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The USA. As I mentioned at the time you clicked the link to
this
page?
To be precise, a fully escorted coach tour, starting in Denver,
Colorado ... and overnighting in: Colorado Springs, thence to Santa Fe
New Mexico, Ruidoso, Las Cruces ... and leaving from Scottsdale/Phoenix
Arizona.
Marvellous.
No, better than that.
Do yourself a favour, and navigate through this holiday using the hyperlinks
scattered throughout the text. If you want to go
back to the start, or feel a need to go to my
site homepage, well, by now you should know what to do? :o)
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Introduction.
This is very much a first draft.
I'm not going to mention any personal names other than
those of guides and the like here. Why? For the simple reason I don't
think it's fair that I miss people out, and people deserve their privacy.
Also, whilst you'll find informative stuff scattered about within the
body of my text, it's hardly likely MY informative stuff will be better
than other resources you'll find on the internet or from your own
memories or knowledge, so take it all with
a pinch of salt and enjoy the rest? Sorry, but you'll have to scroll a bit. Well, a lot actually.
Here goes:
Where to begin?:
There's probably too much information here to easily, er ... plough through, but what the heck, I need to get this off me chest, so here goes!
:o)
Beginning:
Well, I went back to the USA on me hols this year. The title of the holiday is 'American Rockies and New Mexico'. But heck, we even got a bit of Texas and Arizona thrown in for good measure! I say 'we' ... I mean me (went on me own) and the rest of the tour party.
Tour:
I'll tell you now that the tour is still in the early stages of refinement. Our party was only the second to experience it: I heard that the managing director of the holiday company chose the initial itinerary. I'd guess that it behoves me to provide feedback to ensure that anyone taking the tour gets the best out of the area? Anyway, leaving potential sour grapes aside, what did I *do*?
Getting there:
Well, got up early Wednesday, tour company people carrier to Gatwick, British Airways Boeing 777 to, just over 11 hours later, Denver Colorado, USA! Ah, and ugly looking clouds. Well, it'd snowed on the Monday?!
Itinerary:
After the 27 mile drive from airport to hotel, the first disappointment: hotel 15/18 miles away from downtown Denver. I mentioned the changes? Well, they'd been going on since I booked the holiday ... mainly being the Denver hotel, the final destination: Tucson to Scottsdale (metro Phoenix), and the addition, at no extra cost, of a day to the itinerary! Heck though, there's no point me complaining until I'd seen the effects of each and every change though, *was* there?
Complaints?:
But here's not the place for complaints ... especially with me head as soggy as it is now?
Get *on* with it Baz!:
So, what the heck *did* I get up to?
Colorado State:
Mountain time: 7 hours behind the UK.
We saw a small part of the state, as with every tour of this type. This one basically stuck close to the western side of I-25, the interstate highway running north/south. The majority of this state is pretty high above sea level. There's dozens of peaks above 14000 feet. We went up one!
Denver:
It's around a mile above sea level here. It's on a plain at the base of the Rocky Mountains. It's a city of ... ok, no more facts, just me and my impressions of the place. Ah, I didn't like it. Ok, maybe it was because of the limited amount of time we had there and the location of the hotel, but it just didn't work for me. Maybe if we'd stopped in the hotel closer to downtown and had more time to wander ... ?
The hotel:
Hilton, Englewood. Comfortable. Steak and eggs for breakfast every day.
:o)
The Rockies:
Impressive to say the least. I mentioned the snow earlier in the week? Well, part of the Rocky Mountains National Park was shut for this very reason. It's big enough even at that to keep me amused. And you can see for miles! :o)
We were scheduled to go to Echo Lake. We got there and it was frozen. Frozen in May. Ok, how *dare* the weather spoil my enjoyment of nature!
Buffalo Bill:
I've seen his grave and the museum devoted to his life and times. People on the tour told me there's a better one in Wyoming, but this was enough for me. Oh, and they do a nice line in fridge magnets if anyone's thinking of collecting one from each of the states they'd visited. Which I was. So I bought ... but anyway ...
Idaho Springs:
Small town America. Can't say this is small town America at its best, but this place certainly managed to convey the feeling of community and time, if not exactly stood still, at least keeping the best bits intact.
So what do they farm in this part of the world:
Cows, sheep, horses. Llamas. Ostriches/emus. Heck, and green stuff too! Still struggling to get rid of a mental picture of cowboys rounding up ostriches.
