Barbosa's Further Travels

[Барбоса]

Same guidelines on negativity as before although I have tried not to repeat things, such as extended comments on the different peoples I met and their eccentricities.

After a couple of days in and around Loveland, CO, including one day lost to wintery weather, I set off north.

Loveland, CO - Salt Lake City, UT - Fallon, NV - South Lake Tahoe, CA - Lone Pine, CA - Kingman, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Bluff, UT - Grand Junction, CO - Loveland, CO

8 nights. Rattlesnakes, dragonflies, squirrels, stoats, hummingbirds, alpacas, wild horses, cattle, sheep, frogs, lizards, ravens, hawks, chipmunks, prairie dogs, wild dogs, cats, badgers, owls and elk.

2992 miles. Various stops. A few beers on the way.

Much like "city," the word "historic" is used far too much in North America that are anything but. I know people who are older than many of the buildings, attractions and events claimed as such.

Given the regulations on how medical companies have to vocalise the possible side effects of their drugs, it is a wonder that anyone ever buys them. 30 secs describing the benefits of the drug and a minute on the various ways that it could kill you.

Damn you McDonalds and your cheap ice cream and breakfasts!

However, I have never understood why Burger King is not more widespread than McDonalds. It is far superior in the tasty burger making.

The amount of borderline false advertising in the promotion of hotel room prices greatly. When was the last time that anyone got the price shown on billboards or in a coupon book?

Also the failure to add on tax annoys me too. "That will be $24 plus tax" almost makes it sound like there is a choice involved on whether to pay it or not...

Is anyone in the hotel business in the USA of Asian extraction?

Salt Lake City makes me uncomfortable knowing where the money to beautify it comes from.

Weather is big news in the USA but its severity - snow, hail, wind, rain, lightning - does not stop some morons flying down the motorway at 80mph. Enjoy your trip to the ditch, you stupid asshole!

America is tremendous at employing less able bodied people and not just in the back in an out of sight out mind type way but in a front and centre way.

What really is the point of Memorial Day when the other 365 days are spent glorifying the military as heroes when most of them have done nothing heroic? I'll tell you... Commercialism. Just another way to make money with all the sales or to get that big tv you want. God bless the troops!

Baseball remains a pretty terrible sport with most of its paying spectators too busy stuffing their faces with obscene amounts of food to notice game has been suspended or there has been a home run. The mess in the stadium by the third inning was horrifying.

What else is obscene are the prices of replica jersies. We in the UK think it is bad for football and rugby but $145 for what is essentially a button down pyjama top? Get the duck out of here. I will say that ticket prices for said game that few people paid attention to were excellent. I paid a miserly $14 for a seat just at first base but they went down to $5.

I actually saw my first gun counter in a Walmart (never went looking for it before). Dear God. If it was a sign of an average Supercenter, Walmart has the 5th biggest standing army in the
world.

Regardless of what anyone says, hunting is not a sport and even if it was, it is not very sporting as one side is cheating while thr other side does not know it's in a game.

One of the national parks I was in had a shit ton of wolf merchandise in its gift shop but there are no wolves in the park itself thanks to such "sportsmen."

Much like with gun crime, the number of fatalities on the road is frightening, although not surprising given how people continue to either drive drunk, keep their vehicles in a ridiculously poor condition or drive at alarming speeds in adverse weather conditions.

The aversion to national health insurance/service still baffles me.

I could browse all day in many US shops so long as I am left along by sales assistants.

More may follow.

 

[klunderbunker]

Same guidelines on negativity as before although I have tried not to repeat things, such as extended comments on the different peoples I met and their eccentricities.

After a couple of days in and around Loveland, CO, including one day lost to wintery weather, I set off north.

Loveland, CO - Salt Lake City, UT - Fallon, NV - South Lake Tahoe, CA - Lone Pine, CA - Kingman, AZ - Flagstaff, AZ - Bluff, UT - Grand Junction, CO - Loveland, CO

8 nights. Rattlesnakes, dragonflies, squirrels, stoats, hummingbirds, alpacas, wild horses, cattle, sheep, frogs, lizards, ravens, hawks, chipmunks, prairie dogs, wild dogs, cats, badgers, owls and elk.

There are nowhere near as many animals to be seen in the east.

Much like "city," the word "historic" is used far too much in North America that are anything but. I know people who are older than many of the buildings, attractions and events claimed as such.

Again, commercialism.

