Today is Saturday and we leave for Mexico and the Copper Canyon tomorrow morning. We've been in Las Crusces, New Mexico since Wednesday. How wonderful it is to spend some time in wonderful, magical New Mexico, one of my favorite places in this country.

What is it about New Mexico? Is it the glorious, glowing sunshine, so different from Florida with it's hot glaring rays? Is it the light that bounces off the mountains in the late afternoon creating colorations that emphasize the sharp peaks and canyons? Is it the colors of the desert and the contrasts between the impossibly blue sky and the earth tones of the adobe structures? Or is it the people, grounded, real, and sometimes quirky? Certainly it's all of these and more. The Indian and Spanish and cowboy cultures come together here creating a wonderful and rich tapestry that is New Mexico.

Las Crusces is a delightful city, the second largest in NM, full of history and art and beauty. Today is the annual balloon festival. The hot air balloons fill the skies. Tonight the balloonists tether the balloons and the gases create a glow throughout the field.

Part of Las Crusces is an area called Mesilla, which is the old town. That's where the Gadsden Purchase was signed (the document wherein we purchased the southwest from Mexico) and Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hanging. That building still exists and is now a gift shop. As I walked around the plaza yesterday, the most vivid rainbow that I have ever seen appeared in the sky after a brief shower. In fact it was a double rainbow!

Today we get our orientation for our caravan trip to Mexico. And tomorrow, off we go. It will be several days before I get any internet connection. It's wierd in these modern times to imagine being totally out of touch, without even a cell phone. So nothing to do but relax and enjoy. I'll be back in touch when I can. Adios amigos!

It's Cold in Albuquerque

We've spent 2 days in Albuquerque. Had to get some warranty work done. Howard spent yesterday working with a client of his while I was on my own. I spent the morning at the spa and the afternoon in Old Town. That's a fun place. Because it wasn't very busy this time of year, shopkeepers were very chatty. I learned a lot about the old buildings and about the artists in the various galleries I visited. Had lunch in an old hacienda on the plaza.

I love New Mexico. I always discover wonderful things every time I visit. It's one of my favorite places. I happened to walk into a little gallery and the owner/artist was sitting at her desk. I looked at her again because she looked familiar. She said that I looked familiar too. Turns out we had taken an art workshop together in Taos about 5-6 years ago.

This afternoon we will be in Las Crusces where we will start rearranging things, pick up supplies, and talk to our fellow caravaners about our trip to Mexico. We leave on our caravan on Saturday.

Our trip catch up...What's with the snow?

Here we are in Albuquerque in the snow! Back home in Maryland it's 70 degrees. Oh well. Soon we'll be in Mexico. Here's Our Journey so far after one week on the road.

Tuesday - Left Maryland in the afternoon and dry camped west of DC.

Wednesday - Dry camped in SW Virginia, and had a frozen dinner on my birthday.

Thursday - Dry camped again in Knoxville, TN

Friday - Memphis, TN. Stayed in a Happy Camper campground very near Graceland.
My Memphis experience:
We picked up I-40 at Knoxville and on Friday we parked for a full day in Memphis, where we worshipped at the Temple of Elvis. As we drove into Memphis I had Paul Simon’s Graceland playing through the I-Pod. In his words, “There’s something in me I just can’t explain that wants to go to Graceland.”

Yes, it is surrounded by tacky souvenir stuff, but Graceland itself is real in all its Elvis glory. I felt truly moved. Not what I expected. It took me right back to that screaming 12 year old girl seeing that wiggly, outrageously handsome young guy with a guitar on TV. My mother thought I had completely gone out of my mind. I think that is when my life began. If you have ever loved rock and roll, blues, or gospel, you should visit this place once in your life. It’s alive with Elvis energy. What kitch! What glorious tackiness! I could almost feel his presence. Of course, there are videos and recordings of his music all over. It was fabulous.

It turns out that January 8 is Elvis’s birthday. His grave was surrounded by floral arrangements and tributes sent by fans from all over. Apparantly, Graceland receives flowers every day of the year. They keep all of them until they fade.

At night we went to Beale Street to eat Memphis bar-be-que and listen to blues. We are not really late night people, and I’m sure that the heavy action starts after 10 pm. We had just changed time zones, so it didn’t work for us to stay really late. However, we listened to live blues and boogie (I love it) in the park and ate great ribs at Rum Boogie Café right on Beale Street. If you go there be sure and look at the collection of guitars from blues and rock and roll greats. This is a very authentic place.

Technology – I am struck as to how much we use technology on this tri, and how pleasant it makes the journey. When it works, there’s nothing like it. To illustrate. When one of us is driving, the other can read and send e-mail on our built-in GPS/PC. We connect it through Verizon and our internet enabled cell phone. My I-Pod lets us listen to our preselected favorite music as we cruise down the road. We connect it through speakers. When we tire of that, we can listen to our satellite radio without ever having to change the station due to loss of signal.

Of course we are gadget freaks and love to find better ways of doing things through gadgets. Of course, our incredible motor home allows us to have a traveling experience that we would be hard pressed to call camping. I call it our condo on wheels. Certainly it’s not for everyone, and I respect that. But I for one absolutely love it.

Saturday - Dry camped (translation: no campground. Wal-Mart parking lot) east of Oklahoma City

Sunday - Dry camped in Amarillo, TX. We ran out of propane in the middle of the night (the LP guage gave ua an incorrect reading). So we bundled up and rode down I-40 wrapped in blankets at 2 am. Of course no propane place was open at that hour. We stopped at a Denny's just to get warm. Finally, we pulled into a campground to connect up to electricity and to nap for a couple of hours. When we got up, we bought our propane and have been delightfully warm ever since.

We will be in Las Cruces, New Mexico on the 10th where we expect to meet up with our caravan before entering Mexico.

We're On The Road

We left Maryland yesterday on our way west. We will rendevous in Las Crusces, NM to start our trip into Mexico and Copper Canyon. The weather was beautiful all day. Mitzi, our dog is with us.

I had a scare today. Mitzi needs her exercize, but she can't yet be trusted to come when I call her. (we're working on that.) I had her on a 50 ft. leash so that she could run on a nice big grassy area. She slipped out of her collar and started running. Of course you can never run after a dog. They just think that's a game and run from you. Here we were surrounded by highways on all sides. I was frantic. My husband finally saw my dilema, and the 2 of us tried to corner her. She is clever and fast. I could only picture her running into traffic. We finally got her by opening the door to a nearby motel room. Turns out she can't resist an open door. She ran in and we got her. I was so scared.

Today is my birthday. We decided to postpone it, however, until we are in a more interesting place other than the Wal-Mart parking lot where we are tonight. We hope to be in Memphis tomorrow. I want good bar-b-que and a blues club. that will be a great birthday celebration.