Manitou Springs/Pike's Peak:
Don't drink too much beer before you go up the cog railway to the top of this mountain. It may help if you don't eat Buffalo hot-dogs? Dunno pal. It's cold and the air's certainly thin. Well, it *would* be at 14,100 feet above sea level? Even the station's at 6,571 feet. Let's just say I was a little light-headed before I went up eh?
:o)) Oh, and if you like seeing marmots, this is the place for you.
Colorado Springs:
We, again, stopped out of the centre of town. Only for one night, and I was tired, so not a big deal.
The hotel:
Radisson Colorado Springs. Don't bother asking for dinner or breakfast here: a lukewarm buffet, and that's it. You could, if you wished, try taking your life in your hands and trying to cross one of the most confusing crossroads I've seen in my life?! I did.
New Mexico State:
Mountain time: again 7 hours behind the UK.
Don't have the words for this state. Liked what I saw here almost without exception. Even the straight roads that seem to go on for ever until a bend appears. The bends are put in to keep drivers sane?
;o) Not so sure about rafting down the Rio Grande though.
Taos:
Here's the exception. I'd been told about the art here - it's all over the place. I'm not an art-lover as such but know what I like. The word that *I'd* use to describe this town though is 'pretentious'. Having said that, the lunch, mid-afternoon, in a restaurant called Doc Martin's, was excellent! The waitress, though I reckon not an 'ordinary' waitress, got me sussed right away as a philistine though. May have been the 1 1/2 glasses of wine? I drank merlots without exception throughout the holiday. Dunno, but I reckon these glasses must hold twice as much as mine [points] here!
Santa Fe and the area:
I'd an idea that this city and the area round about was going to be everything I thought New Mexico was, er ... all about. You know, adobe mud-brick buildings, history, missions, Native Americans/New Mexicans peddling their wares on rugs in the main plaza, more art, Route 66, good food ... and, you know, it was. And more. Ok, so I'll admit that I stopped within what, half a mile of the city centre, but there's so much to see and do. And buy. Remind me to be wearing my new belt when I next meet you?
:o)
The hotel:
Hilton Santa Fe. Right at the edge of the shopping area. Ideal location. Internet connection: $10 for 1/2 hour, $2.50 for each 1/4 hour thereafter.
***The Heat***
Before I forget, make sure you take a bottle of water around with you everywhere you go. I mean everywhere. It gets hot the further south and west you get in this region. The American Southwest if you're wondering. Anyway, I made the mistake of assuming I'd be ok in Arizona. Temperatures over 100 degrees fahrenheit - who was I trying to kid?
I was ill for a day, though not too badly. The least of my worries - I missed the farewell dinner at an 'authentic' western restaurant. I also missed visiting someone I'd known off the 'net for over 4 years for my stupidity.
Sorry. Dehydration isn't fun.
Albuquerque:
I've been to old town Albuquerque. You'll notice I've used the word Albuquerque three times now? The old town was basically shut when we got there. Still, I can spell Albuquerque.
Marriage proposals:
One. :o}
Ruidoso:
Basically a road with buildings along it. There's a racecourse and the Hubbard Museum of the American West.
The hotel:
The Inn of the Mountain Gods, Ruidoso. Run by the Mescalero Apaches in the reserve. Casino. Didn't bother with the casino, but the hotel's got so much to offer. A lake, golf course, good food, fine wines. Ok, so I wouldn't know a fine wine if someone smashed a bottle of it over me head, but the Santa Rita Merlot was excellent!
All three *big* glasses of the stuff! Someone reckoned I'd drunk the equivalent of six UK-sized glasses of the stuff? A bottle.
Paid for a bloke from Halesowen's meal too. We'd travelled down from Halesowen to Gatwick on the people carrier so reckoned we'd spend part of the time sharing dinner expenses. Both had a main course, I had dessert he had a beer and I the wine. $70.56?! Was worth it though. No, really it was ... the second best steak I'd had in me life!
After dinner the second night, went back to me room, donned me fleece and gingerly weaved me way down to the lakeshore. Dark early here. Wonderful to just stand, then sit there looking up at a night sky almost unpolluted by man's desire to light everything. Planes flying over provided a transient entertainment but to see a shooting star filled me with such a feeling of wonder at nature that ... well, enough said ... Ok, 'marvellous' doesn't even come close.
Lincoln:
Billy the Kid.
Roswell:
Aliens?
From my diary: '09:28 Arrived at UFO museum - approx 1 1/4 hours = 10:30'
Aside from the inaccurate timing, 'disappointing' is the only thing I can say about my visit here.
No matter.
