Las Vegas - Sept 2017

Grand Canyon

For our final 'escape the heat weekend' we decided to have a mostly retro weekend in Las Vegas.  The main event was the Life is Beautiful Festival that Keith wanted to attend as his company had a booth set up to sign up potential customers for the property they are building.  We decided to stay at the Golden Nugget because it was close to the festival, we had not stayed in that area and wanted to explore it more and it's one of the few remaining old casinos around.  Thankfully, the rooms were recently upgraded!!  We both arrived on Friday - Keith earlier in the day and worked in the area, Shawna in the early evening (flying in from Hartford) just in time to meet up for dinner.

Golden Nugget

It was an action packed weekend where we did the following activities:

• Michael Jackson One - We went to this show, put on by Cirque du Soleil at the Mandalay Bay, on Friday night.  The music and acrobatics were great!

• Walk - We walked from our hotel, along the strip, down to Caesar's Palace.  Great way to get some exercise and see all of the hotels.

• Life is Beautiful Festival - Fun festival with a mix of food, music and art.  Many of the festival goers were much younger and dressed like they were going to a rave!  We tried several different foods - lamb schwarma, cornish pasty, tacos, grilled cheese/brisket sandwich and a Scotch egg - and had a few beers!  We also watched a 'b-boy' dance off, viewed an art display in an old hotel where different rooms were decorated with uber modern art (we were not the target audience), watched a comedy show and listened to Cage the Elephant (also not the target audience).  

• Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour with Papillon - Shawna bought this as a Xmas gift for Keith so we finally got to cash it in.  It was amazing - great views!  We even upgraded to get seats in the front so that we could see more which was also worth it!  Only downside is that we had to wait a while before and after the flight.  The company picked us up at the hotel and after we picked up other passengers, they drove us to the airport which is located in Boulder City.  After checking in and watching a security video, we then boarded our helicopter.  There were four other people plus the pilot with us.  The flight took about 35 minutes each way, flying over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and of course the Grand Canyon.  We landed in the Grand Canyon on a plateau where we had about 30 minutes to walk around, take pictures and eat a picnic lunch (sandwich, fruit, chips) along with champagne.  The flight back was not as scenic but still quite cool!

• Mob Museum - We had a few hours to kill before Shawna had to go to the airport so we did the audio tour of this museum.  It was interesting but not as informative as we had hoped.

We also enjoyed some good food and drinks at the following restaurants/bars:

• Aureole - Great restaurant located in Mandalay Bay.  We chose it so that we could easily get to the show afterward.  We started off with mojitos and then shared a bottle of viognier, meatballs for an appetizer, rack of lamb with mushrooms for an entree and a glass of rose for dessert!
• Oak and Ivy - One of the bars in Container Park.  Had a beer here.
• Therapy - Had an early dinner here before we left for the airport.  Cool interior.  Shared brussel sprouts, chicken meatballs, chorizo empanadas and tuna tartare - very tasty!

On Sunday evening, Shawna flew home to AZ while Keith stayed a few more days to work in Vegas. It was a great weekend!

Octoberfest Cincinnati - Sept 2017

Cincinnati

Continuing on our 'festival' tradition with John and JoAnna, John chose that we go to Octoberfest in Cincinnati which is the largest Octoberfest in the US.  We shared a room at the Westin downtown - it was a bit expensive but very convenient and the room was quite large!  We had planned that Shawna and Keith would fly in on Thursday night late and John and JoAnna would arrive Friday morning.  However, Keith's flight was late and thus he missed his connecting flight in Chicago - he stayed the night there and arrived instead on Friday morning.  Shawna worked a half day on Friday and while Keith said he worked a full day, we caught him napping Friday late afternoon!!

John, JoAnna, Anna Liisa and Shawna at Bling Pig

JoAnna has a friend, Anna Liisa with whom she went to nursing school and who lives in the area so she and her husband Chris joined us for some of the festivities.  Throughout the weekend, we enjoyed the festival, tasting many of the foods (schnitzel, pretzel, noodles, potato cakes, strudel, etc) and of course much of the beer.  We listened to some of the bands, attended the kickoff where John got a picture with Jim Koch (owner of Boston Brewing Company), played games and participated in the world's largest (or so they claim) chicken dance!  Both mornings, we went for a walk across the river and back to try to make up for some of the calories we consumed!

Festival Photos

Needing a break from festival food, we also went to the following restaurants/bars:

• A Tavola - Had lunch here.  Shared meatballs and a salad. Yummy.
• Bling Pig - Had a few drinks here.  Nice rooftop area.
• Moerlein Lager House - Had dinner here.  Great location on the river.  Very tasty schnitzel with a cream sauce.
• Nada - Had dinner here.  Hip Mexican place. Shared guacamole, pork and steak dishes.
• Metropole - Had drinks here late night.  Great rooftop bar. 

