America’s Car Museum(s)

A big fan of car museums, I checked on the progress of the LeMay this morning and started salivating at its official opening day–June 2, 2012.  I first saw Harold LeMay’s collection about 7 years ago and was immediately intrigued.  Harold purchased about 3,500 cars, busses, fire trucks, etc. and found himself in the Guinness Book of World Records as a result.  He bought somewhat indiscriminately and by 1998 had, along with a lot of derelicts, a huge collection of Chevrolets made between 1932 and 1958 including a rare 38 Master Deluxe Limo. The family began auctioning off some of the not-so-specials to pay for what is now America’s Car Museum next to the Tacoma Dome in the State of Washington.   Planning to showcase Harold’s best and opening in 201o, the family didn’t quite make that so I’ve had be patient.  I hope they kept the Pierce Arrow and the Cord Westchester.  I’ll soon find out!

Another one of my favorite car collections has also been broken up, the Towe, which was on display in what is now Sacramento’s California Automobile Museum. The name officially changed in 2009.  75% of the cars now on display are privately owned, so the lengths of time they’ll be there vary.  The upside is that CAM is different with each visit.  The Towe Collection included, or at least it was there during my visit, Franklin Roosevelt’s specially outfitted 36 Ford Phaeton.  It’s not found on CAM’s website.  I was glad to see, however, the rare 66 Shelby Cobra 427 Sports Car still listed.  I wonder what happened to my favorite, Bank of America founder A.P. Giannini’s 33 Lincoln KB?  One of only 52 made, its many luxury features included a Cigalite, a dashboard convenience that dispensed a lit cigarette.  If anyone knows where this Lincoln is, please let me know.

The quite fine Crawford Auto Museum is in Cleveland, Ohio’s University Circle. Among its 200 autos are 80 cars that originated in Cleveland way back in the days when this city threatened Detroit’s dominance with more than 70 car manufacturers.  I learned in preparation for this blog on About.com.Cleveland that “The first auto sold in the US came from Cleveland’s Winton Motors” and that The Plain Dealer, Cleveland’s venerable newspaper, created and used the word “automobile” for the first time.

Just this past summer Ruth and I discovered Kokomo, Indiana’s Automotive Museum, where over 100 classic cars through the 70s are displayed.  That a car museum is here is not surprising when you learn that the inventor of the automobile, Elwood Haynes, lived here and tested what is said to be the first self-propelled vehicle in US history in 1894.  Afraid that someone in the crowd that gathered might be injured, Elwood towed his invention outside Kokomo where it ran for 1.5 miles. KAM has a replica and a photo of it is above.

Then there’s the Petersen in LA.   Harrah’s treasures scattered about.  Detroit!   It’s getting harder and harder to pursue this obsession.

Hank

Tea at The Ritz, London

In London a few years ago, Ruth and I were walking past the Ritz Hotel, scene of probably the world’s most famous afternoon tea.   “Let’s do something crazy and make reservations for tomorrow,” I said impulsively.

Ruth agreed and we entered.  Although a stiffly formal man followed us around like a bloodhound tracking a suspicious scent as we inquired, we passed some kind of inspection and were allowed to make a reservation for the next day.  This was a case of extreme luck we later learned.  If you’re not a Ritz guest, you need to book at least 3 month in advance.  We were instructed in a starchy, judgmental way to dress properly.

The next day my  jacket and tie, not exactly the work of a fine London tailor, got me in.  Not true for a well dressed woman who happened to be wearing jeans.  She was not-too-discretely turned away.

Was it elegant?  Does Queen Elizabeth wear hats?   On the bottom of a three-tiered tray were tiny sandwiches with delicious fillings.  My favorite, oddly enough, was the traditional English cucumber/cream cheese with dill and chives on caraway seed bread.  The upper tiers contained scones and dessert morsels, mostly one-bite cakes of unsurpassed quality.

The service was very proper and the presentation impeccable, but I didn’t have the feeling that the server wanted to know anything about me beyond my ability to avoid slurping and drooling in The Palm Court.

Was it worth it?  Spot on.  It was one of those unforgettable times when you decide the considerable expense is worth the experience.  Currently £42 per person, it’s a bit more than I’d spend for a pot of tea and some tiny treats when rational.

