It’s hot in Surprise, AZ. Like, blazing hot. 115F to be exact.
A few trips to the community pool with my family was nice. But after kids splashing me, an older lady complaining to me that they closed half of the pool to swim camp and teenagers making out that looked 13 it was nice to make a change. Time for the pool at the W Hotel in Scottsdale.
Lemme tell you. It was nice. No, wait, more than that. It was NICE. Kids and splashes were replaced with lounge chairs and pool side service. And did I mention that we weren’t even staying at the hotel? Well, not that night at least. The first day was a Friday, we had no problem getting into the pool area and immediately ordering shrimp ceviche and Dos Equis. Here is what the pool looked like on Friday.
Aannnnnnddd here is what it looked like on Saturday.
A completely different world! We were hotel guests for that evening, otherwise we would have never made it to this scene. The weekends at the W are happening. Drinks were flowing, the DJ was spinnin’ and the people were crazy, yo! The girlies had an outift for walking to their cabana, then another outfit for lounging in the cabana, and then a bikini for the pool. The hair was piled, the makeup was layered and the game was on. I was none of that and I do believe I heard a collective gasp when I actually went under the water to cool off.
What more could two hot girls want? And I meant hot, in both senses.
I do love the W Hotels. They are always modern with a comfortable feel. A flat screen tv, bath products from Bliss and an excellent Sushi restaurant is what we encountered at this one. We loved it so much we came back to the pool on Monday and enjoyed it one more time. Great time to beat the heat and relax in a hip (but sometimes loud) atmosphere. Go try it out for yourself!
Once the stomping ground of silver kings and railroad giants, Silverton survives today as one of Colorado’s most endearing destinations.
That is Silverton’s main drag. While there is no more mining here, there is still tons of character.
After Mesa Verde Nat’l Park we drove back to Durango and then headed north on 550 through the San Juan National Forest – BEAUTIFUL! With the hour growing late, and the gas tank getting empty we stopped in Silverton for the night. The sweetest lil town ever with a population around 500, and probably about 100 in the winter. We picked the Grand Imperial Hotelto stay at, built in the late 1800s and I believe our 2 double bed room was $90. Much better than our $200 from the Best Western in Durango. And it had much more character! Here is our lovely room, complete with ceiling fan, creaky floors and a window that wouldn’t shut all the way. But completely Silverton, and completely perfect.
Hungry for something, anything, the hotel manager said we needed to hurry because all would soon be closing their kitchens around 9pm. We stumbled upon the Silverton Brewery where mom and I had a brat (pretty good) and dad had the overflowing plate of nachos topped with everything (really good). I bought a long-sleeved t-shirt and we headed back to our room and called it an early night.
The next morning I woke up at the hour of 7am (wahhhhhhhhh) and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I noisily (i didn’t mean it, the floor boards are super creaky!) got dressed, grabbed the camera and went for a crisp morning walk down the five blocks of Silverton. Check it out.
This dude is cool.
No squirrel? Mmmmmm, jerky.
Thank you for snow patched mountains, for spacious skies. Go see Silverton!
We drove for what seemed like weeks from Norway to Karlskrona, Sweden to catch the overnight ferry to Gdynia, Poland. I wasn’t expecting anything lavish, as it was the trucker’s cruise, possibly 90% of the clientele. The food was a mixture of meat and potatoes or mystery salad sandwiches. I went for a bag of chips and a red wine. The three of us crashed in our teeny tiny room with two bunk beds. I call top bunk! I don’t think anyone else was wanting it anyway….
Arriving in Poland, the police and canines were out and ready. We gave our passports, the dogs sniffed around the car and we were allowed to enter. We stayed outside of Gdansk for a few nights at this humongous hotel, the Hotel Sofitel Grand Sopot. It had an old time luxurious flair with a bit of The Shining feel to it. Our room was beyond large and from our balcony we looked out to the Baltic Sea and Europe’s oldest wooden pier. I went to the beach while my parents wandered around, and for lunch we found a delightful cafe that served sausages and beer. My dad was in heaven, so much that we had to go back the next day.
Now it was time to look for clues on mom’s side of the family. We drove to a town, Prtezoczyno – good try on pronouncing that one – and started the search. For some odd reason, my mom felt I was fluent in German and would be able to speak to any person and find what we were looking for…. while I stuttered and stammered in broken German we actually found the monument and church from her books. After hours of walking and searching we threw in the towel and headed home. Our guidebook told us to watch out for drunken peasants on the road, I never saw one though I really wanted to. Kind of like the times I drive through Maine and hope to see a moose but never do. Darn.
Next stop, Berlin! The German was meeting us there, I couldn’t wait to see him. We were booked at this hip hotel with good rates – Arte Luise Kunsthotel where each room is decorated by a renown artist, the entire room included in the concept. The next day was sightseeing sightseeing sightseeing: Brandenburger Tor, Checkpoint Charlie, Berliner Dom, Tiergarten and Reichstag. Berlin is a freakin cool city loaded with history and new hotels, restaurants, art galleries at every turn. And in my love of architecture and homes – a penthouse suite looking over Tiergarten would do me quite nicely. I feel that the German people have suffered so much, and they still feel guilty for their past. That wall was torn down many years ago now, it is time to look towards the bright future and limitless possiblities. And they are.
Our room at castle Schönburg, Germany
The last leg of our tour: The Black Forest, Friedberg (Elvis’ German army base) and then my favorite castle hotel ever, castle Schönburg, on the Rhine river. It was first mentioned in history between the years 911 and 1166. Until the 17th century the castle had a very changeable and martial history with many tribe and family fights. The castle was burned down in 1689 by French soldiers during the Palatinate heritage war and it remained destroyed and in ruins for 2 centuries until an American of German ancestry restored it. Our room was fantastic, it was like living as Lady Fairlane (insert your Robin Hood fairytale name here). My parents had the queen sized bed while my sleeping quarters was a small bunk made at the bottom of one of the bookcases. I loved it. There was a door from our room that led to the walkway connecting several watch towers. My mom and I did some snooping around and the end of the walkway came to steep stairs leading down to total, complete pitch blackness. I decided to see what I could discover and after about ten steps I refused to go further. It was SPOOKY and as I turned for a picture I had a chill go down my spine, like someone was right behind me. I hauled ass out of there as fast as my lil feet would take me.
And then, what seemed to have started only a few days ago, came to an end. My parents left a little lighter in their wallet and suitcase load and flew back to Oklahoma. I will never forget this trip with my parents, it will forever be a fond memory full of laughter (mom and I giggled several times over the “Haben Sie Einen Gute Fahrt” signs – we couldn’t help it!), learning, defining and preserving our legacy and love. Thanks for the visit mom and dad. Ich liebe dich.
It’s hot in Surprise, AZ. Like, blazing hot. 115F to be exact.
GOING NINETY MILES 