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Today’s Wild West train traveller

21st November 202523rd November 2025 funtime65

Buffalo Bill would, of course, have ridden the Plains on his steed, but today’s Wild West train traveller would take a three-day train journey and now for the price of two.

Our friends at Canyon Spirit have put together a Black Friday promotion for a savings of up to 18%/£300pp for Red Rocks and Wild West fans.

On the new Rockies to the Red Rocks route from Salt Lake to Denver (or vice versa) in the US from April.

The rail deal

Where you’ll get to soak up the plunging-rugged canyons, spectacular red-rock formations and the winding Colorado River from eye level.

Which will bookend that Papillon Helicopter tour you took back in the day above the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas.

You’ll overnight in Glenwood Springs (the clue is in the name), Colorado and Moab, Utah.

The additional day of train travel will traverse the mountain passes of eastern Utah and the open vistas of the Great Basin.

While connecting to the urban hub of Salt Lake City.

Hosts with the most

Framing your journey: Zip through the Wild West

And all with your hosts talking you through the destinations through which you pass.

While feasting on the best local fare and beer, wines, and spirits.

And maybe a concert: OneRepublic at Red Rocks

The new three-day Rockies to the Red Rocks Extension journey will take off on April 10.

It will travel weekly with one westbound departure from Denver and one eastbound departure from Salt Lake City.

The three-day rail journey, including overnight hotel accommodation in Glenwood Springs and Moab.

Costs from £1,331 pp (was £1,631 pp – saving 18%/£300 pp) with the Black Friday promotion.

The Rocky Mountain high

Bandanaman: And the Bandanettes In Denver

And if all this looks familiar it’s probably because it’s the new name.

For the luxury train that welcomes travellers to experience the American Southwest by rail.

And which has been operating under the Rocky Mountaineer brand since 2021.

America, Countries

Take your Teddy on an RV tour of the US National Parks

17th July 202517th July 2025 funtime65

And inspired by the Great Man himself the drive is on to take your Teddy on an RV tour of the US National Parks this year.

Particularly with the 120th anniversary of the establishment of the first US National Monument hoving into view next year.

Now dinner party bores will tell you that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure you can see from space.

So why then did aliens alight on the Devils Tower monolith in Wyoming in Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Teddy’s Trail

Now no president championed the Great American Outdoors more than its 26th, Teddy Roosevelt.

While nobody had his ear more than John Muir, the legendary Scots conservationist.

We heard first hand from the immortal Teddy at IPW, the American Travel Fair, in Chicago.

With the Great Raconteur waxing lyrical about the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library next year in North Dakota.

And alighting on a Scotlander about his own Scottish roots through his mother Martha.

Which mirrors another future NY President though Manhattan Man Teddy was quick to point out Donald Trump is a Queens Man.

Devil of a good time

Every June, the Devils Tower closes to rock climbers so that the tribes can celebrate their spiritual practices.

To truly appreciate the Tower, take the 1.3-mile Tower Trail, winding around the base for the best chance to see the rock from all sides.

Devils Tower National Monument is open for visitors year-round, and admission is $25/£19 per vehicle.

The West is best

RV specialists Journeyscape have picked out The Close Encounters landmark as a topical highlight.

Of its Icons and National Parks of the Great American West by Motorhome.

The 15-day holiday costs from £2,950pp including motorhome rental (but excluding international flights).

Traditionally, of course, pioneers would reach the Wild West by wagon, stagecoach and through the grand Denver Union Station.

And we’d certainly recommend that as we would flying into Denver International Airport, in the apron of the Rockies.

The open road

Your Journeyscape tour will take in five states, your launch pad, Colorado and taking in four of the five states under the Great American West umbrella.

That’ll be Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota… you’ll arrange your own private Idaho in your own time.

But for a starter Badlands National Park, Spearfish Canyon, Devils Tower, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Salt Lake City ain’t bad, eh?

So take your Teddy on an RV tour of the US National Parks.

America, Countries

Buffalo Bill and the move to Cody Yellowstone, Wyoming

11th September 202311th September 2023 funtime65

The biggest fight of them all was over his final resting place so a delve into Buffalo Bill and the move to Cody Yellowstone, Wyoming.

Because if you believe the Wyomingans’ version of the story the Great Man does not reside in Lookout Mountain, near Denver in Colorado.

But in his hometown of Cody Yellowstone.

And that the Coloradans buried a vagrant there and claimed it was Bill, while they have the real man.

Bill and his pals

To cover our bases though, and because his legend has endured from the days his Rough Riders rode into my own hometown of Glasgow I paid homage on our Coloradan trip.

And learned of Buffalo Bill and the move to Cody Yellowstone, Wyoming.

And learned of his friendship with Sitting Bull, Annie Oakley and how he had the great and good of the Old and New Worlds eating out of his hand.

So it will come as little surprise to you then that he brought Teddy Roosevelt and the Prince of Monaco to Cody’s Hunting Lodge… there’s a party.

Of course you can channel your inner Bill in the Great American West in Pahaska Teepee.

