Travel Tips & Adventures

Guest Author Peggy Bradshaw

When Gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896 and a ton of gold arrived in Seattle in 1897, the gold rush was on! Everyone rushed to the goldfields through Chilkoot Pass. It was six hundred miles over treacherous and dangerous trails and waterways. Another trail was developed through White Pass and this became the route of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.

White Pass and Yukon Railroad on its Climb to the Klondike Photo by George Bradshaw

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By Guest Author Peggy Bradshaw

A whale watch is a rare and exciting experience that provides views of our fellow mammal, the whale. In Alaska, The whale watch tour we took began in Auke Bay at the marina and traveled through the Saginaw Channel to the Lynn Canal, the main summer feeding waters of the humpback whale. You are always assured of seeing at least one whale, and seeing just one is a rarity. (more…)

By Guest Author Peggy Bradshaw

I was amazed at the size of the big white ship docked at Vancouver, B.C. We had flown in and were ready to board for our 7-day cruise through the famous Alaskan Inside Passage. Traveling with two other couples, we had mini-suites with balconies side by side on the Dolphin Deck, Deck 9.

Cruising from Vancouver Photo by George Bradshaw

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Unfortunately, I was a victim of a scam this past week. It could have happened anywhere, to anyone, any time. But, it happened to me and I could kick myself!

 
Also, I paid the penalty by spending hours talking with my credit card company and the police, giving statements and trying to reconstruct a timeline.

 
Luckily, American Express was the credit card we had used to cover our travel expenses and they picked up on an irregular charge. They alerted me, so I could also look at my account and see that there was another charge, as well, that I had never made.

 
How did someone do this to me? I consider myself knowledgeable, skeptical and savvy. Well, it’s a long story, but it comes down to the fact that my zip code changed and I was vulnerable to people who said my credit information did not go through. This has happened numerous times, as this is the second time in two years that my zip code has been changed.

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Los Angeles is known for being the center of the movie world, covered with a layer of smog, and dense with cars on crowded highways. It is all of those things, but much more.

Traveling up the coast of California from San Diego, there are a number of glamorous beach towns and resorts and a clear view of the Pacific Ocean that makes it understandable why people would live in LA. From almost anywhere in California, you can be at the beach within a couple of hours. There is something calming and restorative about being near an ocean.

We chose a recent weekend to visit LA, not our first visit and certainly not our last. The climate was balmy with daytime temperatures in the 80 degree (Fahrenheit) range with a breeze blowing to keep it cool. For people who live in Arizona and endure 115 degrees in summer, it is heaven!

We crammed our weekend full of fun adventures that we’ll share, including our observations and suggestions. Some new experiences we’ll share include a visit to Griffith Park, including an observatory and a merry-go-round, an afternoon at the Getty Center, and a shopping trip to the LA Farmer’s Market.

Tomorrow: Some details about our visit to the Queen…the Queen Mary.

When people think of art museums, they think of stuffy places with art that is centuries old. At Phoenix Art Museum, they’ve have a collection of older works, but have expanded their exhibit space to include a light-filled new wing with an eye appealing collection of modern art.

(The centuries-old masters are there – even a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, for example.)

 
But, head to the back because the new wing features riveting and thought-provoking modern art.

Experimentation with mediums is the name of the game. Felt, resin, plexiglass, burnt wood, mirrors, metal buckets, lights, blown glass, books, plaster, pottery, ceramic, and the more conventional – oil or acrylic on canvas- are all on display.

Modern artists are anything but stuffy!

Feet as art - Seascape #14 by Tom Wesselman

 Who would think that a giant, plexiglass foot could be so appealing?  Tom Wesselman’s “Seascape #14” is three-dimensional and just jumps out at you.  Colorful, to say the least!

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When a group of upstart colonists decided they wanted self-governance back in the 1770s, there was a hotbed of activity in Boston, Massachusetts.

Names familiar to many American schoolchildren – Paul Revere, John Adams and others – resided in Boston or the nearby area.

Paul Revere statue

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Scotland: Fall 2009

DAY 15

ST. ANDREWS

FORE!

DUCK!

GET OUT OF THE …. WAY!

OOPS! SORRRRY!

It’s time to hop a golf cart over to the birthplace of golf over 600 years ago, St. Andrews.

Actually, birthplace is not quite accurate. Golf in some form was probably played in another country before it came to Scotland, but hey, Scotland just had a better marketing department! (more…)

If you’re looking for a challenging hiking experience that promises – and delivers on – scenery, a visit to Chiricahua National Monument is in order.

Entering Chiricahua after driving through miles of open and desolate desert (about an hour south of Willcox, Arizona), you arrive at the visitors center. After all of that driving, you begin to wonder why you made the drive…and then you get into the park a bit and it’s like you’re in another world! (more…)

Landscape Arch

From Moab, Utah, it is a fairly easy drive to the Park’s visitor center. Allow a very full morning or afternoon or even a day to visit the evocatively named formations. See “Courthouse Towers,” “ Parade of Elephants,” “Three Gossips” and the famous “Landscape Arch.” Landscape Arch looks likes it will fall down any time now, but it might take thousands of years. As recently as 1991, a large segment fell from Landscape Arch and the section left looks very close to fragmenting entirely.

Parade of Elephants

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