The Roadrunner State

And even the dolfins respect Roswell

Dolfin is the "other worldly" way they are named. We chose the ph to represent "F", which is strange...as we were always taught the "P" was silent, as in swimming...no this is yesterday's .....Today is devoted to the other las vegas

Las Vega, New Mexico. By Taos, ummm hundred miles,thru neat desert...no dolphins, tho it may have once been ocean

Sorry, someone spiked my martoonies...

Greetings: I am currently trying to buy a car that is located in AZ. which is a very long way from the coast of NC. If I fly out to AZ to visually inspect the car, I can either pay the dude, fly home and ship it here. OR I can fly out there, pay the dude and DRIVE it home all the way across NEW Mexico, then Texas and still not be halfway home! What I need is to find someone I know and/or trust to go the Phoenix area and verify that this car is for real and just have it shipped BUT I don't know anyone in that area! I have been talking to this guy since way before Christmas. New Mexico might be nice and beautiful but I really do not want to drive across it. Anyone here near Tuscan or Phoenix?

Yes, there are cost concerns involved.  I can't justify flying out there and back just to see a car that may or maybe not be as represented.  Viva New Mexico..

Captain  Neptune:   I  don't   know  what  to  recommend  regarding  evaluating,  appraising,  and  transporting  your  car.   I've  bought  a  number  of   cars  at  a  distance,  and   I   feel  your  pain  when  you  say  it  is   frustrating.   Last  time  I  went  online,  and  got  someone   locally  who  was  willing  to  independently  inspect  the  vehicle.  I  also  sprung  for  the  fee  to  have  the  vehicle  shipped  to  me.    That  changes  your  numbers,  but  helps  keep  you  sane.....   Hemmings  Motor  News  &  Ebay  have  advertisers  who  will  do  the  shipping   component  for  you,  they  are  bonded  &  insured.    Shop  price,  you  don't  necessarily  need  an  enclosed  climate-controlled  truck.....

Heading  out  the  door,   but  I  just  had  a  last-minute  disturbing  thought.....Could the  lizard   in  the  beak  of  the  bird  in  John  Peterman's  picture  regarding  today's  topic  be  the  same  one  who  works  for  that  insurance  company  that  uses  him  in  their  television  commercials?

RY- I am so happy your martoonies were spiked- as you are making me laugh this very early, very cold morning!Thank you!!!
 
BERT- my husband is so addicted to Hemmings Motor mags.
 
CAP N- Are you going to tell us what kind of car? I am now wondering...

The Kokopelli doll in my office reminds me of my visits to the SW, specifically New Mexico in the 1990's. The local southwestern cuisine and the associated chilies made it a pleasure to dine there.  Sunsets in the desert are some of the most spectacular. Alas if they only made cartoons like the Roadrunner again. Beep Beep. 

Bert, one can only hope

 
 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8TUwHTfOOU

 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSosQRiXiPw&feature=related
 
 
 
 
I'm a road runner baby....beep beep !

I kept a picture of the road runner, the cartoon road runner, on my bulletin board for a long time -- it just seemed to be an analogy for life :)  Splat!

As a recent escapee from the desert southwest, I'm a bit biased against it, but lots of people love it out there. Frankly, I do miss the food. Hard to get a good machaca chimichanga in Massachusetts. I try to console myself with lobster...

But as to CULTURE in New Mexico... the Santa Fe opera scene is world renowned. Santa Fe is also a center of artists of all sorts.

RY, if I was still in Phoenix, I'd be happy to help you... your request came just a little too late!

Captain: regards shipping your auto (should you buy it), email me on the side and I'll give you details on shipping it... Be ready to spend at least $1,100 to ship with a reputable company.  It's a lot less expensive to drive it yourself.  If one figures 1,600 miles and the IRS allowance of 55 cents per mile (which is very generous!), that comes to about $850.  Amen to Bert's comment about not needing an enclosed, climate-controlled van (a waste of money).  Back when our firm did 'auto shipping' focus groups found that the main complaint was road dust on the vehicles -- so the car-carrier drivers were instructed to swing by a car wash before delivery.  Complaints disappeared! DO, however be sure any quote(s) include insurance.  (An old industry 'joke' goes:  "Are we insured?  Yes.  Are you 'automatically insured'? Nope."  Moral of 'joke': be sure you are getting insurance, aka liability coverage, in your quote!)

