"The glamorous life of a Private Rail car Owner"
(Left to Right: John Caestecker, owner of the
Silver Splendor, Doug Spinn, owner of the
Pacific Sands, and John's son.)
How their booth looked on Saturday. (Photo on their Facebook Page) Please check their website for the many public excursions they offer.
LARail.com
Upcoming Trips include: Santa Barbra Vino Train, monthly;
Luncheon by the Sea, quarterly; San Diego Weekend, July 12 - 13; Flag
Day Troop Train, June 14; Portland Rose Vino Train - June 4 - 10; and A
Colorado Adventure, June 24 - July 2, 2014. Further information
at:
LARail.com
Verde Valley Area, Arizona, had a booth that combined both the Verde Canyon Railroad and the Blazin' M Ranch.
I enjoyed talking with Teresa Propeck of the Verde Canyon Railroad in
Clarksdale, Arizona, and Lori Mabery of the Blazin' M Ranch in nearby
Cottonwood, Arizona. In February, 2011, I visited both of these venues and wrote a rail destination report at trainweb.org/carl/VerdeCanyonRailroad/ and trainweb.org/carl/VerdeCanyonRailroad/BlazinMRanch.html.
After chatting with both ladies, I decided to visit their attractions
again to write an updated report which will include Jerome, Arizona,
and the wines being made in their area nowadays.
Verde Canyon Railroad features a
wildlife tour along the Verde Canyon by vintage rail cars. Note
the eagle in the photo above. They average about 390 guests per
day on their excursions - a very popular attraction in Clarksdale,
Arizona. I took the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to
Flagstaff, rented a car and enjoyed the Verde Canyon Railroad and
Blazin' M Ranch and back to Flagstaff in one day.
2010 Western Music Association Winners Jim and Jeanne Martin perform at the Blazin' M Ranch.
You can even have your portrait taken in authentic western attire
at the Blazin' M Ranch before the chuck wagon dinner and cowboy show.
Check out their websites and put both venues on your future travel itineraries.
Arthur Frommer, Author of more than 340 travel guides, notes
I feel that anyone who has published
340 travel guides is worth listening to when he talks about budget
travel. Arthur who is over 80 years old, speaks without
hesitation and with authority. He is interested in more than
travel by the way. But on this day I scribed a few of his ideas:
Mr. Frommer mentioned that one travel problem for the budget-minded
traveler is the increased cost of air travel. This has been
caused by the mergers resulting in only 4 airlines controlling 80% of
US travel. Each of the four, American, United, Delta, and
Southwest, has its own area and can raise rates at will.
It takes up to an hour to make your air reservations nowadays.
Use aggregaters such as Momondo, Viama, Do-Hop, Kayak, and
Skyscamer.net. Save money by selecting one-stop on your journey,
or even a plane change to get the lowest fare. This increases
travel time, but saves you money.
Follow your airline's twitter feed for bargains.
Twitter.com/(your airline). Also use their credit card to
accumulate mileage.
To save money, use alternative lodging such as renting an apartment for
a week at a destination. Some hotels list apartments as an
alternative. Some countries are trying to stop tourists from
renting an apartment by requiring that the owner be there when the
tourist is. Suggested apartment renter is AirBnB.com or
Homeaway.com or Tentalo.com.
He says hostels in the USA and Europe have no age limit now and senior citizens use them during school time.
Use Venere.com to locate budget hotels.
Save money on meals by ordering and sharing one appetizer and one meal for the two of you.
A second problem for the budget traveler is a decrease in the quality
of the travel experience. There are more Chinese tourists in
Venice in April and October because of the increase in their standard
of living and favorable exchange rates.
Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruises are adding such things
as bumper cars, basketball courts, roller skating rinks, and vertical
wind tunnels to simulate sky diving. He says, "Why should a
cruise ship leave the port and go to sea?"
