Lotusland

     You're stuck with a couple more days of our vacation pictures.  We also went to California.  We enjoyed a few days in Santa Barbara, where we went to a botanical garden named Lotusland.
Lotusland was designed by Ganna Walska.  She bought her home and property in 1941 and spent the next 43 years creating her gardens.  She collected interesting and rare species of plants from all over the world.  Though the complex is named Lotusland, there is only one pond containing lotus plants.  Our tour, led by a darling, little retired professor, was packed with information.  Here are just a few of the highlights:
     Madame Ganna Wlaska was a socialite and opera singer.  From all accounts, she was a lousy singer.  Her real talent was marrying rich men.  She had six husbands.  Numbers one, two, and five died.  She divorced numbers three and four.  Number six, her much younger yoga instructor, was probably her only bad choice.  She divorced him when he started frittering away her fortune.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganna_Walska
    

The garden contains rare species of cycads, plants that have been around since the days of the dinosaurs.  Ganna procured these plants from all over the world.  She would never be able to get them today because they are protected by internation treaties.
 

These little statues are called "Grotesques."  Ganna didn't have children, but she enjoyed nieces and nephews.  The statues were for their amusement.

The cacti in the cactus garden were donated to Lotusland in 1999.  The plants were moved 500 miles from their original home to Lotusland.  It took several years to acclimate them to their new environment.  Only a couple of plants did not survive the relocation.

The orchards contain lemons, oranges, and grapefruit.  They allow the fruit to drop and rot.  What a waste.

Our guide told us that most of the lotus plant is edible.  Is it served as an appetizer or dessert?

Grand Canyon

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is a four and a half to five hour drive from Las Vegas.  That's a long haul, but we had unlimited mileage on the rental car and we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see such a spectacular site.  And what a site it is.  It's so amazing, you might question if it's real.

Observation Area

 

Stay away from the edge!

 

The people are such tiny specs.

What a site.

Route 66

     Remember the TV show Route 66?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_66_(TV_series)  One episode was filmed at the site of the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona.  The dam was under construction at the time of filming.  Check out the full TV episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeUOozMQ2pg&feature=related

I can't believe how corny that show was - from the construction foreman inviting trouble making employees to pick up their check, to putting raw meat in fist fight injuries, to the wailing, hung over fashion model.
     There's not much left of Route 66 today.  We traveled on a short stretch of what remains of the road in Arizona.  The town of Ash Fork, AZ (they call the place the Flagstone Capital of the World) has a cute museum.  http://ashforkrt66museum.com/museum.html
We enjoyed the displays, chatted with the caretakers, and bought a baseball cap and some Zingers.  What are Zingers?  Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRZraDJn64
     Ash Fork has Burma Shave signs.  I love those things.

 

    

     The only thing missing was the Corvette.

Hoover Dam

     Las Vegas is a great starting off point for day trips.  We spent a day at Hoover Dam.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam


This is what you see when you drive toward the dam. 

The white line indictes the previous high water level.  They've had a long, dry spell.

Cars had to drive on top of the dam to get from Nevada to Arizona before the new bridge or by-pass was built.

The new bridge gets you around the dam if you are not a visiting tourist.  It's not scary to drive over because it has side walls that are high enough to block the view.

The generation of electricity was a secondary plan.  They built the dam primarily to obtain water to make a dry area habitable.  Production of electricity has paid for the dam's construction, provides a free power source for the dam, and continues to provide electric power to consumers.

Even if the power is free, you should turn out the lights when you leave.



     A visit to the dam is a feast for the eyes.  The surrounding terrain is beautiful.  The dam structure is magnificent.  They also designed the inside to impress.

Andrew True was responsible for the Southwest Indian designs on the floors.  Photo from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation website.

The brass elevator doors are luxurious.
Image posted on panoramio.com by crapshooter.

A Hainesport Rube Goes to Vegas

    Like the Three Dog Night song says, "I seen things I ain't never seen before."  That pretty much sums up my Las Vegas experience.  Now, I don't live in a bubble.  I read the news and watch cable TV.  I even saw a few episodes of "Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehab:_Party_at_the_Hard_Rock_Hotel  It's different when it's right there in front of you.
     From the first day, we got to see and hear the partying.  Our room was next to the rooms of several couples.  They made happy noise until about 1:00 a.m.  The screaming fight started at 5:00 a.m.  It lasted for a couple of minutes and ended with, "Fine!  Fine!  That's just fine!!!"  We were glad to see them leave.   The next afternoon we saw a twenty-something swaggering through the casino wearing swim trunks and an unbelted hotel robe.  He had a vodka on the rocks in one hand and a fat cigar in the other.  Mike swears he saw a working girl early one morning.
     And speaking of girls, we went to MGM's Crazy Horse Paris to see the topless review.  Mike liked it for the obvious reasons.  I thought it was artistic as well as sensual.  And I wish my body looked like any one of those girls' bodies.

Rockettes Doing Their Toy Soldier Routine
I got this photo from Google Images.  Can't determine the original owner. 

