Today we'd like to introduce the next guest blog in our new mini series: Remembering 2010 Travels. Our third guest blogger is Robert Mark, a man who wears many hats, edits the award-winning industry blog Jetwhine.com. A commercial pilot, he's also the CEO of CommAvia, an aviation marketing communications company based in Evanston, IL.When you've spent most of your life climbing into or out of airplanes like me – I've been a pilot all my life - the adventure of jumping on one from Chicago's O'Hare for fun can get kinda lost sometimes. This year though, when my wife signed up for an August conference in San Diego, I decided it was time to throw caution to the wind, no more Mr. Boring. After the conference, we were taking THE family vacation.
All kidding aside, the idea really evolved when my wife Nancy and I realized our 16-year old daughter soon not want to travel anywhere with us. My wife is always up for a trip and this time, my daughter – a budding actress – bought the idea right away when I mentioned the first few nights would be in LA. After Los Angeles we'd head east toward the desert and the Grand Canyon then south to Sedona – where we spent our honeymoon - and finally on to Phoenix for the plane ride back home.
The trip to San Diego was easy on the airlines with plenty of options from Chicago, even though we used mileage points on American for everything. Out of Harrisburg it's US Airways through Philadelphia (PHL) or on Delta through Atlanta (ATL). We rented an SUV for the week or so we'd be gone and that truly was one of the most expensive parts of the trip – about $750. But it did offer us plenty of flexibility for sightseeing and dinners.
I've been to LA plenty of times, but never took a studio tour. We signed up for the visit to Paramount, home of Star Trek and Glee. The cost per ticket was about $40, but it was worth every penny. Tours were in groups of six maximum which offered plenty of time for wandering and asking questions. I had no idea, for instance, that this was the same place once run by Lucille Ball. Her presence – and her pictures - are everywhere on the lots. The place is also filled with memorabilia of the hundreds of stars we've come to love over the years. Much to the dismay of my daughter, the Glee studio was closed so they could await the arrival of Brittany Spears.
The trip to the desert was amazing as we sped east out of LA on I15 to connect up with I40 toward Mojave. Within an hour the mountains east of LA had become desert. Nothing prepared us though for the dust storm as we arrived in Needles on the California/Arizona state line. I thought it was a rain shower until it hit. Can't imagine how folks live there.
We made it to Williams AZ for the night where the hotel was, well, interesting to say the least. Suffice it to say that my choice of places to spend the night in Williams before making the trek to the Grand Canyon would be the railway hotel. The place is new, clean and inexpensive. Best of all, the train trip from Williams to the Canyon the next morning is an easy two-hour journey with entertainment enroute offered up by actors and musicians. Nothing quite prepared me for the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, a place I've flown over thousands of times but never actually visited up close. We had a fellow from China shoot our Christmas card photo with the canyon as a backdrop. The cafe on the east side of the canyon in the park near the railway station is awesome, although I'll be darned if I can remember the name of the place.
The next morning we headed east toward Flagstaff and then south along AZ 89 toward Sedona. Even in an SUV, the trip down the winding road from Flagstaff where the elevation is about 7,000 feet to Sedona's more comfortable 4,500 feet means an exciting trip around dozens of mountains on the way down. What's really spectacular is the road since it has no fencing along the way. Miss a turn and the trip would have ended rather abruptly. It was a toasty 90 or so in Sedona when we arrived. We headed right for the Pink Jeep Tour I remembered from 18 years earlier. Don't miss this ride out into the desert and up into the hills around Sedona. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular. I grabbed one of the Pink Jeep models to put on my desk back home. I like remembering trips when they're fun, even if I did drive most of the thousand miles we covered in our eight days together.
We all agreed this one was great as we left Sedona for Phoenix and the comfort of a real bed at the house of some friends before the airline trip back home. By next summer my daughter would be thinking about college and getting away from mom and dad. I think I already missed this vacation when I saw the Christmas cards go out a few months later. Now I can look over and smile at the Pink Jeep on my desk.
All kidding aside, the idea really evolved when my wife Nancy and I realized our 16-year old daughter soon not want to travel anywhere with us. My wife is always up for a trip and this time, my daughter – a budding actress – bought the idea right away when I mentioned the first few nights would be in LA. After Los Angeles we'd head east toward the desert and the Grand Canyon then south to Sedona – where we spent our honeymoon - and finally on to Phoenix for the plane ride back home.
The trip to San Diego was easy on the airlines with plenty of options from Chicago, even though we used mileage points on American for everything. Out of Harrisburg it's US Airways through Philadelphia (PHL) or on Delta through Atlanta (ATL). We rented an SUV for the week or so we'd be gone and that truly was one of the most expensive parts of the trip – about $750. But it did offer us plenty of flexibility for sightseeing and dinners.
I've been to LA plenty of times, but never took a studio tour. We signed up for the visit to Paramount, home of Star Trek and Glee. The cost per ticket was about $40, but it was worth every penny. Tours were in groups of six maximum which offered plenty of time for wandering and asking questions. I had no idea, for instance, that this was the same place once run by Lucille Ball. Her presence – and her pictures - are everywhere on the lots. The place is also filled with memorabilia of the hundreds of stars we've come to love over the years. Much to the dismay of my daughter, the Glee studio was closed so they could await the arrival of Brittany Spears.
The trip to the desert was amazing as we sped east out of LA on I15 to connect up with I40 toward Mojave. Within an hour the mountains east of LA had become desert. Nothing prepared us though for the dust storm as we arrived in Needles on the California/Arizona state line. I thought it was a rain shower until it hit. Can't imagine how folks live there.
We made it to Williams AZ for the night where the hotel was, well, interesting to say the least. Suffice it to say that my choice of places to spend the night in Williams before making the trek to the Grand Canyon would be the railway hotel. The place is new, clean and inexpensive. Best of all, the train trip from Williams to the Canyon the next morning is an easy two-hour journey with entertainment enroute offered up by actors and musicians. Nothing quite prepared me for the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, a place I've flown over thousands of times but never actually visited up close. We had a fellow from China shoot our Christmas card photo with the canyon as a backdrop. The cafe on the east side of the canyon in the park near the railway station is awesome, although I'll be darned if I can remember the name of the place.
The next morning we headed east toward Flagstaff and then south along AZ 89 toward Sedona. Even in an SUV, the trip down the winding road from Flagstaff where the elevation is about 7,000 feet to Sedona's more comfortable 4,500 feet means an exciting trip around dozens of mountains on the way down. What's really spectacular is the road since it has no fencing along the way. Miss a turn and the trip would have ended rather abruptly. It was a toasty 90 or so in Sedona when we arrived. We headed right for the Pink Jeep Tour I remembered from 18 years earlier. Don't miss this ride out into the desert and up into the hills around Sedona. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular. I grabbed one of the Pink Jeep models to put on my desk back home. I like remembering trips when they're fun, even if I did drive most of the thousand miles we covered in our eight days together.
We all agreed this one was great as we left Sedona for Phoenix and the comfort of a real bed at the house of some friends before the airline trip back home. By next summer my daughter would be thinking about college and getting away from mom and dad. I think I already missed this vacation when I saw the Christmas cards go out a few months later. Now I can look over and smile at the Pink Jeep on my desk.
Have you spent any time vacationing on the West Coast, where would you recommend? Does Robert's post inspire you to head west?
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