NEX available from Warehouse Express UK

[David Kilpatrick]

I am in the States right now - leaving Las Vegas for Sedona tomorrow morning, spent today doing chocolate factory then Lake Meade cruise on Desert Princess paddleboat, then Red Rock Canyon in the hour before sunset (but not sunset, no doubt more photo opps but safe driving mattered more). Did Zion National Park yesterday, not actually as good for our style of work as Red Rock, if impressive and a rather long drive.

But I got an email this morning saying Warehouse Express have the NEX-5 kits in stock now, UK.

David

[bakubo]

I am in the States right now - leaving Las Vegas for Sedona tomorrow morning, spent today doing chocolate factory then Lake Meade cruise on Desert Princess paddleboat, then Red Rock Canyon in the hour before sunset (but not sunset, no doubt more photo opps but safe driving mattered more). Did Zion National Park yesterday, not actually as good for our style of work as Red Rock, if impressive and a rather long drive.

Hope you are having a good time. It is probably getting pretty hot there now. The places of higher elevation such as Zion and Sedona should be okay though. Red Rock Canyon is so easy to get to just outside of Las Vegas. I have been out there several times. When we go on road trips in the West we often take a break and stay in LV for a week or two. Not into gambling at all, but the location in the West is convenient.

Sedona is beautiful, but it is pretty touristy these days and even on the highways outside of town, where there are some magnificent views, they require you to buy a parking pass to stop on the side of the road.

Safe travels!

[David Kilpatrick]

Sedona is not as we remember from 13 years ago. Maybe we were just lucky, we landed in town and found a room right in the middle of the old village. This time we are at a Diamond Resort (Sedona Summit) and despite all the careful weasel-words in the RCI and resort info, it's 5 miles out of Sedona down a fourlane highway with not a single restaurant or bar for over a mile - and zero facilities at the resort. Basically it's a sub-grade housing estate with a pool, nothing more. Our own home in Scotland is more of a holiday resort than this is!

We nearly told them we would move on and find somewhere else to stay, despite having paid for it, when we found they have NO facilities - no restaurant, no bar, no shop, nothing. They certainly have plenty of timeshare sales facilities... they have the space for those. But they said there was no way we would find anything in Sedona just by turning up, now. We decided to check in, we've paid for it after all, and if we want to stay a night or two somewhere else to be closer to locations we want to photograph, we'll do that.

But Sedona looks pretty much wrecked now. Why does this happen? Lex Baux is still Les Baux, the same Les Baux we first found in the 1970s. Sorrento is still Sorrento. These people are amazed that we want to WALK to eat, that we like to be out late at night, have a good dinner, be able to drink some wine and/or beer, after spending the hours of daylight chasing photos. The very idea of walking seems alien. Everything is geared up to driving, even the restaurants. Vegas is actually more like a European city, something you can wander round. Sedona is SUV territory and this resort is like a bricks and mortar campsite for families who can't handle proper camping!

David

[pakodominguez]

hey!
If you stop in NYC in your way back UK, lets go for a coffee


Regards

[twm47099]

But Sedona looks pretty much wrecked now. Why does this happen? Lex Baux is still Les Baux, the same Les Baux we first found in the 1970s. Sorrento is still Sorrento. These people are amazed that we want to WALK to eat, that we like to be out late at night, have a good dinner, be able to drink some wine and/or beer, after spending the hours of daylight chasing photos. The very idea of walking seems alien. Everything is geared up to driving, even the restaurants. Vegas is actually more like a European city, something you can wander round. Sedona is SUV territory and this resort is like a bricks and mortar campsite for families who can't handle proper camping!

David

That may give you an idea why we are so dependent on oil. I live on the East Coast (Maryland, the powerline & stripmall capital of the nation). Generally the main idea is to have housing well away from any shopping or dining facilities. We had a German family on an exchange program at work. At their farewell party a year later, the wife remarked that the biggest thing they had to get use to was that you had to drive for everything. In their home town they walked or biked from their home for food shopping. Here it was over 5 miles away along a 4 to 6 lane highway. A nice hike, if there was someplace other than narrow shoulder to walk.

When I was a kid in northern New Jersey, I would often walk 4 or 5 blocks to pick up something at the food store or stop in at the corner soda shope (like on TV). Now that is all gone and its a 40 minute drive (on a good day) to the nearest mall.

Where I live in Maryland they are doing something different for this area. Now they are building high rise luxury apartments and condos with first rate shops and restaurants at street level, and with plenty of free parking for both residents and outside shoppers. The idea is that the residents will never have to leave the development. For a person who went to college in New York City, it is a bit familiar but still quite limited. Its also not aimed at raising a family (primarily residents are young, middle age, and retired empty nesters).

tom

[UrsaMajor]

Sedona is not as we remember from 13 years ago. Maybe we were just lucky, we landed in town and found a room right in the middle of the old village.
. . .
But Sedona looks pretty much wrecked now.

