Dust Storms in Phoenix

A Rather Icky Summer Ritual

After living in Phoenix for 20 years now, I find a lot to love about it. We have 6 months of glorious weather followed by 6 months were we feel like we are living near the surface-of-the-sun! 

But in the grand scheme of things we've got it pretty good.

We don't have ice storms, earthquakes, tsunami's or hurricanes. We do get microbursts, but no full on tornadoes. In reality we are spared much of natures wrath. 

But in the summer Phoenicians do have to endure dust storms.

In the past we'd see three or four big dust storms over a summer. The wall-o-dust came in and was frequently followed by some monsoon rains. Now it is not uncommon to get 2 a week and they are rarely followed by rain.

New Phoenicians try to be hip and refer to our dust storms as Haboobs, but the term Haboob actually refers to the intense sand storms found in the Sudan near Khartoum. Think "The Mummy". Likewise the massive dust and sand storms in the Sahara are referred to as Simoons. 

Arizona just gets big old garden variety dust storms. Ours are the by-product of strong pressure gradients churning up dust and light sand into clouds of particulate that can rise as high as 20,000 feet. Periods of drought intensify dust storms. Our dust storms also stir up the virus spores that result in increased incidences of  "Valley Fever".

The Dust Starts to Blow
Blue Skies Immediately Turn Brown

It is an unchallenged fact that three of the events which offer 100% certainty of triggering a dust storm involve an approaching weekend, me washing a car or cleaning my pool.

Almost immediately after one of those triggers the skies in the east over Scottsdale turn the color of golden brown toast and winds start whipping the palms.

The grit and ick follows.

 

My Car 25 Minutes After Any Good Summertime Car Washing.....

And then, the storms pass and we start cleaning everything up all over again....

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

Avon Colorado - Ahhh! in the Rockies

A Perfect Summer Weekend

Views from Avon CO

Living in a place that gets really hot in the summer I am always searching for quick, easy summer escapes. Also, for me anything resembling camping does not constitute an "escape". Nowadays I want scenery, comfort, good food and some culture.

Usually the desire to escape the heat results in a weekend in Prescott or Flagstaff. In years past Sedona might have made the list, but nowadays it is unbearably crowded all summer long and not worth the endless, inch at a time, crawl on a 2-lane to get there (only to find a bunch of candle, macrame and crystal people there when you arrive). San Diego is the classic Arizona escape, but is also pricey and jammed in summer.

I have found that a summer break in winter ski towns frequently works well. For example Park City Utah is great in summer. And, flights to Salt Lake from Phoenix are typically quick and fairly inexpensive. And, once you arrive you can find amazing summer rates in Park City's magnificent 4 and 5 star resorts.

Denver used to be on my summer respite list, but the avalanche of people moving to Denver, coupled with the phenomenon of Cannabis Vacationers (CV's) has resulted in skyrocketing summer hotel rates. Oddly, since CV's tend to arrive by car in order to transport their dope home, planes have lots of capacity and airfares to Denver have been competitive.

So here's Roadboy's advice:
1. Fly to Denver
2. Rent a car
3. Take I-70 West.
4. Stop in Denver for an afternoon
5. Visit LoDo and Denver's various cultural amenities.
6. Maybe have a nice meal there.
7. Then get back on I-70 and continue driving west (while it is still light).
8. Take in the amazing scenery along the way.
9. In just a couple of hours you'll be in the cool pines of Vail or Avon.
10. Enjoy!

Since Vail and Avon have opted to prohibit marijuana dispensaries, the CV'ers pass right on by on their way to resort destinations that feature dispensaries.

With all its hotel inventory designed for winter skiers, you will find a lot of capacity available in summer with Vail and Avon's 4-5 start resorts frequently offering very attractive summer rates (especially midweek).

You can enjoy clean, dry 80° mountain air by day, and sleep to the sound of the roaring Eagle River by night.

The Eagle River

This week I stayed at Avon's luxe Sheraton for only $159/nt and have seen summer rates there flirt with $100/nt. My room included a full kitchen, washer dryer, Bose wave radio, a fully jetted spa tub and a balcony with a gas fired BBQ. Like most of the premium resorts it offers a great fitness area, outdoor pool and spa and a rooftop game room for kids.

