So sorry that I didn’t post last night. We had a very busy day and didn’t get to bed until 1:30 am, about 10:30 pm Los Angeles time. For those of you who know us well, you are aware that is almost 2 hours past our bedtime (We are couple of “wild and crazy guys”).
Yesterday we headed to the Neue Gallery which houses “Woman in Gold” by Gustav Klimt. If you have seen the film of the same name you know the story of this painting. It was stolen by the Nazis from its owner and finally reclaimed, after a long legal struggle, by the owner’s heirs in 2005. After an amazing breakfast at the museum’s Café Sabarsky) we went to see the painting. Unfortunately visitors are not allowed to take photos of the masterpiece but you know I am not one for following rules and got my shot (see below).
“Woman in Gold” by Gustav Klimt
After the Neue Gallery we headed downtown to the One World Observatory. We arrived via subway and our arrival station was a sight in itself. They call it the Oculus or the Westfield World Trade Center Mall (see below). Here is a link since my picture [https://www.westfield.com/westfieldworldtradecenter] does not do it justice.
Westfield World Trade Center Mall
A short walk later we made it to the observatory and found out that for $37 (yikes!) we could get a ride to the top. Not a problem, the line is short (see below).
Short line to enter the Observatory
We started to get on line and were told the the line actually begins outside (see below).
The real start of the Observatory line.
Since we were running short of time we decided to leave this for another day.
Our night was a blast. We met up with my friend Gary and his girlfriend, Sharon, and two of Gary’s friends, Gary (that made it easy) and Rose. We had a lovely dinner at Avra Estiatorio followed by seeing the Broadway show “Waitress”. This was originally a movie (which I thought was awful) but it worked much better as a musical. After the show we hung out with “The Garys” and their mates at our hotel until very late and then it was off to bed.
That’s enough for now. I better get going or today’s post will be just that I wrote a blog post.
A few months ago my friend Gary was visiting us when he casually asked, “Would you like to go to my son’s wedding? It’s in New York.” My reply……. “Hell yes!”. What excuse do I need to go to the Big Apple ………….None! Moments later (much to Gary’s surprise) I already made reservations at our favorite New York hotel, the Marriott Marquis at Times Square. I just love playing with their elevator buttons (more about that in a later post).
Today is our day of departure and I am incredibly excited. No, it isn’t the fact that we got upgraded and are enjoying a wonderful breakfast at the American Airlines lounge. No it isn’t the thought that soon we will be pampered at the Marriott Marquis. No it isn’t that we will be enjoying Broadway and going to a couple of shows. No it isn’t the thought of eating a corned beef on rye sandwich that is sooooooo much better in NYC than anything you can find in Los Angeles (I wouldn’t dare mention Hermosa Beach in the same sentence as a corned beef sandwich). No it isn’t that we will be seeing Gary’s son enter into holy matrimony (more about that later too).
So what is the cause of all my excitement?
I am about to place a 149 point word down in my Words With Friends game with my friend Joe. Life just doesn’t get any better.
Posted from 35,000 feet over Wichita, Kansas. I just love technology.
Patrice, Lindsay and I were very excited about our trip to England and Ireland due to begin June 27th. You might recall that I mentioned this trip in one of my posts. Some have asked what happened? What happened was that I took a different kind of a trip. A trip I didn’t want to take.
In mid May, while we were on BBQ/National Park tour, my big brother Stephen started to have some difficulty with his vision and with walking. He was also on a trip and soon after returning home, he went for an evaluation. After numerous tests it was determined he had Creutzfeldt Jakob disease. This is a very rare illness (300 cases per year in the United States) and is invariably fatal without any known treatment. I saw Stephen on June 25th and we hugged and cried. On June 26th he was in a near comatose state. I told him that I would come see him as soon as I got back from my trip. We left the next day and although it was fun being with Patrice and Lindsay my thoughts were constantly back home with Stephen and the family.
On July 7th I was notified that Stephen had died. I made the necessary plans to return home and insisted that Patrice stay with Lindsay to finish the last few days of our trip.
The doctors said this was a one in a million case. Stephen had a disease that occurs to only one in every million people.
As a medical student I’d heard of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease but of course I’d never seen it. I did know that no treatment existed and it was invariably fatal.
I refused to believe the doctor’s diagnosis. Not Stephen. That couldn’t be. Unfortunately it soon became clear that the doctors were right. Early on when they were just getting started with their evaluation I spoke with the doctors about their findings. After that I called Stephen. He asked what the doctors told me and I said that they said “he should have been better to his little brother when they were growing up”. He chuckled and said they were right. Of course no one said that to me. It was just a little joke. Stephen wasn’t mean to me, not at all. Sure he did the usual childish things growing up but isn’t that what older brothers are for? Doesn’t it makes guys like me ready to face the world?
