.
|
|
|
Post by inger on Jan 22, 2024 5:06:39 GMT -5
I wanted to check in during a bit of a lazy day during our Big Fat Greek Winter. Still gallivanting around the Peloponnesian Peninsula, still climbing climbing climbing, and every day has been a wonderful adventure. I finally came up with a sports-related angle here yesterday when we visited Olympia, site of the original Olympics from 776 BC until almost 400 AD -- a pretty good run of over 1,100 years. (Well, there was a gift shop in Nafplio called Arod's, but I don't think it was the same guy, so I didn't count it as sports-related.) Olympia is a truly amazing archaeological site, both for its sheer enormity and for how much is here, albeit mostly as ruins. The photo op place is the original starting block for the foot races, which was the only event for the first twelve Olympiads. It is set a short walk from the tunnel through which the athletes entered the stadium, which itself has been excavated as an embankment which held about 45,000 spectators. The original race was 200 yards, basically from one end of the stadium to the other. Naturally people make videos of themselves doing the race, complete with wild celebration at the end. I managed to avoid this ceremony. Something I thought was funny was that in the tunnel the athletes went through to enter the stadium, there was a series of statues of Zeus, in whose honor the games were held. These statues were financed by fines levied on athletes who had cheated. On the base of each statue was inscribed the name of the athlete and the infraction for which he was cited. Talk about in your face. Sort of a reverse Monument Park. Also at Olympia is the site where the Olympic flame is lit, in front of the Temple of Hera. Without putting much thought on it, I had assumed that it originated in the modern Olympic Stadium in Athens, which is a four-hour drive away. Among the other places within the complex is the Temple of Zeus, which once housed the 40-foot gold and ivory statue of him and is always listed among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was leveled by several earthquakes in the sixth century after having stood for over 900 years. The remaining pillars show how massive the temple was. The architect was Phidias, the same guy who had just finished designing the Parthenon. A pretty good couple of years for him. His workshop is directly across from the temple and you can still make out the different rooms he operated in. It's a rather remote site, the last stretch of which is via narrow twisting roads where mostly you just hope no one is coming the other way. We've been seeing some jaw-dropping historical sites here, but this one ranks right up there. And the crowds in January aren't one-tenth -- maybe even one one-hundredth --of what they would be in summer. Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ Keep those dogies rollin’… Keep having fun, Pipps. The Yankees will be here waiting for you when you get back…
|
|