A Town that runs on Service

Las Vegas is a town that runs on service. People go there to have fun, and the city is built around finding as many ways to have fun as possible. In just one of the many guides available I found:

     - you want big production shows, there’s  14 of them.



     - you want comedy, you have 16 choices.

     - you want magic, 11 different shows.

     - there are 14 concert and tribute shows.

     - into the more ’adult’ entertainment, you can choose from 14.

Everyone wants to get you into their show, restaurant, hotel or casino, and there is lots of competition, all within reasonable walking distance.

As a result, providing good service is important, and we have been amazed at the level of service we have found. Everyone was friendly, cheerful, knowledgeable, and helpful. Every person waiting on us was excellent. They were all so pleasant, and seemed to be genuinely happy to be waiting on us. It really was very nice service every time.

We were walking around the Luxor, and decided to stop form a drink at the Starbucks. I bought a bottled pop, and asked if I could have a plastic glass so we could share it. “Would you like me to put ice in the glass for you?” I was asked. And then I was offered a top for the glass. And, this was all with a smile.

I came out from the room yesterday, and someone had trashed the lobby area outside our room. Tables were turned over and chairs were all thrown around; obviously someone was upset about their losings, or perhaps the amount of shopping bags that came back after they were losing money. Someone was mad. I stopped a hotel staff wearing an extensive tool belt, and he said he would go right up to look at it. Then later in the evening, the same staff member was walking by, and he stopped and thanked me again. Now that is service with a smile!

The wait staff in restaurants have been amazing, I really have never had service like we have had here in Las Vegas. Now, we are certainly paying for service, but that is not always the case. I have often had bad service at premium prices, but not in Vegas . . . .

Let's hope it continues . . .

Good Ol' Boys Tellin' Tales

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

I was sitting on the bus going to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Friday's practice and qualifying sessions, and I discovered I was sitting with another Canadian living in Vancouver, who used to live in Shubenacadie Nova Scotia. We got to talking about racing in the Maritimes and I told him about racing Formula Fords at Atlantic Motorsport Park, and how much fun I had working on and building the car. He asked me about driving, and I said that I actually preferred building the cars to driving them. At this point another fellow across the aisle spoke up and said he knew a friend who felt the same, and proceed to rely this story.

His friend was a dedicated crew member of one of the major NASCAR teams in the early 70's, and had been crewing for years and years. He had always said that some day he wanted to actually drive the car he spent so much time building. Finally one weekend they were practicing or testing at Talladega Speedway. The driver (I forget his name – sorry) came in after a day of testing and announced “This car is perfect, it handles perfectly, it goes like stink, and makes more power than I can use; don't change a thing.”

He pulled off his racing suit and handed it to the crew member, “Here,” he said “This is your chance. You've done such a good job tuning this thing, I want you to drive it. You always said you wanted to drive the car; this is your chance; get in!”. Apparently this was not any official NASCAR event, because even in those early days, you had to have a special licence to drive a race car, but because this was just testing they could do it.

In the Pits

Apparently he took the car out and was amazed at how bad it drove. After a couple of laps he pulled in and complained, “I thought you said this thing was set up well . . . it's impossible to drive, it's darting all over the place, shakes like crazy, and the engine is backfiring!”

The driver leaned in the window, and laughed, “You only got it up to 140, it's always a bitch to hang onto until you get up to about 160, smooths right out then though. Get back out there and step on the gas.”

The crew member did this and, hanging on for dear life he pushed it faster and faster, and sure enough it reached a point that it did indeed smooth out, ran straight, true and the engine started to sing. He was however scared stiff, and was gripping the wheel with white knuckles. Then he noticed another car rapidly overtaking. The car pulled out and flashed by on the outside like he was barely moving. As the other driver was alongside his hand came to the window and flicked a cigarette butt out. He was driving with one hand while smoking and doing close to 200 mph.

He said this convinced his friend that it was best to leave the driving to the actual NASCAR drivers, and he went back to building the cars. Never asked to drive again.

I don't know if this story is true, could just be some of us 'Good ol boys” tellin tales, but it's still kind of funny.