Given the regulations on how medical companies have to vocalise the possible side effects of their drugs, it is a wonder that anyone ever buys them. 30 secs describing the benefits of the drug and a minute on the various ways that it could kill you.

I kid you not, this was an ad on TV here once:

"If you have experienced any of the following side effects from taking this drug: loss of sleep, nausea, death, etc., you may be entitled to a settlement."

However, I have never understood why Burger King is not more widespread than McDonalds. It is far superior in the tasty burger making.

Common argument here.

The amount of borderline false advertising in the promotion of hotel room prices greatly. When was the last time that anyone got the price shown on billboards or in a coupon book?

Yep. Rather annoying as there's a large hotel tax included.

Is anyone in the hotel business in the USA of Asian extraction?

Again, go east.

Weather is big news in the USA but its severity - snow, hail, wind, rain, lightning - does not stop some morons flying down the motorway at 80mph. Enjoy your trip to the ditch, you stupid asshole!

A few years ago the Weather Channel was purchased for $4 billion. People's minds are still blown by this announcement.

Very true on the driving. It's absurd.

America is tremendous at employing less able bodied people and not just in the back in an out of sight out mind type way but in a front and centre way.

I was at McDonalds a few weeks ago and asked "what's the different between sandwich A and sandwich B?"

Cashier: "Oh I don't know." That was the end of the conversation on the subject.

What really is the point of Memorial Day when the other 365 days are spent glorifying the military as heroes when most of them have done nothing heroic? I'll tell you... Commercialism. Just another way to make money with all the sales or to get that big tv you want. God bless the troops!

Now you're catching on. The amount of ads you'll see of politicians supporting the troops will sicken you. The amount of times you see them voting for something that screws troops over will sicken you even more.

Baseball remains a pretty terrible sport with most of its paying spectators too busy stuffing their faces with obscene amounts of food to notice game has been suspended or there has been a home run. The mess in the stadium by the third inning was horrifying.

My dad was at a Yankees game once and got to see batting practice, which sees probably over 100 baseballs hit into the stands. A man was sitting relatively close to the field in the bleachers, reading a paper. Several balls came within ten feet of him and he never looked up once. Care to guess how fast he'd file a lawsuit if he got hit?

What else is obscene are the prices of replica jersies. We in the UK think it is bad for football and rugby but $145 for what is essentially a button down pyjama top? Get the duck out of here. I will say that ticket prices for said game that few people paid attention to were excellent. I paid a miserly $14 for a seat just at first base but they went down to $5.

Never buy them at games. If you know how to shop for them you can get a good one for about $15.

I actually saw my first gun counter in a Walmart (never went looking for it before). Dear God. If it was a sign of an average Supercenter, Walmart has the 5th biggest standing army in the
world.

Back in 1999 Al Snow had his wrestling figure taken off the shelves because a women's group complained that Head looked like a severed woman's head and how could they explain that to their children? Arguments about poor parenting aside, here was Snow's response, spoken in a child's voice.

Snow: "Ok mommy I understand. Can I buy guns and bullets and knives? They sell those at Wal-Mart."

Regardless of what anyone says, hunting is not a sport and even if it was, it is not very sporting as one side is cheating while thr other side does not know it's in a game.

As someone who lives in the south, whose family has hunted for well over 150 years and whose cousins have several deer heads mounted on their walls, allow me to say to you.....amen brother. I will never understand the appeal. If you want to hunt for sport, go after a full sized bear with a bow and arrow. Now that is a challenge.

One of the national parks I was in had a shit ton of wolf merchandise in its gift shop but there are no wolves in the park itself thanks to such "sportsmen."

Commercialism. Isn't that great?

Much like with gun crime, the number of fatalities on the road is frightening, although not surprising given how people continue to either drive drunk, keep their vehicles in a ridiculously poor condition or drive at alarming speeds in adverse weather conditions.

There was talk recently about putting optional breathalizers in bars. Conservatives claimed it was infringing upon people's rights.

The aversion to national health insurance/service still baffles me.

Well you see, you silly international person, there is a profit to be made off of your health. If a company can make money because you get a cold, you're just a Socialist Commie Muslim that hates America if you disagree, so get out of the way of progress with that evil liberal thinking. Your health creates jobs jobs jobs and that's all we care about. Now move out of the way so we can ban abortions because women are ****es and old white men are the way of the future.

I could browse all day in many US shops so long as I am left along by sales assistants.

