Vacation 2005: August 26th - September 9th

GO WEST !!!

Pix of our road trip through the American Southwest from August 26 - September 9, 2005.

Fernando & I drove 6593 miles (10,610 km) in 15 days. We used 180 gallons of gas which averaged out to $2.86/gallon. The Honda Civic we rented averaged about 36 miles per gallon. We went from Florida through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, then back to Arizona & New Mexico. We drove straight from Carlsbad Caverns, NM to Ft Lauderdale in 32 hours.

Most of the places we went I've wanted to see for as long as I can remember. I used my Nikon Coolpix S1 @ 5.1 megapixels. It's slim and fits in your pocket. "Set it to stunning." This page looks best with your browser maximized.

Days 1 & 2: Aug 26th & 27th- Louisiana & Texas

Day 1- New Orleans 2 days before Katrina

Day 2- Austin, Texas

http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/SPB/capitol/texcap.htm

Day 3: Aug 28th- Is Everything Bigger in Texas?

Day 3- Hippie Hollow Park on Lake Travis, outside of Austin, TX
http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/hippie_hollow.asp

We drove a little north of Austin to Lake Travis, where there is a clothing-optional park on Lake Travis. We swam and I burned. We had a picnic and enjoyed the day; it was beautiful. The park rangers troll the area, so don't get too relaxed. And remember, no kids!

San Antonio, Texas

http://www.sanantoniocvb.com/

That night we made it to San Antonio before dark and got to see the Alamo (it was closed so we didn't tour the inside). We also strolled along the Riverwalk area there, which was really nice and very unique. In spite of living in a city with a 'Riverwalk', I was impressed with the one in San Antonio. There are shops and restaurants along the river, which winds through the city. It's touristy but still very nice.

Days 4 & 5: Aug 29th & 30th- Arizona

Day 4: Saguaro National Park (West), Tucson, Arizona

From San Antonio we drove all night to Tucson, AZ, which was something like 15 hours. We stopped at the visitor's center, and they recommended 'Hacienda del Sol', a beautiful resort-type place in the hills above the desert that was a girl's school in the 50s. Perfect! Anyway, my goal was the Saguaro National Park, which was close by. I wanted to see the big Saguaro cactuses and I thought we might camp around there. But it never really went below 90F, even at night, and the ladies at the visitor's center were excited about the rates at the Hacienda. We lucked out and the rates were discounted by about 50%, so for $75/night, we stayed in what was luxurious, especially compared to an EconoLodge or Motel 6. We hiked a little in the 105F degree heat (40.5C) and had a small picnic in the park.

In the pics below, you can see some Hohokam indian petroglyphs (rock drawings) from about 1000 years ago.

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Day 5: Saguaro National Park (East), Tucson, Arizona
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/

Upper Tanque Verde Falls
http://www.nudetravelguide.com/nude-places/detail.php?siteid=122

We found another clothing-optional swimming hole, (no pics this time, oh wait, yes there are) in the middle of the desert, called Upper Tanque Verde Falls, inside the other Saguaro National Park (the east one). We passed one hiker on the way to the spot, and he confirmed that we were on the right path, and reassured us that we could walk on the trail naked. Since Fernando had already gotten a bunch of cactus needles in his pantleg, we decided against hiking in the buff. There are apparently 2 trails there, on one of which you will be yelled at if you appear naked.

That night we enjoyed the pool and hot tub (which felt so good I didn't mind the second degree burn I now had on my face) and we saw the biggest, hairiest spider we've ever seen in our lives outside of a zoo. It was drinking from the pool.

I took about 75 pics on these 2 days. I couldn't get enough of the landscape, plus the hotel and the swimming hole.

Days 6- 8: Aug 31st - Sept 2nd- Viva Las Vegas!

Day 6: The Road To Vegas

It was about 7 hours from Tucson to Las Vegas and by this time I was looking forward to resuming our night-owl schedule. My face was fire engine red and my forehead and ears were burnt to a crisp. We passed over the Hoover Dam at night and I got a nice pic of the back of it (see above). They were doing some construction and I never got a front view. By the time we got to the hotel, showered and ate, it was after midnight, but we went exploring anyway.

Day 7: Casino

The Luxor is nice and I was blown away by the vastness of it. I played a few of the different slot machines but never found my way to a table. I was looking for the $2 Blackjack, but never saw anything under $10. The slots weren't paying too great, but it was fun. I won enough to keep myself amused without spending a fortune. That night, we did a walking tour from the Luxor through the MGM Grand, past New York, NY, through the lobby of the Bellagio and over to Caesar's Palace. They were all beautiful, but I think Caesar's was my favorite. We had a nice breakfast there at about 5am and took a cab back and went to bed.

Day 8- Friday, Sept 2nd

I convinced Fernando to go to the hotel spa with me and get massages. He had never had a professional massage and was hesitant but I needed water desperately and convinced him without too much urging. Our massages were just 25 mins each but it was so worth it. While Fernando was getting his, I used the hot tub's waterfalls and precariously placed jets to soothe myself, alternating with the cold pool to bring my blood pressure back to earth. I tried 2 of the showers; one had mango soap and shampoo and the other was grapefruit. Now I was officially on vacation.

That night we did our video tour of the strip and drove to downtown to check out that scene. Freement Street gave me the feeling of a place that was past its hayday and is propped up by only its history. It didn't photograph well... I don't know, we had a fine evening. We ate at the Gloden Gate diner and played some slots. They had some $2 blackjack tables but I wasn't really motivated anymore. We passed a table when one guy had just won and he said "Alright!" and his friend next to him said "Yay! You won $2!" That was a fun Vegas moment.

Other than odd looks here and there, we had only one camera-related incident: I strolled through the casino with it on the way out. We got a few minutes of casino action on tape before a burly guard told me there's no filming in the casino, sir.

All in all, Vegas was fun and we hardly did anything! It was beautiful to look at, especially since we like to stay up late and sleep in.