Post 11. Vegas pt 2 plus a gross P.S.

Hi All,

I Just got home from work and I thought I'd finish the Vegas weekend. I left off with the visit to the Pawn shop featured in Pawn Stars on 7Mate. I had a look through their stuff, a lot of gold and Jewelry and some items that have been featured on the show and A LOT of merchandise (Mer's I got us all matching "I love Pawn Stars" T shirts with mine saying "I'm a Pawn Star" on the back. Cool hey? Anyway, it was around 7 pm and I looked around the neighbour hood and the accommodation that was available, when getting a start on the journey home seemed like an awesome idea. Outside the populated strip gets a bit seedy after dark, so I thought I'd take a chance at "Whiskey Pete's". So I drove back to California and grabbed a room at Whiskey Pete's Casino for $50; bargin. As I said in my last post, there is desert in every direction from Pete's, the Medieval styled buildings just rise up at the border with a fun park the other side of the highway with the two sides connected by a monorail. There is no reason for this place to be here. There is also a fuel station, which I can understand, but a rollercoaster??

I checked in thinking there would be bugger all people there. I was wrong, while it wasn't packed it was bustling (it was Saturday night). The gaming tables were full and a band started up at nine (embedded below). I don't know where all the people lived, they couldn't all be travelers. There was even a McDonalds inside the Casino along with an iHop (another type of franchise where I had tea that night and breaky the next morning), Angus, you would have loved the pancakes. it was while I was eating my pancakes when I found out Napa had been hit with a pretty big earthquake.

One cool thing Whiskey Pete's had was the car that Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down in in 1932 (I think). Boy's, Bonnie and Clyde were two criminals in America that killed a heap of people and robbed banks and stores. The police ambushed them one night in their car and shot heaps of bullets into it and in the process killed them. The photos below show the shot up car. There was also a display about the Mob involvement in the development of Las Vegas.

There's not much more to tell. I had a few beers, looked around and listened to the band (music style was on the country side of rockabilly).

The picking has slowed right down at North Canyon. We handpicked a number of 2 year old blocks over the last two days. So all the Pinot is off. There is just a bit of chardy to go. I just found out they want me in the Napa on the 7th of Sept. The plan was that I would help the manager of Napa South, Harinder, who was in Australia a couple of years ago. We sent a Pellenc up to the Napa from North Canyon this afternoon. I guess as a comparison to Australia, we are nearing the end of February so Coonawarra would (in a warm year) be just starting whites. I know that Be's are racing in Napa and Napa south has a lot of Chardonnay so into the thick of it possibly next weekend. I will be living with three other guys in Yountville (centre of Napa Valley) when I get there. That'll be a bit of a change to the present where I've been by myself for nearly four weeks. The 7th will be the first night we are all there together so the company has generously shouted us a night out as a "get to know each other/welcome to Napa" night. Should be fun.

Now the P.S

San Luis Obispo is a college town with Cal Poly the local university. As such there is a good vibe in town and a lot of pubs, some of which I've managed to visit. The other day I was walking down the street and I got an overwhelming smell of bubble gum. I looked down an alley and I saw several people taking pictures of the brick walls. When I looked the walls were very colourful. So what, I hear you ask? Well, the colours were from bubblegum stuck to the walls. And I don't mean a few chewed up balls of gum. It was as if the gum was holding the buildings up there was so much. The photo's are below. And yes, it is all chewing gum.

