Roadboy's Long Weekend in LA

The Best Time of the Year!

Roadboy just finished a really enjoyable long weekend in Los Angeles. The leisurely trip included a return to Disneyland, a day sent at Gene Autry's Western Heritage Museum and a dim sum / Peking duck brunch on The Terrace at Pasadena's venerable Langham Huntington Hotel.


Day One: Mrs. Knotts Fried Chicken Dinner

After landing at LAX Thursday evening, our first stop was Knott's Berry Farm for dinner. Mrs. Knotts Fried Chicken Dinner is an Orange County institution.  The dinner is now supersized and includes 4 pieces of chicken, salad, soup, sides and lots of hot biscuits and boysenberry preserves. Also included with dinner is choice of apple or boysenberry pie. The price? A little over $20.

My other usual stop would normally be Kings Hawaiian Bakery / Restaurant in Torrance for a KalBi plate followed by a slice of guava chiffon cake - OMG! My reverence for King's began when I lived in Honolulu. It was our Sunday tradition to brunch at the King's Bakery that used to be next to Star Market in Kaimuki. Alas no time for King's this trip.

Day Two: Disneyland
I know people that view Southern California almost solely as that place where Disneyland exists. And, some of them make trips to Disneyland with alarming regularity. As for me I love a whole bunch of things about LA. Disneyland is just one of them.

And, maybe a sign of getting old, but I have come to limit trips to The Magic Kingdom to the off season and preferably not on weekends.

 The Line Wait Time at The Haunted Mansion

(Why I go in the off season) 

And, like many Disney veterans, when I return I start by revisiting favorite attractions, then go off exploring.

Roadboy's 3 Disney favorites......

1. The Enchanted Tiki Room (always accompanied by a dole whip)!
I first experienced this attraction when when it debuted in 1963 and I was seven years old. The Tiki Room was the first of Disney's high tech audio-animatronic "Dark" attractions that have since come to characterize modern theme parks. It is still pure magic.

2. The Pirates of the Caribbean
This was the last attraction whose development and construction was personally overseen by Walt Disney (who even had a family apartment included above the ride itself). It opened in 1967 three months after Walt Disney's death. It has evolved over the years to be politically correct and add audio-animatronic Johnny Depp characters.
 

3. Haunted Mansion (Hurry Baaack, Hurry Baaack)!
Opened in 1969 this attraction was also conceived by Walt Disney who visited the Winchester Mystery House for inspiration. Developed after his death the attraction ushers guests through the mansion on "doom buggies". Love it.

The Tiki Room

(Where the Birdies Sing and the Flower's Croon)

Roadboy scrupulously tries to avoid.....

1. It's A Small World (this was created as a ride for the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was sponsored by Pepsi and proceeds from it were given to UNICEF. Now Roadboy views it as a cheap  aquatic, plywood and glitter earworm factory)

2. Star Tours (a gussied up shopping mall flight simulator ride. Ugh.)

3. The Mad Teaparty (this is one of Disneyland's original attractions, but Roadboy just flashbacks to a grad night in 1974 where about 2:45 am Roadboy and centrifugal force joined to create some epic projectile vomit)

This year the park is full of (much needed) repair and construction work. Splash Mountain is totally ripped up, Main Street has a big ugly wall running right down the middle of it to conceal repairs to the trolley tracks and huge cranes herald the massive new Star Wars "Galaxies Edge" addition scheduled to open in 2019. Hopefully they will turn some imagineer attention to a serious renovation of the skanky old "Tomorrowland".

Cranes from Galaxies Edge Under Construction

 Little Jedi's in Tomorrowland

It turns out timing our timing was perfect. We toured on Friday and Disney announced another hike in admission prices the very next day. 

And yet, we will always return....

Here's Why

Day Three: The Autry in Griffith Park

Although Roadboy knows many visitors to LA have never even heard of Gene Autry's Museum of the American West (now simply referred to as The Autry), you really should put it on your list to see. 

The permanent galleries have tributes to all things "Cowboy" including: art, history, movies and popular culture. Whoever curates this museum IMHO is wonderful.

 Every Kids Dream Bedroom Circa 1959

 Lesaka Waken

Maynard Dixon 1922

 

 Bridges

James Doolin 1989

We were lucky enough to visit the day The Autry debuted its spectacular 2018 Master's Western Art show.  What a joy to view such glorious art in the presence their creator's.

 Santa Fe Plaza

Roseta Santiago

 Silent Shadow

(Bronze)

Tim Cherry

Shadow Catcher

Jeremy Lipking

 Native American Nouveau

Thomas Blackshear

 West of the Rio Grande

Mark Maggiori

Day Four: Bottomless Mimosa's and Peking Duck - The Brunch at Pasadena's Langham Huntington. Yum!

We tried to visit the Griffith Park Observatory, but met way too many Los Angelino's with the same idea.

Alas, with the sun starting to set on a Sunday evening it was time to fly home.

Roadboy's Travels © 2018

Sold! Barrett Jackson AZ 2018

Sparkles, Glitter and a Rolling Hot Tub Caddie

This year Phoenix / Scottsdale hosted a record 6 collector car auctions simultaneously in mid-January.