Las Vegas - The Slow Tour

 

Tourists in Las Vegas

The last time we were in Las Vegas we did the entire “strip” in a couple of hours, seeing as much as we could in a very short time. This time we have 10 days to explore, so we can go slower. There are approximately 30 casinos and resorts within walking distance of our hotel, and today we managed to see exactly three. Oh, for those who do not know us; this was without putting $1.00 into any gambling. The slow tour of Las Vegas!

If you've been here you know this, but the BIG casinos are not big, they are HUGE, sometimes taking up entire city blocks. We decided to visit four of them today and take our time and really explore them to see what they had to offer. We started after breakfast (10:00) and continued until 5:00 when we came back to watch the NASCAR Parade of Haulers (Y'all know what that is . . right?), and we only managed to get through three casinos. Each Casino or resort is based on a theme, but ultimately they are all the same. There is a large central casino area, which in every case is on the main floor and in the centre of the complex. Around the casino are various restaurants and bars. Every casino has a huge attached hotel complex, sometimes two, and normally have a very complex and exotic swimming pool area. The bigger resorts also include a slightly separate shopping area. Some are massive malls, some just host a couple of outlets. The shopping is usually as far away from the casino as possible.

Mandalay Bay Resort

A note on the shopping areas. Don't look for any bargains; all extreme high end clothing, jewelry shops, shoes and purses and other high end shops; no sales, no “Outlet” shops. I think this is carefully thought out. The spouse who is gambling and loosing lots of money starts to annoy the “Non-gambling” spouse who goes shopping feeling entitled to spend an equal amount of “guilt free” money – no need of discount shops here! As well, the casinos and shops are well separated so that neither spouse can easily check on how much money is exiting the wallets and purses until it is TOO late.

We started at the massive Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort. The theme here is a Caribbean Island Resort. It has over 3300 hotel rooms and 135,000 sq ft of gaming space. It also has an 11 acre pool area and a 100,000 sq ft ballroom. This resort is at the extreme end of the actual “Strip” and is actually pretty quiet, because it does not get the huge walk-by crowds constantly streaming by the rest of the strip. To compensate for its remote location, there is a fast efficient elevated tram connecting it to two other resorts closer to the main strip. Although opened in 1999, this resort was updated and renovated in 2003, and looks and feels crisp and new. There is a very large shopping centre attached, as well as a huge convention centre. From outside the entire resort glistens in gold from actual gold leaf on every window. This resort hosts a huge shark aquarium where you can actually “Swim with the sharks”. I suspect the sharks call this “feeding time”.

The Luxor Casino & Resort

Next we took the tram to the Luxor, and big resort shaped like a pyramid and named after a city in Egypt. It is the second largest resort in Las Vegas with over 4000 hotel rooms and 120,000 sq ft gaming area. It also has the Luxor Sky Beam, the strongest beam of light in the world with 42.3 billion candlepower. Another interesting feature of this resort is 440 suite rooms on the inside slope of the pyramid walls. Although bigger, this resort does not seem a spectacular as the Mandalay Bay, but it has one of the best buffet restaurants in the city, and is actually a good deal in a city where few bargains exist especially in eating.

Excalibur Casino

Our last stop of the day was the Excalibur, with almost 4,000 rooms and 100,000 sq ft gaming area. As the name suggests this resort is based on a Medieval theme, and is designed to look like a massive castle. Although not actually as big, the casino area of the Excalibur seemed the largest to us. This is the last resort on the Mandalay Bay Tram system. This resort also has a huge buffet similar to the excellent one at the Luxor. This was the only resort that I actually got lost in, and we exited the wrong side and had to turn around and find the other end – not an easy task in these massive complexes.

Well, three down, only 27 to go.

Back To Las Vegas

 

Welcome to Vegas

Las Vegas was never a place I really wanted to visit. I just figured that we are not gamblers so why go to Vegas?

New York?

During our RV trip this summer we wanted to see the Grand Canyon and this put Las Vegas conveniently on the route, so we booked a campsite at Circus Circus, and had an overnight in Vegas. It was a bit of a rush, but if you read the blog entry on Las Vegas you will remember that although it was a rushed visit, we enjoyed ourselves and decided that a return visit to “Sin City” might be in order.