New Mexico.
Many years ago, on the outskirts of Albuquerque...
I remember it was a clear and very cold morning. Stepping out of the motel room, I could see my breath and my just-showered wet hair began to freeze.
We hadn't been married very long. It was on the first, of what was to become many, cross-country road trips together. Everything we owned was packed into our little blue '72 Subaru; the windows of which Jack Frost had liberally decorated with beautiful crystal patterns, on that crisp dawning. Hot coffee was heartily steaming from our cups, as the sun was rising and we made our preparations to head West on I-40.
One glance upwards, however, made us pause in complete awe. The sky was filled with a multitude of hot air balloons. Rising slowly, hanging breathlessly in mid-air, dotting the azure canvas with every color of the rainbow...a vision that has been forever etched in my memory.
I believe the Balloon Fiesta now attracts over 700 balloons, annually. There were not anywhere near that many back then, but for us it was truly serendipitous and a stirring sight to behold.

When I was little we drove cross country for my dad to take classes in California, from Maryland.  We took the north route over and the southern route back.  We were in New Mexico for my brothers birthday.  It was the first time I had seen a pinata. I still have two hand painted puppets from the party. 
 
As an aside,  Gospel greats the Blind Boys of Alabama and New Orleans mainstays Preservation Hall Jazz Band team for a can't-miss bill at the Kennedy Center on Friday for those in town.  Just saw it in the Post and thought of the fans here. 

Thank you Kristina for bringing attention to the culture of New Mexico and the Santa Fe area.  Taos has some of the best sking around not to mention the art culture.  The Native American Fair in Santa Fe has some of the world's best artisans.  New Mexico truly is the "Land of Enchantment" for those of you who haven't spent time there.  I found JP's article rather offensive to New Mexico.  Maybe I just haven't had my caffine fix for today.
 

Senora Peggy, PLEASE do not be offended by Our Genial Host.  I think he was trying to give it the light touch and yes, I suspect it wil read better after a little more bean juice.  As for Albuquerque, I expect it means WHITE OAK in Spanish.  How many states boast at least one White Oak Community?                                                                                                      Cap'n, I have flown once and driven once to pick up unseen cars - not as far as Arizona, but all of the way to Tampa one time.   Miraculously, they both made it home without incident, though the Bentley has been temperamental ever since.   I think the real question for you is travel time. It will take a long time to drive that baby all of the way home, but you will get a good shakedown feeling for its character by the time you get there. I would vote strongly for the deluxe AAA coverage if you decide to drive home.  If things are quiet at the office, why not?  Just build the cost of the return plane ticket in to the price of the car. If it won't stand the increase, you  may have answered your own question.

One of my brothers lived in Albuturkey for several years, and I was a frequent visitor there. The Sandias (watermelon) Mountains are a great place for hiking, and the funicle is a revelation. Watch the hillsides turn red, with pine trees for seeds, at sundown, and you'll know all about how they got their name. Once upon a time SO and I undertook a particularly difficult hiking trail up the hills, including snow and ice and some near-vertical climbs. When we reached the top, there was a sign at the trailhead, but its back was to us. We walked around the front, and it said:
 
DANGER-This trail is CLOSED due to snow and ice and near-vertical hazardous climbing!
 
Oops...anyroad, the restaurant at the end of the universe up there was pretty good.
Old Town Albuquerque is great. Sandias are great. Santa Fe, Taos, and the otherworldly outdoors are so worth seeing.
Their green sauce is not to be trifled with. It will enliven the mucous membranes of the unwary in a most surprising manner-but it's really good on your huevos!
 
As with Arizona/Phoenix, Vegas, LA, and so many other overpopulated areas in the Southwest, it's all about the water.

Hi SenoraPeggy, Please please don't be offended by our host. He's handled all the states he's done in much the light hearted, as Willie said, way. And they're all equal amounts of fun, facts and some teasing. I love New Mexico and am anxious to return for another visit. And I certainly can sympathize by having to think before caffeine.