I remember growing up and just wanting to hang with my big brother and his friends. I wanted to be as tall as him but that never happened. I wanted to be as good an athlete but that wasn’t going to happen either. But most of all I always wanted to be able to carve the Thanksgiving turkey the way he did. Unfortunately I never could do it as well as him either.
As a kid, I remember Stephen helping me learn how to ride a bike. He would also take me to sporting events. Our dad hated baseball so Stephen would take me to a game. Once he took me down to the Coliseum to get Dodger autographs.
As adults I recall starting med school in September 1971 and getting a call a short time after from my mother telling me that Stephen was getting married. In January 1972 Stephen and Fayla were married. Forty four years later I think time has proven that to have been a wise decision. I was Stephen’s best man at his wedding and 10 years later he was mine. Stephen and Fayla have two lovely daughters and I was always welcome at their home. He was a great father to those girls. In 2013 his granddaughter Alexis was born. She made him a new man. Watching him around the baby was always a joy.
Stephen had always been wonderful with kids. When we were younger we had loads of fun with our nieces, Annette and Mort’s daughters Stephanie and Leslie. They adored Stephen. My three kids came along much later but they too adored my big brother.
Stephen was very successful in business. He essentially taught himself what he needed to know.
Stephen was very kind, generous, thoughtful and very much loved by our entire family.
The last time I saw him I was about to leave the hospital and I said, “Lindsay asked me to give you a hug for her”. We then hugged. And we hugged. I didn’t want to let go for two reasons . One, it felt good and two, I didn’t want him to see that I was crying. When we stopped hugging I realized he was crying too.
The doctors were right about Stephen. He was one in a million. And I don’t mean his disease.
We buried Stephen on Sunday, July 1oth. This was a trip I definitely didn’t want to take. Thank you to all my friends and relatives who have been so very kind during this very difficult time.
From left to right: My sister Annette, Mama, Me, Stephen
Sunday (June 26, 2016) we will be going for a walk. This isn’t a major trip in regards to travel but it is very important for our entire family. Most of you on this blog know that two of our children have suffered from Crohn’s disease since they were 11 years old.
Crohn’s is an inflammatory disease of the intestines. Presenting symptoms include cramping abdominal pain, diarrhea, poor growth and a myriad of non intestinal problems. Seeing David and Erica deal with this illness has been heartbreaking for Patrice and me. Both of them are doing well now due to medications that were not available when David was diagnosed in 1994. The development of these medications were in a large part due to research funded by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA).
Seeing our children deal with Crohn’s disease has made us committed to raise money to fund the further research needed to find the cure. Tomorrow we walk. The CCFA Take Steps Walk will be at Tongva Park 1615 Ocean Ave Santa Monica, CA 90401. Check in is at 10:00 AM and the walk begins at 11:00 AM. Parking is free (look at the Walk page for information about where you can park for free).
Many of you on the blog mailing list are already aware of the walk and I thank you for your contributions. If you would like to make a donation please go to my page. The link is http://online.ccfa.org/goto/DrRobertReiss2016.
Hope to see you at the Walk tomorrow. More important hope to see your money on my page today (I will get an email and thank you personally when I get notified).
Today is our son, David’s, 33rd birthday and he and his wife, Robyn planned a little getaway to celebrate. They asked us if we could visit and babysit Charlie and Owen. Oh my God!!! Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!
We got up early to head to LAX for this trip of a lifetime. Unfortunately the airplane Gods were not watching over us. The pilot announced: “We are pulling away from the gate and after 47 minutes in the air we will be touching down in San Jose.” But wait, what’s this? We seem to be going in the wrong direction. Pilot once again: “Sorry folks we just noticed a minor mechanical problem we will get that fixed and in a few more minutes we will be on our way.” Three hours later (yes 3 hours) we were airborne and on our way to SJC.
At the airport we were picked up by Robyn and Charlie. Unfortunately the little boy had fallen asleep in the car and it wasn’t until we made it to the house that we got to interact with the little guy. I was in Grandpa Heaven for a while (see photo below).
Robert in “Grandpa Heaven”
A short time later Charlie was awake and then the usual scenario ensued. The boys love me very much. I have no doubt about that but I know the real #1 is Grandma Patrice. Number 2 isn’t even close to #1. I have tried different things to see if I could close the gap but nothing seems to work. I don’t need to be #1 but I would at least like to be on the same playing field.