Kurt Bush is in Town

My wonderful “Travel Planner” decided that it was time that I finally actually got to see a NASCAR race and since Las Vegas hosts both the Nationwide and the Sprint Cup races in March, we could see Las Vegas at a more leisurely pace and I could get to spend a weekend watching NASCAR in person instead of just on the TV. She found a fabulous deal on flight and two weeks at the Tropicana for less than the cheapest rates for the flights or the resort, and we were booked for a March Break in Las Vegas.

We arrived late in the evening, so decided to let others braver soles enjoy the Las Vegas Night Life, and waited until we had a good night sleep to start exploring. The Tropicana is at one end of the famous Las Vegas Strip. You look out one side of the hotel and see the airport and the desert beyond, but the other side (Our room faced this way) looked out onto Las Vegas Blvd. So we were able to see something of what we could expect. There was a resort that looked like a giant castle on one side, the MGM Grand was shining in green chrome on the other, and straight ahead was the Statue of Liberty with New York; New York behind it.

It was cold cloudy and windy when we arrived, but the morning dawned with clearing skies, but once outside the hotel it was still cold and windy, and we retreated to don extra layers – so much for escaping the cold up north.

We walked down one side of the 'Strip” and back the other, just getting he feel of the place. We will go back later to really explore some of the casinos and resorts. The newer casinos are at this end of the boulevard, and the further you go towards “Downtown” the older the hotels get. The problem is though, they can't go much further this way, because the airport is here, but you can see how huge tracks of land have been cleared of buildings back down the other end and are waiting for bigger and fancier places to go up. You can't help wonder however, how far can it go. How many gigantic hotel complexes can they build before they reach the saturation point. There is one huge new building down the other end that looks like construction has stopped, and rust is forming on the steel. Perhaps the tipping point has already been reached.

The Perfect Pub

Ottawa's Manx Pub

A few years ago a new pub opened up in Halifax to a lot of fanfare. The architect apparently spent weeks hanging out in pubs in Ireland to get the feel and look of a true “Irish pub” and this new place was designed with all the features they found in “real” pubs from across the pond. It is a nice place; looks very “Irish”, beer is good, and food is tasty. I've been there once.

The first time we visited our son Ryan in Ottawa, he insisted on taking us to this fabulous pub for brunch. We had to be there at a specific time or we could not get a seat, and it was quite a walk. My first impression was not great. There was a faded sign hanging on the corner of a building and a set of dingy stairs leading down to a black basement door. The place was crowded but we found a seat in the corner. There was a hole in the wall across from my seat. Five years later, that hole was covered with duct tape and painted over, but little else has changed. But . . . I can't imagine visiting Ottawa without making at least one trip to this pub, the Manx, for at least a beer if not a meal.

What is it that makes the “perfect pub”? Why do I love going back to the Manx in Ottawa, yet have never returned to the “authentic” Irish pub in Halifax?

Essential to any real pub is good beer, but I prefer to find some nice local brews that I can try. It is also really helpful if the servers know something about the beer and are willing to give an honest opinion. I often ask them for recommendations, and a good server is willing to tell me something about what they serve. I like to hear that “the local IPA is particularly hoppy”, and when a server tells me that they have a favourite brew I will usually take their advice and try it – I've rarely been disappointed. Better than having the server tell me they “Don't really like beer.” or when visiting Columbus Ohio, I asked about “local” beer and was told that they serve “Miller Light”. In a little pub in Bangor Maine the server was so excited about two local beer that when I chose one, he gave me the other one as well for free just because he wanted me to try it. I go back there whenever I'm in Bangor. The Manx always has some interesting beers from the Ottawa area, and the servers are knowledgeable about what they serve. A good server recognizes someone who likes good quality local beers, and when you choose something they suggest they often will return and not just ask how you liked the brew, but discuss it with you, comparing opinions and tastes.

