Fowler Family Blog

18 hours after we started out Whitley & I finally met up with Colleen & Lindsey at our hotel in Vegas. We stayed at the Luxor (the giant black pyramid) and it was incredible. I can’t tell you how many time I got lost in the hotel. I thought I was going to have to bring in the navigation unit from the car just to find my room. I must say, Vegas has changed since I last went in 1987. I was afraid there would be little or nothing for my kids there just as is was in the past. Not true. The entire city is like one giant theme park now. In fact, they wanted to stay in Vegas when it came time to head out into the desert.

We toured M&M world, New York, MGM, Circus Circus, Ceasars, saw the fountains at the Bellagio and cruised around town at night to see the lights from our PT Cruiser Convertible. We also saw an excellent magic show as well as the Rita Rudner comedy show (it was supposed to be family friendly - not). Add to this the 5 acres of swimming pools at our hotel. Vegas was awesome!

Awesome or not, on Tuesday it was time to move on to the focal point of our vacation. We checked out of the Luxor and headed East. First stop: Hoover Dam its hot! (Well, thats what it should be called) When we arrived at the dam it was 111 degrees with a hot breeze blowing like a hair dryer. Sheeesh! Colleen & Whitley saw the dam, said neat and headed straight inside out of the heat. Lindsey & I ventured on…briefly. We looked over each side, read this, read that, and then realized it was just way too hot. On to the air conditioned tour. The tour was very interesting and gave us a chance to cool down before proceeding further East. Time’s up; let’s go.

The original plans at this point was to head to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. The more we hear of the 20 miles of rocky, unpaved road that lead you to it the more we realized that we had rented the wrong type of vehicle for such a venture. The South Rim will have to do, but since it was still 5 hours away we programmed the nav unit to take us to our motel on Route 66.

Speaking of which, let’s take a second and review nav unit. If you have never used one of these - Get One! This thing was incredible!!! We had one ($10 a day) made by Garman that sits on your dash or goes with you in a carry bag (it has a built-in rechargable battery). It is touch-screen menu driven and it knows where everything is and will tell you how to get there. It has a scrolling color screen that shows your position along with the surrounding area. We were driving in the middle of nowhere, desert all around as far as you could see, and this thing displayed trailer-park ‘neighborhoods’ as we passed them by. Six trailers forming a mini-community and this thing knows they are there. HOW??? Too cool! It listed every resteraunt in the town 50 miles ahead, where to get gas, and it even knew where our ‘little’ motel was on Route 66. If you rent a car, spend the extra $10 a day for this thing - it is worth it!

Now, back to driving. We stopped for dinner at a little cafe that marked the starting point of Arizona’s portion of Historical Route 66. It was a 50’s style diner that had good food and the perfect feel to establish a change of pace for this part of our journey. The mindset that the mad city life of Vegas has instilled was replaced with a much more carefree attitude, anxious to explore the landscapes ahead. Upon leaving the diner we let the top down and enjoyed the scenic hour-long drive down 66 before pulling in to our motel.

The motel (Hualapai Lodge) was located in Peach Springs and was owned and operated by Native Americans. We arrived at 9:00pm, which is also the closing time of their pool much to the dissappointment of our girls. No problem. They offered to keep it open an extra hour so that the girls could swim in the warm salt-water pool. Nice. It was a bit of culture shock going from the Luxor to the Hualapai Lodge in one day, but a welcome one. I can’t recommend this lodge highly enough.

As we prepared to depart the next morning we saw Paramont Studios vehicles about and overhead movie execs while at breakfast. Cool, a movie in the area! What we didn’t know at the time was that Nicholas Cage was there at the same lodge that night. Big fan!

On the way to the South Rim we stopped by our next R66 motel and dropped off our luggage. The Caverns Inn: A 48 unit motel located at the entrance of the Grand Canyon Caverns. If you saw the recent Disney movie “Cars”, The Caverns Inn was the entire Route 66 town from the movie rolled up into one little package. Located literally in the middle of nowhere by itself, this inn was a general store, a restaraunt, a gas station and a drive-up-to-the-door motel in one. It even had an old funky car, an army jeep and a firetruck on-site just like the movie. It was an even farther stretch from the Luxor but this trip was to get away from the norm and experience America first-hand. Good choice.

Now finally, on to the Canyon. It was still another 2 - 2.5 hours to the Canyon entrance but the scenery made the time pass rather quickly. Neither Colleen nor the girls had ever visited the Grand Canyon before and quite honestly, I don’t think they were expecting much from it. The expressions on thier face was priceless. If you have never been there before then there isn’t really a way to explain it. Let’s just say it is nothing like the photographs. Some things you just can’t capture - you have to experience them. We spent the entire day visiting each observation point along the rim and were amazed by each and every view. This place was incredible. It’s memories like this with your family that you will each keep and cherish for a lifetime.

I’m going to end the story here. I could tell of blowing up the car engine, getting lost back in vegas, missing the plane, getting stopped and pulled aside by airport security for having a knife in our carry-on (don’t ask), but I’d rather leave on a high note. The fact is, there will always be glitches throughout life. Accept it but don’t dwell on it. Focus on those high points in life and your memories will be much more valuable in the years to come.