The nearby Westin is a bit plusher with views directly overlooking Eagle River. From either property it was an easy walk to a Starbucks, cafes and the path that runs along the banks of Eagle River.

Part of Avon's Public Art

(Enduring Navajo by Martha Pettigrew)

The town of Avon is immaculate, filled with art and parks (even a little lake).

Avon joins my list of perfect summer getaways. Plan your trip Here.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

Has Anyone Ever Had A Good Experience WIth Spirit Airlines?

Today, I Tried So Hard to Fly Spirit Airlines

 I have never heard any traveler say anything nice about Spirit Airlines. But I thought maybe the anecdotes I'd been hearing might be exaggerations. Then I tried to actually fly Spirit. This is my experience......


Imagine a business model as follows:

You operate and airline with lots of planes filled with lots of seats. 

You fly your planes to lots of destinations.

You could make money selling seats to people who need to go where you fly!

Keeping the above in mind, let me describe my experience with Spirit airlines.

This morning I needed to book a flight from Denver to San Diego June 24 arriving before 9:00 am.

Poof "Fly.com" found a flight on Spirit Airlines for $68 arriving in San Diego at 8:40 AM.

Soooo happy! I've never flown on Spirit, but I am certainly willing to give them a try.

I aim my browser at Spirit's website and put in all the requested flight data

First, I am offered a membership in Spirit's "$9 Flight" club. It explains I will save a lot of money on today's booking (my flight to Denver would now cost $48)!

I sign right up and return to my booking.

Spirit website asks:

Q. Do I want to carry a bag on the plan? 

A. Well yes. 

OK Add $26.

Q. Do I want to check a bag?

A. Mai Oui.

OK Add $21.

Q. Do I want to select a seat? 

A. Great! Add up to $50.

Q. Do I want to check in at the airport? 

A. Do Bears Sh#t in the Woods?

Well that's extra too.

My $48 fare is now lots more expensive (plus my $9 flight club membership!)

I go to check out. A pop-up window says: "Wait While Something Awesome Loads!"

"Well that's kinda cute"!

The I come to realize the word "Load" was value laden.

The site crashes. All is lost. Undeterred, I try again. 

Spirit site crashes again. 

In cyberland no one hears your scream.

I try a different browser (Firefox).

The site behaves a bit differently and I now see the seat I requested before is no longer available. I fret. "did it actually book me in one of my various earlier attempts?"

I decide to call , but the Spirit website offers zero phone numbers.

I find a site called "Get a Human" (some irony there). It lists Spirit's (secret?) 800 number. 

I call. I am given prompt after prompt (I counted like 42 prompts).

I start saying "Operator". And after 27 successive "Operators", my call connects to a friendly call center gal in (I'm pretty sure) the Philippines.

I explain I've tried to buy a seat from Denver to San Diego on Spirit's site and it does not seem to be possible.

She coo's "yes our site can be like that". 

She runs me through the normal series of booking questions and quotes a price $30 more than the web price. 

I ask "why is it more?" She says "because you called me".

Of course! I should have known! If their site doesn't work, they'll charge more for my chat with a human.

I point out it is Spirit's site that is not working. I can mentally see her staring at her nail job during my protest.

I decide I'm not paying more just out of principal. I double back and ask her to check if there have been any charges on my credit card (i.e. did my other flight requests go through?).

She says "yes there is a charge for $55". I say "Wait the flight was more than that". She says "Oh it is not for a flight it is for the $9 Flight Club".  I say "Wait I thought it was $9!" She laughs gently saying "yeah, everyone thinks that."

I say "please cancel it". She says "absolutely" and goes off the line. When she returns she says "it is cancelled. Is there anything else I can do for you?", I say "no".

She says she is rolling my call to the $9 club rep. 

I think "Huh?" I thought we were done.

I decide I'd better wait and verify the charge was cancelled.

The wait is 26 more minutes. During which I get more prompts and then (finally) I reach friendly call center gal #2.

"No, the charge has not been cancelled and it is non-refundable". In fact, she informs me, it auto-renews annually and the renewal fee will be $10 more! I reaffirm that since I cannot actually book a flight on Spirit's website, I want to cancel my $9 Club (Actually $55 Club).

She gently scolds me about signing up for programs things I do not carefully read first.

