An Open Letter to the Mayor and citizens of Baker, California

Part 1: The Plan
Part 2: Baker
Part 3: The Buffet
Part 4: Monday (arrival)
Part 5: Tuesday
Part 6: Wednesday
Part 7: Thursday
Part 8: Friday (departure)


Dear Mayor and citizens:

Stopping in Baker for gas and coffee at the Arco AM-PM station, it was hot.  That, we were prepared for.  However, we were completely blindsided by the fact that the World's Tallest Thermometer has fallen into disrepair, and no longer displays the temperature.

The World's Tallest Thermometer has always been a milepost and beacon of hope to weary California travelers that says two things:

1. Congratulations.  You are only 88 miles from Las Vegas.
2. Congratulations.  You can take the heat, which today is ?? degrees.

However, the World's Tallest Thermometer is broken, and thus fails in its second function.  Please fix it.  I can't brag or blog how hot I was able to stand if I don't know how hot it was.

Sincerely,

A hot and sweaty traveler

P.S. the restrooms at the Arco station are in a condition similar to that of the World's Tallest Thermometer.

Continued

Seared and Smoking in Las Vegas: 2012 Trip Report Part 1

Part 1: The Plan
Part 2: Baker
Part 3: The Buffet
Part 4: Monday (arrival)
Part 5: Tuesday
Part 6: Wednesday
Part 7: Thursday
Part 8: Friday (departure)




Going through my Vegas notebook in anticpation of this trip, I found the following recipe:

2 bags of grass
75 pellets of mescaline
five sheets of high-powered blotter acid
a saltshaker half-full of cocaine
uppers
downers
screamers
laughers
1 quart tequila
1 quart rum
1 case Budweiser
1 pint raw ether
2 dozen amyls

Load up in red convertible, aka "The Great Shark"
Drive to Vegas

Saturday 3/17/12: "GOATS"

American Airlines 41: Paris CDG - Chicago O'Hare
Depart 11:20 am, arrive 2:45 pm (local times)
American Airlines 637: Chicago - Los Angeles
Depart 5:10 pm, arrive 7:40 pm (local times)
United Express 6462: Los Angeles - Sacramento
Depart 10:52 pm, arrive 12:15 am

A morning of minor missteps

Took the shuttle from the Hyatt to CDG Terminal 3 and caught the CDG-VAL tram to terminal 2, then walked to Hall 2A (American).  We waited in a LONG line.  About halfway through, we were interviewed by an AA security employee, who said we could have waited in the short line to the right since we had already printed our boarding passes.  Misstep 1!

The area was crowded.  At the same time the Chicago flight was boarding, a flight to Dallas was also boarding, and it was oversold.  They were taking volunteers and offering $800 to switch flights - for people with reservations on the Dallas flight, but not the Chicago flight.  Misstep 2 - should have booked through Dallas!  (couldn't have known 8 months ago though.)

Security confiscated a bottle of kosher wine, some pear jam, and halvah with Arabic writing on the package which we had tried to carry onboard with us.  They said that we could check it, but it wasn't worth the cost of another checked item so we didn't bother.  In retrospect, we should have thought it through.  The 3.5 ounce limit for liquids was not news to us.  Misstep 3!

Thursday 3/8/12: SMF-LAX with the kids

Southwest flight 3705: Sacramento to Los Angeles

We left Sacramento in a rush with some work left a little more undone than I had hoped.  First time in the new SMF terminal and was generally impressed, although struck by the amount of relatively vacant space in the check-in area.

Uneventful flight on Southwest to LA. 

Dinner with my parents at the Proud Bird, a classic near LAX airport.  Parents paid.  Thanks, Parents.

Checked into the Candlewood Suites in Hawthorne.  It was the least expensive Priority Club hotel with an airport shuttle to LAX.  Hotel was adequate but the area is pretty sketchy and the pictures on the web site paint a pretty rosy picture.  Room was nice, lobby almost nonexistent.  I probably wouldn’t stay there again unless I am traveling solo, although Nancy is a trooper, and didn’t seem to mind.  Room was booked in advance for about $90/night inclusive, about $10 more than I saw available on hotwire. 

Parents took the kids with them, first night kid-free in over a year.  I was mostly focused on trying to wrap up my work that I had not finished before my vacation, before getting about 3 hours of sleep.