No comments about Los Paseos De La Ciudad De Mexico / The Strolls of Mexico City.

4 comments about Still Going. . . Blissfully Lost in the Baja : Wandering South of the Border with Barb Thacker and Her Dog, Ink.

1. The only thing wrong with this book is it ends! I just wanted it to keep on going I enjoyed reading it so much. It really makes you feel like you are right there watching the whales sprout and the sun set over the brilliant blue green waters of Baja. Please Barb, keep writing!



2. I just hope she writes more books. Enjoyed this one so much I couldn't put it down. She puts you right there in Baja on the warm sand by the vivid blue sea. Her stories of her dog Ink add much to the pleasure of reading this cheerful book.



3. This was a change of pace for Thacker from her previous 'terra circa' around North America. This book, her second in the trilogy, is shorter than the first yet the timespan is more than 3 times that of the first. Such is Mexico.

   It was enjoyable to read of a Mexico which would seem, nowadays, to have ceased to exist. Indeed, in the epilogue, Barb mentions a second trip to the Baja 3 years later and the subsequent changes that had gone on.

   A decent follow-up to her first novel.




4. Written in the same diary style as her first book. It doesn't matter that she's not an accomplished writer. Her personality and her joy in her traveling life are contagious and inspirational. This book has a few pictures which are nice, but I would love to see more and a picture of Tessie who is a major character. She made this trip about 16 years ago when she was in her early 60's. I'd love to know if Barb Thacker is still happy and healthy--and if she ever stopped smoking. Will definitely read the third book.

3 comments about American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas (University of Arizona Southwest Center series).

1. It's a smallish book with not quite the usual photos that we normally see and are familiar with. I love Las Vegas and love Las Vegas books. This one is just one of the bunch. Not really a stand out but all together not bad. Its a good to average read, photos interesting but not that memorable. Keep looking I think, there are better books out there.



2. "American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas" depicts the startling contrasts of a city that is larger than life. It is no mere "coffee table" adornment; it is ART and REALISM fused into one magical book. The brilliant photographs of Virgil Hancock chronicle "Sin City" in all its glitter and in all its waste. His artistic images range from the neon-studded hotels on the strip to wedding chapels to pawn shops to a group of ventriloquists attending a convention.

   Gregory McNamee perceptively captures the mood of a city that defines 'extremism' with his superb narration. His essays are insightful and frank without the flowery superlatives. McNamee weaves the tale of a town that is a contrast in Life 101.

   Las Vegas is one of my favorite cities. Every few months, we fly our plane to Vegas and less than 2 hrs. later, I am transported to another world: a kingdom of luxury, excitement, and fine dining. There are few sights that are more captivating than slowly circling over the vast menagerie of neon lights.

   I'm a "down to earth" woman - I love hiking through forests and deserts, but there are times when I want nothing more in life than to be pampered at The Venetian and enjoy all my favorite gourmet restaurants in Vegas. There are few places that I would rather visit.

   "American Byzantium" is a must read for those who love Vegas as I do - as well as for those who plan to visit Vegas for the first time. This book captures Las Vegas in a way that not only focuses on the stardust of luxury, but brushes away that dust to reveal the stark realities as well.




3. A disappointing book, least to me, because I found the photos too broad in the coverage. Having looked through it several times I thought it kept on verging on one of those picture books found in tourist shops with titles 'A book to remember her by'.
   
   It really is a mixed bag. The photos I liked best were those that showed the non-tourist parts of the city: the huge pole billboards along the highway, small retail units, decaying buildings and street scenes but turn a page and there's a spread of the interior of The Forum or maybe the characters in the Museum of Magic and Movies.
   
   This really should have been two books. One a photo survey of the exuberant (and vulgar) hotels and casinos, interior and exterior and book two the rest of Vegas. I would definitely go for the second and Hancock has shown with the photos in this book that he has an eye for interesting compositions and subject matter.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

1 comments about Hiking the California Coastal Trail, Volume Two: Monterey to Mexico (Hiking the California Coastal Trail).

