War and Peace

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At over 1700 pages including the two epilogues, War and Peace can seem like an insurmountable read.  It took me four months of on and off reading through Russia, Turkey, Greece, and finally the United States to finish it.  I'm sure everyone knows the title, but I'm sure not everyone knows the story.  It's a sweeping epic that takes place during the Napoleonic Wars.  War and Peace mainly follows the Rostov family and their acquaintances from prior to the war, through the war, and then into the aftermath.  The bulk of the book is like a serial soap opera.  There is love, betrayal, political intrigue, war, and passion.  The only parts I could imagine someone getting bogged down in are the very technical military parts (which I enjoyed) and the parts where Tolstoy starts self-aggrandizing his views and why they are right and why other historians are wrong (which I found tedious).  Overall, it is a pretty good read.  It just takes a lot of time and patience to get through.

Best Western Squire Inn - Tusayan, AZ

For the first time in our lives Emily and I got upgraded.  When we first went to check-in the room wasn't ready.  So, we went to the Grand Canyon.  By the time we got back to the hotel, the room we were supposed to get was undergoing maintenance.  Therefore, we got bumped up to a business suite.  The business suite was great.  It had a small kitchen area, a sitting area, a very nice bedroom, and to top it all off, a jacuzzi.

We ate lunch, dinner, and breakfast at the hotel in that order.  The lunch was pretty average.  I got a pastrami sandwich and Emily got sliders.  Neither was terrible, but neither was amazing either.  For dinner, we ate at their other, nicer restaurant.  They offered local fare like buffalo and elk.  It was much better and well worth it.  They had a fairly decent wine list as well as a bar out front that you could order drinks from.  The breakfast was a standard American buffet.  They had eggs, potatoes, pancakes, fruit juice, fruit, and oatmeal.  It was fine for a hotel buffet, but again nothing amazing.

The hotel is in a prime location just like all the other Tusayan hotels.  I wouldn't necessarily suggest this hotel over any of the other options.  It is a five minute drive from the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park just like all the other hotels in the area.  I would suggest this particular hotel if you can get a better rate in relation to the other Tusayan hotels.

Get Your Kicks, On Route 66!

When we started working out how we were going to get to the Grand Canyon, we discovered that we would be driving a pretty sizable stretch of the Arizona section of Old Route 66.  Unfortunately, I-40 covers almost the entire road, but a lot of the kitch remains!  We were able to see Twin Arrows and Two Guns from the road, but they were in horrible disrepair.  I read on one site that you can't even get to Two Guns anymore, because the buildings are on the verge of collapse.  We were still able to get off the interstate and hit some of the old Route 66 staples though.

That is the Meteor Crater site.  It's the second famous hole in Arizona's landscape.

We also stopped off to see the World's Largest Petrified Tree (left) at Geronimo.  Emily decided to climb inside of a teepee while we were there.

We even got to see the Wigwam Hotel in Holbrook.  They have been photographed a lot, but they probably seem familiar to most people because they inspired the Safety Cone Hotel in the movie Cars.

On our way through Holbrook, we hit up one of Route 66's staple restaurants: Joe and Aggies Cafe.  It is also the oldest restaurant in Holbrook.  The food was tasty.  I would recommend the red chili.  It's got a nice kick to it.  Emily got the Navajo Taco.  The waiter told us that it was very popular in the area.  Basically, it's taco fixings inside of Navajo fry-bread.  In a word: delicious!

An American Tale: Richard and Emily Go West

Emily and I took a two-day trip to the Grand Canyon.  Just like everywhere else we went, it was low season.  That means, it was nice and quiet.  They haven't seen much snow this year, so the roads were nice and clear.  All in all, I would say it was the perfect time to go.  The entire southern rim was open including the Desert View road, which can close if there is heavy snow.  We'll get to that later.  

I really like sitting with my feet dangling off edges.

The pictures above are from our first afternoon there.  We tried to check-in to the hotel, but we were there too early.  So, we got some lunch and drove out to Grand Canyon National Park.  It really is awe inspiring.  The cold weather makes the sky clear, so you can see all the mountain ranges to the north and the east.

We decided to hang out until sunset.  We walked a little under a mile back to the shuttle bus stop.  We checked in at the hotel around 7PM.  We ended up getting really lucky.  The room we were supposed to be in was undergoing maintenance work, so we got upgraded to a business suite.  The room was great.  It had a bar, a small kitchen, a sitting area, a king-sized bed, and a jacuzzi.  The jacuzzi was definitely the highlight.  We woke up the next morning rested and relaxed.  We decided to drive out on the Desert View road and take the eastern exit out of the park.

I would recommend that route to anyone that has a car.  The Desert View road offers unique views of the canyon and the Little Colorado River.  It also has the Tusayan ruins and museum, which is worth a quick look.  The road to the east runs through Navajo country.  When you hit the descent out of Grand Canyon National Park, you can see the Painted Desert.  The road gets very little traffic, which means you can take your time if you want to.

Go West Young People!

We haven't been taking many pictures lately, because we've been in familiar places.  After Buffalo, we went to New York.  We did take a few pictures there.

Even a couple sappy ones.

After New York, we hit Wisconsin for a few days.  I grew up there, and we really just went to visit my best friend Matt and his family.  We didn't do too much, but it was a nice visit.  It was good to see old friends again.  Now, we're in Arizona.  We have plans to head out to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and a few other sites.

New York, New York

Sinatra may have been from Jersey, but he sure never sang about it.  We are staying with friends in New York for a few days.  We're full up with plans that will definitely derail our intentions of losing the holiday weight we put on, but it will be a lot of fun.  We're going to hit a few old haunts and a few restaurants that opened after we left New York.  Our dinners and lunches are completely full, but we'll be back again for a few days in February.  Instead of making arrangements with various friends though, we're thinking we'll just tell you where we're going and you can meet us there if you want to see us.

White Christmas

Buffalo didn't deliver on the white Christmas Emily promised, but we had a lot of fun.

There was a new baby!

Lovely family photo

A few days later, we made the obligatory trip to Niagara Falls.  I had never been to the Buffalo area, so I had never been to the falls.  A lot of stuff is shut down in the winter and it is significantly colder, but everything is covered in ice.  It gives it very pretty, unique look.