Capt Neptune

I have crisscrossed New Mexico a few times usually
off the interstate.  It worth the trip. But
it is amazing.  In summer the desert is
best experienced in the early morning and evening.  As long as you have air conditioning you can
drive mid day but the stops aren’t as much fun. Stay of the interstate Highway
driving is at 65 and a lot more fun.

Taos is a great place for writers to go to relax and feel their writing.

"as we were always taught the "P" was silent, as in swimming" ~ RY
 
 
I'm with bebe.  More martoonies for you, RY.  Funny!!

New Mexico is one of America's best kept secrets.  Petermans article is one of the reasons.  The world requires a layer of thick skin so it seems.    It seems to me the only reason Phoenix has exploded in population and Albuquerque hasn't is East LA, of which is the new nick name for Phoenix.  Arizona should put the same sign on its boarder California as Oregon did .  Welcome to Oregon a nice place to vist but please don't stay.  And in actuality all this comes as a blessing for New Mexico.  The air is still clean and at night the sky is so big and the stars are so close, you can simply reach out and touch them if you dare.  New Mexico is certainly a place to make a thousand wishes.  Sure there are many remote and impoverished areas , especially as you drive down 40 West of Albuquerque, where you see a very rudimental struggle for a living. (life style as those who make the comments know it)  If you do stop you find some very happy people non theless.  Heading NorthEast to Santa Fe, its is a beautiful drive into the mountains where you find one art or another prospering in their own way.  My favorite was the tile companies where Soutwest culture comes alive on tile that you may find in kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor patio areas.  Next time you have a tile project I recommend you check out New Mexico.  Their economy could use the outside cash flow every bit as much as Detroit or the New York banks.  And the neat thing about New Mexicans, is they are not looking for bail out in massive waves.  I have to say one of my coolest driving experiences was in the south of New Mexico on I-10 heading east  towards  Las Cruses.  There was patchy storming weather as I was approaching the mountains from the west and  because of slight rises and falls in elevation you could see multiple thunderstorms in 5 mile circles in a panoramic scan.  Well up the road there was a small tornado traveling in the same direction I was and I got to follow it for about three miles and then when I got close to it just vanished back into the clouds.  Next to sitting on top of the Grand Teton, that is the closest I came to a "God" experience.  I was all alone and it made it real special, me and the universe.

I've been to New Mexico twice. The first time, I was a kid, and we were visiting my Uncle in Los Alamos, where he works as a chemist at the National Lab. We got to tour the place, and saw the atomic bomb display. We also had the first REAL Mexican food I had ever had in my life. I remember it being tasty.

The second time was for a black-powder elk hunt. I don't have a black-powder rifle, and I don't really have a taste for hunting anymore, but it was great to go camping up in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. We were there just when the aspen trees were changing, and if you look in my photos, you can see the ruin of a little cabin that was near our camp. We had horses and a camp kitchen that would rival the one in my house. Oh, and a bar. A very well stocked bar, that included some homemade beer. We ate steaks with our pocket knives and I made a rather interesting fruit cobbler using some fruit cocktail, crumbled crackers, and a bit of coffee creamer.

I just wish we had put a tarp around the "outhouse".

Paul  Murphy:   Were  I  a  resident  of   Phoenix,   I  would  be  offended  if  people  referred  to  my  lovely  city  as  "East  LA."   A  phoenix  is  a  mythical  bird  that  was  engulfed  in  flame,  then  in  deus  ex  machina  fashion  arose  from  the  ashes.    Ever  since  the  riots  following  the  Rodney  King  incident,   Los  Angeles  has  hoped  that  Watts  would  arise  from  its  own  self-inflicted  ashes.     But  even  with  much  government  assistance,   nothing  significant  has  happened.    And  LA  has  taken  over  the  undisputed  title  as  street  gang  capital  of  America.   The  day to day  problems  with  gangs  make  the  violence  portrayed  in  "LA  Confidential"  seem  tame  by  comparison.   So  Paul,  please  distance  any  reference  to  Phoenix  from  a  connection  to  Los  Angeles.   That's  like  saying  that  Ciudad  Juarez  or  Tijuana  are  same  &  similar  to  San  Diego.  One  small  footnote:   The  special  squad  detectives  in  LA  Confidential  dress  exactly  like  me,   and  I  LOVE  that  Buick  convertible.  

