46 - Sunday, October 4, 1692 - North Shore News

TRAVEL

‘Travellers have seen enough Bush and brush

LONG CAR trips have both
gocd and bad sides.

Barbara
McCreadie

TRAVELWISE

On the good side is the total
lack of responsibility — if you
keep your tank topped, your maps
at hand and hit a laundromat
every few days, you’re free to
become gypsies.

Reservations? Why tie yourself
down? We’d have missed some
great impromptu stops if we'd
reserved elsewhere.

On the downside, the coun-
tryside may become monotonous
and interesting stops few. I defy
anyone to enjoy crossing the
Great Salt Desert in Northern
Utah, but it’s only 110 miles.

In the past few days i’ve seen
enough sagebrush, and more than
enough of both Bush and Clinton
slinging mud. at each other.
There’s not a lot. of humor in
American pclitics.

When you stay in a different
motel almost every night, you
learn to appreciate small things —
good plumbing (non-skid
showers, toilets that flush like
they should) and beds with decent
pillows.

| appreciate the ones that don’t
.mind us filling our ccoler from
the ice machine. I also appreciate
ones with stacks of focal
brochures — it's amazing what a
tourist can miss in small towns.

We've avoided most of the big
cities — the highway interchanges
are awfui — El Paso got passed,
as did Albuquerque, Denver (it
took nearly an hour to get
through that maze) and Salt Lake
City. Salt Lake City, though, is a
“must-see for anyone new to that
area.

Our reasoning is simple. If you
want to see a big city, make it a
specific destination. Unless there’s
something there that you are fran-
tic to see, stick to the small places
where it’s easy to move around,
the people are nice, history hasn’t
been obliterated by black towers
and the prices are affordable.
> Sept. 15: A fairly short drive
took us from Socorro, through
Albuquerque to Santa Fe.

For a smallish city (50,000) it’s
sprawled out and poorly designed
on the outskirts. It’s very difficult

THE INN OF THE SEA
4 days Oct, 9-12
3 nights accommodation
3 breakfasts
1 Traditional Thanksgiving Dinaer
© Located at secluded Yellow Point
© 20 min. from Nanaimo
© Easy access to all ferries
© Choice of waterview suites ur rooms

to find the downtown core from
the highway.

Once there, you'll probably do
what we did, grab the nearest
hotel -— in our case, the Hilton —
and pay one helluva lot more than
you'd fike.

Ai least we could walk every-
where we wanted to go. The Plaza
is obviously your first stop, and if
you overlook the extraordinarily
high-priced shops. it’s a pleasant
stroll.

Santa Fe is noted for its galler-
jes but don’t buy anything until
you visit Taos (more about that
fater).

One excellen:
cooks among you
Gourmet (Plaza).

Two religious experiences, visit
the Conquistadore, Santa Fe’s
Patron Saint and take note of
what she’s wearing. Her garments
are lovingly crafted by special
seamstresses and sometimes by
pecple requesting the Saint's in-
tervention.

Also visit the Loretto Chapel —
the winding staircase has a story
or legend surrounding it.

Briefly, in the previous century,
the nuns had to climb a ladder to
reach the choir loft.

They prayed for nine days for
someone to build them a staircase.
On the ninth day, a mysterious
stranger arrived, built the unique
stairs and left. He asked for no
pay. Who was he?

Wasn't Jesus a carpenter?
> Sept. 16: We'd have missed
Taos if we hadn’t been reading
those brochures.

This was one of the highlights
of our trip, an easy drive on
Highway #68 from Sante Fe.
Don’t plan, as we did, to drive
through!

After spending an hour there,
we scuttled our plans and found a
motel. The town is small but has
lots of accommodation.

The old town core is full of
shops and galleries — the whole
town is bursting with artists and
artisans of the highest quality.

Best of all is a visit to the Taos
Pueblo, just a few miles north.

In brief, New Mexico has 19
pueblos — ancient Indian settle-
ments, at least 1,000 years old.