Charlie is quite young but I thought I might be able to make some inroads with his older brother, Owen. Since they live in the San Francisco area I thought maybe a Giants game would be of interest. That offer didn’t even raise an eyebrow. So I just accepted my role and tried to be a good #2. Recently Owen started to play chess. I am not a great chess player but guess what, Grandma knows NOTHING about chess! Tonight I mentioned to Owen that I was playing chess on the iPad with some of my friends. I asked him if he would like to see my game. One hour later (YES ONE HOUR UNINTERRUPTED WITH MY GRANDSON) we were still talking chess strategy. Only bedtime put an end to our session. This might have been the greatest hour of my life. To see that little mind at work as we played out possible scenarios was fantastic. And if my friend, Larry (a reader of this blog) is upset about me getting outside help I will let the entire world know, HE CAN’T BEAT A 7 YEAR OLD!!!!!
Taking care of the boys is really easy. Robyn did an amazing job writing out their daily routine and explaining where everything is kept. The boys are also such wonderful kids, following the routine like good little soldiers. There were a couple of things that we needed to know that were not on the list but Owen knows everything, so not a problem.
This was the first time that David and Robyn have gone away without the boys. There were goodbye hugs and kisses and words of encouragement when David and Robyn left. Both Patrice and I were quite worried about how they would do on their own but they seem to be doing fine so far. And Owen and Charlie are doing fine too.
Sorry for confusing some people yesterday. From the title of the post it seemed like yesterday was the last day of our vacation. Actually that would be today and we fly home tomorrow. By the title “Back to Reality” I was referring to leaving the incredible beauty of the National Parks and returning to the city of Phoenix.
Don’t get me wrong, Phoenix is a very attractive and clean city with lots of things to do but it is beyond me how anyone can live here. For example the high temperature today was 91 degrees and it is only May 23rd!
I think the cactus say it all. Doesn’t this cactus look like a hand giving you the single finger salute as you enter the greater Phoenix area? This isn’t my photo (actually I don’t think it is was taken in Phoenix) but we saw others on the road similar to this.
Saguaro Cactus, Giving the middle finger salute?
Today we attempted to stay cool and went to the Phoenix Hall of Flame. Doesn’t sound like a cool place but it really is. The Hall of Flame is a firefighter museum. We had a great time seeing numerous old time fire engines. The most recent apparatus was from 1961 and most were much, much older. They had many that had been drawn by horses and many others that were drawn by human power. The units were all refurbished and looked beautiful. We also learned a lot about the history of firefighting. There was a section for honoring those who lost their lives in service and for those who had performed feats of heroism. I even found an article (and picture) of one of my patients.
An old LA County “Pumper”
At night we got together with our daughter-in-law Robyn’s brother, Corey. We met at Olive and Ivy, a restaurant in Scottsdale. We had a wonderful night talking about Phoenix, family, movies, medicine and all sorts of other issues. It was a great time. And the meal was fantastic. If you are in these parts I would definitely recommend Olive and Ivy for dinner (the Sweet Potato Cannelloni was superb). It was the best meal we had on the trip. Yes, even better than our meals in Mexican Hat, Page, Flagstaff and Moab as hard as that might be to believe.
Corey, Patrice and Robert enjoying a fantastic meal at Olive and Ivy.
Tomorrow we fly home. Our next trip will be to visit David and Robyn’s family in June for David’s birthday. I doubt I will be writing about that. I will be too busy trying to beat my 7 year old grandson in chess. After that we will be going to England and Ireland at the end of June and early July. I will definitely write to you then.
Today was a travel day. We left Moab after breakfast and headed back to Phoenix for our flight home. We originally planned a night in Las Vegas but the thought of seeing all those neon lights after our trip filled with so much natural beauty left us lacking. Instead we retraced much of our trip north including a stop in Flagstaff.
My memory of Flagstaff, as a young boy traveling with my family, was that it was a real dump. A place to get gas when traveling on Route 66.
Things have certainly changed. We ate lunch at the Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff. It is located near Northern Arizona University in a very lovely neighborhood. Nearby is a quaint area known as the Historic District. The restaurant was recommended by a friend but neither of us can remember who. The food was very good as was the service and decor. Thank you to the person who recommended the place if he/she is a reader of this blog.
We checked into our hotel and looked for something to do. I told Patrice that the Diamondbacks were playing the Pirates today and she immediately started to grit her teeth and tighten her fists. She relaxed when I told her the game was to be played in Pittsburgh.
Instead of more baseball we decided to go to a nearby movie theater. We perused the list of available films and found “The Nice Guys” starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. When we were in Moab we heard a film critic from Salt Lake City give a very critical review of the film. He was talking about how inappropriate it was and how he was offended. My immediate thought was this was a “Red State” commentary aimed at a “Red State” audience. We looked at some other reviews and found a 8.1 out of 10 on IMDB and a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. With that in mind we raced to get to the theater. After seeing the film I think I might need to move to a “Red State”.
The film ended at a little after 8:00pm. We walked to two restaurants in the same complex as the theater and they were both closed. Finally we found a place that was about to close but agreed to seat us. Restaurants closing at 8 pm? This town sure isn’t New York City.
