Pictures from the New Mexico, Texas trip

http://picasaweb.google.com/wordchemist.photos/NewMexicoAndTexas2009?feat=directlink

My pictures from the New Mexico/Texas trip are at the link above. A few of them are embedded in earlier postings on this blog. Enjoy!

Home Again

Mission accomplished, home again safe and sound. Enjoying a quiet afternoon with the Sunday paper before going back to cubicle-land tomorrow. Linda and I spent way too much time on the road, but we saw cousins and aunts that we hadn't seen in decades and we re-acquainted ourselves with the vast arid landscape that is eastern New Mexico and western Texas. That place was home for so long, but I needed a map on several occasions before the old memory kicked in.

We spent a couple of days in Lubbock, with a half-day trip to Amarillo in the middle. So much hasn't changed but some things are very different. Much of the old student ghetto east of Texas Tech has been converted into upscale apartments, but my old place on 2nd and Ave. X is still there, with not much more renovation than a good coat of paint on the outside, and my old dorm looks exactly the same.

The trip home was one of those local-bus Southwest flights that started in Dallas, then hopped over to Lubbock where Linda and I caught the plane. A couple of parabolic hops put us into Albuquerque, then Denver, where Linda and I parted ways. She headed off to Seattle, and I stayed on the plane for the last two-hour hop to Baltimore. The plane was at least half empty, something I hadn't seen in a long time. We were 20 minutes early getting into BWI (another unfamiliar experience), and the luggage hit the belt in baggage claim in record time. Probably because there were so few of us on the flight. I was home by about half past midnight, a good hour earlier than I expected.

So I'm home today, easing myself back into the everyday world. Pictures to come.

On the Road Again

Greetings from sunny New Mexico. Linda and I flew to Albuquerque from our respective Washingtons (the state for her, the District for me), and had a great time with friends last night. We arrived on the only chilly rainy day predicted for this week, but we also got a great rainbow with the Sandia Mountains for a backdrop. This morning, it was breakfast burritos at The Frontier (well known to Tony Hillerman fans) with more friends, plus a couple of repeats from last night. A brief photo shoot downtown, stopping for just a bit to peek in at the Cinco de Mayo street festival near the convention center. Then it was on the road, south on I-25, past the bosques and vineyards. Turned left at San Antonio, NM, home of the first Hilton Hotel and the ever-popular Owl Bar. Went east through Capitan (home of Smokey Bear) and Lincoln (where Billy the Kid was shot). The central part of the state looks very parched. Made it to Carlsbad by early evening, and now we're catching up on email and just generally taking it easy.