In preparing for the ever-looming Apocalypse, I’ve remade two 12 inch lanterns with some of the stained panels from the Washington National Cathedral. Horsemen beware.

]]> http://theghosthorse.com/2013/02/27/horsemen-beware/feed/ 2 isleofvile lanterncu lanterns http://theghosthorse.com/2013/02/03/cage-advice/ http://theghosthorse.com/2013/02/03/cage-advice/#comments Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:16:35 +0000 The Ghost Horse http://theghosthorse.com/?p=2239 ]]> The kept king warns his keepers on the nature of the cage.

Las Fucking Vegas. By coincidence, I was wearing the perfect shades to go with the ceiling.

NYE here has gotten so big that they now shut down The Strip so pedestrians can properly go apeshit. Fireworks are blasted off of seven hotels at midnight and by that time the place is so crawling with drunk humans that you have to be a guest somewhere to get back inside.

This is The Strip just after it was opened to bi-pedal revelers. We felt quite safe, as there were wasted Storm Troopers, and puking superheroes, and costumed avengers of all flavors. We work hard to stay properly drunk, multitasking – walking, people watching, gambling.

We stayed at the Aria and were back in our remote-controlled room in time for the fireworks. Our roof was one of several launchpads and you could see paper and sparks raining down all around, along with the reflections in all the other glass hotels. It was phenomenal.

In the excitement, I accidentally turned off the room. The lights, TV, and blackout curtain all shut down. We crawled around in the dark to find a switch and kept clapping and yelling “Room on!” “Room on!” Good thing the show lasted several minutes. We got the news back on in time to catch the obligatory interviews with wealthy, old people on ecstasy, and the hosts could never remember which resort they were broadcasting from. It was first class, across the board.

This was the premiere sunrise of 2013 and we were off to the airport within 24 hours of landing, which seemed like the perfect amount of time in Vegas.

Remember all those tiny dogs from the first leg of the trip? By this point, my senses had been completely overloaded by all the designated airport areas like the one above. There is a lot of tiny dog accommodation happening in America.

On our final flight, a couple snuck a small “service dog” on the plane. A secret, service dog. They were discovered and the airplane was held while the matter was debated. We were delayed again when the woman refused to put the dog under the seat and AGAIN when it was discovered that someone had done part of the dog’s complimentary crossword puzzle.

Oh well. At least the views on the way home involved volcanoes!

Seattle was shiny.

The captain even circled over our place, as an apology.

And finally, this was the view of the Cascades when we arrived back home.

Complete sensory overload mission accomplished!

We head from SEA to Round Rock, TX (near Austin) to spend XMas Day at my parent’s new home. The town is named after get this… a round rock, in a creek by the Chisholm Trail. While the rock itself is not particularly fascinating or photogenic, this sunset is.

XMas dinner for 10 is overwhelming and decadent, as usual. We dine by headlamp this year. Candles are so last baktun.

Andre and I spend the next day as laborers at Camp Parental Units, where we are forced to install a double oven. We decide to distract the camp leaders with a road trip; it seems the only way to avoid further physical labor.

First up, Galveston. Our digs for the night are at the Hotel Galvez, on the Seawall. The hotel is lavish and grand, bla, bla, bla… but we quickly ditch it and head out on a mission to indulge in Gulf oysters. We have to hit four places before we find enough to properly meet the requirements of our party.

The next morning the Gulf is loud, the waves are active, and there are freaky birds everywhere. The locals laugh at us when we express concern.

This Grackle recommended that we look into the historic, Victorian homes. If you’ve seen The Birds you know not to argue.

We decide on the Bishop’s Palace, aka the Gresham Home, which was built in 1892 by a founder of the Santa Fe Railroad. It’s eventually bought by the Catholic Church, so the home is a mix of Victorian, uber rich opulence and Catholic over-the-top-ed-ness, plus crazy hurricane history, PLUS Christmas decorations and a gift cave.

The place is a sensory overload jackpot!

Across the street is the Sacred Heart Church, which also does not disappoint on the embellishment front, but we must press on, for further adventures.

