Nothing Like a Sun City Anthem Bus Trip
It all started with the best of intentions. My girlfriend Linda and I decided that since our husbands, Dick & Jack, refused to share our "nature experience", we came to the conclusion, "Who needs them, we're going anyway"!
And so we did...
...on a Sun City Anthem bus trip to what we both referred to as "The Great Unknown" to Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Salt Lake City, before we would return 5 days later to those "lumps" who preferred Chicago Cubs baseball telecasts over accompanying their lovely wives on a trip, we had begged to go on for years !
What the "lumps" really complained about was the $859 it cost each of us to go, but after spending the greatest part of our lives with them, we believed we deserved it.
And so...we went !
My husband, the guy who writes this blog, dropped me off at 7:30am in front of Anthem Center to catch "the bus" along with about 50 other souls who, like us, wanted to explore "The Great Unknown"...
...before we, like the other seniors on the bus, would enter "the FINAL great unknown".
The first day of the trip lasted 13 hours from 8:00am to 9:00pm with a scheduled lunch and dinner stop on the way to "no man's land" in Pocatello, Idaho.
Not long after the bus "adventure" began, it was discovered that the lavatory on this massive transportation marvel wouldn't flush.
My guess is that might have been part of the master plan because our appetites left a bit to be desired as a result of the "fragrance" being emitted from the back of the bus.
But alas, we made it to our first "5 star dining experience" in Bountiful, Utah at the "Chuck-A-Rama" buffet.
The name was not very appetizing so we passed on "Chuck" and instead went to "Cafe Rio" across the parking lot in the same "Western themed" Strip Mall.
We were entering "The Wild West" and like "Blazing Saddles", the beans we ate at dinner provided musical entertainment to the other people on the bus for the next three hours of our trip to get to our first "luxurious" hotel.
Finally, at 9:00pm we reached "beautiful Pocatello" and pulled up to our accommodations for the evening, a Best Western hotel...
...with two floors, and NO elevator !
Oh, the amusement of watching seniors "schlepping" their vast amounts of luggage up those stairs, accentuated the "bean" effect of the meal we had consumed a few hours earlier, propelled us up those stairs as if NASA was preparing a launch !
I must digress at this point and say a few words about the tour guide...the man who was to explain the fabulous sights we would witness...
...had a stuttering problem.
He meant well, but...he had a stuttering problem...
...which meant that all too often, many of us would look at each other and say...
On day 2, after another three hours on the bus, we stopped for lunch, and entered Yellowstone !
We had arrived at our first scenic destination...
...at the same time millions of other people decided to arrive !
As our bus "cruised" past the incredible beauty, along with the other million drivers, suddenly everything came to an abrupt halt !
Inching along, we finally came upon a buffalo who decided to join the traffic; and the beast, knowing he was a protected species, decided to saunter along to enjoy the sights, stopping at will, and creating a traffic jam which reminded Linda and I of Chicago rush hour !
You have no idea how much we suddenly had a craving for freshly cooked "Buffalo..burgers" !
Well, Yellowstone was phenomenal. The sights would never be forgotten, and at 6:00 p.m. we went to check into our hotel in West Yellowstone.
I was excited to call my husband to tell him of the fabulous day we had.
His first question to me?
Did you see Yogi and Boo Boo ?
Told you he was a "lump" !
When we checked into the "Day's Inn" (another "5 star'er"), we were told that there was a "scheduled power outage" between 1:00am to 4:00am.
This created a few new problems neither of us anticipated.
First, having no power, trying to negotiate the path to the bathroom in the middle of the night was challenging without light to guide you there.
Second, we were told that the bus would begin loading in the morning at 7:30am with an 8:00am departure; however, the hotel restaurant, also "powerless," was unable to open until 7 am causing a backup in feeding the flock of starving seniors who had BEEN PROMISED a breakfast.
A few boarded the bus still starving...including us...who couldn't get fed before the bus departed.
A few boarded the bus still starving...including us...who couldn't get fed before the bus departed.
OK, so no breakfast, but we were in the Wild West, where pioneer women suffered...but...no "breakkie" doesn't work well with Sun City Anthem "Princesses".
So off we went to spend another half day at Yellowstone, before leaving the Park and continuing on to Jackson Lake Lodge where we were promised the "best view of The Grand Tetons" and the "The Longest Lunch Counter in the USA"...before continuing on to our final destination, Jackson Hole.
And...like Yellowstone, the scenery was breathtaking, and the lunch counter was....long !
We were scheduled to spend the evening at "The 49er" hotel that evening.
We arrived...and chaos commenced as the reservations evidently weren't updated, leaving a number of us in limbo as to our room assignments.
To solve the problem?
