Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Safe travels.

George.

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Nexus Lanes

I am sure, if you have crossed the border into Canada at Peace Arch or Blaine Truck Crossing, that you have noticed the NEXUS lanes which usually flow pretty freely. I have had a NEXUS card for five years (I just renewed) and find it a real time saver.

It is part of a trusted traveler program which means that both the US and Canada do a background check on the applicants. NEXUS cardholders typically pass through the border crossings swiftly (more often than not, I just get waved through but they sometimes ask some questions), but the border agents have the option to conduct a thorough check. That has yet to happen to me. In order to use the NEXUS lanes, everyone in the car needs to carry a card. There is also a zero-tolerance policy for what you can take across the border. If a cardholder is in violation, the card can be confiscated, so if one is in doubt about what they can take, it is better to take the regular lanes than to risk losing the NEXUS privilege.

If a cardholder chooses, they can have their irises scanned and put in the database so they can use the kiosks at participating Canadian airports to get through immigration. A few years ago we flew from London to Vancouver, BC and used the system. It was very fast and one fewer line to stand in. Unfortunately, there was a baggage handlers strike and we had to wait 90 minutes for our bags (we now only have carry-ons).

To find out more information you can go to the Customs and Border Protection website:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/nexus_prog/nexus.xml

You can now apply online. It costs $50 for five years. After your application is approved, you will need to appear before a CBP officer for an interview. There is an office at Boeing Field in Seattle as well as at the Blaine border crossing (there are, of course, other offices farther afield for people outside the Western Washington area)

Pinnacle Peak Patio - 10426 E Jomax RD, Scottsdale

The Pinnacle Peak Patio is one of the few places one can walk to from the Four Seasons resort. I drove, though. It is situated on the road to Pinnacle Peak park in a little shopping area. They have a strict "no necktie" policy as is evidenced by the number of ties stapled to the rafters in the restaurant. Their website boasts over a million ties have been severed from unsuspecting diners. The atmosphere there is relaxed and the staff is very friendly. Both nights I went they had live music. The first night was a lone singer, but the second night was a band.

They have outside seating (the patio) but since it was monsoon season, and there were threatening clouds, I decided to dine inside.

I ordered a half-rack of baby back ribs, which came with a salad, corn on the cob, and baked beans. I have astounded people in the past with my ability to clean all the meat off  of pork ribs with just a knife and fork (hands-free). The ribs here were so tender that I did not need the knife!! All the food was very tasty!

There is a little gift shop adjacent to the restaurant that had a nice selection of jewelry made by locals, as well as some of the usual touristy stuff.

http://www.pppatio.com/

Chuy's Mesquite Broiler - 12235 Cave Creek RD, Phoenix

We stumbled upon this restaurant after finding several places in the area were closed (it was Sunday) and I am glad we did! It is a fun place with a surfing theme. This particular place had $2 Margharitas at all times, which were quite tasty. The food prices were surprisingly low, and the food was quite good. We got the quarter chicken special which included a couple of sides and all the chips & salsa we wanted. This place is part of a chain with several restaurants in Arizona and California.

http://www.bajachuys.com/

White Chocolate Grill - 7000 E. Mayo BV, Phoenix

The White Chocolate Grill Bar




 This restaurant was recommended by our concierge. We did not see any white chocolate roasting over the coals, but the ambiance was great and the food was excellent. Their house specialty was Tomato Gin Soup and it was some of the best soup I have ever eaten. It had tomatoes, cream, mushrooms, and bacon. They added the gin right before they served it, so it didn't lose any of its alcohol content. They only serve this to customers over 21, so you may get carded.

Four Seasons At Troon - The Pools

The Main Pool

While Judy was in her conference at this resort, I spent many hours at poolside. It was one of the sacrifices I made for our travel business :-)

The resort had recently completed a million dollar refurbishment of the pool area and it showed! There are three pools: a wading pool, a family pool, and an adults-only pool. The family pool shown at right is the largest of the three. The temperature of the water was refreshingly brisk, but not uncomfortably cold.There is also a hot tub which is nice for the cooler evenings.

The Wading Pool

The area is surrounded by several cabanas and lounge chairs. The cabanas are free to use and provide much needed shelter from the sun. As the day heats up, they turn on misters to cool the area down a bit. The staff there are available to help you set up the cabana to your liking and bring a pitcher of water. They make sure that everyone stays hydrated. Periodically throughout the day they bring around free treats like fresh fruit or sammples of smoothies. There is also food and drink available for purchase from the poolside restaurant. The staff is happy to take your order and bring your food to you.