Would I do it again?  Not until the British Pound and the American Dollar are more in line with each other.  Today, £100 will drain my checking account of $157 plus a transaction fee.  And to retire to a guest room in the Ritz afterwards to celebrate good fortune for 4 nights will cause 2,202 USD (and 12¢) to show up on my Master Card statement in April.  I checked for March, 2012, just to see what it would cost.

Since the GBP soared way above the USD some years ago, we haven’t been back to England.  Before that, we visited annually and have nothing but fond memories. It isn’t just the currency disparity that has kept us away from one of the world’s great cities.  Ruth and I also concluded that every week spent in familiar London meant time not spent in some unknown, potentially just as great destination.

Last night, however, we got to discussing St. Martin in the Field and began to feel a nostalgic tug.  So I may be walking past the Ritz again in 2012 and learning that cucumber sandwiches can overrule common sense more than once.

Hank

Australia, Part 22

From July to November, spring Down Under, Western Australia experiences wildflowers.  About a million square miles of terrain are covered with 12,000 species, many unique to this part of Australia.  We saw lots of  tiny orchids of which there are 150 natives of exceptional beauty even in a dry year like 2007.  We saw no dazzling wildflower fields, but we did stop often to see hundreds of varieties over a period of 10 days that ended at a wildflower farm.  We went as far north as Geraldton and back to Kalgoorlie without touching a single one.  The fine for picking wildflowers at the time was $7,000.

Our first night, however, was spent tromping around in the dark with flashlights, called torches in Australia, for 2 hours at the Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary about 3o miles east of Perth.  We were  looking for Woylies, the first threatened species to be taken off the endangered list about 25 years ago.

At the time, Karakamia was one of 15 sanctuaries run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit organization trying to conserve threatened species.   Now there are 22 sanctuaries all over Australia with names like Wongalara and Yookamurra.   Why such rapid expansion?

There are two answers.  According to a Conservancy handout, “Australia is home to more biodiversity than any other developed nation on Earth.”  Secondly, Australia has the worst mammal extinction record in the world.  In the past 200 years, 22 mammals like the thylacine, an unusual cat also called the Tasmanian tiger and last seen in 1936, and the crescent nail-tail wallaby, gone in 1956, have become extinct. More than 1,500 species, including plants, are threatened.  Over the past 400 years, 1/3 of the world’s extinct mammals are of Australian origin.

In 2007 Karakamia was the only conservation area totally fenced so that predators like foxes that kill native species don’t get access.  This is, after all, the country that has found it necessary to erect mile upon mile of dog and rabbit proof fencing.

When this particular sanctuary was established in 1991, there were only 3 resident native mammals–the echidna, the kangaroo, and the Brushtail Possum.   They had survived because the first is like a porcupine, the second can run extremely fast, and the third is too large to consider for dinner.  The endangered Woylie and a few other species like the numbat, a sorta cute anteater, and the some types of wallabies have been introduced at Karakamia and are thriving.

The Woylie is also known as the Brush-tailed Bettong. Cats love them.  Kind of rodent-like with long tails, grey fur, and soulful, beady eyes, Woylies come out at night to gather sticks and leaves to hide under during the day.  Roaming cats know this.  Despite protection, they remain very endangered.  The only somewhat stable population of them was at Krakamia despite the fact that at one time they scampered over 60% of Australia, as far east as Melbourne.

The night we hunted them they weren’t especially numerous although we did see a few (stop reading here if you dislike really bad jokes).  Because it was basically a slow night for wildlife, one of the bushwalkers told us this groan-inducing gag (Australians tend to like bad jokes if my experience is typical).  What do you call a dog with no legs?  You can call it anything you like.  It won’t come.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Hank

Death Valley, Final Thoughts

According to Death Valley National Park, a free guide found in many places, the summer temperature often gets up to 120°.  For 9 years Death Valley held the world’s record for highest temperature until it went up to 136° in the Sahara Desert in 1922.

Rain is infrequent, averaging less than two inches per year.  Something called the rainshadow effect, high mountains west of a deep depression, causes moisture blockage.  But in 2004, rain was so torrential that there was major flooding and damage to roads and structures.  In March, 2005, the wildflowers were knee-deep in places.  In many years they’re virtually non-existent.

When you look across the Death Valley’s landscape. it seems mostly barren and lifeless.  Not the case.  There are over 1,000 plant species including 13 types of cactus out there.

