Category: Travel

During our trip to Arizona over the summer, Paul and I stayed at the Ritz Carlton at Dove Mountain, a resort and spa that was every bit as glamorous as it sounds. Because of that glamour, I wasn’t quite prepared for the nickel-and-diming that goes on at joints that charge $800 per night for a basic room. The parking lot…

Back in October, Paul and I drove through Casper, Wyoming on our way home from the Midwest. A billboard caught my eye: “Support the three percent lodging tax. It’s the tax you don’t pay,” it read. I sat there, stunned, realizing how emblematic of human stupidity that billboard was. Do people believe these things? They must, or politicians wouldn’t try…

It’s one of the first phrases we learned in 7th grade Latin class, and it sums up the fundamental conflict facing the world. Paul and I were recently in Arizona for one of his astronomy conferences. (Ironically, it’s a cheap state to vacation in, since it’s desperate to recoup tourism losses due to boycotting over recent police-related civil rights issues.) Since…