12 August 2014
Bill and Hillary Clinton International Airport, Little Rock, AR

     My trip to London and Dublin has begun auspiciously.  No troubles getting through security.  There were only a few people ahead of me and the TSA put me through their body scanner so no pacemaker difficulties.

     Fran and I returned from our western odyssey Sunday.  I did laundry and packed yesterday.  This morning, the mail arrived and I went through, dividing Fran's from my own.  No bills yet so I should have a pile when I return.

     The western trip started as a weekend swing through Cherokee to visit the Guffy/Sluder family reunions.  Heather Gabelmann is learning her family so she wanted to attend.  The arrangements were for us to  pick her up in Oklahoma City, go to the reunion and wave good bye as she drove up to Lincoln, KS with her father.   Jim had a huge funeral to do and wasn't able to come.  We agreed to drive Heather up.  Then Fran found the perfect birthday present for Sammi (our daughter).  We decided to pack it in the car and drive to Los Alamos after the reunion.

     That made the trip a little longer.  We wanted to spend a little time with Lois and Dave Pritchard who live in Pueblo, CO.  The decision was to meet halfway and have dinner at Tequla's, a really good Mexican restaurant in Trinidad, CO.

     There is a light rail running from Belen to Lamy.  Sammi had never ridden, nor had we.  We drove into Santa Fe and boarded the "Rail Runner" for Albuquerque.  It's a nice ride.  The train is fast and clean and inexpensive.  There is no dining car, nor a snack bar.  It is necessary to get snacks before boarding.  In Albuquerque, we managed to mesh with both grandchildren's schedules and see them... separately.

     The weather in New Mexico was wonderful.  Bright sun with moderate temperatures every day.  The rains had mad the flowers blooming and there were fields of them along the roadside.  I went for a walk Thursday and took a few pictures.

old tree against the sky

gallardia

      Sammi is playing volleyball in the New Mexico Senior Olympics for the second year.  Her team was eliminated in the first round of tournament play, but they did make it through the pool.





     Saturday morning, on the way to the athletic facility, we saw many balloons.  There was a major launch in Albuquerque.  The balloonists launch in early morning to take advantage of the light winds and what they call "the box".  The box is a wind phenomenon in the Rio Grande valley.  Winds at one level are southerly and in another northerly.  A skilled balloonist can return his balloon to close the same place from which he took off.