Carlsbad Caverns:
'Discovered' by a young lad lowered into a hole in the ground by his dad. An underground trail of 1 1/4 miles of stalagmites, stalactites, rock formations weathered by time and the ravages of slowly dripping water. Not enough time to savour the majesty of it all. You know what an elevator is? A lift. Anyway, these American sure know how to put on a show. Elevators down into the bowels of the earth. 850 feet down? 1 minute 2 seconds.
:o)
Mexican Border:
Looks to be a great deal of poverty over the border. The air is thick with what I'd assume to be the effects of road and industry pollution. Was stopped a few times by the US border patrol here.
Las Cruces:
Drug capital of the USA? Who knows? Anyway, the filet mignon in the restaurant here became the second best steak (if indeed it *is* steak) I'd ever had, supplanting that in the Inn of the Mountain Gods.
Farmer's Market, whatever, the old centre of town(?), just opening up when we arrived, more local wares and trinkets spread out for people to haggle over, though I didn't see anyone trying.
Fantastic second-hand bookshop.
Old Mesilla, not too far from Las Cruces' centre is an old town of mainly adobe-type construction. Arts and crafts shops and eating places. Double Eagle restaurant: pricey but good food and service.
Shopping mall across from hotel - got me a compass with thermometer attached.
If you're interested, 'Traffic' was partially shot in/near El Paso/Las Cruces. Did Douglases stop at the Las Cruces Hilton? In a word no, though the director and rest of the crew did. As I've learnt through bitter personal experience, stardom puts a heavy burden on one's
sensibilties.
Whilst in the sun - heat of around the low/mid 90's, heard that it'd snowed around 1-2 inches in Denver!
The hotel:
Hilton. I've already mentioned the food here. Back to steak and eggs for breakfast. If you're a red-blooded male arriving on a Friday night, I reckon you'd need it?
White Sands:
White sands. Gypsum. Doesn't sound very inviting, does it? Would have liked more time there to savour (yes I know I've already used the word) the apparent solitude of the area. Seemingly barren. More vegetation than I'd have thought possible. More wildlife than ...
Alamogordo:
All-you-can-eat buffet. International Space Hall of Fame. Model Railway museum. Heck, that's not *all* there is there, but it kept us busy enough for the brief amount of time *we* were there.
Border Patrol on the way between Las Cruces and the Arizona state line:
9,627 pounds of narcotics seized at that post, but no aliens.
Shame.
Near Silver City:
There's an open-cast mine, mainly mining copper but has the more exciting by-products of gold and silver. Anyway, this mine got so big that it swallowed the small town of Santa Rita. Well, not swallowed exactly: more like dug the ground from underneath. There's still people alive who were born there ... they have the legitimate right to say they were born in space? Well, there's this great hole in the ground 1 1/2 miles across and 1800 feet deep where they once lived.
Arizona State:
Uses Pacific time (8 hours back from UK) during the summer, and Mountain
time (-7 hours). Hot. Cacti & deserts. Did someone mention the Grand Canyon? (Didn't visit this
time.) There's loads more but we saw but a tiny portion of it on this holiday. Ah, we had 'our' first and only sing-along of the tour on the way to Phoenix.
:o))
Phoenix:
Stopped in the metropolitan Phoenix area - a suburb called Scottsdale. Maybe suburb doesn't quite do it justice? Opulent, expensive, classy would be nearer the mark. I believe there's some quite excellent country clubs there. On the way into the city: 6pm: 93 degrees Fahrenheit? You'll be needing that water when you have that round of golf or game of tennis. You'll be playing before 6am though to escape the summer heat?
The hotel:
Radisson Resort Scottsdale. Whooo ... nice. Water feature in the lobby. Big pool, mist sprays around the bar. Nice restaurant. Perfectly-cooked steak: that 'best-ever' I alluded to above. Nice rooms, mine opened out onto the pool area. Wildlife all over the place: wabbits, ducks, flying things of all descriptions. One could get used to the air-conditioned luxury of this place. Going out to a local mini-mall at 10:15 I found the heat to be ... well, I went out with a 0.5 litre bottle and came back with less than a mouthful left. 104 degrees later on.
Leaving for home:
Stopped off for a couple of hours in a shopping mall. Big enough, big department stores. Obligatory water feature. Arrive at airport in plenty of time. Wait. Boeing 777. Zoom. Gatwick. People carrier home.
Ah, not exactly home: Halesowen to drop off, then Poulton to drop couple off, then home. Imagine me sighing when I got through the front door?
Memories:
Yes. Loads. All positive. :o)
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