On Sunday afternoon, we all went to the airport and flew our separate ways - Shawna to Hartford for work, Keith to AZ, and John/JoAnna to NC.  We had a great time - it was a fun festival and it was nice to see a new city!

Stanley Idaho - September 2017

Sawtooth Mountain Range

For our Labor Day weekend trip, we went to a ranch in Idaho with Rakesh and Simran.  They did not bring Ria on this trip so it was adults only.  We arrived in Boise late on the Thursday night and stayed the night in Boise at the Hyatt Place Downtown, sharing a room 'Calcutta' style!  Originally, Keith and Shawna were going to fly through Denver but due to flight delays, we were rerouted through Oakland via Burbank, connecting on the same flight as Simran.  We decided to surprise her but since we barely made the flight, we surprised her when we boarded the plane (most of the other passengers, including Simran, were already on).  On Friday morning, we drove out to the ranch - the drive is about 3 hours through beautiful mountains with no cell service for most of the way!  We stayed at the ranch from Friday to Monday, returning home Monday afternoon.

Idaho Rocky Mountain Lodge

The ranch (Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch) is located outside of Stanley, Idaho with great views of the Sawtooth Mountains.  There is a main lodge, built in the 1930s, where all meals are served and cabins, where the guests stay, surround the main lodge.  Our cabin was a duplex tucked away in the shade so it was very nice and cool.  The property is 900 acres with hiking/biking trails, a fishing pond, a hot springs and a horse corral.  There also was a brand new pavilion that they recently built but unfortunately, there was an accident where it blew up the first day we were there (some gas leak) - no one was hurt!  The place is very relaxing and beautiful - only downside is there is no cell service and they have a very slow wifi located in the main lodge so we felt cut off from the world which is probably the point!

Our Cabin

All of our meals were included in the rate.  For breakfast, we had a choice of a hot dish along with a continental buffet.  For lunch, we had a choice of sandwich or salad that they prepared to take with us as a picnic along with choice of snacks.  For dinner, it was a pre-fix menu with choice of appetizer, entree and dessert.  One night, they had a grill buffet dinner outside - the theme was Southwestern with grilled meats, enchiladas, salads, Mexican street corn and salsas.  The food overall was very good!

Outdoor Grill / Picnic Area

The town of Stanley is quite cute in a rustic way.  There are only 63 people who live there and it's known for being the coldest town in the winter in the "lower 48"!  Thankfully, we were there in the summer!! The town attracts quite a number of visitors in the summer so there were a surprising number of lodges, restaurants and saloons in town given the small population that lives there!  There is also a couple of galleries (with some nice scenic photos) and a few outdoor gear shops.

Each day we did an activity in the morning, relaxed in the afternoon, and had drinks on the porch before dinner, soaking in the views.  For activities, we did the following:

• Horseback Riding - Simran and Shawna did a 1.5 hour horseback ride which was a lot of fun. They were both nervous at first but then got the hang of it - although they were both quite sore afterward!  The ride took them across the Salmon River into the forest, riding along the hillside with views of the river and valley.  Simran's horse was named May and Shawna's was named Paco (the first horse Shawna tried was called Spanky but he was too tall so she had to switch).

• Mountain Biking - Rakesh and Keith went on a 3.5 hour, 18 mile ride on the Fisher Creek-Williams Creek Trail.  The first 3 miles are along highway 75 - then a 6 mile slow incline up a washed-out dirt road, and then the rest of the way is single-track biking.  Much of the area was burned in the last ~5 years.  It was a great ride.  

• Hiking - Keith and Shawna hiked up to Lonely Tree, a trail located on the property.  The hike took about two hours - it probably would have been shorter but we got lost a few times.  Once on top of the hill, we had nice views of the valley and mountains.  

• Lakes - We drove to see a few of the lakes in the area.  The first was Redfish Lake which is a huge lake nestled in the middle of the mountains.  Unfortunately it was super crowded so we bagged this one.  We then drove to Stanley Lake - it was quite hot and hazy (there were a lot of of forest fires in the area) so we only walked around for a few minutes.  

• Cowboy Poetry - Probably one of the highlights as this was surprisingly good! Rakesh, Simran and Shawna went into town to this event, located in the town square.  We heard a few cowboys recite poetry and stories, some quite funny and a few also sang.  Simran even bought a CD of one of the artists!

• Hot Springs - One evening, we went into the hot springs on the property.  It was a nice temperature and was the first hot spring we tried that did not smell like sulphur.  Our dip was cut short, however, when some of the other guests who were also in the springs with us found a snake.  Granted it was a small garter snake but it was enough to make us want to leave.  We found out the next morning that apparently there were about 10 snakes in the pool so we were quite happy that we did not stay long enough to discover this!!

We really enjoyed it and would definitely go back to Idaho to explore some of the other areas.