1. The California Coast offers some spectacular scenery and parts of it, mostly north of the San Francisco Bay, offer some spectacular hiking. But the southern end of the California Coastal Trail, the state's "millenium trail" as the authors of this book constantly remind us, is more imagination than reality. Private property, the Diablo nuclear power plant, environmental restrictions upon camping, and the lack of any actual trail tread for miles upon miles of the coast means that much of the hike is along roads with no real legal place to camp. The first thru hikers, or "Whole Hikers" in 1996 did their trek with continuous automobile support driving them to and from the "trailhead" and motels and campgrounds. This is cost prohibitive for the vast majority of hikers who might imagine that they can plan a through hike on this trail the way they might on the Pacific Crest Trail or shorter cousins like the Tahoe Rim Trail.
   
   The bottom line then is that this "guide" to the trail in the southern part of California is most useful for day hikers who want a pleasant walk along the coast or in one of the nearby coastal ranges and who would like the further satisfaction of saying they have walked upon the largely unsigned California Coastal Trail. Even the segments it is broken into are not convenient for long term planning though they will mostly make for pleasant day hikes. (Some of the segments, however, are too long for this type of use.)
   
   The book does have some nice features including interesting sidebars on local history and accounts of various conservation battles along the coast. (Oil spills, we are told, are not good for the environment.) And every chapter, indeed virtually every segment within every chapter, includes the authors' suggestions for where the trail should be re-routed. That in and of itself is enough reason for me to recommend that you skip volume 2 (this volume) of this guide. If you need to do a through hike of the California Coast, Volume 1, now in its second edition, and covering the northern part of the state is much better. Until a trail is actually completed in the Southern part of the state, readers and hikers would be better served by John McKinney's 'California Coastal Parks.' The dayhikes he recommends along the coastline south of Monterey offer a much better recreational payoff for this highly developed region.

No comments about Born to Shop Mexico: The Bargain Hunter's Guide to Name-Brand and Designer Shopping (Frommer's Born to Shop Mexico).

1 comments about Baja Outpost: The Guestbook from Patchen's Cabin (Sunbelt Cultural Heritage Books).

1. Baja Outpost by Marvin and Aletha Patchen and Their Guests

   Out in the high desert of Baja nestled between boulders and boojums, Marvin and Aletha Patchen have a cabin. And they have been gracious enough to open this cabin to friends and travelers they have met in their journeys. Due to its unique location this cabin has truly become a Baja Outpost.

   A guestbook lies in wait for those coming through the door. Some write of what brought them thus far on their journey. Others write of where they hope the road will take them. Some write in the purely in the moment, describing the cabin, the sunsets and the flora. One particular visitor seems to revel in his encounters of the very close kind with the local fauna. But various desert critters don't deter the guests from enjoying the comforts of a place to call home during various adventures in Baja.

   The Patchen's interesting and insightful comments are interspersed with the guest entries of over fifteen years, providing us with a very personal history of place. At the beginning of the book, the cabin seems like a simple refuge, nothing more than four walls, a ceiling and a door with a working lock. But it becomes a richly decorated home with the thoughts and impressions left by its visitors.

   Some of the names are instantly familiar. Some become familiar as people are drawn back again to the little cabin in the middle of nowhere, providing the reader a very personal glimpse into the heart of Baja as seen through many eyes.

   This is a perfect present for readers who long for those dirt roads and smell of sage, for those who travel off the beaten path and know the value of a good road story.

No comments about Mexico: Una Vision De Su Paisaje/A Landscape Revisited.

No comments about Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, & Yucatan.

1 comments about American Map 2007 Pocket Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico.

1. I ride my motorcycle alot and this is a must have. Easy to use and fits in my pocket always in my vest and good price.

No comments about Traveling New Mexico: A Guide to the Historical and State Park Markers.