Category Archives: Travels with Maria

Blogging from the road.

WiFi on the Road

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I’m pleasantly surprised to find WiFi in unusual places.

I’m just finishing up a 6-day trip in northern Arizona. As usual, I brought my old 12″ PowerBook along to keep me connected. It has a built-in AirPort wireless card and can also connect to the Internet via Bluetooth with my Treo where Internet service is available on my wireless network.

WiFi LogoI’m pleased to report that I had access to the Internet on every stop of this trip:

  • Sedona. We stayed at the Sky Ranch Lodge on Airport Mesa. I had a Garden View room. I’m not sure if the WiFi connection was available throughout the property or if I just got it because I was relatively close to the main office. I don’t recall seeing it advertised anywhere. So I was very surprised to get a nice strong signal from my room.
  • Grand Canyon. I stayed at Bright Angel Lodge. While there wasn’t WiFi available there, my cellphone service was able to get Internet access, which I could then share with my PowerBook. So although the connection wasn’t fast and it required pinging to keep alive, it was available.
  • Lake Powell. We stayed at the Lake Powell Resort northwest of Page. Although there was WiFi in the lodge lobby, it didn’t extend out to my room, which was two buildings away. Again, the Treo came to the rescue and I was able to get online.
  • Monument Valley. We stayed at Gouldings Lodge. While I know my Treo can’t connect to the Internet there, my room was sufficiently close enough to the main lobby to connect to one of the lodge’s two WiFi hotspots. (I’m not sure, but I think the folks at Red Bull may have added the second hotspot when they were there in May for the air races. They were responsible for getting the cell tower put up nearby.)
  • Flagstaff. I stayed at the Radisson on the west side of town. WiFi is a standard feature in its rooms.

In each case where the hotel provided WiFi access, access was free. I didn’t even have to log on to a service and agree to usage terms. I just opened my PowerBook and waited a moment. A dialog told me that none of my trusted networks were available and offered to connect me with another network.

Paying Extra for WiFi?

I am surprised, however, at the number of high-priced hotels that are charging a fee for WiFi access. It’s interesting to me that lower budget hotels give away WiFi access but you can expect to pay $5 to $10 per day for the same access in a Hyatt or Marriott or Hilton — each of which tend to be more costly than an average hotel chain.

I’ve also come to the point where the availability of free WiFi in a hotel’s rooms weighs into my booking decision. For example, if faced with two hotels that have the same rate, I’ll go with the one that has free Wi-Fi, even if it doesn’t have popular amenities such as in-room coffee, free breakfast, or a fitness room. A fast, reliable Internet connection is more important to me than many other hotel features.

Room With a View

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Back in Monument Valley.

Last week, I spent 3 nights in the “hangar room” at Goulding’s Lodge in Monument Valley. The room had one window that looked out at the runway. While that’s a nice thing to watch if you happen to be a pilot and like to see airplanes taking off past your window, there are better things to look at in Monument Valley.

My room for tonight is a standard room here at Goulding’s Lodge. It’s on the hillside, high above the runway, and features a huge sliding glass door and private patio. Here’s what I’m looking at as I type this at the table and chair on my patio:

Monument Valley from Goulding's Lodge

Not too shabby, huh?

I’m here until tomorrow at 11 AM, which is checkout time. Sometime between noon and 1 PM, my passengers and I make the long flight to Flagstaff, via the Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River and Meteor Crater.

Night Vision

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Some night photography.

When I was in college, I dated a guy who was studying photography. Back in those days, we used film cameras and processed our own black and white film, then used enlargers in darkrooms to create prints. (I still have a black and white enlarger from a darkroom I had in my New Jersey home years ago.) It was a pain in the butt, but the resulting images were interesting and artistic.

Anyway, my photographer boyfriend had an assignment called “Lights at Night.” He went out at night with his camera and photographed various lighted objects. My favorite was an ice storage building. The image remains in my mind all these years later.

I’ve always wanted to do some night photography, but until recently, I didn’t have a decent camera to experiment with. Sure, I’ve had SLRs in the past, but I had no desire to process my own film and it seemed too costly to experiment with film anyway. But I recently got a digital SLR — a Nikon D80 — and with some time on my hands during my current trip and a tripod handy, I decided to give it a whirl.