Four Seasons at Troon - The Room

The view from our deck!

Sunset from our deck!

Our room was what they call a "Deluxe Casita". It was 500 Square feet and had a king bed. There was also a sitting area with a large screen TV and a gas fireplace. The room opened out to a very nice deck with a spectacular view of Crescent Butte. It was breathtaking. The desert came right up to our deck and we could see critters of all sorts scampering about. It is amazing just how much life there is in the desert.

 

North end of our room

We were about a five minute walk from the main building and lobby. It was very quiet there, we rarely heard our neighbors. The bathroom was pretty much the mirror-image of the one we had at the Venetian (no TV, though). The housekeeping had a policy that I had never encountered before. If you leave the do not disturb tag out, they will make up your room anyway at 2:00, unless you call them to make other arrangements. This is good for someone like me who sometimes forgets to take in the tag, but a bit of an inconvenience for someone who really does not want to be disturbed. Maybe they should have a second "I really mean it" tag to put out.

South end of our room

The room had a nice sized walk-in closet so our my junk was mostly out of sight :-) There were robes and slippers for us to use there, which came in handy for the journey to the pool.

The ice machine was in a little building adjacent to the building our room was in. Also in that building was a free washer/dryer as well as free soap and fabric softener. We really took advantage of that! I wish more places had that feature. 

All in all this was a very comfortable place to stay. I would highly recommend staying here.

The Four Seasons at Troon in Scottsdale, AZ

While we were in Scottsdale, we stayed at the Four Seasons resort at Troon. This resort is outstanding, and, since we traveled in the off-season (also known as the monsoon season) we got a fantastic price. It is located about 30 miles North of the Phoenix airport. They have a shuttle, but as I mentioned in my previous post, a rental car would give you more freedom to explore the area. Not much is within walking distance...especially with triple-digit temperatures.

They have valet parking (for a fee) and plenty of self-parking (for a lesser fee). We did the self-parking to keep our car conveniently located by our room.

The Main Entrance with Pinnacle Peak in the background

It is designed to blend in nicely with its surroundings and there is an abundance of native plants surrounding the campus as well as critters running around. I had not seen quail since I was growing up in Eastern Washington...I had forgotten how cute they are. We also saw jack rabbits, lizards, and raptors. It is amazing how much life there is in the desert.

The view from the lobby

There was a $5 resort fee, which is quite reasonable compared to other places I have stayed. This covers the tips, which is makes it really worthwhile. The service here is outstanding. From the time we arrived to the time we got to the room, four people helped us out and it left a very favorable first impression with us.

It is located next to Pinnacle Peak State Park. They have daily guided hikes there from the resort. Take lots of water!

Our Room (the dark balcony just left of center)

Be sure to pick up an activity calendar from the front desk. They have several activities for adults and children. Some of the fitness activities have a fee. We went to the wine tasting, tequila tasting, and the Margarita demonstration. All those were free as well as informative and fun. I think I am becoming a tequila connoisseur. Unfortunately we missed the chocolate tasting.

Flying To Phoenix, Driving To Scottsdale

Judy went to a conference in Scottsdale, AZ so I tagged along to familiarize myself with the area and blog about my findings.

I recently changed to an Alaska Air Visa card that has the Washington State University logo (I went to college there way back when.) As part of their welcome package, they sent me a $50 companion fare coupon as well as two boardroom passes. We put those to use getting to Phoenix. With the companion fare coupon we saved about $250. We also availed ourselves of the Alaska Airlines boardroom passes, which worked out very nicely since our flight was delayed about an hour.

The flight itself was good. It takes about 3 hours to get from Seattle to Phoenix. Not much to report there.

Upon arrival, since we had only carry-ons, we headed directly to the rental car shuttle. That took us to a huge rental car area. There were several rental car companies represented there. We rented a car from Enterprise through our website and paid just a little more than if we would have used the shuttle from the resort ($30 per person each way). There isn't much within walking distance of the resort (in the summer heat especially) so with a rental car, we were able to enjoy more of what the area has to offer.

