Travel on a Dime

The downturn in the economy has also had an adverse effect on the travel industry. With the Federal bailout, many companies have recently canceled meetings as a result of adverse publicity.
Las Vegas and other popular cities have been hard hit and trying to fill vacancies.
This does have an upside. With empty rooms to fill, bargains are everywhere. There are many websites that offer last minute deals. Also some send weekly emails with specials they have uncovered. Though some are still on the $ side, some are quite reasonable. Maybe it is just a weekend away in a nearby city that you drive to, or a cheap flight to visit friends.
Low budget does not mean boring and dull. Staying in a 5 star property in your own city for a great price is a nice get away. Instead of a few hundred dollars in airfare, use the money for spa treatments, show tickets, or that expensive restaurant you always wanted to try. So many people are always waiting for a special occasion to pamper themselves. Why wait? There could be a bus out there just waiting........
Damron Vacations offers some great deals to great destinations. The experienced agents can help plan a quick get away to Vegas, or maybe someplace warm and tropical? A little stress release is just a phone call away.

The 'Good Old Days' of Travel

I remember traveling as a child. Back in the 1960s middle America would load up the station wagon and drive off to vacation. Ours was a green 1963 Chevrolet Belair with green interior, luggage rack, AM radio, and NO seat belts. Living in New Jersey, summer vacations were spent in a rented apartment or house in Seaside Heights, NJ.
My parents would go shopping for supplies, mom would make tomato sauce and a lasagna, 'Grandma' Poplopski across the street would make us stuffed cabbage to take, and off we would go. I think mom traded another lasagna for the cabbage. The next week or two would be spent going to the beach during the day and the boardwalk at night. Amazing how much fun a child could have with $2 in those days.
I had never been to and airport until August 1968. My father had a business trip to Los Angeles and my mother could go too. We dropped her off a few days before hand so she could spend some time with her brother who lived there. I remember mom got dressed up to fly, heels, hose, and dress. At the end of the gateway, we were mesmerized as we watched her and similarly attired individuals boarding the flight. WOW!!
My first flight was in 1973 from San Francisco to Charlotte. It was at the end of a cross country trip when the family explored the West. Mom, my little brother and I flew home while dad and two older brothers drove home. We got dressed with ironed shirts and khakis, since we were on vacation, we had no ties to wear. We obeyed mom's directions and sat quietly in our seats. Even though it was a VERY long flight we never acted up, we knew the consequences.
Flash forward 30 years. Air travel is no longer for only the wealthy. With discount prices, more people have taken to the skies. Though with the discounting also comes a cheapening of the experience. People no longer look at a plane flight as anything special. No more getting dressed up, I've seen people in outfits I wouldn't sit around the house in. Children are not controlled by parents, guess the figure the flight attendants are baby sitters. Last year a family was removed off a flight because the children were too unruly and the mother was not controlling them.
Of course many groups chimed in that it was unfair. But then, what about the other passengers on the plane? Should they be subjected to loud children playing in the aisles? Besides being annoying, they are a safety hazard. A responsible parent would bring enough things to keep their children occupied during a flight.
Maybe this is why I have taken to cruises. I usually sail on Celebrity, which is mostly an older crowd. On the last cruise there were less than 20 children on a ship of 2,000, not bad odds. And on most cruise lines, dressing for dinner is the norm. Whether khakis and a nice shirt, or a tuxedo, it hearkens back to an era when travel was a special treat, not a routine event.
If the return to glamorous vacations interests you, Damron Vacations can book First or Business Class airfare, and many high end hotels. Maybe a room overlooking the Eiffel Tower to celebrate an anniversary, birthday, or just because. Life is too short to fly coach!