While she offers her advice, I mentally roll through all those I-Tunes User Agreements I have routinely clicked "Yes" to without ever reading over the years.

I agree with her that I am a silly twit.

She accepts my apologies and cancels the charge. 

She then reminds me I will not be eligible for the discounted fare.

The fare I cannot actually book.

I acknowledge the reality I now face, without pointing out the irony of the Spirit business model.

She (I am not making this up) informs me I can get 15,000 Spirit Miles if I apply for a Spirit MasterCard. I demure.

She plunges ahead asking if "I might reconsider the offer if she throws in another $50 discount?" I reiterate that I have all the credit cards I need.

So for those keeping track.

Time elapsed = 1 hour 45 minutes

Frustration level = High

Spirit airfare purchased = 0

I go back to the web and this time I see the funny way Fly.com hints whenever a Southwest flight might exist.

I go to Southwest.com and see a non-stop flight arriving in San Diego even earlier. It costs more.

I don't care.

I book it in 3-1/2 minutes.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

Off To The World's Fair!

Milan's Expo 2015

Next September I'll be riding a bicycle with friends through Normandy. And, I'll be using some of my zillions of frequent flier miles to get there and back.

Using frequent flier miles typically requires flexibility with travel dates. So, I'll have a couple of extra days in Europe after the bike trip ends. Days I initially figured I'd enjoy in Paris.

But, then I found out there is a World's Fair in Italy with a food based theme. Think of it, a world's fair in a country that worships food, hosted in Milan, the epicenter of design.

So, when the bike tour returns me to Paris Charles De Gaulle airport, I'll catch an EasyJet flight on to Milan. 

The goal of Milan's Expo 2015 is more than epicurean, it stresses protecting and the expanding the world's food supply. The US pavilion features rotating American chef's and food trucks!

You can see a bit about Expo 2015 here!

Some of the 140+ pavilions are showcased here.

Back when the US used to host Worlds Fairs they were a big deal with my family. I am an architect today in part because of a visit to Seattle's World's Fair when I was about 8.

Growing up in Chicago my mom cherished the 1933 Century of Progress. At the very height of The Great Depression, she drew hope and inspiration for a better future from that fair.

It all kind made me reflect how, World's Fair's tend to leave more than memories. They leave legacies; Paris' Eiffel Tower, Seattle's Space Needle (and from an earlier fair the University of Washington campus design), the Palace of Fine Arts in SF, the Tower of the America's in San Antonio, Lisbon's amazing aquarium, Fair Park in Dallas, San Diego's Balboa Park, Vancouver's Cruise ship terminal, Barcelona's Magic Fountain and Mies Van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion and Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry all originated from International Expositions.

It occurred to me that my own children are now adults and have never had the opportunity to experience a world's fair in the United States.

A few Google® moments disclosed that the US is no longer eligible to host authorized worlds fairs because the US quit paying its dues to the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) a long time ago. Hence, no American World's Fair in over 4 decades. The last big fair in North America was Vancouver's Expo 86.

It's not like the world's fairs disappeared. There have actually been many expositions during those forty plus years, just none hosted by the wealthiest country in the world.

The situation is wonderfully portrayed in an award winning 2013 documentary Where's the Fair?

Our withdrawal from BIE ended the Silicon Valley's sincere bid for the 2020 fair. And, LA's recent efforts to mount an "unofficial" bid for a transit themed exposition in 2022 will also almost certainly be dashed.

Yet, if the US rejoins the BIE, both Houston and the SF Bay Area have announced intentions to bid to host a 2025 Exposition.

All this made me wonder who built the US Pavilion America2.0 in Milan?

Turns out we American's owe profound appreciation to the James Beard Foundation and a bunch of (mainly) food related companies whose corporate sponsorship took the initiative to organize, design and pay for the America2.0 Pavilion in Milan.

I say, you are all awesome! I am personally really looking forward to enjoying your gift to the world on behalf of the citizens of the US!

In the meantime as a nation lets pull on our big boy pants and rejoin the BIE. Lets enable a day when American families can once again experience the wonder of a real world's fair right here in the US!

If you'd care to, you may add your name to a petition asking the US to rejoin the BIE here. At the end it will (like everything these days) ask for money. And, if you are so disposed, cool!

