Good Morning, Baltimore

I’m back on the East Coast, where the sky feels smaller, cluttered as it is with suburban trees and strip mall neon, and where Amtrak trains are delayed. My summer and this blog are coming full circle--back on the train, instantly annoyed, still feeling restless, feeling less-than-thrilled about the next few weeks, months, etc., planning the next road trip.

The last few days blew me through the south and Midwest--Oklahoma City to Tulsa (a ghost town) to a smalltown steakhouse where we stuck out like sore thumbs to St. Louis and the top of the Arch to somewhere just west of Columbus to fried fish sandwiches and red velvet cake ice cream in Wheeling, WV, and finally to Baltimore and now on to New York.

I’m not sure how to sign off, and years of summer goodbyes have proven sucky, so I’ll just leave it at that for now, hoping for the next big adventure…

Amazing things keep happening

I'm writing this from the Best Western Carlsbad, where the Blue Cactus Lounge is hopping on a Friday night (there's a bouncer and girls in the parking lot who are not staying here dressed to go Out with a capital "O"). Regardless, it ain't the Lodge at Cloudcroft, that's for sure, but it'll do for the night.

Today, we went to Carlsbad Caverns. We missed much of the caverns because we had to stop at a brewpub in Artesia to sample every beer they had. Kris says this is what we'll look like in Hell:



Nevertheless, we got the chance to see 300,000 bats fly out of a cave for the nightly feeding. With the exception of the overly chatty softball team behind us, we could hear nothing but bats' wings and crickets.

Christmas in July

For some, it's Stephanie's birthday (happy belated, girl!), for others it's the opportunity to sled on gypsum sand dunes in the middle of the desert in the middle of the summer.

Here are some photos from White Sands National Monument.
(I'm spending the night at the haunted Cloudcroft Lodge--a Victorian-era hotel in the middle of the woods.)

Pack up what you own...

The boxes are at the post office, the souvenirs are safely bubble-wrapped, our bags are mostly packed, and it's time to say goodbye to Santa Fe.

Goodbye pinon-dotted mountains, blue doors in adobe houses and blue skies, goodbye hollyhocks.

We sent Chrissy off early this afternoon and soon we'll be off ourselves, to drink our end-of-summer sorrows away. Tomorrow it's off to White Sands, then Carlsbad, then back east.

I'm not ready to settle down or settle in. Who's up for taking a trip?

How to have a wild night out, Santa Fe style

Plan A: Drive to Ojo Caliente, with a pit stop at Dandy Burger, because who doesn't like fast food logos of lunch meats dressed in formal wear? Drive home in a massive thunderstorm, having not soaked in mineral springs because of lightning directly overhead.

Plan B: Drive to the Santa Fe Brewing company to see the frontman of Amazing Larry (apparently, it's a verb) play drums with a blues band. Get turned around on seventeen different frontage roads (make sure to include a left turn that evidently brings you back to the same road you started on). Arrive at the brewery an hour after you expected. It is essential at this point to find the place nearly deserted and the band finished with their set. Increase the population of the bar exponentially by adding five people to the three droopy-looking girls already there. Engage in wacky banter with Amazing Larry, then get snubbed. (Remember, this is the summer of the snub.)

Plan C: Drive into town to try to find the last open bar in Santa Fe. Get into Willee's for the band's last song. Suffer no big loss--it's just a weird latin/hip-hop version of "Sweet Home Alabama." Get glommed on by 19-year olds who may or may not have been tripping on E. Witness a bar fight. Leave after last call, which is apparently at 9:30 pm. (Okay, okay 1:13.)

Plan D: Drive to Allsup's to find some beer. Discover that even convenience stores don't sell beer after 1:30.

Plan E: Drive home. Eat a package of microwave popcorn. Give up.

Oh my God, it's Thursday...

I haven't been actively blogging because there hasn't been much to report. I guess the pace of things has slowed down a bit, but on the other hand, the week has flown by and there is so little time left...

The most exciting bit is that Caroline came in yesterday and she'll be hanging out here for the next couple of days. She took the train--rode the rails, old West style, which is pretty awesome. We're going to hit a few museums and enjoy what downtown Santa Fe has to offer. It's pretty open, which is great, because I feel like I've spent enough time here to know things and places and feel relaxed just strolling about.

For those who are keeping track, we went to Taos on Monday, mostly to visit the pueblo.





I also finally had a decent hike yesterday--got up Atalaya (elev. 9121), though I was disappointed that there was no summit marker on an otherwise well-marked trail. Does this mean I didn't really get up there? I was the tallest thing around, so let's just say I did...

Lazy Sunday

Road Trip Haiku #6, 7: No cupcakes from Magnolia, but...

Pancakes at Harry's
Flea market scorpion art
Fancy dinner: yum!

Deep fried squash blossoms
Taste delicious with goat cheese
Let's make them at home