Pub food is not always good food, but a good pub always has good food. Ottawa's Manx excels in this area. Their food is amazing; interesting and unique. The menu is not your usual burgers and sandwiches, it is closer to gourmet restaurant fare. Ryan tells me that their cook/chef, has been there for years so he must find something satisfying about working in this tiny little spot, for his talent surely could get him a position in a big fancy hotel or restaurant. The Manx has a continually changing menu, and it is always interesting to find out what is featured on the “Specials” board, but another of my favourite pubs has a menu that always seems to remain the same. I can depend on getting a “Knotwurst & Kraut” or a Knot Burger made from local sausage at the The Knot pub in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. These two favourite meals are always the same and always excellent. It takes very little to convince me to pair one of these two specialities with a nice cold Knot Ale whenever I'm in Lunenburg.

Although quality beer and delicious food are essential to a perfect pub, equally important is the atmosphere, the genuine feel of the place. I like The Old Triangle in Halifax. Their beer isn't extra ordinary, but they pour an excellent Guinness, and their food is “good”, but it is a pub that just feels comfortable. I go back to the Manx in Ottawa, or the Knot in Lunenburg because I enjoy sitting in these pubs sipping a good beer. I just like being there; they feel good. This is something that you just can't import from Ireland. It isn't the authentic wood counters or special bar stools, it is just something that feels right. The owner of the Manx obviously knows this and has left the place alone. The display of local artists on the walls changes, but the copper wrapped tables have always been there, the tables back in one corner are still awkward to get to and the servers still pass your beer through a window to those tables, the “Special board is still leaning against one of the thick pillars, and when you try to read it from your table, the servers will go bring it over to your table so you can get a closer look, and I think that hole in the wall in the corner is still there.

Now that is what makes a Perfect Pub. Sit back in your favourite chair in your favourite pub and have another cold one.

Back To PEI

Restored Tractor

P.E.I. and I do not have the best of relationships. I know the "Island" is a popular tourist destination, but every time I try to play tourist there, I get rain, fog or man-eating mosquitoes. One year we planned a week long family "Island" vacation in a rental cottage. It rained for the first three days, and when the sun finally came out on the forth , we sent the children out to play only to have them forced back in by giant mosquitoes. Then it rained for three more days. PEI retained the "Worst Vacation Ever" honor for years.

Now we did give The Island chances to redeem itself. after all it’s always sunny on any of the "Anne Of Green Gables" TV shows, but even on three subsequent trips over we were assaulted with wet weather and mosquitoes. As a result, I wrote Prince Edward Island off as a place to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

Amongst the stack of mail waiting us upon our return from the RV trip was a letter from a delightful lady we had met in Japan. She was our daughter’s Japanese teacher in Japan, and after meeting her there, we maintained contact through letter writing - remember those; envelopes, stamps, and words on thin crinkly “air mail” paper? She said she was coming to Canada on a “study tour” of P.E.I.and she would love to see Alisha and us if we were available.

Alisha was unable to come down from Ottawa, but we decided to make a trip of it, find a nice place to stay, and perhaps look for some interesting things to do on the Island. Our Japanese friend had only a short window when she could meet us, so that left us plenty of time to explore.

Saturday did not bode well, with rain and so much fog that we drove across the bridge without even being able to see the water under us, but at least the fog lifted a bit, and we managed to meet up with Alisha’s teacher, and spent a pleasant afternoon with her, her husband and three other Japanese tourists here “studying” Anne of Green Gables and Prince Edward Island.

Sunday we were on our own to enjoy Prince Edward Island, and it actually dawned with blue sky and sunshine - we thought we were back in Nova Scotia.

The Dawson House

We were staying in a wonderful B & B within walking distance of downtown Charlottetown called The Dawson House. Wonderful old house, very friendly hosts, comfortable room, and delicious breakfast. We will definitely stay here again when in P.E.I.

It was “Farm Day” in Charlottetown, and the main street was turned into a pedestrian only street for Sunday, and filled with farm market booths. At one end there was a really interesting display of restored stationary engines and farm machinery. The men who had restored these old engines showed so much pride in their work as they fired up the old workhorses and demonstrated them for us.

Another nice local beer

I was pleased to find that I could continue my quest for sampling good local beer in P.E.I. We discovered a really great local brew pub called Gahan Brewery, right off the main street in Charlottetown. They not only served their own beer; brewed on site - I had one called “Island Red”, that was great - but the food was also excellent. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich served with barbecue sauce made with their own beer, and some of the best French fries I’ve had.