I should have warned you about that, but I had the impression that you were already familiar with what has happened to Sedona as a consequence of having been "discovered".

For me it is especially hard to adjust to the way the area has changed. I first visited Sedona as a child in 1951, when my family took a driving vacation that took us from the East through many of the scenic areas of the American West. At that time, unless you actively researched beautiful places to visit - as my father did - Sedona was almost unknown, and the only thing that was there was a part of what is now the old village. My wife and I also visited Sedona about 20 years later, and it had changed a bit, but still had the basic feel of the old days.

During the winter of 1993-94, we went to Sedona during the winter and enjoyed it somewhat, but by then it was a very different experience from earlier days. It was much more like it is today, and I am honestly surprised that you have so much enthusiasm for your visit 13 years ago. By the time we took a Swiss friend to Sedona in 2007, it had lost almost all of the character that had previously made it so appealing.

Of course, the natural beauty of the area is still there, and I will keep on returning to Sedona for that reason, but the town itself no longer has the same appeal. If you have the time and the inclination, continue driving south on Highway 89A to Prescott. Unless it has also changed recently, i think that you may find an atmosphere there that is more to your liking. It is not the same as the "old" Sedona - and never was - but you may find it a more pleasant place to visit.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[bakubo]

I first visited Sedona in 1987 when I was on a business trip from San Francisco to somewhere and had to change planes in Phoenix. A good friend had recently moved there so I decided to stay a couple of days so we could hang out together. She took me up to Sedona one day and that was cool. I don't remember a whole lot about Sedona except that it has changed a lot over the years. Here is a photo from that time in 1987 that we were there:



I was back in Sedona in 1999 and 2007. The area is still gorgeous, but Sedona has been so overdeveloped that it has sort of been ruined. Sad.

David, I know what you mean about having places where you can step out your door and walk to restaurants, shops, bars, coffee shops, etc. Unfortunately, in the States those kinds of places are not as common as I would like. That is the reason that the 3 places I have spent the most time in the last 20 years have been: Tokyo, downtown Vancouver, and Waikiki. They are all urban environments where I don't need a car (don't even have a car when in Tokyo and Hawaii). I can walk just about anywhere I want to go or take public transportation. Tokyo has probably the best public transport of anyplace in the world. It is a breeze to go just about anywhere.

Anyway, I am sorry that you and Shirley have had a disappointing experience in Sedona this time. Zion National Park is breathtaking. Did you have a chance to drive all the way through the park to the east entrance? Also, were you able to either drive or take the shuttle all the way down the Zion Canyon road?

[Winedarksea]

Sedona is not as we remember from 13 years ago. Maybe we were just lucky, we landed in town and found a room right in the middle of the old village. This time we are at a Diamond Resort (Sedona Summit) and despite all the careful weasel-words in the RCI and resort info, it's 5 miles out of Sedona down a fourlane highway with not a single restaurant or bar for over a mile - and zero facilities at the resort. Basically it's a sub-grade housing estate with a pool, nothing more. Our own home in Scotland is more of a holiday resort than this is!

We nearly told them we would move on and find somewhere else to stay, despite having paid for it, when we found they have NO facilities - no restaurant, no bar, no shop, nothing. They certainly have plenty of timeshare sales facilities... they have the space for those. But they said there was no way we would find anything in Sedona just by turning up, now. We decided to check in, we've paid for it after all, and if we want to stay a night or two somewhere else to be closer to locations we want to photograph, we'll do that.

But Sedona looks pretty much wrecked now. Why does this happen? Lex Baux is still Les Baux, the same Les Baux we first found in the 1970s. Sorrento is still Sorrento. These people are amazed that we want to WALK to eat, that we like to be out late at night, have a good dinner, be able to drink some wine and/or beer, after spending the hours of daylight chasing photos. The very idea of walking seems alien. Everything is geared up to driving, even the restaurants. Vegas is actually more like a European city, something you can wander round. Sedona is SUV territory and this resort is like a bricks and mortar campsite for families who can't handle proper camping!

David

It has taken a collaborative amd ongoing act of vandalism by "urban" planners & developers to do it to us, David. We adopted zoning laws (influenced by Corbu & others equally & fearfully mistaken) that would prevent us from creating Paris or Florence or Sorrento or most of the other wonderfully livable urban places in the world, and that have fed our appetite for dreary suburbs without gathering places or real neighbors. Meanwhile highly livable cities & towns are rotting.

[David Kilpatrick]

We are forgiving Sedona its development a bit as most of the original good bits are there - and they have a free shuttle bus solving the distance problem with the strip development on the highways. It is an odd place, hard to manage to eat after 9pm and we have only just got back in and cleaned up after a long day out by that time! Most tourist spots offer much later dining, even back at home in Scotland.