The entrance to Whiskey Pete's

Bonnie & Clyde 1

Bonnie & Clyde 2

One of the best movies to come out of the eighties (poor photo sorry)

The band at Whiskey Pete's

Gross chewing gum 1

Gross chewing gum 2

gross chewing gum 3

Mer's, I was just joking about the pawn stars shirts :-)

Bye

Scott 

Post 10. Ready to let the Dogs Out? Pt 1

Hi All,

The answer to the above question (a Hangover reference to those who havnt seen the movie)? Hardly. I decided before I came to the U.S that Las Vegas was a place I wanted to see, even briefly. I knew I couldn't afford to spend any length of time there, also gambling dosent interest me, but I wanted to soak up the atmosphere and energy of the place. There was plenty of both as I found out. I opened up the vineyard at 5:30 am, did some jobs then headed of at 7:30. I arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was a long drive but I enjoyed it. I have heaps of photos taken from the window of the Taco (below). The landscape was dry and brown for the most part but not featurless. The mountain ranges were pretty spectacular and high enough that your ears popped regularly. When looking at the route to Vegas I saw I would go past Edwards Airforce base and I knew from reading somewhere there was a cool plane at the gate. So when I saw the signs to exit I got off the freeway and had a look. The plane (photo's below) was a B-52 bomber. But it was a special one. It was modified to carry the X-15 which was a rocket powered aircraft operated in the 1960s that flew regularly to the edge of space and beyond. The B52 below carried the X-15 to between 13 & 14 km's when it would release it for its mission (sorry for all the photo's. I think its pretty awesome).

Road to Vegas 1

On the turn off to Edwards Airforce Base

The B-52 that carried the X-15. The cradle that held it is between the fuselage and the first set of engines

A visual list of this particular plane's missions

Panorama

Yours truly

Joshua Trees (think U2's fifth album)

3 Solar Thermal power stations near the California/Nevada border

The border between California and Nevada. Meters across the border and there is a casino

 Once I hit the border the Casinos started. The first one was "Whiskey Pete's". There was a casino one side of the highway and a carnival with show rides on the other. I mean, there is nothing in all directions, but this place is there. It turns out that I spent the night here but i'll get to that. From the border it was about 45 mins to Vegas and you drive over a rise and it just appears, rising out of the desert, shimmering in the heat.

Las Vegas

 I drove straight to the MGM Grand and parked. My plan was to walk to each of the big casinos, have a look around, walk the strip, have something to eat and find a place to stay. I did all of that except find a place to stay. It was packed with people. There were no rooms left at the MGM Grand, the Bellagio, Aria, or the Flamingo. Caesar's Palace and a couple of others had rooms for upwards of $250. I tried the places just off the strip listed in the Lonely Planet but they were booked out as well. Anyway I walked the strip a couple of times, saw some cool stuff (below), got some early tea and headed back to Whiskey Pete's, thinking surely there would be a room there. I spent a total of 6 hours in Vegas (7 hours to get there, 6 hours looking around and 6.5 hours getting home the next day). And I would do it again as I wont be back for a very long time, if at all. I'll let the photo's and the video below do the talking. One cool thing I saw was the Gold and Silver Pawn shop featured on channel 7Mate, Pawn Stars. The Old Man, Rick, Corey or Chumlee weren't there but it was exactly as it appears on television.

Foyer of MGM Grand. Lion in a boxing ring

MGM Grand Lion

Bellagio (on left) and Casar's Palace on right

Foyer of Caesar's Palace



Rick's Pawn shop

Rick's Pawn shop 2

Inside Rick's Pawn shop

I think I'll leave it there for now. Part 2 will follow in the next day or two

 

Bye

Post 9. Paso 360 Winery

Hi All,

Its been a busy week harvesting at North Canyon. I was working 10 am to 9-10 pm each day. This involved setting up the night's pick, samples, some maintenance work and when we started picking at 5:30 in the evening making sure the harvesters were picking clean, and if there were problems helping to resolve them (such as two bent fans in one of the Pellenc's. A hammer and brute force kept us going there).

The town the North Canyon vineyard is close to is Santa Maria. The Santa Maria area is famous for its BBQ's. Now, they are'nt bbq's as we know them in Australia, they are what we would call roasted beef slow cooked over a fire pit. Having established that culinary fact, a local delicacy is the Tri Tip sandwich. This is a hot dog bun absolutely filled to the brim with sliced bbq beef, served with salsa and jalapeño chilli. I have a photo below, it's delicious. I havn't braved the jalapeño's yet but it dosen't need them in my opinion, Angus you would love it, Zach I know you wouldn't and I know Seamus you'd at least try it.