Crazy Horse Girls Doing Their Toy Soldier Routine
Image from www.las-vegas-shoes-reviews.com 

     People come to Las Vegas to get married.  We saw a few sets of brides and grooms in full regalia on the casino floor.  I can't imagine rolling dice and playing penny slots to pass the time between the ceremony and the reception, but that's just me.
     Evidently some people come to Vegas to shoot machine guns.  We saw billboard toting trucks driving up and down The Strip, advertising the "sport."  These trucks were the Las Vegas version of the planes that drag banners at our beaches.


     I would have to say my real hayseed moment came when I walked into the ladies room and found TV screens at each sink.  After staring at the commercials on the screen, I took pictures, of course.

Installing TV's at the sink - no way to keep the line moving.

     The Three Dog Night song goes on to say, "Mama told me not to come.  That ain't the way to have fun."  Mama obviously didn't know what she was talking about.    

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

     Sometimes my creative writing teacher pulls a few words out of the air and tells us to write a story that includes those words.  A while back she gave us this list -
 
     planet
     giraffes
     singing
     winter
     purple
     dictator

Here's my result:

         Life would never be the same.  The resistance had failed.  He had fought hard, but he was one small person against a mighty force.  He was subdued, just as all the rest were subdued – forced to submit to the barber, commanded into the showers, and dressed in the uniform of his oppressors.  Along with his peers, he was marched off to one of the prisons that the tyrant called an education center.  

     The center was one of the most miserable places on the planet.  The long, stark halls echoed with the footsteps of his fellow detainees.  The sentries, frightening beings as tall as giraffes, demanded absolute silence.  It seemed nothing escaped their vigilant eyes.  From time to time, they took someone to the overseer for disciplinary action.  These occasional examples had the desired effect of bringing the rank and file back to order.

     He and the other militants were divided into groups.  Hereafter, he would spend his days with his company.  Their instructor took them to a room, assigned places, and handed out supplies.  The lessons began and wore on all morning.  Just before the meal break, the instructor commanded them to sing.  How could his fellows comply so readily?  Surely they didn’t feel like singing these light-hearted songs.  He alone would remain true to his cause.  He would move his mouth, but no sound would escape.  He knew that learning their songs was part of the brainwashing.

     The mid-day break was part of their trickery, too.  A few minutes of free time followed an inadequate meal.  If he only had enough time to recruit some allies, maybe they could make an escape.  This had to be done quickly while the warm fall days lingered.  If he couldn’t get out before the coming winter, he would be stuck here until spring.  Today he would observe the others.  Tomorrow he would approach those he judged most likely to be his confederates.

     An afternoon of more drilling and propaganda followed.  At the end of the day the overseer opened the doors and all the inmates returned to their home bases.  Now the interrogations began.  He would say enough to satisfy the despot without saying anything at all.  His technique seemed to work.  The light faded.  Orange and purple skies turned to black night.  He was sleepy when he finally settled into his bunk.  The dictator stood in the doorway, watching her little subject.  He didn’t want to go back to school.  He refused a good night kiss.  Maybe tomorrow would be a better day. 

     To all current and former dictators, I hope this puts a smile on your face.  

     

Wedding Trends

     Still on the subject of weddings: I just saw a video about the latest trends for weddings.  We actually did one of the things on the list.  There are two other items on the list that I would like to have done, but didn't pan out.  I never realized I'm so cool!
     Mike and I were engaged in 2007.  I wanted him to wear a "man-gagement" ring.  He turned me down flat.  Low and behold, guys are wearing them now.  While this is a new trend in the United States, it's been going on for ages in other parts of the world.  I was inspired to ask Mike to wear a pre-marriage ring because my German born friend told me about the European custom of men and women wearing wedding rings on the right hand, and switching them to the left hand during the marriage ceremony.
     Some people are dressing up their pets in tiny gowns and tuxedos and including them in the wedding ceremony.  I like this.  When I went to my cousin's wedding in France, there were two dogs at the reception.  Theme weddings are "in."  Surprise weddings are "inner."  Mark Zuckerberg invited people over for a bar-be-que that turned out to be his wedding.  The food station idea has been around for a while, but people are adding an interactive factor - think Benihana chef slicing, dicing, and tossing food around.  Photo booths are passe, but belly dancers and fire eaters are "now."  
     My pet peeve at weddings has always been the wedding cake.  It's for looks, and it never tastes very good.  To top that off, guests never get to enjoy it as a dessert.  It gets rolled up in a napkin, toted home, and probably deposited in the trash can.  Wedding desserts have changed to include cupcakes, pies, and chocolates.  We invited our guests back to our house where we laid out an assortment of fruit, nuts, and desserts.  We had a lot of out-of-towners at our wedding, so it was a great way to show them our house and wind down the evening.
     The best thing about our wedding was that it was our kind of party, and we had fun.  That's the way all weddings should be.

Do you think the sister-sister dance will catch on?

              

http://shine.yahoo.com/fashion/the-shine-man-gagement-rings-on-the-rise.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9AqXlt5Qoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk-BbVVt5AI