The best place to stay in the Park is the elegant Furnace Creek Inn which opened in 1927 but doesn’t look it.  Until the 1920s borax hauling, not gold mining, made Death Valley profitable.  But then mining operations moved closer to markets and The Borax Company switched to tourism, building 12 rooms at Furnace Creek for starters.  Depending on season and type of accommodation, current room rates range from $134 to $219 per night.

What’s left of the Harmony Borax Works, actually quite enough to picture the entire operation, is one mile north of Furnace Creek and worth a stop.  It’s not on a lot of maps, however, so we almost missed this free attraction.  Then there’s the mysterious town of Ryan that I plan to research.

Borax is used as a laundry booster and is found in makeup, toothpaste and computer chips according to Ranger Rose.  Twenty-mule teams used to haul it out of Death Valley, except that 2 of the 20 were horses.

Almost 100% of the furnishings in Scotty’s Castle are original thanks to The Gospel Foundation.  It  donated the decor to the National Park Service.  The Johnson’s enormous swimming pool that makes Hearst’s look kind of dinky by comparison was never finished nor filled.   Had it been, it would have been the largest in California.

Artist’s Drive, a one-way loop, is worthwhile but elusive.  We were told 3 different measures of its length and given 3 times of day when the rocks’ best colors were revealed.   Death Valley National Park described the ones seen at Artist’s Palette viewpoint as “sea green, lemon yellow, periwinkle blue and salmon pink.”  Not when we were there.  If you happen to see this vivid phenomenon, consider yourself very, very lucky and send me a picture.

When you’re In Death Valley in January, you often feel weirdly alone.  But visitors increased 15% in 2011 to about 1 million.

There are more than 800 miles of unpaved and 4-wheel-drive roads in the Park but little evidence of the trains that used to cross it although we noted a deteriorating station in the ghost town of Rhyolite.  I figured that running out of gas and tire blowouts were major threats.  Not the case.  Ranger Rose told us that the number one problem is dehydration, year-round, and #2 is climbing accidents.  It’s recommended that you drink at least a gallon of water per day if you’re having a hot time.

You might as well leave your cell phone at home.  Or if you’re like me, you’ll spend a lot of time trying to and failing to get connected.

So in summation, Death Valley is a place of surprise and contradiction.  We look forward to returning.

Hank

Las Vegas’ Pinball Hall of Fame

The Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas was chilling and instructional, but The Pinball Hall of Fame was pure pleasure.

At 1610 East Tropicana Ave, PHoF is a strictly non-profit venture that generates impressive money for charities, especially the Salvation Army.  There are signs near the entrance that explain its mission.  One reports that in 2011, $516,610 was donated to local service charities, and there’s a replica of a December 15 2011, check made out to Salvation Army for $400,000.  This serious money was collected 50¢ per game on “machines the deliver fun” to avid and focused pinball fans.

The story told on pinballmuseum.org began when Michigan’s Tim Arnold moved to Las Vegas in 1990.  He had done well in the arcade business and wanted to have a place to showcase his pinball machine collection, now the world’s largest.

The Hall of Fame quickly outgrew its first Las Vegas venue and moved to the Tropicana location exactly 3 years and 3 months ago according to the man in charge on the day Ruth and I visited.   Total pinball machines for play currently number 152, arcade games 54, etc.   All are identified on the website under Game List.  The machines are in perfect working order thanks to 8 volunteers.  The oldest I saw was a 1947 Heavy Hitter.  Ruth was told that she could spot the oldest machines because of their wooden frames.

The operation took 1.3 million dollars to set up and, in addition to the 10,000 square feet Hall of Fame, there’s a 3 car garage behind it full of parts.  This is definitely an ongoing obsession.

It’s free and opens to the public every day at 11 am.  On Friday and Saturday, the lights flash until midnight.  On other days of the week PHoF closes at 11.  And it’s all “pure pinball (and a few arcade novelty games)” according to its website.

I wandered up and down the aisles looking at the enticing, nostalgia-inducing pinball machines while Ruth interviewed the man behind the counter in the back.   We didn’t get his name, but he was as enthusiastic about the operation as we assume Tim Arnold is.

PHoF is clearly all about having a good time.  It’s website says that fun is something that “a lot of people come to Vegas for, and don’t get.”  It’s in great supply here.

Hank