Here are a few images. I’m not saying they’re any good, but I do think some of them are interesting. I’d love to get your comments on them; use the Comments link or form at the bottom of this post to share your thoughts. Go easy on me, though.

Bright Angel Lodge Back Patio

Bright Angel Lodge at NightThis photo is of the patio between the Bright Angel Lodge’s main building and the Grand Canyon’s South Rim at the Grand Canyon.

What I like most about this photo is the loneliness of it all. During the day, this patio is jam-packed with tourists. But last night, on the way back to my room from dinner, it was completely deserted. The gift shop was still open, but no one was around. I liked the way the light made the area glow.

Bright Angel Lodge Cabin

Bright Angel Cabin at NightThis is the entrance to two of the cabin rooms at Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon. The cabins are small buildings, each of which house two or four guest rooms. They’re located right on the rim and some of them even have views into the Grand Canyon.

This building looked particularly cosy and inviting on a cool autumn evening. I could imagine guests inside, cosy in bed with a book or magazine. (More likely, they were watching television.) The photo reminds me of Christmas.

Lookout Studio

Lookout Studio at NightLookout Studio is perched on the rim of the Grand Canyon. I’m not quite sure of its original purpose at the canyon, but it now houses a gift shop that seems to specialize in t-shirts, rocks, and postcards. It has a wonderful balcony and a series of lower terraces.

I love the look of this building during the day, but it also looks special at night. The blue door and window frames are especially appealing.

Wahweap Marina

Wahweap Marina at NightI took this photo from the balcony of my room at the Lake Powell Resort. The marina is in the foreground; the Navajo Power Plant is in the background, almost floating in the blackness of the empty desert around it.

The marina is filled with privately owned houseboats and other pleasure boats. It’s a huge marina and most slips are currently filled.

Navajo Power Plant

Navajo Power Plant at NightHere’s a close-up of the power plant. I used a 210 mm lens to get a this shot of the plant, which is about four to five miles from here.

What’s neat about the power plant in both photos is that you can see the emissions from two of its smokestacks. Before sunset, those emissions were clearly visible in the otherwise clear sky as a horizontal line of brownish haze. Ick.

Fuel Station at Wahweap Marina

Boat Fueling Station at NightThis is a boat dock with a fueling station at the Wahweap Marina. It looked cool from my room and even better in the photo.

Unfortunately, the focus is not as sharp as I’d like to see in this shot. I think it’s because it’s a floating fuel dock and the exposure was pretty long — at least 10 seconds. But it could have been a bad focusing job on the part of my camera or me, too.

On Someone Else’s Vacation

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Reflections of a tour guide.

First of all, I’m not a tour guide. I’m just responsible for organizing, providing transportation for, and ensuring the smooth flow of someone else’s vacation.

A Southwest Circle

The vacationers in question are a very pleasant, very flexible, very likable young couple from Canada. About four months ago, they signed up for one of Flying M Air‘s Southwest Circle Helicopter Adventures. The excursion is a series of helicopter charters that takes them to popular destinations throughout northern Arizona, with an overnight stay in each place. The price they paid covers the helicopter flights and ground transportation, lodging, and tours at the destinations.

Planning these excursions was no small feat. I had to come up with destinations that people would want to go to and that had ground transportation, lodging, and dining opportunities accessible from the helicopter’s overnight landing zone. This trip starts in the Phoenix area and goes to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell (at Page), Monument Valley, and Flagstaff before returning to Phoenix. To further complicate matters, each client’s trip is customized with preferred flight times, hotel accommodations, tours, and tour times. I get a list of client preferences like a handful of puzzle pieces, then work the phones to get reservations made and fit those pieces together.

Like Clockwork

What’s amazing me right now, on day three of the trip, is how well everything is falling into place. Weather — which is the main thing I can’t control — has been cooperating with clear skies. It’s been a bit windy, but not too windy to fly. My clients are enthusiastic about every flight and every destination and are having no trouble keeping themselves busy between flights or tours. They haven’t called me yet with any problems or concerns.

