Tax Rebate for Travel?

Americans, how do you plan on spending your tax rebate? Will you save it? Will you buy something you've been eyeing for a while? Will you take a trip?

There are a lot of travel companies (and entire countries) who would love to have that moola. Travel from the U.S. to Europe is dropping off (and no wonder, with the exchange rates at nearly 2 to 1. Another wonderful legacy from George W.)

The key, if you want to use your rebate on travel, is find a good deal. How do you do that?

Well, if you want to go to the Carribean, may I suggest "Cheapcarribean.com." I've seen a LOT of great deals from this Website coming through my email box. Aruba for less than $600 for 5 days? That's a deal for an island that is constantly sunny and warm with lots of activities.

If you want to go to Europe, you'll still probably spend more than your rebate check, but if you take a look at countries that aren't yet on the Euro (like Croatia) you can stretch your money a bit farther. If you want to tour the traditional European cities - like Paris - plan to either go for less time or spend a few days in Paris, and then head out into the countryside where things aren't as expensive.

Another trend I've noticed in the deal emails I get (oh yes, I forgot, sign up for these little gems of info) is that Americans are hedging against even worse exchange rates by buying packages before they go. That way, the hotel price, for example, is set at the current rate. Of course the optimist in me keeps hoping that things will look up for the U.S. Dollar, but I don't know why.

Here's something else to consider - as a matter of fact - it's the route I'll be taking for the short-term. You don't have to go to another country to go on vacation. You don't have to go to another state. Take a look in your own backyard. Find a local B&B, one in a closeby city that you've always wanted to explore. Or maybe there's a hotel in your hometown that you've always wanted to stay in. Small expeditions can give you as much of a break as the big ones can. But always keep saving for the big ones.

Where In the World is Matt Lauer Going that I Want to Go?

I *heart* the week on the Today show where Matt Lauer jaunts around the world, growing his beard (he doesn't shave that week) and finding unique travel experiences for the rest of us.

This year, he went to several beautiful destinations - Holland, Thailand, etc. - but the one that fascinated me the most, and has been the most talked about among my acquaintences, is the trip he took to the Seychelles Islands.

If you've never heard of the Seychelles, they are a group (archipeglio) of about 100 islands nearly 1000 miles off of the Eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It's often called "paradise on earth" and features those white sand beaches and clear blue/green water that you see in travel photos. Mahe is the largest island, and is where the airport lies. According to the people that Matt Lauer interviewed, the Seychelles give the Galapagos a run for their money as far as wildlife - the Seychelles have more tortoises, for example. Birdwatching and fishing are big here, as well as diving in the reefs.

So I did a search on Kayak.com on just airfares to the Seychelles Islands from the crappy airport of Richmond (RIC). Airfare alone - the best price I saw was $1896, and it left on Friday and arrived on Sunday - so that's 2 days of just travel! (On the way home, it's only 1 day of travel). On the sites that offer packages, you're talking a minimum of $5000 per person.

I guess I'd better start saving.

Bellagio Gardens

Despite the fact that everything costs more in Vegas, there are a few remnants of free. You can watch the Bellagio fountains without paying (for anything but the trip itself.) You can watch the Mirage volcano and TI's pirate show for free. You can see the lion exhibit at MGM grand for free.

One of the prettiest freebies has got to be the gardens at the Bellagio. Many people never make it past the Dale Chihuly glass flower ceiling in the lobby, (and rightly so), but if they just pass through the lobby, they'll get a nice surprise. The Bellagio gardens change with the season. I've seen them at Halloween (Harvest), Chinese New Year, with the U.S. monuments theme and now with the spring theme.

This year it was ladybugs and snails made of flowers, and an enclosed butterfly garden. I've put together a photo slide show for you to enjoy (plus a couple of glass flower statues).

Freemont Street: Trip Report

You might not realize that there is an entirely different part of Vegas than the Strip.

Welcome to Freemont Street - part of the old, downtown part of Vegas. Here, the casinos are smaller and smokier, but offer you a lot more bang for your buck. The slots are much more loose, offering you a bigger win on that 20 cents play (if you're playing the penny slots.) This year's penny slot favorite award goes to the Elvis penny slot. If you bet the max of 60 lines (that's 1 cent per line), you can play up to three spins. If you win on the first spin, you're bumped to the second, if you win the second, you're bumped to the third. If you get the bonus, well, you're just lucky enough to not only win the money, but you get to hear ol' Elvis sing (guess which song makes the applause-o-meter above you register the highest.) Or, you could get to put pictures of Elvis (hopefully the cute, skinny ones) in an album, or guess which album will hit platinum status. It's a cool, interactive game. I really brought the BF over to the penny slot dark side!

And if you're looking for single-deck blackjack? Forget it if you're on the Strip, but on Freemont, it's not hard to find. Combine that with a $5 minimum bet (the minimums go up during busy times, like Sat. night) and you've got yourself a blackjack hootenanny. We had a dealer at Binions, Terry, who taught me more about how to play blackjack than any book ever did. If the dealer is showing a "2", chances are that he's going to win. That's his best card. If the dealer is showing a 3, 4 or 5 in single deck blackjack "There's a 10 coming and you don't want it. Make the dealer beat you." Always assume that the dealer has a 10 card under whatever he's showing. Always hit on a 16 ("Have you ever seen a dealer stand on 16?") and double down on a hand of 11. It was awesome. I had to borrow money from the BF, because at another table I'd previously lost the last of my gambling money, but here, with Terry's help, I won back enough to pay BF back and leave with a little extra.