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If I am sure of just one thing regarding American history it is this; however it was the original settlers traveled out West, it wasn’t on a ‘buddy’ pass. If our forefathers relied upon Delta to get them there then I’m pretty sure we would still only have 13 stars on our flag today - plus Guam. On the morning of July 9th my family headed out West for our primary vacation for the year. On the agenda was Las Vegas, Red Rock, Hoover Dam, historic Route 66 and of course the Grand Canyon. We arrived at Hartsfield airport at 7:00am for our 9:00 flight. Here’s the plan: Colleen and Lindsey had actual Delta tickets in hand (two I had won at the March of Dimes Motorcycle Ride - plus $600 tax for Uncle Sam), whereas Whitley and I had ‘Buddy’ Passes. If you are not sure what that is, a buddy pass is a reduced rate plane ticket you can obtain trough an employee of an airline. In this case my brother-in-law got us two tickets to Vegas for $165 each which is not bad considering Colleen and Lindsey’s were $1300 together. Here’s the catch; you have to dress up nicely and you only fly if there is room on the plane. When 9:00 approaches, Colleen and Lindsey board the plane. Whitley & I was a computer screen and lose hope slowly as we watch the number of extra seats disappear. Seniority plays a big factor as to what pass holders get on the plane. Apparently we didn’t have much. We watched as the plane pulled away without us, slightly disconcerted but comforted by the fact that the next flight leaves in about an hour. Well, it did just that - without us. Bumped again…and again…well, you get the point. Around noon a friend of ours that also works for Delta found us half asleep at one of the gates. She had been looking ahead at the flights and it didn’t look good. Our best choice was to leave on a flight to Cincinnati that departs in 15 minutes and is 3 concourses away. Bless her heart, Whitley made it even though she was in heels. When we walked through the gate towards the plane we realized the plane was out on the tarmac, as were we. It was cute…and petite. How so? You know you are on a small plane when the flight attendant goes through the safety demo for you personally.

To be continued…

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Wow! Colleen & I visited the Biltmore Estate last week for our 16th anniversary while the girls were at a week-long Girl Scout camp. This was our first visit and it was incredible. To be as modern as it was (refrigeration, central heat & air, 90 psi running water, full function indoor bathrooms, heated & lighted indoor pool, Edison light bulbs, electricity, elevators, internal phones and paging system, synchronized wall clocks throughout the servants quarters) is amazing considering it was built in 1889. If you have never been or haven’t been in a while we highly recommend it.

In the past year they have added new tours and opened up new sections of the house. Of course you will need to take the self-guided or staff-guided tour of the house, but in addition be sure to opt for the ‘Behind the Scenes Tour’ and the ‘Rooftop Tour’. These special tours will take you to many areas that are otherwise off-limits, including rooms currently under renovation, the technical areas of the house (sub-basement, organ pipe area), the bachelor wing, and literally onto the roof for the best view of the grounds. Be prepared to climb hundreds of stairs though. Whew!

While at the estate we visited the various gardens and the conservatory, rafted down the French Broad River, had tea at the Inn, visited the farming area, and went to the winery (ran out of time and missed the tour). We spent two days at the estate and really could have used a third so plan accordingly. The food at the estate was ‘fancy’ which isn’t particularly the kind we care for. Fortunately though Biltmore Village is located opposite the main gate and features many dining choices. Our recommendations are the Ichiban Japanese Restaurant and Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria.

Where to stay? Obviously you can stay at the Inn on the estate property if you wish but be prepared to pay $300-$1500 per night. We chose the Holiday Inn. There are plenty of hotels 5-10 minutes away that will let you save your money for the gift shops.

Ashville is exactly four hours from Griffin if you drive like I do; five if you drive like my wife. Either way it is a quick & pleasant drive (thank you Sirius radio) with a bit of scenery once you approach the mountains. It’s perfect for that romantic weekend getaway that you keep promising your better half.

(Our Biltmore pictures are viewable in our Photo Album section click Here to visit that page.)

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		Our four puppies are over six weeks old now. We are all very attached to them, but because Lindsey spends as much time as she can with them every single day she has bonded the most. This is why it was so hard to tell her to say goodbye to two of them last night. We are keeping the two boys and giving away the two girls. This will most likely occur this Saturday while she is away at an overnight church function - thus the need to tell them bye last night.
Even though it was expected and understood, it was still heartbreaking to see her reaction. This is the first time she has every raised an animal from birth and she treats them as if they were her own children. She took it especially hard but eventually calmed. She plans on getting in one more hug and kiss before she heads out tonight and while the loss may seem cruel for her, the love & responsibility she has gained over the past six weeks more than balances the scale.

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Our family will be visiting the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas & the Biltmore Estate in the coming month. I enjoy the beach as much as anyone else, but it’s time for a change of scenery.

Colleen & I have always wanted to visit Biltmore so I signed us up for two days worth of tours as well as rafting on the French Broad.

Our other trip - out West - is something I believe the girls really need to experience first hand. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon twice and seeing it in books or online just doesn’t compare. The release of Disney’s “Cars” movie has us geared up for our trip down Route 66, during which we will be staying at the only two motels that still remain. Perfect timing. As far as Vegas goes; we’ll only be there a day and a half. The girls are excited about staying in the giant pyramid (The Luxor). No gambling is planned although we would like to see a show if we can afford it. They are also excited because I rented a PT Cruiser Convertible for the week’s journeys. Seeing the Vegas lights at night in a convertible will be pretty cool.

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