Of course, I’m handling a bunch of the bothersome stuff — like checking into hotels and handling luggage. We arrive at a place, I give them a briefing, and they’re off. They return to the hotel whenever they like, claim their key at the desk, and go to their room where their two bags are waiting. (With an unusual amount of foresight, I purchased appropriately sized wheelie bags and sent them to my clients before the trip, so not only does the luggage fit in the helicopter, but it’s easy enough to pull around.) The next day, they meet me at a predetermined time and place for the next flight or tour.

My Vacation, Too

Oddly enough, it’s turning into my vacation, too. I don’t go home each night — it would be too costly to fly the helicopter back and forth. So I’m at the same destination my clients are at. Of course, while they have deluxe view rooms, I have the budget rooms nearby. While they’re on tours, I’m shuffling around luggage, preflighting my helicopter, and handling the tasks that need to get done to make the trip work smoothly for them.

Sedona SunsetStill, I have plenty of time between tasks. For example, on Sunday, while they were enjoying a walk around Uptown Sedona and a sunset Jeep tour, I was walking about an art festival and setting up for some sunset photography on one of Sedona’s hiking trails. Yesterday, while they were exploring Grand Canyon for the first time, I was shuttling out to the visitor center, then walking along the rim.

As long as my work is done — getting things ready for my clients — I’m free to do what I’d like to do. And my cell phone is always on and ready if they have a problem or question or need a lift in one of the destinations where I’ve secured a rental car.

I have to admit, it feels good to relax when the work is done. I’ve been working far too hard lately on writing projects and flying gigs. I need a vacation. This might be enough to satisfy that need.

Grand Canyon SunsetIt also feels good to visit these places and linger a bit. I’ve been taking a lot of photographs, especially around sunrise and sunset. And I’ve been trying to stay active with daily hikes of at least two miles. I just wish I had more willpower when it comes to mealtime!

The Adventure Continues

Today, we leave Grand Canyon National Park for the Grand Canyon Airport. My clients will take a 50-minute helicopter flight with Maverick Helicopters. While they’re doing that, I’ll load our luggage onto the helicopter, settle my fuel bill, and preflight. By the time they’re back, we’ll be ready to go. Then it’s a 1-hour flight up to Page that includes an overflight of the Little Colorado River Gorge and mile after mile of Navajo Reservation. If we have time, I’ll swing by Horseshoe Bend and a few other scenic areas — otherwise, I’ll overfly them tomorrow on departure from Page. At Page, I’ll get a rental car and shuttle them to the Marina for a boat tour on the lake. While they’re doing that, I’ll get the luggage, secure the helicopter for the night, and check us all into our rooms.

Then more R and R for me, this time at Lake Powell.

Cheap Lodging Steps from the Grand Canyon’s South Rim

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A Grand Canyon lodging secret.

I just wanted to take a minute to share one of my Grand Canyon secrets: The low-budget rooms at Bright Angel Lodge.

I’m sitting in one now. It’s small — perhaps 10 x 12 — and features a neat full-sized bed with a single night table, four drawer dresser, desk, and chair. There are two windows overlooking a deserted area filled with bushes and wildflowers. There’s a toilet, a sink, and a telephone. There’s heat if I’m cold and a fan if I’m hot. There’s a small closet, too.

But what there isn’t is what makes this room less desirable to the average American tourist, thus keeping the price down: there’s no shower, television, or air conditioning.

The Grand Canyon is Steps AwayThe shower is down the hall in a private, lockable, two-part room that includes a dressing area and a shower. That’s not a big deal — how many showers does a person take during an 18-hour hotel stay?

As for television, who needs that when the Grand Canyon’s South Rim (see photo) is less than 50 paces out the door?

And air conditioning? The Grand Canyon seldom gets hot enough to need that. (I do expect to make use of the baseboard heater tonight.)

The price for all this non-luxury steps away from one of the most awesome sights on earth: $61.91 per night, including all taxes.

Hell, I’ve paid more than that at a Motel 6.

Best of all, the housekeeping staff didn’t spray a whole bottle of room freshener in here.