We had one more day in this lovely city that is located along the Colorado river and very close to two beautiful National parks. We missed a couple of sights in each park yesterday and so decided to make quick visits to both this morning. We went to Arches first and saw Double Arch.
Double Arch, Arches National Park
We then traveled back to Canyonlands National Park to take a short hike to Upheaval Dome which is best appreciated from the air. On a very windy day we were happy to settle for seeing it from the ground.
We then ventured back into the town of Moab. This is a very interesting town. There are about 5,000 residents but you wouldn’t guess that from walking the streets. The reason for this is the number of tourists in this town. Arches has over one million visitors per year and most stay here in Moab. All the motels have their “No Vacancy” signs illuminated. The main street through town (appropriately named Main Street) is very crowded and crossing can be dangerous since it is actually State Highway 191. There are lots of fine restaurants and all sorts of interesting shops.
Doesn’t every town need a place for cupcakes and ice cream? This town has lots.A quilting shop is a must. People waiting for Miguel’s Baja Grill to open for dinner…….but Jailhouse Cafe is only open for breakfast.How about a gelato after dinner or an espresso to start the day…..or a spa treatment to end it?What tourist town is complete without a souvenir shop?Here is another with a very cute potential buyer.But most important, if you drive your Tesla here, Moab has you covered.
Tomorrow we leave this little hamlet and head back to Phoenix as our trip will be coming to a close.
Today was our day to explore Canyonlands National Park. It is about 30 miles from the town of Moab, Utah (Arches National Park is only about 5 miles away from Moab). Canyonlands, as the name would imply, is famous for it’s deep canyons that have been etched out by the rivers in this area most notably the Colorado River.
I hope you appreciate the great personal risk I go through in order to provide you with photos of these areas. I walked all over this park and put myself at great risk being at the canyon edge in order to get the right photo. Here are a few.
Shafer Canyon, Canyonlands National ParkGreen River Overlook, Canyonlands National ParkAnother view from Green River Overlook, Canyonlands National Park
These are just a few of the photos I took (at great personal risk) to satisfy the insatiable appetite of my audience. I had to drag along a very reluctant Patrice looking for the right photo.
I hope you are satisfied. Let’s see some comments on the blog! Just a very few are showing me their love.
Thanks all until tomorrow.
This is Patrice now, Robert has left his computer. Don’t you believe a word from that man. He wouldn’t go a step near the edge of these cliffs. Look at this candid photo I took of him.
Robert taking a photo, nowhere near the edge and using a monument marker as a support.
And check out this photo I took.
He is so scared of heights he has his eyes closed while taking this photo.
And that nonsense about him dragging me around? Well we only walked about 10,000 steps today so I am off to the fitness center to get in a little more of a work out. Meanwhile look at your self-proclaimed warrior.
Robert passed out on the bed while I am off to the fitness center.
Today was a travel day. We left Monument Valley early this morning and headed north for Moab, Utah. We were told that about 13 miles north of Monument Valley was something known as Forrest Gump Point. You might remember in the film, Forrest starts running from coast to coast and after 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours he finally decides to stop. If you want to see that scene you can click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKKmzmeU5-0 and you will see Monument Valley in the background.
Apparently tourists stop at this spot and take pictures of themselves with Monument Valley in the background at the same place you see Tom Hanks in the film. The motion picture was filmed with the highway closed and Hanks was not in any danger. What kind of fool would stand on the highway with cars traveling in both directions? Only an idiot of course.
Yours truly at Forrest Gump Point. “What an idiot!”
We next stopped at Mexican Hat to eat breakfast. This is a very small town that is named after a local phenomena of the same name. They have a hotel and a couple of restaurants. I asked the waitress why do people come to Mexican Hat? “They don’t” she replied. Is there fishing nearby and people come for that? “No”. How about hunting? “No”. No one comes here? “No”. Okay, I will accept that.
One thing for sure we are in a Red state. Trump should do well here. The place is so Red they even think oranges are red.
In Red states the oranges are apparently called apples.Mexican HatIt seems if you know how to take a picture it really looks like a Mexican Hat (aka Sombrero).
We also stopped at Gooseneck State Park in order to see the San Juan River curving through the canyons. There was a $5 entry fee to the park but Patrice saw a display of Navajo-made jewelry so the exit fee was much higher.
San Juan River at Gooseneck State ParkPatrice wearing the Gooseneck State Park exit fee.
Well, we finally made it to Moab. They put us in room #100.
We are in room #100. It was a long drive, am I missing something?
We arrived in Moab early so we had time to visit Arches National Park. The visitor center sells a CD that essentially gives you a tour of the park. Fifteen thousand and one steps later we were on our way back to the hotel and ready for a good night sleep.
“Delicate” Arch“Sand Dune” Arch
I took many more photos but I won’t bore you anymore than I have already.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 