Zion - the east exit is closed, tunnel engineering work. We did the shuttle bus the whole length but had not enough time for more than two short walks. The Red Rock Canyon park much closer to LV was actually better for photography. I just need to find out how you pronounce 'jumping cholla'...

Pau Genge tells me he shares our limited appreciation of LV (he won't go to PMA, he says he hates prostitution and gambling and LV makes him into a grumpy old man!). He also tells me today that sales of NEX in the UK have far exceeded expectations and it is by far the most successful camera yet launched by Sony Alpha division. It will be in short supply for some time.

David

[bossel]

We are forgiving Sedona its development ...

I am no export, just went to the US on business a few times and once as tourist (Florida). And it's better to take the car if you just need to go to the other side of the street We rather like to walk, wherever we are, from shop to shop, then sit down for a coffee, then continue into other parts of town, the old way...

he won't go to PMA, he says he hates prostitution and gambling ...

Isn't it about photography ?

and it is by far the most successful camera yet launched by Sony Alpha division. It

Good to hear! Now they can turn back to develop some DSLRs and lenses... I hope the DSLR market is not yet dead

[Vidgamer]

Blame urban planners if you want, but most people like a quiet neighborhood, with a big yard to play in, and without a lot of through- traffic. So, we get spread out. Thus the need for cars.

But it's kind of chicken or the egg... The suburbs became more popular as we added highways. People weren't forced to move to the suburbs... But things made it easier. But as for a night-life, most people leave their office jobs and headed home in the burbs. When you have more comfortable and cheaper housing and all you need is a "short" drive, that is appealing.

Let me put it this way - London would spoil you. A smallish town isn't going to be able to support much of a nightlife, but I know what you mean. Here I have to drive to the store. A half-hours walk will get me to the neighborhood school or recreational facilities, but the nearest store is a long drive. If I wanted to be part of a town center, first, I'd have to find one active after dark, if that was my goal. The older towns often still have a more traditional center, but are too small to be that busy. And the hip, urban place I can think of nearby is too expensive. Tradeoffs.

I visited Wokingham, which is not far from London. The resort we stayed at was over a mile from the town. It was a very long walk. There were places to eat at night, at least, but it was a bit of a hike. It was pleasant but not that entertaining. I imagine you can find many places like that in the us. Anyway, it struck me as funny that I have to think of a trip to the UK to relate to this story.

If I have a point I guess it's that it's a shame Sedona changed but there probably are areas more like what you're looking for if you know where to look.

I've taken a couple of trips out there and want to do more. I missed out on Zion but heard that it was more photographic or scenic or something than red rock. But I'm pretty sure it was red rock that I visited. Pleasant short hike.

If you keep going south maybe check out Busbee. Neat small town.

[Vidgamer]

We are forgiving Sedona its development ...

I am no export, just went to the US on business a few times and once as tourist (Florida). And it's better to take the car if you just need to go to the other side of the street We rather like to walk, wherever we are, from shop to shop, then sit down for a coffee, then continue into other parts of town, the old way...

There are places more like this in Fla., but not in, say, the resort areas of Orlando. Try St. Augustine for example.

But yeah -- just go ahead and plan on renting a car when visiting here unless you have a specific location where you know it won't be necessary.

[bakubo]

If you keep going south maybe check out Busbee. Neat small town.

The town you are thinking of is Bisbee. It is way down in the southeast corner of Arizona on Highway 80 near Tombstone. Lots of artists live there. Good place, been there a couple of times.

[David Kilpatrick]

I visited Wokingham, which is not far from London. The resort we stayed at was over a mile from the town. It was a very long walk. There were places to eat at night, at least, but it was a bit of a hike.

The idea of visiting Wokingham - for any reason - will brig a smile to Brits. That's the problem with timeshare resorts especially in Britain. They tend to be old country houses which got turned into hotels-ish and got planning permission for some stuff in the grounds. Location is often not so relevant. The problem here is that Diamond Resorts create a 'resort' which is really a housing estate with a gym and pool and a reception lobby. No on-site restaurant or bar or shop, or common/public areas, at all. That is unusual in Britain - even Wynchnor Park, their resort we once used to get cheap accommodation for a week at Focus on Imaging show, had the basics for survival in the old house while the resort consisted of chalets in the grounds. The location of Wynchnor is very unimpressive in its way, but for visitors, it provides ready access to Shakespeare territory and the Peak District.

David

[Lonnie Utah]

Bloody hell Dave! I wish I known you were going to be in this neck of the woods (albiet 4 hours from here). I could have give you some KILLER spots in zion, off the beaten path...

Menu Falls is an easy 1/2 mile walk from the Temple of Sinawava and NOBODY visits it.....



Given then layout of the park, Zion is REALLY difficult to photograph. For red rocks in that area, Snow Canyon State Park in St George might have been a better bet and easier to photograph....

I hope you have this book in your posession!!!


Sorry about the hijack.....