Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » Vegas to Detroit and back « Previous Next »
Archive through July 05, 2007Ray193675 07-05-07  5:41 pm
Archive through July 29, 2007Elviswithteeth30 07-29-07  4:30 am
  ClosedNew threads cannot be started on this page. The threads above are previous posts made to this thread.        

Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1715
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 2:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We wondered about you, Elvis. How goes it?
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5472
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 5:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Careful Elvis, what goes to Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas.

jjaba.
Top of pageBottom of page

Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue

Post Number: 221
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 11:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not everything stays in Vegas...but most of it can be cured with penicillin.
Top of pageBottom of page

Elviswithteeth
Member
Username: Elviswithteeth

Post Number: 38
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 12:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Its going pretty good. Had a few interviews and staying in the Flamingo/Pecos area.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1721
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 1:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My old neighborhood. Nice pub just east of you on Flamingo at Sandhill called Thumpers. And I retired from Desert Springs Hospital just to the west. Had a two-mile commute to work; that was pure ecstasy for 15 years!
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5477
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 1:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If Ray1936 wasn't in Las Vegas, maybe he could have prevented Cass Tech. from burning down. Sadly, true. Ray1936 walked that beat for yrs.

Tom Snyder is also Tom1936. We loved him on NBC for all those years. jjaba bets (Las Vegas pun intended) that Ray1936 has a similar laugh.

jjaba, Proudly Retired Westside Detroit Times Newsboy.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1723
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 2:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"If Ray1936 wasn't in Las Vegas, maybe he could have prevented Cass Tech. from burning down. Sadly, true. Ray1936 walked that beat for yrs."

No, I just missed that stretch of Grand River. The 2nd Precinct (Vernor) beats on Grand River started at the Lodge and went northwest. Loved it when I got the stretch from 14th to the Boulevard during hockey season. I don't suppose any "beat work" is done in today's policing, but it was a great job, even in the dead of winter. Maybe my Detroit Times route prepared me for that!

"Tom Snyder is also Tom1936."

Yeah, I always feel a twinge whenever a "class of 1936" fellow passes away. One becomes more and more aware of his mortality with each passing year and reading obits of folks younger who cash in their chips.
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5481
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 2:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Compare Las Vegas beats to Detroit in January?
In other words, how many cups of piping hot coffee and how many donuts to trudge through the snow? It must have been rough on your horse back then too.

Yes, old newsboys learned alot, and have served their communitiers ever since.

jjaba, Proudly Westside, "dooring 'em."
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1727
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 2:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Compare Las Vegas beats to Detroit in January?

Oooo...I'd take Detroit in January any time over Vegas in July for working outside. Seems like there was always a coffee shop somewhere along a Detroit beat, or a bar that had a coffee pot going. Like in the Detroit Times days, you always dressed for the weather. One learns fast.
Top of pageBottom of page

Elviswithteeth
Member
Username: Elviswithteeth

Post Number: 40
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 12:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well...think I'll be heading back to Michigan next week for the house looks to be sold. So anyone want to accompany me for the trip back from Vegas.....ALL ABOARD!
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1731
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 12:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Going back the same way or via the southern route on I-40???
Top of pageBottom of page

Elviswithteeth
Member
Username: Elviswithteeth

Post Number: 41
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 2:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi Ray...which way is quicker?
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5484
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 2:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray1936, take Elvis back on US 66. It takes two dedicated drivers and navigators to do it right.

Ride the Mother road.
jjaba.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1732
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 5:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The route through Utah/Colorado/Nebraska etc (I-70 & I-80) is 100 miles shorter. But you avoid all the steep grades and mountain curves of Utah and Colorado, so time-wise it's not that much different. Also, the drive through Missouri is particularly nice, compared to Nebraska/Iowa.

As Jjaba urges, you'll follow most of the general route of old US-66 from Kingman to St. Louis. A real bit of American history there. Do watch out for the Joad family along the way......
Top of pageBottom of page

Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue

Post Number: 230
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 04, 2007 - 11:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The two tackiest cities in the U.S.A......Las Vegas, NV and Orlando, FL...both absolutely without charm.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1743
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Sunday, August 05, 2007 - 12:22 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, well, U of M football is also tacky. :-)
Top of pageBottom of page

Bearinabox
Member
Username: Bearinabox

Post Number: 247
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Sunday, August 05, 2007 - 12:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Rudyard Kipling summed up my view of Vegas perfectly (though he was talking about Chicago): "Having seen it, I urgently desire never to see it again."
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5493
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Sunday, August 05, 2007 - 3:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Orlando and Las Vegas are inventions of the 20th Century for tourists. As for pure natural geographic spots, one can do much better.

Both are particularly challenged in summer when heat, heat, and more heat dominate. How either of them can attract tourists in summer is way beyond this traveler's imagination.

Yes, anything US 66 Mother Road is well worth the time and trip. It is wonderful to get a guidebook and take the time to explore this slice of Americana. 2,400 from Grant Park, Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif. Again, if you don't want to endure huge heat, see it far away from summer.

jjaba, pulling out of a cafe in Joplin, Mo. heading to get me a "Concrete" in St. Louis.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1750
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Sunday, August 05, 2007 - 4:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"How either of them can attract tourists in summer is way beyond this traveler's imagination."

Unlike the Dexter bus, everything is air conditioned.
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5498
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Monday, August 06, 2007 - 4:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Air conditioning can't eliminate the brown and lack of rain. Touring in a desert in summer should only be reservaed for the German tourists who think it is quite novel.

jjaba's wife hiked to bottom of Grand Canyon in 125 degree heat in June. How crazy is that?
After that, with her exhausted, jjaba drove to Las Vegas. At Midnight, the pavement was still hotter than everybody at a Senior Prom.