The Tri Tip Sandwich. Soooo Muuuuch Meeeeeeeat. mmmmm

On Friday, myself and the Vineyard Manager drove to the Paso 360 winery in Paso Robles to have a look and taste the fruit we have sent there so far, as well as checking out the vineyard. There are photos below. There is some are some upgrades being done on this winery and in the vineyard. They have a new open fermenter bank in what used to be their bottling hall (bottling is done in Napa now) and this is where a lot of the Pinot from North Canyon ends up. Paso 360 is just a bit smaller than Wynn's. The winemaker who showed us around was really cool and I discovered he did a vintage in Australia with the company last year.

Open fermenters 1

Open fermenters 2

Larger tanks

Next post; Vegas Baby!

Scott

Post 8. Extra Photo's

Hi All,

These photo's are taken on the sunday of my weekend in L.A

Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird!!!!

 

 

There are over 2000 stars on the path each side of Hollywood Boulevarde

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Robin Willam's star

Cast of Star Trek

Trying Spock's hand on for size in the classic Vulcan salute

Panorama of Vasquez Rocks

Vasquez Rocks

Panorama of the other side

 

Bye

 

Post 7. L.A

Hi All,

Hey boys, I have some exciting news on the bear front. Two were spotted last wednesday night. It also happened to be the night I went back to working days so I missed them. It shows they are around though. This weekend I went to LA. I drove down in the Taco, which I wasn't too sure about but it was pretty easy. The big 5 lane highways are a dream, especially when I had google maps guiding me everywhere. I first went to Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills and walked around, then headed down to Santa Monica by the beach. I stayed at a youth hostel in Santa Monica one street from the beach so from there I walked everywhere. I went down to the pier (see photos) and then walked along the beach to Venice, to muscle beach where the body builders hang out. The lonely planet called Venice kooky and they were not wrong. There's an odd assortment of people down there. They include, but are not limited to, homeless beggars, a freak show (yes a real freak show, bearded lady, wolf boy etc), marijuana doctors wanting to "proscribe" some "medicine", A dude with speedos and snakes, body builders, some people dancing on top of a bus to the Eagles, skate boarders, tourists (lots of these), arts and crafts, heaps of tattoo parlors, pubs and t shirt shops. The were hordes of people with some just hanging out at the beach and enjoying the day. When I got back from Venice there was also a guy taking his iguana out for a walk (see photos). I went to a couple of pubs that night and had some tea then looked at a couple of cool stores. The next morning I drove to Hollywood Boulevard, to Grauman's Chinese Theatre. This is in the heart of the Hollywood walk of fame, on Hollywood boulevard, where the stars are in the pavement. I found a few of interest but what was most interesting was the small memorial set up around Robin Williams star (see photo). In front of the Chinese theatre was the autographs of the cast of Star Trek and their hand prints. I got a photo of my hand in Spock's.

I then drove out to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, just to say I've been there and then drove out to Vasquez Rocks. Vasquez Rocks is a geological oddity of strange shaped rocks in northern L.A. county, where they have shot a heap of westerns and the odd Star Trek episode. From there I drove three hours back home.

It was a good weekend, that I crammed a fair bit into, and experienced a lot of different stuff that you can probably only find in L.A.

Back to vintage tomorrow.

I'll do two posts. The photos from Saturday will be in this post and Sundays photos will be in a new post because there are a lot of them.

That's about it.

Until next time

Entrance to Rodeo Drive

Rodeo Drive

Santa Monica Pier 1

Santa Monica pier 2

SM pier looking back towards the beach

Yours truly

Bikini comp and Muscle comp, Venice beach

The "cool" bus. They were dancing to music on top of it

Entrance to Venice from LA

Iguana getting some fresh air (owner was nearby)

People working out at muscle beach, Venice

The Marijuana physicians

How cool are these boys ?

Bye