On the way home we decided to take the ferry to Pictou, because there was a 70 mile yard sale throughout the area, and a P.E.I. Winery we could visit.

We had a good time in our neighboring province, and it managed to go a long way in restoring it’s damaged reputation as a “vacation location”. We look forward to crossing the famous bridge again.

RV Trip Summary

Sharing the rest stops

It is difficult to keep “Blogging” when I am not travelling. It seems that there are always things that have to be done, and sitting down to write is not one of the “important” things.

I thought you might enjoy a brief summary of the RV trip now that it is over.

You have to be able to see

In general terms, we went from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, but we certainly did not take the most direct route – where is the fun in that? We started in Nova Scotia, but went on a gentle South Western path that took us through the middle of the United States. We went as far south as the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff Arizona before turning north again and heading up through California to get to Vancouver Island. Coming home we did take a more direct route, through western Canada, down to North Dakota and under the Great Lakes to Michigan, then back into Ontario and finally on home to the East Coast again.

When we got home, we went back over the maps and traced our route into the Road Atlas we used as a general guide and I then wrote little short daily notes about routes, stops and campgrounds. We have done the “Cross-country” trip twice before, but I could not tell you our exact route, so this time I tried to keep better notes. Using these notes and my journal, I can give you some interesting information about the trip.

Our "Rig" is only big on it's own.

We did approximately 18,000 km in total distance driven. I had good intentions to have an exact amount, as I zeroed both the A and B trip odometers, planning to use A for each tankful of fuel and keep B running for the entire trip. Somehow B got zeroed along the way, so I have had to simply add the distances recorded for each fill-up. This of course counts all mileage including local trips at each stop.

We were gone from June 29^th until August 27^th, for a total of 60 days.

We drove through seven provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. We visited twenty five states, including Maine, New Hampshire Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

A Racing Tundra!

We crossed the Canada/US border four times at four different places, New Brunswick/Maine, Washington/British Columbia, Saskatchewan/North Dakota, and Michigan/Ontario. We had to turn in our oranges and tomatoes each time we entered the US, but Canada did not seem to mind anything we imported. Crossing the border this many times on one trip did present some questions. For example, I brought two bottles of wine and some nice local beers across when I entered Canada in British Columbia, and I wanted to keep these until I got home. I asked the border officials and they did not seem to mind. I kept the receipts for things I bought the first section of the trip and if questioned I could have shown the different items, but the border officials accepted my explanation and I had no problems.

We visited thirty three different campgrounds in total, spent two nights in Walmart parking lots and the rest parked in friends or family yards. The longest time spent in one place was at my sister's house on Vancouver Island where we spent six days. The longest campground stop was in Vancouver for five days visiting friends followed by four days in California waiting for new springs for the trailer. Most of these campgrounds were very nice thanks to our diligent “Trip Planner” who researched and reviewed prior to choosing. We had one really bad one, and perhaps two that were “not so good”. We belong to an RV campground service called Passport America that lists discounted campgrounds at 50% off, but we quickly discovered that most of these are in the list because they are well off the main routes, and the savings are eliminated when the extra fuel and time to find them are factored in. We found that in general, the KOA campgrounds are reliable and high quality, if somewhat more expensive. We reserved a spot at many campgrounds, but in general found that campgrounds were not full. The exception to this was in Oregon and Washington where we found everything packed full.

I am not going to give costs of the trip. Fuel was the major expense; the truck gets about 10 MPG towing the trailer, and unless you get a strong tail wind like we had in North Dakota nothing makes much difference. You could tow up mountains, or through cities without a big difference, and I was amazed at how reliable and dependable the truck was. We were surprised at the cost of some campgrounds almost approaching the price of a motel, but in general you pay about $40 - $50 per night. Most campgrounds now have Wi-Fi available throughout the sites, but the quality of the service is spotty. The biggest saving comes with the food. If you cook your own meals in the RV, and plan for lunches on the road in the RV, food is not expensive, but you have to resist the urge to try the wonderful restaurants written up in the tourist information packages.

So, if you are planning a trip across the country . . . . I know the way.