The Gooding and Company Collector Car Auction was a 2-day event at the Scottsdale Fashion Square. Total sales at Gooding was $49,215,650 with 11 cars selling for over $1M. High dollar car was a one-of-a-kind 1965 Ferrari GTB Speciale built for the personal use of Battista Pininfarina for $8,086,000.

The RM Sotheby Collector Car Auction was conducted at Phoenix's Arizona Biltmore Resort. It was also a 2-day event with total sales of $36,523,620. Sotheby's sold 11 cars for more that $1M including a 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra for $2,470,500.

Bonham's "Scottsdale" Auction (which was actually held the Westin Kierland Resort in Phoenix - I guess saying the resort is in "Scottsdale" has more cache for elitists) had total sales of $25.2M with 7 sales over $1M. Top seller was a 1958 Porsche 550 Spyder going for $5,170,000.

The Barrett Jackson 8-day "Lifestyle" event (collector car auction) was held at Scottsdale's  Westworld. It reached $113,7M in total sales featuring 3 cars selling for more than $1M.

The Russo and Steele Collector Car Auction was conducted at the The Talking Stick Resort and featured 800 cars for sale. The Worldwide Collector Car Auction was also held in Scottsdale.

I went to the Barrett Jackson on a Tuesday for the first time this year and really enjoyed the more relaxed pace of the day.

As always the Barrett Jackson was the biggie. And as usual my visit began with a visit to the Salon Collection where the amazing cars reside until the gavel falls. 

As with last year it felt like there was more space devoted to selling massage chairs, magnetic ion bracelets, art made from nails and fly-in fishing trips, and less space showcasing the Auction's signature collections.  I'm guessing that the addition of auctions in Palm Beach, Newport Beach and Las Vegas dilutes the pool of exceptional cars showing up each year at each venue.

No matter, there were still lots of great cars to admire, new hood ornaments to photograph and lots of greasy heart stopping comfort food to eat.

Here are my 2018 snaps...

1930 Cord Phaeton

(Sold for $253,000)

 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III

(Did Not Reach Reserve)

1950 Oliver 77 Orchard Tractor

(Sold for $23,100)

1952 Ferrari 212 Europa

(Sold for $1,100,000)

Hood Ornament 

1953 Pontiac "Woody" Wagon

(Sold for $65,000)

1954 Plymouth Belmont

Concept Car

(Did Not Reach Reserve)

1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II

(Sold for $95,700)

1956 Talbot Lago T-26

(Did Not Reach Reserve)

1967 Jaguar XKE

(Sold for $176,000)

1969 Cadillac Sedan DeVille

Rolling Hot Tub

(Sold for $26,400

Collectibles and Auto Nostalgia

                                  

For Roadboy's photos from 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (I didn't post for 2011) just click here:

2017 Event
2016 Event

2015 Event

2014 Event

2013 Event

2012 Event

2010 Event

See you next year!

Roadboy's Travels © 2018

Crying on the Sidewalk

My Neighbors are Awesome

Every Saturday in the winter I take a bicycle ride. 

My rides begin along Phoenix's network of canals to enjoy views of local architecture and our mountain scenery.

I don't ride for speed or distance anymore. I ride to get out, stretch and fill my lungs. Seeing an occasional roadrunner (last week) or a covey of baby quail (this week) is cool too.

Today, I opted for a different route to climb some hills and turned north on 44th Street. And, since 44th Street is really busy, I was paying attention to traffic (important since actuaries all agree that drivers in my state are among the worst, most aggressive and inattentive jerks to be found anywhere).

As I started riding up the hill, I passed a bus stop, where a lump of humanity in a tracksuit was sitting on the ground crying inconsolably.

My first inclination was to keep riding. 

But at the next corner I stopped, turned and went back.

At the bus stop, through tears, the lump of humanity became a person. 

A person for whom all things were bad. 

She asked if I'd call the police for her. I did.

Assuming she did not want to tell a stranger what had left her so desolate, I instead asked if she needed water (in Phoenix cyclists carry a lot of water). And, yes, she was thirsty. 

At that point a fellow cyclist (with his 3 year old son in a little bike pod) stopped to join us.

We all just talked, waiting for the officer to arrive. We asked her name and where she was from. 

Her breathing became regular. Her tears stopped.

At that point a man walked up. He touched her shoulder and asked if she was hungry. She was. He left to get her a meal from a nearby fast food joint.

She was from Illinois having arrived in Arizona just two weeks ago. She was at the end of her rope.

The Phoenix Police officer rolled up and professionally began her assessment.

I bid Daniela (I now knew her name) goodbye, advising her to visit Andre House (a homeless services provider my church supports) and, knowing she has a really tough road ahead, quietly said a prayer for her.

In the space of 30 minutes a complete stranger was no longer a stranger. She was comforted, fed and knew that she was loved, even if it was by total strangers.

My weekly bike rides always nurture me physically.

Today's ride, in a nation that feels increasingly hateful, restored my faith in the human race.

When in doubt, stop. Get out of your comfort zone. Offer a hand and a heart. 

Trust me, the benefits flow both ways.

Roadboy's Travels © 2018