journal

Some might make a pilgrimage to the Wall in Israel, to Bethlehem or Mecca.  But in my case, in order to pay homage to my mother, I had to go to Las Vegas.  The city itself was not the real destination.  The woman in the photo is the main reason I went to the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.  That’s “my Stacy” as Mom would refer to her.  Stacy is the heart of the Riviera and also had my mother’s heart.  I had the pleasure of being with her and mom on many occasions in Las Vegas.  As you might know, Frimit was a bit high maintenance.  Well, Stacy was the one person who took care of mom in such a way that won her heart forever.  It all started with a request for sugar-free cheesecake.  So on my journey, I had to personally hold this precious woman after telling her the news that mom was gone.  We both reminisced and cried for two hours.  Yes… I cried and it was good.

Other than this wonderful experience, Las Vegas was fun.  Debrah and I saw two shows.  The first one was the water extravaganza from Cirque d’Soleil called “O”.  We were both entertained.  However, the show “Jersey Boys” was our favorite.  It was so wonderful and we both gave it a six on a scale of one to five.  I would definitely see that one again.

Vegas entrance and exit were quite special.  We got to drive over the Hoover Dam on our way in.  I drove alone to California a few days later.  The horses you see were at the gas station as I left Nevada.  I loved this drive to California.  It was gorgeous desert landscape with sculpted hills and mirages of sand that turned into steep mountainous climbs (ears were a popping).  Death Valley recorded a 111 degrees on my car thermometer.  Kinda cool for that area.

More from L.A. later.

So going to Sedona from Santa Fe, New Mexico is going from heaven to nirvana.  Santa Fe was an artistic haven and Sedona is the most glorious of scenery and spirituality.  Just the drive there was incredible.  First you will see the rocks at the rest stop in Arizona.  Even the rest stop was visually moving.  The flat topography quickly changed to a huge labyrinth of switchbacks and plunging altitude.  Coming into Sedona at sunset cast a completely different palette on the rocks.  As you can see from our photos by the hotel we were in a beautiful setting of red rock and greenery.  This place just begged to be hiked.  So for the first time we got out our hiking gear, hired a guide and went on the Baldwin Trail to Cathedral Rock.  Besides being a visual treat I got to enjoy the rejuvenating waters of stream on the way back to our jeep.  Then, just as we thought our trip was over in Sedona we happened across a synagogue set upon a hill with a gorgeous backdrop of red rock.  We were so lucky (on a Sunday)  for the rabbi to actually be there.  Alicia Magal is the leader of this egalitarian synagogue and is a Jewish Renewal rabbi.  Debrah knew her and she gave us the best tour of this magnificent jewel in Sedona.  After the synagogue we had to stop by the church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built into the rocks.  Our final stop in Sedona was the Red Planet Diner.  Everything there was “out of this world” from aliens in the juke box to UFOs in the front yard.  Sedona was fabulous.

Driving into Santa Fe was so magical.  The landscape looked so different than I expected, hilly and dotted with green scrubs that looked like cotton balls (only green).   The city was so cool.  Thankfully that’s in two different ways.  The temperature dropped from 102 degrees to 73 degrees.  There was also a fabulous feel to all the structures.  Artistic attention was involved in the design of everything from the gas stations to the churches to the iron gates and all the little details.

We got to spend time traveling on the “Turquoise Trail” on the way to Madrid, a little artist’s town 20 miles outside of Santa Fe.  The coolest thing there was a little artist’ s enclave at the entrance to the city.  I found a really great wooden sculpture of a woman and the blue car in the photos.  In spite of my real interests, I did a lot of shopping in Santa Fe.  A little jewelry and something you’ll see later.

One special occurance happened on Friday night.  Debrah and I decided to go to services at one of the local synagogues.  It was a neat service with great guitar accompaniment to the prayers and songs that reminded me of my days at summer camp.  But the real surprise came at the end of the service when the rabbi asked any visitors to introduce themselves.  When the service ended a man came up to us and asked if we might know his mother and sister who live in Tampa.   Well here’s to Sara Scher and Roberta Golding… we got to meet your brother and son Paul Golding.

One other incredible aspect to Santa Fe was the B & B I found called the Pueblo Benito Inn.  We had a charming bungalow in a historic building once belonging to the New Mexico Attorney General.  It was added onto and our cottage was a two bedroom Southwestern gem.  The lady in front of the painting of a Native American woman is on staff at the B & B.  She was telling us that she walked from Santa Fe to California to promote awareness of the harm still being done by our government to the lands of the Native Americans.  I drive cross-country and she walked.  Very Impressive.

Prior to leaving Santa Fe for our trip to Sedona, Arizona Debrah mentioned that she would like to learn how to play Texas Hold’em.  So I found a way for us to play in the car.  Debrah dealed a hand for herself, her husband, me, my sister Risa and her partner Peggy.  We played for five hours all the way to Sedona.

I traveled many miles in Texas.  From the southeastern part (Houston) to the northwest (Amarillo).  The terrain was not what I expected but I guess since Texas is so huge that makes sense to see the variety that I did.  Some of the areas were quite hilly and green and others were the flat lands with sage and buttes in the background.  But along the way were several sights that made the trip quite interesting.  Here’s a little info about the places I saw:

• The rocker and blacksmith shop were on the way to the Wildcatter Ranch (the Dude Ranch) near the middle of Texas.
• The Big Texan was build back in the late fifties, he’s 47 feet high and weighs 7 tons.  You can see him on the road in Amarillo.
• Palo Duro Canyon is just south of Amarillo, Texas in the panhandle.  The canyon is great to drive through.
• On the way west out of Texas I picked up historic Route 66 and had lunch at Adrian Texas, the exact midway point on the original route.
• Just a bit of a rest before I crossed the border into New Mexico.

This place was breathtakingly beautiful.  The most luxurious dude ranch.  They thought of everything with fabulous decor, luxury amenities in the rooms, great western art and memorablia in the rooms and high class feel throughout.  It was still the most friendly, down-to-earth setting for a place to stay.  I was greeted by the longhorns as I drove up the long climb to the main house.  At the main house was the indifferent hound dog who momentarily lifted his head to let me know he didn’t care if I was there.  After that, I reveled in the beauty of the country and the relaxation if offered.

Now, about the pool.  This trip is all about risks so I went swimming in public for the first time in five years.  That’s the reason for the photos of the scenic pool.  I had a delicious steak dinner in the upscale steak house and enjoyed a bottle of wine.  But the one thing that kept me from really feeling free at this oasis was the sign in the resaurant.  There was a big drawing of a rattlesnake with the words underneath, “Snakes are on the move, watch your step”.  Oh, well, Mom really conditioned me to dislike those slitherly things.