Trip log

18 May 2015 --  begin in Little Rock mileage 44849

     We left about 9:00 AM and headed west on I40.  The weather was fine and, with the exception of some construction areas and a few rough places not repaired yet, the road was good.  Flowers were blooming for late spring.  With Fran's help, I identified sundrops, coreopsis, Queen Anne's lace (questionable), and penstemon.  There was one "wonder-what" that we didn't recognize.

     Although the sky was pretty clear, there were threatening clouds in the south.  We had a mile tail wind for most of the way and got good mileage from the Prius.  In one field, we saw a couple of wild turkeys grazing on early grass seed.

     We stopped in Shamrock, Texas at the Holiday Inn Express about 6:00 PM and I ate at a McDonald's.  Fran stuck to her diet.  It was a rough night for me.  My right forearm hurt and kept me awake.  I must have slept in snatches, but it wasn't rest.  The internet at HI was the slowest I can remember.  It sometimes took several minutes to navigate to a site and when there, changes took just as long.  I gave up early and read.

19 May 2015 -- continuing from Shamrock

     Breakfast in the hotel was scrambled eggs and sausage.  I met two Englishmen from Birmingham who were following Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.  I suggested a couple of worthwhile places to see along the way and hoped they would take I70 on the way back for the scenery in Utah.

     The Holiday Inn Express has sticky doors.

     Again, we got away about 9:00 AM and before we arrived in Amarillo, the rains commenced.  When it got serious in Amarillo, it could have been compared to driving through a firehose.  We slowed to about 40 mph in places.  That's the slowest I have ever driven on an Interstate unless there was construction traffic.  By the time we reached New Mexico, the roads were clear and dry.

    It was obvious that the rains had been there.  Lots of green and some of the ditches had weeds and grass laid down at their sides by high water.  We stopped briefly at Klines Corners.  That place has grown again and the approach is being worked on to make it safer.  Fran read that the original gas station started in 1938.

     Along the way up I40, we saw some grazing antelope and wild flowers that were growing at road side.  In Texas, there were huge fields of yucca, all blooming.  I wish we had time for pictures.  The sight of acres of white spires rising out of the sand was amazing.  Not the fields to walk on a dark night.  There were also primrose and another, different "wonder-what" blooming.  I'm pretty sure that we also saw more sundrops and coreopsis.

     It was mid-afternoon when we managed to get to Sammi's home.  Neither she nor Chuck had made it home from work.  We settled in and waited.  When they came home, we went out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and ordered much more than we could eat (as usual).  We hit the hay pretty early and I slept the sleep of the just too tired.

20 May 2015 -- around White Rock mileage 45229

     Sammi and Chuck left for work before we awoke.  I had breakfast and headed for Santa Fe and some last minute shopping.

     The first thing I saw on my way from O'Hori's Coffee Shop to the Plaza was this sculpture of a roadrunner.  The artist, Don Kennell was installing it.  Above and below

I heard Benjamin playing his bong, I think he said it was.  It is a new Swiss instrument.  Here he is talking to Luv, another busker.  It was attractive because the bong sounded like a dulcimer.

"Acequia" or ditch, running from all the rain.

I'm giving up on trying to arrange these photos in the order I took them.  For some reason, the program I'm using to write this doesn't like to do that.

Santa Fe was in bloom.  There were hundreds of flowers growing in the borders to public buildings.  I didn't even try to identify them.

Cathedral de Santa Fe from La Fonda Hotel

The "Acequia" or Santa Fe ditch was running from all the rain.

red valerian growing by the Acequia

Another photo of the cathedral, from the side.  The damn program refuses to move it.

Yet another picture the program Will Not Move.  Even the pines were feeling fecund.

In Sammi's yard, her flowers were going great guns.  To the left are her columbine that grow beneath the aspen trio below.  The flowers to the left below are phlox between two that I'm not sure of.  The yellow blooms may be chamisa, but don't quote me on that.

I wanted to move this photo of the Roadrunner train up by Don Kennell's sculptures.  The train is visible from where he installed his piece.  The Roadrunner is a commuter/tourist train that runs between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  Lovely views out the windows of some places you can't see from the road.

I don't know who this genteleman is.  He was dozing and observing by the plaza.  He seemed to enjoy the music provided by the buskers situated around the plaza.

     I managed to find water purification stuff at REI.  But the cheap camera housing to let me take one of my cameras underwater was not available.  That's a niche for someone who wants to make a little money.
     Fran and I had leftover Chinese food for lunch, then waited for Sammi and Chuck.  No one seems sure of what is to be done on our flights to Los Angeles and Fiji.  Our tour leader may have taken care of all that.  I certainly hope he did.
     We had a farewell dinner with Alex.  He will take care of the cats and dogs while Sammi and Chuck are away.  As always, he was an entertaining dinner companion.  Tomorrow, we'll drive down to Albuquerque and board the plane for Los Angeles.  Five hour delay in LA and off to Fiji.  I am excited and anxious to meet our tour leader Enrique and the other members of the tour.  It will also be our first time seeing Christopher and Arielle since March.

And so to bed.