To improve your experience, check the country's Tourist Bureau and
Institutes. Also prepare for your trip with advanced
reading. You can choose 'academic vacations' since all English
speaking universities offer July and August classes and rooms and food
with excellent instructors such as the Oxford Experience. $1,200
a week for the class, room, and board.
Top destinations not destroyed
by overbooking: Mexico's "Rivera Najarit" north of Porta
Vallarta. Bali is cheap now because of the collapse of their
currency, the Indonesian Rupia. Japan is cheap because the yen
has dropped to 104 yen to $1. India is also cheap, but there is a
question of safety for females. Mediterranean Cruises on premium
cruise ships (to avoid the bumper cars and such), but the problem is
air fare. VacationsToGo.com list discounted cruises to $80 to $90
per day per person.
"Postcards from the West" New perspectives on the West's most-visited spots. Chris Reynolds and Mark Boster
Chris Reynolds (left) and Mark Boster, photographer (right).
Mark spoke extensively about this Monument Valley photo. Fellow photographers' shadows were captured at sunset.
Mark stressed staying beyond sunset
for interesting images. Here he captured headlights of vehicles
returning with other sunset photographers within the Navajo Park.
Mark said that there are plenty of
red rocks in Monument Valley, but try and look for something different
like this tree which was a nice border for the Right Mitten.
Chris and Mark gave a quick
45-minute presentation of their "Postcards from the West" series they
did for the LA Times. They visited these seven places and did a
written, video, and still photo report of each:
8:21 AM PST, November 26, 2013
Los Angeles' Union Station
L.A.'s Union Station, the 'last of the great train stations' has been moving people and freight for more than seven decades.
At San Diego Zoo, stare down giraffes, breakfast with pandas
(My readers at TrainWeb would be interested in this Union Station report by Chris and photos by Mark.
Click Here to read that report and see the photos and videos.)
10:05 AM PDT, October 25, 2013
At San Diego Zoo, stare down giraffes, breakfast with pandas
Postcards from the West | The
venerable San Diego Zoo invites long and repeated visits. There are,
after all, more than 3,700 animals to get to know. Plus, the Australian
Outback area was just updated.
5:30 PM PDT, September 27, 2013
Monument Valley: A stark beauty deep in Navajo country
Postcards from the West |
Commanding buttes and mesas plus a complicated history mark the
spectacular Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.
Portland's quirky comeback kid
1:28 PM PDT, August 23, 2013
Portland's quirky comeback kid
Postcards from the West | Grab a beer and a movie at the grand old Bagdad in Portland, Ore.
San Francisco's famed cable cars
12:04 PM PDT, July 20, 2013
San Francisco's famed cable cars
The expensive and outdated mode of transportation remains the heart of San Francisco.
A different view of Yosemite's Half Dome
7:00 AM PDT, May 16, 2013
A different view of Yosemite's Half Dome
Half Dome in Yosemite National
Park is a California icon, and there's more than one way to look at it
— from the unrounded side, for example.
Standing before the Lone Cypress
May 16, 2013
Standing before the Lone Cypress
The famed, granite-set Monterey
Cypress along 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach is oft-photographed. But is
there still something to be seen in it?
Chris Reynolds was kind enough to e-mail me the
"link
that takes you to the videos (and stories and still photos) we did for
each of our seven “Postcard” destinations last year. (The first video
we showed at the Travel Show was a boiled-down combination of those
seven videos.)
They also showed an outtakes video at the end of their presentation. Here is a link to that video from Chris:
Some notes from Chris and Mark:
Best time to photograph is early morning and late afternoons for that horizontal light.
Think about the foreground in your photos. Consider putting the horizon 2/3 up or down.
Take photos of other tourists.
Take photos of souvenirs or signs to remember where you were.
When the light is bad at midday, go for inside shots such as
cathedrals. Shoot your food.
Chris Erskine
Chris
is a favorite writer of mine and I had a chance to tell him how much I
enjoyed his writing and that he seems to be in about every department
at the newspaper. He said he will write about anything, it keeps
him fresh.
Random Photos Around the LA Times Travel Show