They can be irritating. I have no problem with them if this is their limit:

Sales assistant: "Can I help you find anything?"

Me: "No I'm fine thanks."

Sales assistant: "Oh ok. Just let us know if we can help you."

End of conversation. That's the extent of what I want to hear from them.

More may follow.

It's always interesting to hear an outside perspective.

 

[Danger Burger]

Was hoping this was something to do with the teaser you put up on facebook. Some of us are still on edge over that. Fun read though!

 

[Uncle Sam]

Sounds like fun.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

How did you like Flagstaff? We went there honeymooning. Beautiful area, but not nearly as nice as its richer cousin, Sedona, about 18 miles down a death-defying highway

 

[Thriller Ant]

How did you like Flagstaff? We went there honeymooning. Beautiful area, but not nearly as nice as its richer cousin, Sedona, about 18 miles down a death-defying highway

We drove through Sedona last summer. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was

 

[klunderbunker]

Brie and Bryan got married there. There were clips on Total Divas and yeah, it's amazing.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Brie and Bryan got married there. There were clips on Total Divas and yeah, it's amazing.

I kind of hate it when people do this, but both Sedona and the Grand Canyon were so much more beautiful in person. Pictures don't do either area justice.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Much like "city," the word "historic" is used far too much in North America that are anything but. I know people who are older than many of the buildings, attractions and events claimed as such.

When your country is 237 and a half years old there is very, very little in terms of old stuff. As such the less old stuff is protected so that it can eventually become old old like your old stuff.

Damn you McDonalds and your cheap ice cream and breakfasts!

However, I have never understood why Burger King is not more widespread than McDonalds. It is far superior in the tasty burger making.

McDonalds was around first. Why do you think Coke is more popular then Pepsi? It was around first so it's more popular.

And they both suck compared to Wendy's (or White Castle), yet alone a place like 5 Guys. I'd rather wait 5 minutes and get a real burger then get the unfit-for-human-consumption-worm-meat garbage from McDonalds (or Burger King which is probably barely better).

Is anyone in the hotel business in the USA of Asian extraction?

The hotels they work in are more of the pay by the hour variety.

I could browse all day in many US shops so long as I am left along by sales assistants.

They can be irritating. I have no problem with them if this is their limit:

Sales assistant: "Can I help you find anything?"

Me: "No I'm fine thanks."

Sales assistant: "Oh ok. Just let us know if we can help you."

End of conversation. That's the extent of what I want to hear from them.

As someone in retail who has to ask those questions, just know that they have to do that, it's their job. If they don't ask open-ended questions they get reprimanded because it's "poor customer service".

 

[klunderbunker]

I get that they have to do that. It's still rather irritating.

 

[Барбоса]

How did you like Flagstaff? We went there honeymooning. Beautiful area, but not nearly as nice as its richer cousin, Sedona, about 18 miles down a death-defying highway

I had been to Flagstaff before and liked it as a town. Have also done the drive to Sedona before too along with the pink jeep tour of the surrounding area.

I remember seeing a lot of roadkill on the wwy to Sedona, especially skunks.

 

[Барбоса]

Was hoping this was something to do with the teaser you put up on facebook. Some of us are still on edge over that. Fun read though!

There might be something about that little teaser today...

McDonalds was around first. Why do you think Coke is more popular then Pepsi? It was around first so it's more popular.

And they both suck compared to Wendy's (or White Castle), yet alone a place like 5 Guys. I'd rather wait 5 minutes and get a real burger then get the unfit-for-human-consumption-worm-meat garbage from McDonalds (or Burger King which is probably barely better).

I would say that Coke is more popular than Pepsi because it is nicer rather than older but then that is a personal opinion.

If I had my choice, I would have the burgers and fries from Burger King and the drinks, milk shakes and ice cream from McDonalds.

Wendy's burgers are the shit though. Jack in the Box isn't bad either.

The hotels they work in are more of the pay by the hour variety.

I meant to imply that most hotels are run by Asians in the west of America but a typo changed everything. Most of those seemed to be family run motels, although even the chains had similar proprietors.

 

[JGlass]

Yessssssssssss.

Much like "city," the word "historic" is used far too much in North America that are anything but. I know people who are older than many of the buildings, attractions and events claimed as such.

If time is relative, then historic to America is still relatively young to you old world folk.

However, I have never understood why Burger King is not more widespread than McDonalds. It is far superior in the tasty burger making.