The metropolitan area is quite expansive and, for the first couple of days we managed to put about a hundred miles a day on the car just sight seeing, shopping, and dining. The driving was not too bad, though. Most of the time we were on the freeways and most of the places we went to were on arterials that ran about 45mph. The traffic has been fairly light (compared to Seattle) for the most part, but we have avoided rush hour.

There is public transportation (buses and light rail) in the metropolitan area, but our resort is outside the area served by it, so we weren't able to give it a try this trip.

Food!

If you love to eat, Vegas is the place for you!

Every resort has several places to dine. Unfortunately, we couldn't hit them all :-) Be did hit a few, though.

We like to keep our breakfasts simple, mainly just oatmeal. We were able to find a little place in the food court there that had oatmeal for $1.50 a bowl...sweet! We usually got a couple of bowls of oats and split a glass of orange juice which brought the total for both of us to $5.

For people who have dietary restrictions such as ours, we recommend Maggiano''s Little Italy. We usually go to the one in Bellevue when we are home. In Vegas there is one in the Fashion Show Mall. If you have special diet needs, the Sous Chef usually comes out to talk with you and prepares something to meet those needs. Of course, if you have no special diet and can eat with reckless abandon, this is an excellent place as well. The portion sizes are huge and there probably will be leftovers which they will box up for you. The lids for the boxes have reheating instructions!

Up until this trip, my favorite fajita place was Armadillo's in Toronto (yes, Canada). Now it is Diabolo at New York, New York. We wound up there because we were handed a coupon for a free margarita. The margarita was a traditional one on the rocks, but it was very tasty. We also ordered a frozen mango margarita (not free, but worth it) which was fantastic. We do well at Mexican restaurants with our diet restrictions and this place is no exception. As you may have figured out, we ordered fajitas. They arrived quickly and were very tasty! The wait staff was friendly and service excellent. I highly recommend this place.

Tix-4-Tonite - Discount Show Tickets

Of course we wanted to catch some shows while we were there. They tended to be a bit pricey, but we found a discount ticket vendor. They sold vouchers (more on that later) at good discounts on the day of the shows so there is no advance purchase there. They have several locations on The Strip. We went to the one in the Fashion Mall (right across from a Starbucks!).

There can be a long line there, but they have a VIP pass to bypass the line. They have two types of VIP pass. You can buy an annual pass for $25, or a free daily pass for people who bought tickets the previous day. For the free pass, you will need to bring the tickets from the previous day's show and an endorsed brochure (they will endorse the brochure and explaine it all to you...they want you to come back :-)

I mentioned vouchers earlier. They don't actually dispense tickets. They will give you a voucher which you will then need to take to the box office for the show you are going to see. That is potentially a second line you will need to stand in. I had to stand in line for 90 minutes for a Cirq du Soleil show, but for another show, I could just walk up to the counter at the box office.

They also have specials of up to 50% off for meals at select restaurants. Because of our dietary restrictions, they didn't work out for us, but they looked like great deals.

We saw three shows while we were there:

First we saw “Defending The Caveman” at The Excalibur. It was a hilarious one-man show. It was part entertainment and part marriage counseling. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has some adult language (not much compared to other Vegas shows, though.)

Our second show was “Mystere” a Cirq Du Soleil show at Treasure Island. I had been avoiding them because I thought I wouldn't like them...boy was I wrong! This is a fantastic show. It is great for all ages. How can one describe a show like this? The performers were all highly skilled and the show had acrobatics, humor, audience participation, and even some just plain silliness :-)

Lastly we saw George Wallace at The Flamingo. I had seen him several years before on Comedy Central. His humor has a few rough edges and there was some adult language and themes, but we both enjoyed it. During the show he honored pastors who were in the audience, showcased an amateur singer (she was excellent!) embarrassed people who came in late or left early, and gave away some gifts. afterward he stayed around to sign autographs and chat.

Acey Deucy - Getting Around On The Strip

There are two handy bus routes that run on The Strip. One is a double-decker that stops at several places on The Strip and takes people to Fremont Street. It is called The Deuce. The fare at the time I went was $3 for a one-way journey or a 24 hour pass for $7. The fare can be paid on the bus but it is cash only and the exact fare is required. This is an easy way to get around but it can be crowded at times.