I had a real shock years ago driving 'the mountain road' between Santa Fe and Taos.  It was exactly like northern Spain!  Little old ladies dresse 'de luto' all in black using brooms to sweep the streets clean particularly struck my eye.  And the landscape reminded me a lot of Burgos or Asturias.  And then, at a stop, I had a second shock.  Some locals were speaking 17th century Spanish, full of archaic constructions and words!  I asked the gentleman at the tourist shop (in which I overheard the others) why and how, and he patiently explained in the same elegant Spanish that when the Spaniards moved into the area (centuries before there was a 'Mexico') they had a series of very violent wars with the local Indians.  The two peoples went their separate ways with almost no intermarriage.  And then (about a hundred years ago) Anglos began sifting into the area -- the 'immigrants'. There was no reason to give up the culture of 350 years -- so they didn't.  The ONLY other place I've ever really FELT I was not in the U.S. (even though I was) was in the North Side of Boston when it was EXCLUSIVELY Italian (complete with old guys playing bocce, old ladies gossiping in Italian, the kids being called home by mom -- in Italian -- etc.). 

there's a great home that's being given away out there right now!  i've registered every day.  i didn't win the cash and bag on here, but it never hurts to try.  if i win it your all invited.  yep!  i like new mexico, right now i'd like anywhere that's above freezing.

Bert, I use to live in Phoenix...where the phrase was coined.  Phoenix is east of LA and so largely populated by people from California/LA.  Its only a five hour drive to LA.   I also know Phoenix to be a very transient city already and  the people take no offense to any association to any other city as there are many.  The Phoenix Valley is now as smog ridden as LA (almost) because of the recent population explosion there.  It is not about the people its about the amount of people on a land that cannot sustain it.  For now Albuquerque does not have that problem as it is at least a 15 hours drive from LA.  The reference  I made is purely geogaphical. The social problems you brought up in East LA were the farthest thing from my mind.  Sorry my geography reference offended you.  Are you from Phoenix?
  
  

Tommy Typical a regional cousin of your Kokopelli doll are Kachina Dolls. I have a collection of them. They are pretty neat. A little more work goes in to those I believe. They are gifts given in hope of future abundance and health, as well as tools for education. Whats cool about the authentic ones is that while they are figurines of indians they are all one piece of wood. Imagine it being your job to walk around the woods looking for tree branches that could turn into a figurine of a person. Maybe that is what the payote buttons are for. Maybe that is what Carlos Castanata was talking about in A Separate Reality. And to be sure I cannot say that I know...

Just popping in to say hi. I have new glasses (lined bifocals) and can't deal with spending more than a couple of minutes looking at the computer screen. I know I'll get used to it in a couple of days but right now I think I just want a cool cloth to cover my aching eyes and a nice glass of chardonnay. HAve a good evening and stay safe.

I was born in Phoenix, I have family there.  The Phoenix I recall (correctly) as a kid and young adult even -- it's gone.  What a mess Phoenix has become, sorry bert, but the valley that the Camelbacks create, it could be LA.  It could be any ill planned city.  It's too bad, is what it is, but while they "tell me I was born there" and I guess that's true, I sure have no good feelings about it, anymore.
 
I do have a collection of Kachina dolls, as well, Paul.  My grandmother collected them and gave them to me, and I'll pass them on to mine...
 
I'm sad for Phoenix.  The congestion makes the heat unbearable in the summer.  The smog makes the air unbreathable.  Way back when I remember I learned a lesson about how hot it got in the midday sun by going outside on the sidewalk in front of my grandmother's house, without shoes.  Could fry an egg on that sidewalk.  That heat is the reason for siestas, or was the reason, I mean I don't care if it's dry heat, 110 is too hot.
 
But more than the heat, I wouldn't go out midday in Phoenix because of that noxious smog.  I feel sorry for those who moved to the value for health reasons and are now living under a layer of soot.
 
