On the Road Again
September 3, 2014
My wife and I just got back from a road trip to Sun Valley, ID. For more on that, see my previous post. Among other things, we took in the annual Wagon Days celebration in Ketchum- complete with the jerk line mule team.
The mule team with ore wagons
This was our first drive through this part of the world and I can’t help making a number of observations.
If ever there was a place where there is no ‘there, there’ this is it. The fact that Burning Man is held 75 miles north tells you how far off the beaten path Black Rock Desert is.
The five hours from Reno to Elko has a number of exits with town names, but you couldn’t see much more than a few trailers by the side of the road.
The exception was Imlay, home of the Thunder Mountain Monument – a unique home constructed of debris from the local junkyard, and concrete.
The major industry in Northern NV appears to be power production and mining. Where else do you see road signs promoting Barrick Gold.
It was still nice to see my tax dollars at work repairing overpasses at 5,000 feet with lanes closed and minor backups. I found some of the downhill sections of the high desert a bit intimidating and I couldn’t figure out why until I noticed there were no guard rails. Nothing to keep sleepy motorists from simply driving off the road and down 1,000 foot embankments. We did see one car which did just that.
Parts of Route 80 in California are similar. I assume it’s to leave room for snow plowing, but still, it is odd.
Speaking of Route 80. Let me suggest that you don’t drive West on Labor Day. You’ll be joined by about 15,000 folks leaving Burning Man, along with the usual Labor Day traffic. Since many of these weekend Burners have never driven a trailer or camper before (much less a motor home) their skill at navigating Donner Pass was negligible. The result was a backup from Truckee to Nevada City, even though there wasn’t a serious accident in sight.
Two other stops to avoid during that period are the truck stop in Fernly, NV which must be the only gas station on the way out of Gerlach, and the new Whole Foods in Reno. Every other car we saw was covered in the signature desert dust of Black Rock and filled with hungry shoppers snapping up food for the trip home to the Bay Area.
If you ever decide to make the 11-hour drive to Sun Valley, let me add one word of caution on road signs. I have a particular pet peeve with signage that isn’t clear to someone who hasn’t driven the road before. A case in point is SR93 in Twin Falls – a lovely new bypass that takes travelers outside of the downtown area, though a number of mall zones, that US suburbs have made famous.
Problem is, unless you spot a single small sign pointing out a left turn, to continue on SR93 you will wind up far from you eventual destination. I guess the folks in Twin Falls just like to have lost motorists driving around aimlessly.
My favorite road sign of the whole trip was just outside of Elko, proudly proclaiming an exit for Beverly Hills. I’m sure Rodeo Drive was just off the exit ramp.
Sun Valley Serenade
September 2, 2014
My wife and I closed another hotel this weekend.
Well, I guess the Sun Valley Lodge was going to shut down for 9-month renovation, whether we stayed or not, but we were among the last guests to see the Lodge in its current incarnation.
The spa and apartment units
The 124-room, 78-year old symbol of high-end fun in the snow will be converted into a 96-room playground for the rich and famous.
Big changes planned inside
The Lodge will renovate every room, except one, expanding them to accommodate fireplaces, and updated bathrooms which will include Jacuzzi tubs and modern amenities.
The truth is the renovation is long overdue. While the Lodge, which bills itself as America’s first destination ski resort, is the priciest in the Ketchum-Sun Valley area, it fares poorly when compared to many budget priced hotel rooms. Where rooms are larger, and bathroom space for two people often included double sinks.
The Lodge was built in 1935 by the Union Pacific Railroad and has only had three owners. It’s only relatively recently that the current owner Carol Holding, who owned Sinclair Oil with her late husband Earl, made the resort and the surrounding area into a year-round destination.
The Holdings also own a number of other five-star resort properties in the Western United States
Before Mr. Holding, began marketing the location to events such as the annual Allen and Co. technology and media conference, most of the private jets at the Blaine County airport, only came during ski season. Now it’s not unusual to see folks like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mariel Hemmingway, or tech moguls wandering downtown Ketchum year round.
A Labor Day visitor
California’s former governor was there over the recent Labor Day weekend, with his current young honey, but that’s a story for another post.
For the last four months the Lodge has been the site of a major addition to accommodate a new spa and fitness center as well as several 4-bedroom apartment units designed for families or wedding parties.
You can find more details about the renovation at the Lodge website but you won’t be able to stay there until June of 2015 – just in time for the Allen and Company gathering.
A true sign of the year-round nature of the Lodge business, is the fact that they are closing for the what used to be high-season for The Valley ski industry.
Until next summer, you can stay at the Sun Valley Inn, the sister hotel barely 100 yards away, or at any of the many condominiums managed by the Lodge.
In general, locals are thrilled and seem genuinely happy that a new generation of the Holding family is taking an active interest in managing the mini-empire. Carol Holding, is in her 80’s, and has been largely a ceremonial leader since her husband died in 2013 but her son, Stephen, has apparently taken over and as the press release says, wants to guarantee another 75 years of ownership.
Ernest and Mary Hemingway
By the way, that lone room that will not be renovated? You guessed it – room 206, which hosted Ernest Hemingway and his lover in 1939, as ‘Papa’ finished “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Current hotel employees say the room has never been fully renovated and includes the original claw-foot tub- and can still be rented – although the plumbing apparently clogs frequently.
But the isolated cabin, where Hemingway lived during his Sun Valley years, and where he died, is on private land and not open to the public.
If my wife and I probably win the lottery by next year- we’ll be able to afford the rates at the new Lodge, since the area is truly a beautiful destination any time of the year and we look forward to returning for the annual Sun Valley Wellness Festival next May.
Getting Away, Southwest Style
July 16, 2013
By now most of us are pretty bored with stories pointing out bad customer service on airlines. But sometimes they can lead to a valuable management lesson. At least I hope so, and if not I’m sure I’ll feel better anyway.
Recently, I was traveling from Boise, Idaho to Oakland, California on Southwest. Plane was scheduled to leave at 6:50 p.m. and was, of course, the last flight out to the Bay Area that day.
Unexpectedly I arrived early, only to find that the flight was ‘delayed slightly’ according to the agent at the ticket counter. So, 6:50 departure, became 7:05, then 7:30 and then 7:55 and then 8:30. By now it was 6:00 and the gate area was filled with folks waiting for a gate agent to see if their connections would be O.K. One traveler even unsuccessfully called the airport paging service to ask that an agent come down to the gate area.
Around the time we should have been boarding, an agent finally shows up and promptly walks away to use the rest room. O.k, so nature calls, it happens. Of course, when she returns she is inundated with passengers wanting to know what to do about their connections.
Her first act is to get on the PA system and say, “Look, I really don’t know what’s going on, and until I do, I don’t have any answers. These things happen all the time, but the more you people stand up here asking me questions the longer it will take me to sort this out, so please do not come to the desk area.”
Two hundred shocked passengers retreated in fear.
But, here’s my point. Southwest knew the flight was delayed when they sent her to the gate, don’t you think she should have known what was coming and possibly checked out the situation before she got to the desk?
Flight delays may happen to her all the time, but to most of the ticket holders in the waiting area, it was just a bit more stress they didn’t need.
Eventually, it all got sorted out and people were rerouted and booked on flights the next day…and we made it back to the Bay Area 2.5 hours late. But it sure seems like a manager might have suggested she show up prepared, so that she wouldn’t be treating her paying customers like third graders waiting for recess.
Certainly made me an ex-Southwest customer.