Yes, the Dexter is hot these days.

jjaba, Westsider.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1751
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Monday, August 06, 2007 - 4:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Touring in a desert in summer should only be reservaed for the German tourists who think it is quite novel."

Well, touring Michigan in winter is something that only skiiers and other assorted nuts do. So there. :-)
Top of pageBottom of page

Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue

Post Number: 232
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Monday, August 06, 2007 - 11:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There's no skiing in Michigan...the highest hill is 500 ft...hell, I've fallen that far on some world class mountains.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1754
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 12:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How high is Mt. Elliott?
Top of pageBottom of page

Elviswithteeth
Member
Username: Elviswithteeth

Post Number: 44
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 12:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Our Motown Mile High!
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5500
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 3:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Skiing vacations in Michigan? Ray1936 has been away a long time obviously. Michigan skiers head for the Rockies or Vermont in winter. Richer ones go to Zermatt, Switzerland.

Yet again, they have huge ice festivals in Canada all winter, eh. But that's Canada and they are a hearty lot.

jjaba, sipping latte at Sun Valley, Idaho which is nice summers and winters.
Top of pageBottom of page

Karenk
Member
Username: Karenk

Post Number: 49
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 4:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Like those of us who live in Las Vegas our motto is, "YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOVEL IT!" I moved here to avoid the rain/snow, taxes and high energy bills. It is perfect for me right now. The brown as you call it, has a beauty of it's own if you just look at it. The sunrise or sunset on the mountains is a sight to see, the same brilliant colors as house burning down. It's a different way of living, love it or leave it. Not everyplace can be Detroit, thank G-d. Oh yes, only tourists call it 'Vegas'.
Top of pageBottom of page

Margaret
Member
Username: Margaret

Post Number: 37
Registered: 06-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 7:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

every place has its great time: Michigan in October (and perhaps May); Las Vegas/the desert in the spring. hey, do the Route 66 trek in March, when those long gray Detroit winters have just about driven you nuts. the best sort of spring break. getcher motor runnin, head out on the highway...

me, just singin "I've been everywhere mannn..." LOL
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1758
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 7:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Margaret hit the nail on the head. Every place has something special about it, and I'd not knock anyone's choice of living locations.

Not so sure about Nebraska, though...... :-)
Top of pageBottom of page

Tponetom
Member
Username: Tponetom

Post Number: 93
Registered: 06-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 11:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray:
I once heard that there are miles and miles of nothing but miles in Nebraska. I have been through Nebraska about ten times. It never changes.
Top of pageBottom of page

Goblue
Member
Username: Goblue

Post Number: 234
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 11:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Las Vegas and Orlando, FL...both the same...all the charm of a pile of plastic.
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1759
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 12:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whatever.
Top of pageBottom of page

Bearinabox
Member
Username: Bearinabox

Post Number: 255
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 12:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sheesh, I don't hate Vegas because of the climate! I love the desert. I'm just a sucker for old buildings. Entire cities built after 1950 don't hold much appeal for me. I like Las Vegas about as much as I like Troy, and for exactly the same reasons. Nothing against anyone who chooses to live in either of those places, but they aren't for me.
Top of pageBottom of page

Lowell
Board Administrator
Username: Lowell

Post Number: 4059
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 12:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What a great thread! Thanks Ray1936 for starting it and all who have 'chipped' in.

I made the trek back around 99, but not the 'hard way'. Mrs. Lowell, the kid and I, found a Key Tours charter flight with transfers to Circus Circus and seven nights for one grand. What a 'deal'! How could we not do it?

We have no interest in gambling so the plan was to rent a car and day trip to Death Valley, Zion National, Hoover Dam. Regrettably my first option, the nuclear test range is off limits. I always wanted to stand on the spot where one was lit. [I'll risk the residual radiation hit.]

Vegas is amid natural wonders... and unnatural wonders. The strip is unlike anything in the world. It is unnatural, pure kitsch and glitz, a laugh and a surprise every minute, yet very revealing of the human desire and dreams. It is all so thin and fragile and yet has figured out how to prosper, even boom, with absolutely nothing going for it -- a former rail junction town in the middle of the desert. Mind over matter. If the Hoover dam were blown it would likely vanish.

I loved it, pimples and all, and understand why it is the fastest growing city in the country. I shall return.

[And, hey, those Teamster pension payments I made that I will never collect helped build it!]
Top of pageBottom of page

Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 1762
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 1:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Regrettably my first option, the nuclear test range is off limits."

Actually, Lowell, the Department of Energy does offer occasional tours of the test site, including a long stay at Sedan Crater, the nuke blast from 30 years ago to test the use of nukes for construction excavation. It's a huge crater. Anyone interested need simply call the Las Vegas office of the DOE for schedules (they even bus you out there from Las Vegas).

When I first hit town in '84 after retiring from the DPD, I applied at Whackenhut Security for a security position at the test site. Lot of testing, and then they bussed me to the site (Mercury, NV) for my physical. Half way through my physical, they gave me a lunch voucher and turned me loose in the cafeteria. I took my loaded tray and sat at a table, realizing that the man opposite me with a lab coat and thick, bushy eyebrows looked exactly like Dr. Edward Teller. Well, it wasn't, but I'd of made book that he was the one that "pushed the button"...

The job was eventually offered, but by then I had taken a management job in town so passed the offer by. Would have been interesting, though.
Top of pageBottom of page

Jjaba
Member
Username: Jjaba

Post Number: 5501
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 3:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It was the Detroit Times route in the 1950s on your resume' that got you in. Good work.

jjaba, Westsider.

Add Your Message Here
Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.