Lay all the keys out on a step with a name attached to them and one by one, have a man who stutters, call each person's name to "claim" their evening domain....
...except us and a few other couples who had no keys.
Enough said...we eventually were assigned our room and it was time to dine !
Enough said...we eventually were assigned our room and it was time to dine !
We had to walk about 4-5 blocks into the downtown area and there it was, The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where I would take Linda for drinks and then into the Steakhouse for dinner.
Linda loved the Bar due to a fellow patron giving her the attention she needed on her birthday.
Upon checking out the menu at the Steakhouse we noticed the "casual place" listed a steak ala carte for $66.
I love Linda, but my love had limits..and we ended up at "Bubba's BBQ".
Enough said, ain't nothing like beer(s), wine(s), and BBQ while watching a few "Bubbas" with cowboy hats and big belt buckles doin' a 2-step !
Day 4 was traveling from Jackson Hole to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, so us bathing beauties could soak in a hot mineral spring and pamper ourselves, getting rid of the aches and pains of walking mile after mile and spending long hours on a bus...while continuing to digest Bubba's BBQ!
Then it was off to our final destination, Salt Lake City.
As had been the tradition by now, we stopped for lunch in "No Man's Land Two" where we could choose between "Taco Time" and "A&W Root Beer" for our next dining experience.
After the bus driver polled the bus passengers, the group instead opted for only a "pit stop", making a quick getaway to Salt Lake City, arriving at about 3:00pm.
Once we checked into the Hilton, the bus reloaded at 4:00pm. and we departed for the State Capital Building to make up for our "Lunch debacle".
The Capital Building was amazing after which we went into downtown for dinner on our own.
Once we checked into the Hilton, the bus reloaded at 4:00pm. and we departed for the State Capital Building to make up for our "Lunch debacle".
The Capital Building was amazing after which we went into downtown for dinner on our own.
Day 5 took us into Salt Lake City's Temple Square, where the Mormon Tabernacle, Morman Temple, Family History Center, and other buildings are located. Just fabulous!
... looking toward the sky for a witch on a bicycle.
I'm sure that picture will somehow find its way on SCA-TV or The Spirit magazine one of these days.
Oh yeah, one last episode.
Oh yeah, one last episode.
The tour guide decided not to stop for dinner in St. George, Utah, and continued onward to Anthem Center.
We were hungry, so hungry, that we even started to crave...
We were hungry, so hungry, that we even started to crave...
&
Got home to hubby only to find out the air conditioning wasn't working along with a house that only a man can destroy in such a short period of time.
Nonetheless...
Dick,
I really enjoyed this article!
Please tell your wife, "thank you" for giving me a few laughs.
I don't know your wife, but I do know Linda! We play Bunco on Monday night.
I thank you for all the time you invest in keeping us informed of what is going on in our Community.
I know both Linda and her husband, Jack. Love both of them.
As far as the other one, after 32 years, I guess I'll just have to keep her..I still think she's as cute as the day I met her.
Marla’s adventure story was wonderful, funny, and gave me a mental picture of the whole debacle.
However, adventure it was and sounds like she had fun in spite of the down side.
Now I think we will plan that road trip in my daughter’s RV... LOL
Glad you like Marla's "adventure"...now I have to stop laughing while I'm picturing you driving a huge RV across the country while talking on a CB radio saying "Breaker 19"
Your article was a riot. Especially love the "huh?"
Good job!
From Jill from Chicago...to...Anthem Opinions
Loved this !
Quite a journey.
Marla, so proud of you for going and doing something that was appealing to you...
...and.. to Dick, next time hide the evidence by getting a cleaning lady to clean the house before she gets home.
The garbage pick-up didn't get here until 3 days after she got home. The Garbage Company refused to pick up the 8 cases of empty "Bud" before that day !
She wouldn't believe me when I told her I was getting in shape for Oktoberfest.
Then again, the song "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" is now my new national anthem.
God Bless the American Way !
Geez, I didn’t know Marla was a fun writer.
I really like her spirit.
What a trip.
Too bad they didn’t make a stop where the town cooks outside in pits or something for them.
Hate it when the potty on a motor coach doesn’t work.
Been there!
Marla, thank you so much or a very needed laugh today.
I loved your adventure into the unknown.
I agree with several of the other responses.
Dick, I have a wonderful housekeeper and all you had to do was let me know and I would have sent her to the house.
And, why couldn’t you have asked one or more of your friends to put all those beer bottles in their trash cans???
I, too, have a wonderful vision of Rana, Dan and the family in an RV cruising down the road! I’d give anything to see that!!
You're right, how stupid of me !
I know I should have asked the Show Girls to clean up before they left to go to Jack's house.