And after you spend a whole day gambling away your shirt, around dusk you can take a moment and look up to enjoy the Freemont Street Experience - a show that takes place on the canopy above you that's filled with millions of tiny light bulbs. It's amazing how they make the images look so "movie like" with those lights - plus it's put to music.

Here's the full video of one performance. It's about 6 minutes long, my arm got tired holding the camera, but it's pretty cool video, if I do say so myself.

Red Rock Cayon Trip Report

So far this week, we've been to Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.

Today, we're heading to Red Rock Canyon.

I think I've mentioned that I can only take Vegas in small doses. Since we didn't know what time we'd get back from the Grand Canyon, we kept our rental car for two days. Since we had the car for two days, we decided that on the second day we'd drive 25 minutes or so to Red Rock Canyon.

I dare say that I preferred Red Rock. No, it's not as "natural wonder-y" as the Grand Canyon, but it's a bit more up-close-and-personal, which I really enjoyed. It was a lot cheaper - only $5 per car per day gets you spectacular rock formations and a 13-mile, one-way loop to drive.

Learn from us - make sure to get some water or some beverage from the Visitors Center BEFORE you head out hiking. Although, I think we enjoyed just driving the entire loop without stopping the first time.

Take a look at the newsletter you're handed when you pay your entrance fee and pick the stops where you'd like to have your photo ops and hiking boots.

I highly recommend that you stop at the first area - the Calico Hills. These are the most red rocks, and you can climb on them (with your feet, or with climbing equipment.) But really, you couldn't go wrong with any of the stops - you can't spit without hitting a good photo op.

Here's video from part of the loop drive.




And here are some photos from our Red Rock day.

Hoover Dam Stopover

On the way to the Grand Canyon, I got to cross the Hoover Dam (for the first time, I'd seen it from the air a few times.)

It looks like they're currently building a bridge over this monster of architecture - it's really high, and I think I'd be kinda scared to drive over it, but I'm not their target market. Traffic slows WAY down over the winding road that crosses the dam, but I think that might be more the fault of ogglers than anything else (okay, well, the road IS quite winding.)

I decided to forgo the actual tour of the place, but we did park our Audi rental car and walk around for some photo ops.

I'm not sure how many of you know that the dam also straddles two states, Nevada and Arizona. In the movie Fools Rush In, there's a scene where Selma Hayek crosses over a line on the road that has Arizona on one side and Nevada on the other, and tosses a coin into the water. That line is no longer in the road, and I'm not sure how she could've hit water with the coin, but that's the power of movies.

Anyway, we DID walk from one state to the other. Here's a video of me going from Nevada to Arizona. (Ugh, I didn't realize how awful the back of my hair looked. Sigh.)



And here are some photos from our stop at the Hoover Dam.

Walk the Sky at Grand Canyon West:Trip Report

I can only take about three days in Las Vegas before I start to go crazy. There's only so much neon and flashing lights and dinging before you want to scream. So if a Vegas trip is more than 3 days, I always recommend a day trip.

I had taken a day trip to the Grand Canyon five years ago. Friend Irish and I had booked a bus tour to the South rim. It took us 5 hours to get there (at the time, due to security precautions, we couldn't go over the Hoover Dam) and we had a mere 2 hours there before turning around and going home.

This year, the BF and I rented a car (it was a Seinfeld episode, we reserved a car, yet the car wasn't there. Hertz sucks) and drove to Grand Canyon West. We crossed the Hoover Dam (that post will come soon) and drove for 2.5 hours - through Joshua Tree Forest - to get there.

The newest attraction at the Grand Canyon is the Skywalk. Opened in 2007, it's a glass bridge that extends out over the canyon, allowing you to look down into the canyon. It's a bit of a freaky experience, and one that'll cost you. There's a $20 fee to park. There's a $29.95 fee to the Hualapai nation to enter their land. Then, if you want to actually go on the Skywalk, there's a $29.95 fee for that. Is it worth it? I think so, but it takes a while to get used to the price.

No cameras are allowed on the Skywalk - or anything that could fall over the side. They give you a locker to store your stuff (so you do have a key around your wrist, not sure I get how that won't fall over, but whatever.)They then give you little paper booties so as not to scratch the glass, but I joked that we were doing their dusting for them. :) They have photographers on the bridge - take as many photos with them as you like - but you'll pay a premium for your photo when you get done.

The Skywalk is located at Eagle Point - where the rocks form a shape that looks like an eagle in flight. Another lookout point - and probably the most stunning - is Guano point. Yes, folks, it's named after bat doo. That's because some moron (or genius?)constructed this tower that sent people across the canyon into a cave to collect bat guano to sell.

At Guano point, the land juts out into the mouth of the Canyon, so you get as close to a 360 degree view of the Canyon as you can get. (Below is my - very windy - 360 degree video. I was standing on a rock, and rotating VERY CAREFULLY to get you the best video. Putting my life in danger - that's how committed I am to you folks.)



And below are some photos of Skywalk, one of my favorite photos of me and the BF on the Grand Canyon and some general shots of the Canyon. Why is it that the photos never capture the grandeur?