Taos is the largest. It consists of
two huge five-storey adobe dwell-
ings and numerous smaller ones.

All are stil! occupied! The In-
dians who choose to live in the
Pueblo live as their ancestors did
— no modern conveniences. The
visitor is charged $5 for parking
and an additional $5 for a camera
($10 for movie).

There is a free tour by know-
ledgeable young guides — they’ll
even show you how the Pueblo
was built and teil you some
marvellous true stories.
®& Sept. 17: Leaving Taos (reluc-
tantly), we took Highway #64,
through the Cimarron Canyon, to
Raton where we tinked up again
with Interstate 25 North.

Here is another ‘‘don’t-miss.”’
I’ve seen plenty of lovely scenery,

the
N°

shop for
Gift

enon 12900 nae, wanes

® Tennis court — canves

© 4 golf courses nearby

© Acclaimed waterfront dining
© Dockside moorage

but this is about tops, especially in
September when the Aspen trees
turn to gold.

For the rest of the day, we
drove straight through the entire
state of Colorado, making few
stops. i was anxious to get to
Cheyenne, Wyoming why?
Probably saw too many ‘‘oaters’’
as a kid. The less said about
Cheyenne the better.

& Sept. 18: Another dream shat-
tered. Laramie has even less to
offer than Cheyenne.

However, the day wasn’t a loss,
thanks again to tourist brochures.
We'd never have known about the
old Wyoming State Prison in
Rawlins and have missed a
thoroughly amazing stop.

Built in 1872, it was in use until
1932! This place makes Alcatraz
look like a resort.

The guided tour takes about an

ravel

How many times have
you stood in line at the
airport trying to control
all your luggage, while
the person in front has
one carry-on bag. Have
you ever said to yourself _
“That’s how Fd like to
travel?’ Now’s your
chance to Jearn. Fraser
MacDonald of Gulliver’s
Travel Accessories is
teaching his famous
Packing Magic Course
on Tuesday, Oct. 6 and

Before

Tuesday, Oct. 13 between
7:30 and 9:30 at Hillside
Secondary through the
North Shore Continuing
Education Program,
986-8838.

or

Park Royal North
754 Patk Royal North
West Vancouver, B.C.

GULLIVER’S

hour and a half and you can sit in
the electric chair if you like.

Or stand on the trap door under
the hangman’s hook. Every kid
should visit a place fike this and
they’d be apt to stay in school.
$3.50 entrance.
> Sept. 19: We stopped in Rock
Springs last night, central Wyom-
ing on Interstate 80.

We'd been seeing ali sorts of
road signs urging a stop in ‘Little
America,’’ west of Rock Springs,
about an hour’s drive.

We expected a lot more than 65
gas pumps, a big motel and a
cafe. Don’t say f didn't warn you.

Back in the van, next stop was
the reconstruction of the famous
Fort Bridger — this started out as
an important provision outpost
for many of the famous trails —
including the Oregon Trail, the
Mormon Trail and the Overland

-asier
He'll answer questions
and show the correct type
of luggage for your
travels, how to stay safe
outside as well as inside

your room plus hundreds
of other hints.

After

Finally, he'll unpack. his
carry-on bag and fill
TWO 26” suitcases with
clothes, toiletry items,
security items, beach
items and even a set of
golf clubs!?! Attend if
you can, and if you can’t,
go to Gulliver’s in Park
Royal North and borrow
his video for a condensed
version of his course:

Happy travelling!

SS

Richmond Centre South
6551 #3 Road
Richmond, BC.

Trail.

It became an important military
fort and has been weil restored.

It’s large — allow at least an
hour to walk through.

Jim Bridger’s old outpost is also
restored although not on the exact
location. Administered by the
state, it’s not commercialized. $1
entry fee.

We pushed on to Wells, Nevada
— through Utah as | mentioned

before.

This is a bleak trip and
northern Nevada hasn't much to
offer, either.

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@ WestCoast

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