Anyhow, NM is a little piece of heaven, compared to Arizona.  Albuquerque isn't anything special, except it's got an airport to leave from, and go home,  Santa Fe, I've stayed their with a girlfriend, it's pretty darned nice.  The art, that's cool.  The one particular street that has art gallery after gallery, pretty great.  My problem with NM, Sante Fe area, is that to get to any of the mountains to see the fascinating Anasazi cliff dwellings -- if that you have to drive on roads through the mountains! which makes sense of course but from Sante Fe, to a place called Bandelier, there were sheer drop offs and no guard rails and oh.my.
 
Also, Los Alamos is creepy.  Desert for as far as you can see, with a barbed wire and electric fence around it.  And here and there what looks like a SWAT team guy, standing there loaded and ready and guarding all that nothing.  With an expression on their faces that says "I dare you to stop." 
 
And Abiquiu is beautiful, and I can see why Georgia O'Keefe moved away from Steiglitz to go there to live. 
 
I hope NM guards its borders and as Paul I think wrote, ?, invite visitors to visit, but encourage them to leave, or all of the beauty will be spoiled.  The Camelback Mountains, the Valley, and Phoenix was beautiful once, too.
 
No more, though.
East LA. 
That's too bad.
But it's one of the reasons my cousin just moved to Flagstaff.

"I feel sorry for those who moved to the valley for health reasons."  Not value. 

All that warmth sounds good enough to feel. What say we take the sepiatrain and follow the tracks of the old Santa Fe Super Chief with its domed cars right into the sunset and listen to the sound of the coyotes echoing back and forth in the hills.

Poblanos are versatile but I like my peppers hotter. Aliens abducting cows is a strange but not-too-uncommon occurence. The Hanna half of Hanna-Barbera came out of NM so does that mean the Flintstones and the Jetsons did too? What does it mean to be from New Mexico? Something aiken to a mesquite-fired Georgia O'Keefe painting, beautiful like Demi Moore but deadly like Billy the Kid? Take the Santa Fe line and you might just find out how to get lost in the desert, vultures and hot air balloons floating overhead with the hot hot sun beating down, drying it all out, don't forget the shades and keep those windows down, driving that never ending stretch of highway. Yeah, you got no particular place to be, and even though there's a destination in mind, the journey getting there is 99% of the fun. Get your kicks, on.

That sounds like a good idea, Peterlake. 
It's nice this time of year, anyhow...the nights out there are cold. 
But nobody tell geraldine that or we will not see her until spring, I'm serious (HI G!!!)
 
The Santa Fe Super Chief -- wow, what a memory.  The domed cars -- I remember going to Phoenix on one of those trains, and I remember the cars with the domes.  That was very cool, and is still cool.
 
I'm up for it.
I'll bring 5 Navajo blankets just for G!
 

JPL:  Snow's coming!  They just upped the guestimate to 9-12 inches here.
 
I guess I won't be going anywhere in the near future.
 
Except on thesepia train. 
 
 
What's the forecast for your area?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbQXalTGu-8&feature=PlayList&p=5074DAA0AEC1ACEE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=9

Get your kicks here, Paul.

Paul  Murphy:   You  didn't  offend  me,  but  then  again,  I'm  not  from  Phoenix.   My  only  point  was  that  it's  dissimilar  as  heck  to  compare  the  two,   and  who  the  heck  wants  to  be   compared  to  Los  Angeles  {rhetorical  question}?
 
Park4:  As  a  kid,  I  remember  taking  the  Santa  Fe  El  Capatan  {sic.},  sister  train  to  the  Super  Chief,  to  San  Diego,  to  visit  my  grandfather,  then  later  on  to  bury  him.   Ahhhh,   the  good  old  days,  trains  were  THE  way  to  travel,   airlines  were  still   pricey,  and  rather  spartan.    By  the  way,  Park4,  have  you  any  ideas  for  cinema  tonight?   I  never  do  read  the  office  paper,  until  the  entertainment  section  gets  hijacked  by  one  of  our  people  at  work,  who's  addicted  to  the  advanced  crossword  puzzle.....
 