This is operating under the assumption that people make purchasing decisions based on the quality of the product.

Salt Lake City makes me uncomfortable knowing where the money to beautify it comes from.

I imagine the feeling would be a thousand times worse if you were to go to the South and take a plantation tour.

What really is the point of Memorial Day when the other 365 days are spent glorifying the military as heroes when most of them have done nothing heroic? I'll tell you... Commercialism. Just another way to make money with all the sales or to get that big tv you want. God bless the troops!

Almost every holiday here has been corrupted by commercialism. The only ones that haven't are Veterans Day and Arbor Day.

 

[Барбоса]

If time is relative, then historic to America is still relatively young to you old world folk.

Somewhat understandable but it comes off as ridiculously tacked on and clutching at straws. Just call things "important" rather than "historic" and I have far less of a problem, although many of those hole in the ground settlements are "important/historic" in a far less obvious way ie. not important or historic at all. Just that they exist and might just about be older than any human still on the planet.

All about marketability, I guess, which seems to be a common theme in this thread so far.

This is operating under the assumption that people make purchasing decisions based on the quality of the product.

That was my main point really. In many ways, McDonalds is the prime example of the ambiguity in the phrase "the customer is always right." Worst quality but biggest profits, although I will say that there are some genius moves involved - $1 menu, McCafe, free wifi and America's real Achilles heel, cheap and refillable soda.

I imagine the feeling would be a thousand times worse if you were to go to the South and take a plantation tour.

Not sure about that. Plantations are overtly terrible, built on slavery as they are. Salt Lake City and much of Utah is far more covert, relying on the gullibility of people.

Of course, you could say that about virtually every majority in Europe too given the extent of the Catholic Church's power in the Middle Ages but there is something far more cultish about those who those behind the building of Salt Lake City. It just gives me the creeps.

And this is from someone who lives in a country where religion tensions have been part and parcel of its make up for 400 years.

Almost every holiday here has been corrupted by commercialism. The only ones that haven't are Veterans Day and Arbor Day.

Again, I know it is true but that does not make it any more palatable. The whole Memorial Day 'celebration' made me shake my head in disappointment/disgust so many times. We have no such cashing in 11th November in this country.

 

[Ty Burna]

Much like "city," the word "historic" is used far too much in North America that are anything but. I know people who are older than many of the buildings, attractions and events claimed as such.

What would be the age you require something to be historic? There is an Indian Village that has been preserved about 15 miles away from me that's over 400 years old.

Or is it more of an importance thing for you? For the local area, the village I'm speaking of is important as it shows the roots and ancestry of a specific Native American Tribe here before the three major tribes had to combine into one large group due to the smallpox outbreak that absolutely crippled their numbers.

 

[Барбоса]

A bit of both really.

As I said, I saw buildings younger than my grandparents and of less cultural and historical significance than my local supermarket called "historic."

Sure, "historic" can be relative and has a double meaning and America does not have the monopoly on the misuse of the term but the sheer amount of times I saw it used for something neither old nor important was ridiculous.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Brie and Bryan got married there. There were clips on Total Divas and yeah, it's amazing.

We were there the same weekend they were haha.

and yea, it is absolutely fucking stunning.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I remember going to meet some of KB's family and they were discussing these very old buildings they'd been to see. The buildings in question may have been 150 years old? There's a regular Church at the bottom of my street that's been there longer than that and isn't even a 'thing'.

Totally agree with the medical advertisements....it shocks me every time I go that companies think it's a good idea to advertise AT ALL when you have to also advertise the likelihood of death at taking that medicine. I think I'll stick with my headache, thanks.

The major roads always scare me in and out of Kentucky, as along the road is literally HUGE parts of cars that have had major crashes, all just lying there alongside the dead animals. It's something, for whatever reason, you don't see often in most English motorways and makes me think we're going to die whenever driving anywhere.

English McDonalds is WAY better than American McDonalds. I don't know how or why, but it is.

Yay NHS.

 

[Барбоса]

In a little side note to my latest travels, it has seen the kindling of a new hobby.

It was something that has been in the back of my mind for a long, long time and only really stayed there due to a lack of space at home. Then I saw this in a clearance sale in Hobby Lobby...

Spoiler

If there was ever any more evidence needed that I am an overgrown man-child, this is it.

 

[Барбоса]

I really am becoming obsessed with model trains, searching eBay for bargains every day...

 

[nightmare]

Is this a big thing over your way, or just an American hobby you picked up?