Canyons and Valleys

While Las Vegas and Hoover Dam are impressive sights, they are the work of humans. Over the course of years, mankind has shaped the landscape to fit his need and wants. In the past it was usually in no regard to the environment. Building large dams that flooded vast areas, covering everything under somethings 100s of feet of water. The Colorado River was the focal point of dam building for flood control and as a source of power. With its free flowing water, steep inclination of the river bed and high surrounding banks, it made a perfect source for hydroelectric power. But travel outside of the metropolitan area and nature takes over.
A few hundred miles to the east lies the Grand Canyon. A might gorge cut over the millennium by the Colorado River. Long the home for the Anasizs, it was discovered by the Spanish while on their quest for the famed city of El Dorado. It remained unspoiled except for the occasional visit by Europeans until 1869, when American explorer John Wesley Powell mapped the Colorado River for the Smithsonian Institute. This exploration of the landscape led to more expeditions and research into the geology of the area. With such a large amount of strata revealed, it advanced the science significantly.
While first entrepreneurs entered the are for mining, it was soon discovered that tourism was much more profitable. A train spur from the line at Williams was brought to the South Rim and hotels sprang up. The El Tovar is nestled right on the rim at the entrance to the Bright Angel Trail.
The Grand Canyon is not the only breathtaking area in the southwest. There is Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and Arches National Park. Through the erosion of the landscape, beautiful spires, pillars and arches have been created.
In Arches National Park there are over 2,000 known arches withe the longest, Landscape Arch stretching 300 feet. There is Double Arch, two graceful arches sprouting from the same base. Balanced Rock seems to defy gravity, a single stone the size of three buses, perched delicately on a spire. The Fiery Furnace looks like a wall of red flames. These fragile natural wonders are subject to the forces of nature, erosion has claimed over 40 arches since 1970.
Bryce Canyon is actually a large amphitheater filled with countless sites. The ground eroded away leaving spires, called hoodoos, some over 200 feet tall. Since it was created by head water erosion it is not technically a canyon.
Monument Valley is an awe inspiring area filled with large spires and columns of sandstone rising out of the plain. The combination of red stone tinged with yellow, clear blue sky and total absence of humanity is breathtaking.
Throughout this whole region, native Americans have left their imprint. Houses of the cliff dwellers, hieroglyphics and remnants of nomadic camps dot the landscape. So remember to leave only footprints and take only pictures so these natural wonders and reminders of past civilizations will remain for centuries to come.
The expert agents at Damron Vacations can help with your exploration of this region. Maybe a few nights at the Blue Moon in Vegas to start and end your trip and a week of rental car in the middle to go where the wind takes you.
The sites of the Four Corner

Viva Las Vegas!!!

The modern day Sin City. What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. One of the most popular travel destinations in the country.
The original settlement was farmers in the area. In 1905, the first plots in what is now the city of Las Vegas were auctioned off. The town was officially incorporated March of 1911. With the liberalization of divorce laws, a quicky divorce was one of Nevada's main attractions. During the Depression, construction of the Hoover Dam brought more population, power and water to the area. WWII brought with it military bases due to the sparse population in the surrounding countryside.
After the end of the war, lavish hotels and casinos began to spring up, first downtown and then along Las Vegas Boulevard, the Strip, as it was to become known. Iconic names like The Sands, The Dunes, The Stardust. Unfortunately, most of the original hotel/casinos have been torn down to make way for the new mega-resorts. Fantastic complexes with 1000s of hotels rooms, massive casino, high profile restaurants, and glamorous shopping arcades. Most with a theme, ancient civilizations, international cities, and stories.
In the downtown section of Las Vegas, there remains some of the original casinos, The Golden Nugget, the 4 Queens and Fitzgerald to name a few. A recent addition to the downtown scene is the Freemont Street Experience. The street has been covered with a canopy of LEDs that create an overhead show. Jet fighters, whales, floating clouds, an ever changing ceiling. Just watch out for pick pockets, with every one looking up, no one is watching around them.
The main resorts cater to all types of clients. The families wanting a cheap get away(though why bring children), high rollers from here and abroad, conventioneers from Peoria for the BIG shoe show. Though wonderful experiences, and welcome all visitors, alternative lifestyle travelers may feel a little out numbered. But do not despair, the Blue Moon Resort is Las Vegas's only exclusively gay male resort. Though not on Las Vegas Boulevard, its convenient location makes it easy to hit the Strip. And speaking of strip, part of the grounds is clothing optional.
So if mingling with international high rollers, a winning round of 7 card stud(or any stud) sounds like a nice way to spend a trip, but Monte Carlo would bust the bank, try Las Vegas. With the option of an all male resort, or a very gay friendly mega-casino on the strip, the knowledgeable agents at Damron Vacations can make your arrangements.