Big Bus Continues

Posted on April 4, 2016April 4, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Soon after our stop at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop we pulled into Circus Circus.

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Circus Circus is the start/end point for the tours. Here you can change buses to go into the Fremont Street Experience, another route to malls and shopping and a return to the Strip.

We had about a 20 minute wait which meant it was approaching lunch time. We road the Big Bus until Bally’s where we hopped off for lunch at Johnny Rockets in the Food Court.

Tummy’s full, we walked to the High roller outside the Linq.

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This was familiar territory because Joe and I stayed at the Linq last year when we were in Vegas. The bus stop for the High Roller is closed due to construction and this stop at Bally’s is the closest one currently operating.

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Up to now Sandy had been insisting that she didn’t want to ride the High Roller. Sandy doesn’t like heights. The High Roller isn’t like a normal Ferris Wheel with an open seat. It’s an enclosed observation pod. Very Star Wars !

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But I wasn’t having any luck getting my point across. She had to see it to understand and once she walked under the huge pods she decided that it might not be such a bad experience.

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The whole rotation is only 30 minutes and it will be the fastest 30 minutes you’ll ever experience. It didn’t take Sandy long to get comfortable and was soon standing right near the windows to take pictures of the Las Vegas sights.

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The Eye has it or Not!

Posted on December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Remember when I started this series I said “Now remember, no trip is without its pitfalls. If you keep that in mind you will be able to handle the little trials that come out of no where.”

Well Our lovely day was about to hit one of those little trials. Up until this point the Orlando Eye had been slowly turning above our heads but as we finished with the SeaLife Aquarium they announced that it was temporarily down. Trying to get any information out of the desk attendants was an exercise in futility.

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We sat for a bit in the food court but pretty soon even a dedicated people watcher gets bored so we took a walk outside to see what restaurants were nearby. We might as well grab some lunch while we waited.

There wasn’t much in the “Eye” complex but we settled on the “Tin Roof”, a typical bar/pub. I can’t say it was a quiet lunch because there was construction going on and the whole side of the building was open so no sound buffering at all. The waiter was pleasant and the food plentiful. But I caught an “ear worm”. I kept hearing the B52’s sing Love Shack in my head….Tin Roof – Rusted!

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After lunch we headed back to the desk and were told the Eye was still offline and they didn’t know when it would be back online. It seems the “Eye” is down more than it’s running. From what I gathered it is something of a joke in Orlando because it is either offline or they are rescuing guests who are stuck on it.

Joe tried hard to get our money back but since we’d done 2 attractions and we’d only had to pay for 1 ticket there wasn’t much to refund. The best he could get was a promise to honor the tickets for 1 year. Of course I don’t know where we put the tickets now. I guess we’ll both have to search for them if I can get back to Orlando before the year is up.

It was time for plan B.

Another Vacation Comes to an End

Posted on June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Check out is 10 am. My flight isn’t until 6 pm. I’ve got a little time to poke around in Pigeon Forge before I head to Knoxville.

If I ever get back here I hope the Skylift will be open. I’ll plan to include Dollywood next time and get to that wonderful restaurant for the escargot and lobster. And I’ll have to go to the Aquarium.

Next trip I’ll have to make that hike to the Grotto Falls and maybe some others because I won’t be recovering from falling off a plane (I hope).

Maybe I’ll take a ride on this huge Ferris Wheel.

But this was the vacation I needed. Quiet and nature, no crowds. It refreshed my heart and soul. Sometimes you need that more than crowds and attractions.

I wonder where I’ll end up next!?

What’s In Gatlinburg?

Posted on February 25, 2014February 25, 2014 by Dusty Roads

A similar question came up when we went to South Dakota and that turned out to be a great vacation. So I am hopeful that this will be the same. Sandy has been to the Great Smokey Mountains and the first thing she said when I told her I’d decided on Tennessee was to be sure to visit Dollywood.

I admit, Dollywood wasn’t on the top of my “to do” list and I reluctantly said ok, if it’s close enough. Well it sure is close enough. Located in Pigeon Forge it’s less than 10 miles from Gatlinburg.

Dollywood isn’t open year round so I was still thinking I might get a reprieve if it wasn’t open for the season but that didn’t work out either. According to the website it’s opening on March 22 so even if they were to delay the opening for some reason it’s still sure to be up and running by May.

But here’s where it gets interesting. I was dragging my feet because I don’t like amusement parks. 6 Flags is a waste of money for me and I only go to Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire on occasion to take pictures. But Dolly stresses that her park is a “family adventure” (don’t call it an amusement park”).

My sister says this is the cleanest park she has even seen! Although there are more than 30 rides there are also musical shows, restaurants and arts and crafts shops where wood carving, glassblowing and quilting are demonstrated.

Although Dollywood had to bear the brunt of a number of jokes when it first opened it now hosts 2.5 million guests in a typical season. No longer a laughing matter, Dollywood is a major employer for the region. As of 2010, the park was the biggest “ticketed” tourist attraction in Tennessee each year for more than a decade.

So I have had a change of heart and moved Dollywood from a reluctant location on my itinerary to one of the “must see” stops. They say the Ferris wheel is 60 ft. high. Imagine the pictures I can get from up there!

What a View from The Space Needle

Posted on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Time to explore the Space Needle. I skipped the souvenir shop on the ground floor and followed the signs around and up a ramp where I purchased a ticket. It’s a 1 use ticket so once you go up don’t plan to come back down until you’re done. If you do you’ll have to buy another ticket at $21.00 per ticket that can get a little pricey.

The revolving SkyCity restaurant is 500 ft up the Space Needle and was only the 2nd revolving restaurant in the world. The restaurant makes a 360 degree revolution about once every hour. I didn’t eat there. I expect it is expensive and even with reservations people were waiting on the upper deck.

As I waited in line for the elevator I had the opportunity to get a souvenir photo. No one else was going to take my picture so why not?

The elevators hold 25 people at a time. Once we were loaded the attendant welcomed everyone to the Space Needle and told us to “look quick” because we had 43 seconds to see the sights before we reached the Observation Deck at 520 Ft.

The center part of the observation deck is enclosed and they have snack bars and drink bars located around the center core. Tables are placed around the circumference so you can look out over the city as you snack or sip your drinks.

Step down about 5 steps and go out a door and you are outside with only a railing and some glass panels to separate you from the drop to the ground. The outside track doesn’t move. You have to walk around it to see the different areas of the city. I didn’t realize it but the door I chose to use brought me right out to the view of Mount Rainier. Once again my mouth was hanging open.

Mount Rainier was so “there”, “in your face” , I don’t know how to describe it. After chasing the elusive Mount McKinley all of last week, to step out and see this awesome mountain right in front of me just took my breath away.

Mount McKinley is taller than Mount Rainier but Mount Rainier is closer so it looks larger and, forgive me for saying this, more impressive. (at least to me). I’m really glad I had a chance to see Mount Rainier so soon after Mount McKinley as my impressions were so fresh in my mind.

I may not be in Alaska but sunset in Washington State was pretty late too right around 9:30. I didn’t want to stick around that late this time and since I planned to come back to see Chihuly Gardens I decided to head back to the hotel. I needed to be back at the office at 8am and jet lag was definitely confusing my body clock.