Go riding (June to August) and even stay in the modern cabin-style rooms

And eat and drink like a cowboy (well, maybe a wee bit higher-end) in their full service bar and restaurant.

Life’s a Butch

Of course not every cowboy sought the grandstand because, of course, they were hiding out from the law.

And Wild West fans and tourists will lap up the Old Trail Town/Museum of the Old West.

It’s an enclave of 27 authentic frontier buildings, including one used by Butch Cassidy and his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang.

Now our Wild West heroes used horses, stagecoaches, trains, and in Bill’s case the ship to get about.

You, of course, can get out to Cody by big bird with United Airlines, a 13hr 19mins trip from London, via Denver, and into Bill’s birthplace from €1,055pp.

America, Asia, Countries, Europe, UK

World’s ugliest building!

21st January 2023 funtime65

So Scotland’s Holyrood is the world’s ugliest building in the world! But we ask about yours and how’s that for a parliament?

It feels a bit unfair to Holyrood at the foot of Edinburgh’s most famous street, the Royal Mile.

Yes, it may not have the river vista of a Houses of Parliament or the Mall walkway of the Capitol in Washington DC.

Capitol idea: On the hill in Washington DC

But Enric Miralles’s £414m edifice with its boats theme (no, me neither) is hardly the Scott Monument rocket eyesore on Princes Street.

Of course beauty is always in the eye in the beholder.

Not that I put much faith in the Buildworkd twitter survey.

And who chose Holyrood ahead of the likes of the J Edgar Hoover Building in Washington DC and the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea?

Brit hit list

On the surface the British entrants in the survey surely should be less aesthetic than Holyrood…

Newport Train Station, Preston Train Station, the Royal Liverpool Hospital and the MI5 Building in London among them.

But then again in this strangest of surveys there are some odd picks among the American buildings.

Some probably more politically motivated, like with Holyrood.

American scream

And Trump’s name in glittering gold in his titular hotel in Las Vegas will do that for many.

I’d argue too against dissing Denver Airport having spent 12 hours there and availed of their putting course on the roof.

Or the Watergate Complex, other than its association with Nixon’s crimes.

And it seems politically even-handed with liberal Boston City Hall in the cradle of the American Revolution.

On the hit list for the twitter haters.

Now perhaps that’s it that the twitterati dislike more what’s inside Holyrood than what it looks like outside.

Something to Prague about

But what about you do you think Holyrood is the world’s ugliest building!

And maybe leave you with this… the Prague television tower with its climbing babies was once the world’s second ugliest building.

The Czech capital edifice surpassed by the North Koreans again. And so there’s hope for Holyrood yet.

America, Countries

Bye-Bye B-52s hello Idaho

1st October 20221st October 2022 funtime65

And in the way that only music bands can do it’s bye-bye B-52s hello Idaho.

The New Wave pioneers are calling time on 46 years of their out there arty pop this year with a tour of the States.

All of which will go down especially well in trippy California and their homestead of Georgia although they won’t be playing Idaho.

They have once before near state capital Boisey.

Love getaway

But no sleight intended, the great outdoorsy state (pop 1.5m) is the getaway state of their song and their imagination.

The B-52s are, of course, known for their escapism, their other biggest hit the impossibility catchy Love Shack.

The love getaway down the Atlanta Highway.

And I can vouch that even in their 70s now Fred, Kate and the gang can still get you up bopping.

I’ve got my jukebox money

As I, and others, can testify to when they brought the house down at one of our American Travel Fair lunches, in Denver.

Of course, it felt particularly apt, here in Colorado, in the shadow of the Rockies which it shares with private Idaho.

Idaho is, in truth, as dramatic and remote as in the B-52s’ imagination.

Footsteps of Lewis and Clark

And Lewis and Clark, of expeditionary fame.

Both of whom found it is as variable as anywhere on the great American landmass.

And take in Twin Falls where you’ll witness Shoshone Falls, dubbed as the ‘Niagara of the West’ whose waterfalls stands 45 feet taller than the eastern wonder.

Channel your inner trekker on the Northwest Scenic Byway to Coeur d’Alene.

Where sun and moon risings are recommended experiences on your itinerary.

The lunar thing is not by accident…

Out of this world

Over the moon: The Craters experience, Idaho

For an otherworldly experience visit Craters of the Moon National Monument.

As you drive up, you will be greeted by an ocean of lava flows – it feels like walking on the moon!

You won’t be walking of course across the Great American West… you’ll have yourself a car as big as a whale.

Something to think on when we say bye-bye B-52s, hello Idaho.

America, Countries, Europe, Ireland

It’s EaZzzzzy with Holidos and Don’ts

13th February 202213th February 2022 funtime65

A redeye and no Aircoach… fear not it’s EaZzzzzy with Holidos and Don’ts.

Your globetrotting Bandanaman is hotfooting it over to his spiritual homeland of Ireland tomorrow morning.

But such are the vagaries of North Berwick, 15 miles east of Edinburgh, that there is no aircoach from outside my door.