But the main thing is that you add your name.

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

My New Blog Banner!

Paris at Night

My ever-so-talented sequential artist* daughter just created the new Roadboy banner above as a birthday gift.

So Cool!

Her site is here!

Roadboy's Travels © 2015

* Sequential artist = comic books.

A Weekend in Bisbee

A Visit to Two Arizona Treasures 
And a Primer on The 1917 Bisbee Deportation

Last weekend Roadboy took a road trip to SE Arizona, specifically Kartchner Caverns and Bisbee.

For those who might be unaware of Bisbee, it a history rich and very cool former mining town that has been adopted by artists, retirees and an assortment of free spirits.

From Phoenix a trip to Bisbee can be a perfect weekend escape. And, at 5,300 feet, it can offer relief from Phoenix's scorching summer. 

Bisbee
Just before arriving in Bisbee from the north you pass through a tunnel. When you emerge you are rewarded with the first glimpse of the fragile old mining town still tenaciously clinging to the very hills that once produced massive amounts of gold, copper, silver, lead and zinc.

During its heyday Bisbee was the largest community between Saint Louis and San Francisco. It suffered a catastrophic fire in 1910 and in 1917 was the site of the labor dispute that became known as the "Bisbee Deportation".

Bisbee Circa 1916

A View Down Bisbee's Main Street Today

The View Looking Down From Opera Drive

After the Bisbee fire, the City constructed fine commercial buildings, high quality school's, Arizona's first community library and the state's first golf course.

The Bisbee "Deportation"

Arguably Bisbee's lowest point came in 1917 when 3000 of its miners, some attempting to unionize with the International Worker's of the World (IWW), began a peaceful strike.

The strike was met with a fierce and well-orchestrated response from the principal mine owner The Phelps Dodge Corporation. First Phelps Dodge demanded that President Wilson send federal troops to end the "Pro German" strike (this was happening at the end of WWI). President Wilson saw through the BS and declined.

Phelps Dodge carefully orchestrated a plan to round up and purge Bisbee of anyone joining the union. They began by "deputizing" 2200 members of Bisbee's "citizens protective league" who were given lists of friends and neighbors to round up under something they deemed the "Laws of Necessity".

With telegraph communications to / from Bisbee severed and roads sealed the citizen's protective league rounded up anyone that had shown and interest in the union.

The result was the kidnap of 2000 striking miners who were taken to a local ball field. Miners who had not yet joined the union were offered release if they renounced the union. 700 miners renounced.

The 1300 remaining miners, under the gaze of Sheriff Wheeler's belt-fed machine gun, were then loaded into 23 manure laden cattle cars and sent east.

At 3:00 am, after 16 hours in transport, the kidnapped miners were dumped penniless in the barren desert of Hermanas New Mexico and left essentially to die. Before leaving they where told that returning to their homes and families in Bisbee would be deemed wartime sedition and they would be executed. Few returned.

Since the remaining residents of Bisbee were complicit in carrying out the atrocity, the story became unspoken.

With the state's judicial and legislative power elite deeply in the pocket of big copper, there was no support for justice in the halls of the capital or courts. An eventual Federal investigation pronounced the kidnapping "wholly illegal and without authority in law".  Yet, much like the recent Wall Street fraud, no one was punished or held accountable.

From Boomtown to Ghost Town to Artists Haven
Over the next few decades, Bisbee became the home of a stunning new art deco County Courthouse (filled with WPA artwork). And, just down the hill, the Iron Man (Iron Miner) sculpture was installed at Courthouse Plaza.

The Cochise County Courthouse

Art Deco Doors To The Cochise County Courthouse

Bisbee's Iconic Iron Man

In reality the Iron Man is artist Raymond Philips Sanderson's 2000 lb concrete sculpture he finished by coating it with sprayed layers of heated copper.

The Emergence of Modern Bisbee 

From 1950-1970 large scale mining operations in Bisbee closed down leaving the local economy in decay. Eventually however, its climate, character and devastated property values, attracted the artists and residents whom call it home today.

 

Today, Bisbee's economy relies on tourism; featuring B&B's, restaurants / breweries, a chocolatier, and a variety of unique shops and galleries.