In  Southern  Ohio,  where  it  meets  Kentucky  and  later  West  Virginia,  2"  to  4"  tomorrow  during  the  day.    However  I  never  trust  a  tv  weather  forecaster,  hell,  he  doesn't  even  have  a  window  in  his  studio!!!
 
Cuukoo1:   Girl,  I  have  1st  dibs  on  that  house,  but  if  I  win,  the  same  invitation  is  extended  to  everybody.....open  house  for  a  couple  of  weeks,   I'll  rent  furniture  if  I  have  to,  there  is  nothing  going  to  stand  in  the  way  of  sharing  such  a  fortuitous  event   with  my  virtual  friends.....  Plymouth,  a  fallen  flag  automobile,  but  a  neat  place  to  live.

Outstanding! The UPS-Gentleman just delivered my new Olive Green Cafe Cardigan (item 2453). It definitely will look smashing under a sports coat.

bert:  I recall the El Capitan too.  I wonder if that one stopped in Phoenix, too?  We took a number of train trips to Phoenix (and one extra-special plane trip (voyage was more like it) on a shiny fat great big clunky looking plane back to Chicago in 1957 in a lightening storm over the mountains, because my sister had chicken pox and our parents didn't think she could endure the trip back home on the train.
Or, rather, that the people on the train could endure her for the entire ride back to Chicago, she was such a pill.  And sick, she was unbelievably pilly.
Anyhow, I remember sleeping on seats on the trains, and in "rooms" or cars, and both the two level and the dome cars, so maybe we took both the Chief and the El Capitan.  Compared to public air travel out of Phoenix in 1957, it was so much fun.  It would have been "funner" anyway, better than flying.  In lightening.  In a big plane with propellers.
Here's some info on the El Capitan and the Chief:  It's long.  Skim freely...

"El Capitan was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was the only coach, or chair car (non-Pullman sleeper) train to operate the Santa Fe main line from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California on the same fast schedule as the road's premier Pullman Super Chief.

This all-coach, streamlined train (assigned Nos. 21 & 22) began operations in February 1938. Not unlike the Pennsylvania Railroad's Trail Blazer, it offered "low-cost passage with high-speed convenience." Originally conceived as the Economy Chief, the name El Capitan was ultimately chosen to honor the Spanish conquistadors and their influence on Southwestern culture, though it didn't hurt that the name seemed to outrank the Union Pacific's Challenger all-chair train, with which it was designed to compete. Unique in charging an extra-fare despite being a coach train, it pioneered such features as "RideMaster" seating optimized for sleeping. The original consists were two new Budd Company-built trains of five cars each made of lightweight stainless steel. Each of the two luxury trains were capable of accommodating 188 passengers for a mere $5.00 upcharge over the price of a ticket on the road's all-chair Scout.

El Capitan was the first of Santa Fe's trains to utilize the "Big Dome"-Lounge cars, though these were soon given to the Chief in favor of new double-decker "Hi-Level" coaches developed by Budd and the railroad in 1955. These experimental units featured a quieter ride, increased seating capacities, and boasted better views of the Southwestern terrain El Cap passed through and made this train unique and revolutionary. Amtrak's Superliner equipment, which was placed in service along many of Amtrak's long distance routes, were based on the Santa Fe Hi-Level design. The Superliners were designed to be operated along with older Hi-Level cars.

Eventually the train was combined with the Super Chief and operated under train numbers 17 and 18 through the end of Santa Fe passenger operations. Today the route formerly covered by El Capitan is served by Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Many of Amtrak's trains (especially those in California) consist of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs. In recent years, four "mothballed" El Capitan lounge cars were removed from storage, refurbished, and placed into service on Amtrak's Coast Starlight as "Pacific Parlour" first-class lounge cars. These refurbished cars feature a service bar, booths, and chairs on the upper level, and a theater on the lower level."

I do remember stopping in the station at Santa Fe.  The indians lined the platforms, sat on the ground, and layed out their silver jewelry around them, for sale.  Turquoise and silver, lots of that.  My dad bought me a ring, too big for my finger, and I lost it before we got home to Chicago.  Good guy that he was next trip he bought from one of the indians, a concha belt. 

And I still have it.

It fits me more as a bracelet than as a belt 53 years later, but it's all about the good memories, anyhow, isn't it?

oh monumental misuse of word!
 