The other bus is the Ace Gold Line. This is a new "bus rapit transit" route that has fewer stops on The Strip than The Deuce, but it goes farther afield. It also goes to Fremont Street and beyond to the Premium Outlet Mall. It also stops at the Convention Center and has several stops in common with The Deuce. You need to buy your ticket/pass before you board. There are ticket machines at most (if not all) of the stops. The price is the same as The Deuce and are valid on both buses. Since you have your ticket in hand, just board through any of the doors. The boarding process is much faster than The Deuce.

You can find out more about these buses at the transit website:
www.rtcsnv.com

A monorail serves the resorts on the East side of The Strip as well as the Convention Center. It is more expensive than the buses, but at the times I observed it, less crowded. Since it doesn't have to contend with traffic, it is faster than the buses. The North end of the monorail is at the Sahara resort and the South end is at the MGM Grand. Since the stops are at the back side of the resorts, it is a bit of a hike from there to The Strip, but quite manageable.

Some of the resorts have free transportation linking them to other resorts. I rode on the trolly between Treasure Island and Mirage. I also rode on a monorail type train between The Crystals, Aria, & Bellagio (it was quite nice!) I have heard that there is one between Mandalay Bay, Luxor & Excalibur, but I haven't personally verified it.

Of course, The Strip is walkable. We walked from the Fashion Show Mall to the Excalibur one day. It was a bit of a time commitment, but traffic was so bad that we didn't take longer than the bus did.

The resorts, at the time I went, had free parking. This would make it easy for someone who is staying offThe Strip to come in and play or catch a show on The Strip.

For those of you that are a bit more transit adventurous, there is a bus (Route 108) that stops at the airport and connects with the Ace and Deuce buses (its fare is lower than those buses so additional fare would be required for transfer.

The Room

Wow...our room was fantastic! To start with, it was 650 square feet. I once lived in a two bedroom house that was only 600 square feet. The room had a huge bathroom with a tub, shower, two sinks, and a separate room for the toilet. They call this room a suite, but there is not a separate bedroom. The sleeping area is more like a loft with a king bed. Beyond that is the sunken living room with a nice sitting area, working space, and table. There were televisions in the living area, sleeping loft, and bathroom. Too bad we don't watch much tv.

Our room faced away from the strip and overlooked a golf course, the convention center, and the mountains in the distance. It was one of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in.

The resort charges a $15 per night (plus tax) "resort fee". Since that is a mandatory fee, I feel it should be included in the base rate. This fee covers wireless internet access, pool towels, and a daily newspaper.

I highly recommend this resort.

Walgreens, The Hidden Gem

There is a Walgreens drug store along The Strip between The Venetian and The Palazzo. This is an excellent place to save big bucks on snacks and bottled water.

The Venetian

After a quick shuttle ride from the airport, we were delivered to the grand entrance to the Venetian hotel. This hotel along with its sister, The Palazzo, have 7,000 rooms! This is a sizeable complex.

I will be honest with you, the first thing I noticed when I got inside was the air quality. The casino is in the same area as the check-in desk, so the smokey air wafted through the area. Don't let that discourage you, though. Once we got off the elevator near our room, the air was fresh and clean and the noise of the casino was gone. The air quality in the room was excellent.

The front desk people as well as the concierge were very helpful. They were able to help us with all of our needs in a friendly manner. They were really a joy to work with.

If you go to this resort, take some time to look around and notice their attention to detail with the artwork and decorations. It is also fun to take a gondola ride (and much less expensive than in Venice!) The gondoliers will also serenade you during your journey.

The shopping is shared between the Venetian and the Palazzo and it is huge! There are all sorts of stores (high end as well as souvenier) and restaurants. You can lose yourself in there for many hours.

LV Airport Transportation

For some reason, hotels are not allowed to have shuttle buses bring people to and from the airport. There are a couple of shuttle services and the going rate right now is $6 per person one way cash only. The strip isn't very far from the airport so I don't think a cab ride might be worth checking out.

Leaving Bellingham

Judy and I spent Easter with family near Bellingham so we decided to fly out of there. We got a non-stop flight on Alaska Airlines. They pretty much fly to there or Seattle. I hear they are adding a non-stop to Prortland this summer. Allegiant Air also flies out of Bellingham to several destinations.

I love flying out of small airports. Our trip through security took a matter of seconds.

Viva Las Vegas

We spent spring break in Las Vegas and had a fantastic time. I recently studied to become a Vegas Destination Speciaist for our travel business, so I thought I should go and check it out firsthand. The next several blogs will document the high points of our trip.