Fire! South of Albuquerque

Just a quick update...
I've seen some reports that the Manzano Mountains, which lie southeast of Albuquerque, are burning and there have been a number of evacuations.

This seems pretty inevitable to me given the low humidity and the dry forests. Actually, they say this has been a pretty wet year....lots of snow. Doesn't seem to help.

Home Again

I'm still living on mountain time...I cant wake up before 8:30 these last two days. That puts me a little behind schedule on getting on the road.

Well, I spoke too soon about not getting lost in Tulsa. I left town in a heavy fog and drizzle heading east and before long I was well on my way to Arkansas. I'm blaming the fog...although it is pretty hard to miss the turnpike. Just a slight detour.

Fog and rain stayed with me all the way home. I decided to avoid my usual route because a tornado went through Buffalo a couple days ago and I didn't need to get caught up in the clean-up. After jockeying with the 18-wheelers on I-44 (and later highway 54) I managed to get home around 4:00 PM.

I had supper with Jill and brought Watson back home. He is now banging on the door to go out on the deck. He managed OK (eventually) at Jill's but he is happy to be home. Me too.

A Dreary, Dreary Day

Yuck!

It was cloudy leaving Amarillo and it just got worse as I came east. Hit lots of rain about an hour west of Oklahoma City and it rained all the way to Tulsa.

I almost always get lost or turned around in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa but this time -- somehow -- I got through alright. It seems like I'm always in the wrong lane and can't get over where I belong when my exit goes by. There is something wierd about Texas and Oklahoma drivers. If you speed up, they speed up and if you slow down to let them pass, they slow down and no matter what, they stay right where you want to be.

When I got to the hotel in Tulsa the desk clerk was having a happy hour so I got a free beer.

There is 60% chance of strong storms here tomorrow. More rain. Everything looks a lot greener than when I went through here last week.

Tomorrow night I'll be home!

So Much for Immortality

I got on the road for home this morning about 10:30, the sky was clear and the temperature was around 60 degrees...it looked like another pretty day. Going east from Albuquerque you have to climb through Tijeras canyon probably 1000 feet up to the east mountain area. By the time I got to Moriarty, about 18 miles east it was 35 degrees and overcast and the temperature dropped to 31 degrees by the time I got to Cline's Corners.

Cline's Corners is a relic of the old Route 66 days trying to survive on the interstate. They sell all kinds of tourist trap stuff -- way beyond t-shirts and key chains. You can get Chinese made Indian kachina dolls, all kinds of wonderful wall "art", Navajo sand paintings and dozens of pottery things. I roamed around in awe of all of the stuff they had for sale. They were trying to sell regular gas for $3.79 a gallon....I didn't see any takers. I did put on my jacket....for a while it looked like it might snow. Another 50 miles and the temperature was back up to 50 degrees and it was sunny.

I reached Amarillo fairly early and decided to stop at the Cadillac Ranch again to see if my attempt at immortality was successful. Most of what I saw a week ago when I stopped by was obliterated and covered with new graffiti. They even painted over my name! I hope "Mommy" got well because the "Get Well Mommy" inscription was replaced by "Sonya + Stacey". In fact Stacey had his name recorded several times on several cars...I don't know if he did it or Sonya did it. The whole thing reeks of spray paint. You can smell it 100 feet away.

Amarillo is the home of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. It was closed when I got to town but it has some nice bronze statues on the outside. I'll try to get in here some future trip.

The time zone changes back to central time when you cross over from New Mexico into Texas. The sign on the road at the border says "Entering Texas Time Zone". Ugghh!

Tomorrow its back to Tulsa. Looks like the weather will be ok.