"laid out" -- it's laid out, not layed out, there is no such word as layed.
 
 
That's bad.
 
(eli: Wow! my first awful grammatical error of 2010 ;)

Thank you to those of you who responded to my rather caustic comment of this morning.  Got me to reread the article.  And also thank you to those who wrote about the beauty of New Mexico.  To those of you who refer to Phoenix, I am a native of Phoenix and so is my brother and my Dad was born there also in 1902.  We all saw the changes happening throughout the years and it was and that change reaches down deep in the soul.  My brother still lives there as do many of my friends but I left in 2002 for the hills of central Mexico.  My best friend in AZ is a Hopi-Paiute and she is one of the few female Kachina carvers.  The real Kachinas are carved from Cottonwood tree roots.  Just a bit more trivia of the wonderful Southwest!!!

School is cancelled tomorrow due to the bad weather a comin'. When the principal announced it you could hear the kids all over the building screaming for joy. We have lots of good food, animals to snuggle w/, & a-l-c-o-h-o-l...
 
Where is this free house?
 
OT- I have never been to NM, but I would like to go sometime.
 
PL- That sounds like a fine idea. May dogs ride on the sepiatrain?I will bring some Amish sugar cookies- they are so crisp & so easy to make- I know people will love them.

BEBE:  Home  &  Garden  Magazine  sweepstakes,  enter  online  once  a  day,  really  cool  house  in  Plymouth,  new  construction.  Plus  cash,  enough  for  the  taxes,  with  lots  to  spare....and  a  nice  hybrid  truck.

Park4--Eastern Kansas and it is snowing, snowing and snowing.  Left work early and am glad I did!  We still have leftover blizzard that this is now covering over and making very picturesque--dangerous, but nonetheless, picturesque--definitely stay at home weather.  I have my fingers crossed school will be cancelled tomorrow.  Yes, the only trip I'll make tonight is with you, Peter Lake and all the others aboard thesepia train.  Aren't the stars lovely tonight?  They always seem more brilliant when shining down to frozen earth.  Yes!  I must trek to the Artic and check that out...that and polar bears and seals, etc.  

the polar bears have moved to arkansas, and i'm sure i saw a seal rising next to the trout in the river a bit ago..........
 
i'll take two of those blankies my dear friend park4 and several beverages.  i'm in a the club car sipping on hot cocoa now.  my down, heated and very plush seat is just below one of the domes.  the fires roaring.  the food is excellent as i'm sure miss blue must've had it sent in early.  let's roll.
 
 

Bert I am quite sure I didn't offend anyone in Phoenix or from Phoenix.  Knowing you are from my neck of the woods (Cincincinnti) I was taken back a bit, why you would take to the defense.  The Phoenix of today is much like LA...starting with too many people and too little infrastructure.  We can start with this one thing in common...in their respective beginings it was the place to go to for warmth and sunshine and clean air. That is - was their natural resource.  It's too bad that people in both places we blew it.  I suspect there are more native Ponecians to follow the footsteps of your brother.  If I were a New Mexican I'd exercise the laws of supply and demand and ask a kings ransom if I were to sell at all.
 Snow daze(d) -I am amazed having spent 30 years in Michigan and 10 in Minnesota, that the 2 - 4 insches of snow in the frocast here in Cincy has already closed schools again.  Heck where I grew up at that rate I'd be in about the 4th grade about now.   senorapeggy, no need to apologize I too thoght your comment was on track.  Spot on.  On the kochina's I was instructed that you can tell the real ones if they are all one piece of wood.  It makes sense that a root would give you a lot more to work with as a carver.  Some of the dolls I have i think are from knots in the trees.  I say this because of the bark.  It like the tree grew a perfect dancing doll...for those who had the eye to see.    

Park4

you said "My problem with NM, Sante Fe area, is that to get to any of the mountains to see the fascinating Anasazi cliff dwellings --"

I just caught this and can't pass it up seeing as we stumble on to the PHX _LAX thing. Turns out the Anasazi Indians society collapsed largely because the population outgrew its natural resources. SO New Mexica has already not learned that lesson to...reference Collapse Jard Diamond.