As there was 24-7 in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

And so I have the options of a £75 taxi from Castle Murty, asking The Scary One to give me an early morning lift.

Or grabbing the last train (hopefully it’s on as the slightest puddle causes cancellations).

And bunking for the night at the airport… I’ve ruled out the £100 hotel rates.

So the Holidos and Donts.

A site for sore eyes

It helps if you’re in any of the airports flagged up by the excellent Sleeping in Airports site.

And you’ll notice that most of their followers’ recommendations are in stopover airports in Asia.

But there are some old faves too in Europe and America.

Best for a layover

On the right track: Turkish Airlines Business Class

In Istanbul’s award-winning Turkish Airlines Business Class lounge sure but also in their rest rooms with privacy walls while they also have shower rooms.

But also in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam where they have designated rest zones and plenty of amenities including a casino, fitness facilities, a library and a museum.

Denver too gets a shout-out probably because I spent longer there than anywhere… eight hours after being dropped off after my Wild West odyssey in Colorado.

And you’ll become an expert in putting with their 18-hole green on the balcony… and an arts aficionado with their excellent gallery.

Check it out: Munich check-in at Oktoberfest

Oh, and as for the rest the massages come highly recommended.

Munich Airport falls into the same category, and what it lacks for in ease for getting from one gate to the next when you misread your ticket it makes up for with helpful staff.

Arriving there just before the Oktoberfest you’ll find the staff dressed in Bavarian lederhosens.

And if you’re lucky then you’ll get the same Bertha who changed my ticket for a later one when I’d missed my original forwarding flight to Athens.

Dublin’s lair city

Now that I’ve had my accommodation taken care of by my friends in Ireland who are running the international travel network I won’t have to worry about kipping in Dublin Airport.

But there’s a sleeping pod with my name on it which I’ve bagsied in the past and no doubt will again.

And just to make sure your layover goes well a few tips.

*Lock your bags when you’re asleep and keep them wrapped around your shoulders.

*Put the alarm clock on your mobile to make sure you don’t miss the flight.

*And make sure you’re next to a plug socket just in case your mobile which has your boarding pass and Covid details and locator form on it is charged up.

See it’s EaZzzzzy with Holidos and Don’ts.

America, Countries, Europe, Flying

Why airports are museums

18th January 202218th January 2022 funtime65

For some they are stressful thoroughfares but for the rest they are objets d’artes and why airports are museums.

If you are a seasoned traveller then it is inevitable that you will have spent hours on end in airports.

Go Broncos

Denver: Now if you have found yourself with eight hours before your next flight from Denver you might wonder what you’ll do.

Where’s a mini-golf course when you need one?

Well, yours is at the south end of Jeppesen Terminal in the pre-security area.

That Denver International Airport should have a mini-golf course should come as little surprise.

To those of us greeted by a giant blue Bronco installation, entering the airport.

The hip and humorous hombres from Denver have a thing for big blue animals as we know from our own perigrinations in Mile High City.

When in Rome

Rome: It would have been the preserve of the Gods, of Mercury, to fly in Ancient Rome.

And so in today’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport they celebrate their seafaring past.

And so when I last visited the Eternal City they had an exhibition to Ostia.

Of course it wouldn’t be Rome if they weren’t honouring their most famous citizens with sculptures scattered through the airport.

And an array of mosaics including part of a mythological depiction of signs of the Zodiac and the four time zones, or the four seasons.

Epic Athens

Spoiled and ruined at the Acropolis in Athens

Athens: Now what the fast food chain was in the days of Socrates and Plato is anybody’s guess but I’m thinking Figs on the Run.

Civilisations meet near the Burger King on the upper level of the main departures hall (before security).

And there you’ll see 172 authentic artefacts dating from the Neolithic and Early Hellenic eras to the post-Byzantine period.

I will be back to check them out only I’d messed up my connections through Munich and had a date with Athene on a hill. But that’s another story.

Amsterdam in miniature

Amsterdam: The Netherlands have long been a crossroads from these islands, Britain and Ireland, where I live.

And, while of course, we should always take time out to see its largest city, the gem that is Amsterdam, there are times when Schiphol Airport will be a layover.

Now I’m a long-term advocate for art galleries, and believe that there is never a wasted minute, hour or afternoon spent in one.

And so if you have time on your hands, and even if you don’t, then you should check out the Rijksmuseum.

Which became the first art museum in the world to open a branch at an airport in 2002.

And where travellers can visit the museum free of charge, 24 hours a day.

Qatar welcomes the world

Qatar: Now Qatar will be welcoming peoples from around the globe at the end of this year when they host the World Cup.

So we’ll all see the herd of metal oryxes, a nice treat in arrivals.

Have a lie down: And there are more funky sculptures

As well as the jumbo yellow Lamp Bear by Urs Fischer after departures, security and passport control at the South Node.

Or the wooden toy Small Lie which looms 32 feet over passers-by in the North Node.

And the larger-than-life sculptural Playground.

All of which we’ll appreciate all the more as we get back out flying again.

That’s why airports are museums.