Any Bisbee Shopping Trip 

Should Include a Stop at Optimo Hatworks

And nearly anywhere you look in Bisbee you will find art; street art, fine art and (of course) some not-so-fine art. 

Armed Clowns

Dancing Dead

Painted Corrugated Metal Art 

The Peace Wall 

Domination Art Bisbee Style

After a full Saturday afternoon of strolling and exploring Bisbee we overnighted in nearby Sierra Vista. On Sunday morning we enjoyed a cave tour at Kartchner Caverns (pretty darned amazing). But, regrettably Kartchner prohibits photographs, so no blog post from Kartchner.

Our visit to Bisbee was too short. Next time it will include (at least) an overnight and dinner at Cafe Roka.

Roadboy recommends a weekend in Bisbee! 

Bring your camera.

Come hungry (and thirsty).

Roadboy's Travels © 2015 

Starbucks Reserve Roastery

Coffee Nirvana

35 years ago I moved to Seattle. 

I was 24, fresh out of college and intended to live in Seattle for the rest of my life.

It was an exciting and transitional era. The punk scene was in full swing with performances at the Showbox. The Sonics were winning and the Pike Place Market was all newly renovated. The "U" district was still safe and the first batch of intrepid yuppies starting to move downtown. Seattle's first  Thai restaurants were opening up and Microsoft was unheard of.

Back then Seattle's architectural firms still had real names and still drew with ink on mylar. Most were still owned and directed by their original founders. It was well before most they all just became another branch office for some alphabet soup mega national corporation.

As for me I lived on the south slope of Queen Anne in the renovated attic of a 1920's era house with a truly epic view of downtown. My bedroom window framed the space needle perfectly. And, it was the original space needle (before that odd growth appeared midway up it's formerly sinuous legs).

Like all intern level architects I was hopelessly broke. So I spent many evenings walking around the city and browsing the racks in places like the Tower Books and Records that both resided in Lower Queen Anne.

Ivar Haglund (Seattle's favorite fish restaurant mogul and children's television celebrity) was still alive and made sure to remind us we should all "Keep Clam".

The West Seattle Bridge was broken in the up position (after being hit by a ship), and for much of my tenure the ferries were on strike. So the normally laid back island dwellers were all torqued.

My life in Seattle developed a certain rhythm. And on most Saturday mornings my routine began with a walk to the Pike Place Market (carefully timed allow me to depart before Bellevue's Wives of Stepford all rolled in).

I'd buy fresh fruit and veggies, a massive cinnamon roll and walk past the original (and kinda grungy) Starbucks. It was staffed by baristas all wearing natural fibers. Espresso's at Starbucks in those days were all pulled from a true espresso machine, there was nothing programmable or automated in there. Perfect coffee was a passion.

Back then I was not a coffee drinker but I always went in for a free nose hit of fresh roasted coffee.

After only two years my "lifetime" in Seattle was cut short with a great job offer from about a thousand miles away. I left with memories and the black and white tabby the neighbor below  abandoned when she got evicted.

In the decades since, work, friends and family have led me back to Seattle over and over. It has allowing me to watch the city morph into what it is today.

Its The Reserve Dahling

This trip I stumbled across Starbuck's new "Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room". Curious I stopped in to see what it was all about. This place is something else entirely. A world away from that old "kinda grungy" storefront shop in the Market. 

Every part of this place is custom designed and meticulously crafted. Their website informs me that there will soon be 200 Reserve Roastery's around the world proffering a line of super premium roasts. 

Silly me, I thought Starbucks was already overpriced.

The more I thought about it, however, I realized the Roastery embodies what Seattle (and Starbucks) have become; all sleek and polished. A city that used to export timber and fish, now delivers software, Dreamliner's and designer coffee. 

And in the Roastery coffee is presented in a setting that clearly costs more per square foot than a modern hospital cardiac care unit.

The Bar 

(Overhead Pipes Deliver Any Bean a Barista Needs)

Coffee Meets Willy Wonka 

Custom Umbrella Stands in the Entry 

(I Love the "Ikea Meets Apollo 11" Fireplace Beyond)

  

The Roastery is pure Seattle fusion. A hip place where skinny, yoga fit 30 somethings enjoy expensive coffee while their designer dogs wait for them tethered out front.

Stop in and have a look around.

The nose hits are still free.


Roadboy's Travels © 2015