My review: http://cigarroomofbooks.blogspot.com/2008/11/collapse.html

Well I am off to the study to try and finish another book while hte snow begins to fly. Good day

PARK- I am sending a wonton wrapper so that you may practice self flagellation for your grammar faux pas-ha!!!
 
I think I've made many this new year.
 
Actually I bought the wonton wrappers this afternoon on my way home, because in the 21 Club book I have from the library they have ravioli recipes using wonton wrappers. I'm giving it the ol' try tomorrow.

What, no mention of Cloudcroft, NM?  Less than 30 miles from flat White Sands, this little corner of heaven is perched up in the mountains amid pine trees (and about 4,500 feet above Alamagordo).  The drive up Route 82 is magnificent... and midway are the apple orchards of High Rolls, NM....  Going EAST from Cloudcroft is also awesome.  On the leeward side of the mountains, the land drops and drops, getting dryer and dryer.  It's almost unpopulated (a place I'd like to live, heh, heh).  Over 50 miles of draws and little creeks lined with tiny flats, each just waiting for a one-room cabin, a small dam, and a tiny irrigated vegtable garden.  And then (OMG): Artesia, NM!  It's hard to convey the look of an 11,000 person town built around a refinery in the middle of nowhere, but 'The City of Lost Children' comes to mind.  I'll let the curious poke around Artesia using Google Earth and Street Views.  And I'll ignore Carlsbad, mostly because everyone knows about Carlsbad Caverns already.  (If you haven't been there, well, you're missing something...)  

Come to think of it, Google Earth with Street Views enabled (Left panel: Layers.  Between "3D Buildings" and "Borders and Labels") is a heck of a great way to travel from your desk... If ya'll haven't done it, do it.  It's fascinating to track down places you've been, see what has changed (and what hasn't), explore back roads and interesting geographical features, zoom down canyons, cross deserts, and so on....  

The "mother road" - the old historic Route 66 - winds its way through New Mexico. A scenic and nostalgic drive for those with the time to motor west, from Chicago to LA, more that 2,000 miles all the way, through Gallup, Albuquerque, and Tucumcari. Many vintage cafes, diners, and neon signs have been restored on the highway that is best. Adventure and superb scenery await the intrepid traveler, looking to get their kicks on Route 66!

As an aside: the main railroad line of the Atichison, Topeka and the Santa Fe never actually traveled directly through Sante Fe on its way west, because of the difficult terrain, but instead ran through Lamy, NM. A spur line was later built to service Sante Fe from Lamy.

*Atchison*

Have the radio on/Roadrunner roadrunner/A goin' faster miles an hour

It was New Year's Eve, and I sat behind my desk staring at the telephone, accusingly. He wouldn't call, I knew it, but I stared just the same. Some people hold their cards just a little too close to their vests...
They called him The Dolphin. I never got the chance to find out why, but the other women always snickered knowingly when they mentioned him. He was a big shot, and these golddiggers couldn't get enough. I met him in Santa Fe one cool Spring night, fingering silver and turquoise and dickering with the stonefaced Navajo who spread his blanket by the courthouse. He bought a lot, and he paid his own price.
We went for a drink at Loretto, and we talked. He had it all, and he wanted more. He was everywhere, and nowhere. He interested me, and he scared me.
He knew his wine, though. Knew how to live. He wanted me along for the ride, and I went to get my traveling shoes. When I got back, there was just a note under my flute of Veuve Cliquot:
Dark Side calling, had to run. Meet me at the chapel, next year. I'll ring you two ways, sweetheart...D
That was the last time I heard from him, except for this poem. Not sure what the message might be, but I'm sitting on go-all I need is a porpoise...
 
I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know
But I'm still willin'

Out on the road late last night
I'd see my pretty Alice in every headlight
Alice, Dallas Alice

And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites and wine
And you show me a sign
And I'll be willin' to be movin'

And I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet
Had my head stove in but I'm still on my feet
And I'm still willin'

And I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico
Baked by the sun every time I go to Mexico
Ah but I'm still...

And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me weed, whites and wine
And you show me a sign
And I'll be willin' to be movin'