We head off for the San Antonio River Walk, where my sister meets us at our hotel, the Emily Morgan. Unbeknownst to us, the University of Texas is playing Oregon State the following night at the Alamo Bowl. The place is utterly crawling with fascinating orange people. We take full advantage of the hoard of horse-drawn carriages that gather across the street. There are several to pick from, but only one obvious choice…

Our horse, Doughboy, is the biggest, the toughest, the meanest, and pulls the most masculine of all the Cinderella carriages. Doughboy’s driver takes us by haunted hotels and has a bunch of good stories. Fittingly, our hotel’s ghosts are rumored to be the most active.

The River Walk is full on gaudy and magical. We have a grand dinner and convince the waiter to take our credit cards over my dad’s by screaming “it’s their anniversary!” The waiter returns with champs for them, to which my dad toasts “we’re not even married!”

The night only improves from here with a late night photo shoot at the Alamo.

We head back for a few more days of eating and drinking in Austin and then head out for NYE in the American motherland of sensory overload… Vegas.

Stay tuned for the final installment – The Great Western Sensory Overload (Tejas to Vegas and back).

We begin on 12/21 at the Dragon Gates of San Francisco, Chinatown. Our mission is to touch and smell everything.

Foiled out the gate… the lanterns along Grant Avenue prove just out of reach.

Hundreds of little nagging signs leap out from each surface in this beautiful store. “Don’t Touch!” “You Break It, You Own It!” “No Trying On!” From nowhere, a voice yells “No Photos!” just as I find the “No Photos!” sign hidden below me.

I recover by looking at delicious bunz and holding in the sensory overload.

Our overload adventures continue in Berkley at the Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair. While smelling dozens of bars of soap, a torrential downpour arrives, and we help the vendors cover their inventory, before it lathers away.

Andre runs into old friends, so I take his sister into Amoeba Records to kill time. She’s a musician, but reveals this is the first CD store she’s ever been in. “Wha?!? We’ve set the bar too high,” I lament.

We end the journey with too many records and stuffed with Turkish food.

Our walkabout continues when we discover Andre’s Tio has never been in a Nordstorm’s. We brave the ginormous, downtown San Francisco Mall, where the Nordstrom’s alone is three stories tall. We survive the lion’s den, but barely.

And so it goes, back and forth between family, extended family, and friends. We eventually head out of the Bay Area on the morning of 12/24.

By XMas Eve we are back in Seattle and in more familiar sensory overload territory. We spend the night beneath the 600 foot, decorated TV tower out of our window.

Early XMas morning we are back at the airport again. Ever noticed the incredible number of adults that fly with a little dog in their carry on? Notice how many say they are service dogs? How does a dog best serve zipped inside a bag? “Prepare my chapstick, Fi-Fi!”

The overload continues, in the second leg – The Great Western Sensory Overload (Seattle to Texas).

The Trip – The Map

Holy hell is Washington beautiful. My guy and I recently took a road trip around the Olympic Peninsula. We did a crazy 500 mile loop, met nice people and saw some fairly incredible stuff.

The Ferry – Seattle to Bremerton

The Puget Sound – Where Seal Poop is Made

Lake Quinalt – Not Your Average Magical Lake

The Quinalt Rainforest – Moss For All

Along 101 – Olympic National Park Beach 4

Beach 4 – It Keeps Going…

Beach 4 – The Mother of All Driftwood

Beach 4 – Walk the Plank

Ruby Beach – We’re the only people here that aren’t proposing to one another.

Afterglow – Ruby Beach

Land Shark – Ruby Beach

Vagina Rock – Ruby Beach

Him and Me – Ruby Beach

Mega Rock – Ruby Beach

The Stars – Ruby Beach

Lady Washington – Ruby Beach

Full Moon Growl – Forks

Yo, Eagle – Neah Bay

Damn – Cape Flattery

Mother Bonsai – Cape Flattery

Moi – Cape Flattery

Just Flattery – Cape Flattery

Tanker(Right), Whale(Left) – Strait of Juan de Fuca

Crescent Lake – Of Crescent Lake Fame

The Woods – Of Crescent Lake

Olympic Mountains – Dungeness Spit

King Sunset – Sequim

Hood Canal View – Mount Walker Tippity Top

Mount Rainier – From Mount Walker

Move over turkey. T-Giving miracles approach.

Glamor Liberty

Kali Liberty

Nosy Liberty

Sandy Liberty

Knee Deep In Liberty

Stay strong, East Coast.  Happy Halloween.

The sky has been in battle.

Jets sprayed patriotism across the metro.

The military waved it’s schlong over the neighborhood.

But the moon took care of business.