Sunday, August 18

Trip pictures need to wait until tomorrow. I've finished the entries, but for some reason I can't log in to post from my work laptop at home. I'm really frustrated with computers right now. My home computer would only boot 1 out of every 10 times for 4 months. I fixed that problem, but then Ed tried to install a new printer on it. I think he jarred the motherboard loose, so now I need to take a weekend to fix it.

We continued our painting project this weekend, moving into the family room area. Ed also installed a new fan in the guest room. It was so hot and humid (95° / 93%) that my glasses steamed up when I went outside today.

Last night we went to a surprise party for Ed's friend's Bob's sister. It was a very Texas affair, barbecue, boots, etc. I was probably not dressed appropriately since I was not wearing a halter top with capri pants that were two sizes too small, but I always like new cultural experiences.

Thursday, August 15

Our nextdoor neighbors Pam and Glenn have sold their house. They're moving to Atlanta. Despite the slump and having been in the house only 8 months before having to sell, they did get 5% over what they paid. I was worried they'd sell for less than they bought. Anyway, Pam gave me all her terra cotta pots because she didn't want to move them. I took them all because I can just store them under the house until I want to use them.

I'm about 80% done with my New Mexico photos, so I should be able to post them tomorrow Saturday.

Sunday, August 11

Well, I couldn't update from New Mexico because I didn't bring the 800 number for my work dialup. Ed did, but his laptop had FTP disabled. I wrote anyway, and will post it as soon as I finish editing my photos (I'm about half done). We had a really great time.

We had a dinner party last night. I didn't find out about until Wednesday, by which time 10 people had been invited. We wound up with 8, plus us for 11. Ed grilled lobster tails, and they turned out great. The party was in Erica's honor, since this was her last weekend. We also went to Fogo de Chao on Friday, someplace she'd never been and I thought she would enjoy. She loved it; it's her new favorite restaurant in Houston, and she even said today that it was the best part of her trip. For those who have been to a Brazilian churrascaria before, this is a very high end one of those. For those who haven't, it's a fixed price deal where you get a buffet of side dishes (the best "salad bar" you've ever had, more like the brunch at the Grand Concourse), then sit down and let the gauchos bring on the meat. You get a disk that is green on one side and red on the other. If you put the green side up, the gauchos come over with cuts of meat on stakes. If you want some, they slice it off for you. When you've had enough or want a break, you turn your chip over to red until you're ready for more. Erica was served wine, even though she'd already ordered lemonade. She liked that and the accents of the gauchos, and maybe their pants, too. Or maybe that was just me.

Today we went to the Titanic artifact exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It's been here since May, so we thought the crowds wouldn't be bad, but we were very wrong. Despite the throngs of people, it was a very good exhibit (especially considering Ed and I have tried to avoid all the Titanic hype and haven't even seen the movie). As we entered, we were each given a replica of a Titanic boarding pass bearing the name of a passenger. Like the Holocaust Musuem, at the end of the exhibit we found out whether we lived or died. Erica was a first class female passenger, I was a third class (steerage) female passenger, and Ed was a crew member. Erica and I both survived, but Ed, like the majority of the crew, did not. The beginning of the exhibit covered the making of the ship, and then we entered a replica of parts of the ship, complete with live people in the staterooms playing the part of passengers. Then we entered a room dedicated to the hours of the sinking. They had a real ice "berg" that we were encouraged to touch; we were told that the ocean was colder than this ice on that night. It's easy to see why people who weren't in boats could not survive for log even if they could escape the boat. Some of the artifacts were in perfect shape. They even had quite a bit of currency, some of it cleaner than what you see in circulation today. The docents were very knowledgeable, too. If this exhibit comes near you, I'd definitely recommend it, but try to go during the week. If it isn't scheduled near you (it looks like they haven't announced the 2003 dates yet), it's staying in Houston until January 3, 2003, so come on down.

After the museum we did some last minute shopping for Erica, then stopped at Taco Milagro for some quick tamales and enchiladas. Then it was off to the airport. This trip seemed quick; three weeks goes by too fast. It's quiet here now.

Sunday, August 4

Vacation log. I'm going to post it as if I'm actually on vacation, since I wrote it during the trip. This way I can stretch it out!

We left our comfy cabin and the delightful temperatures and began the long trip back home. We took a different route this time. The first part was really boring, but toward the end we went through Fredericksburg and Austin. I was surprised as we left Fredericksburg to drive by Wildseed Farms, where I've bought many wildflower seeds.

We really enjoyed New Mexico and highly recommend it as a vacation destination. There is a lot to do, and you can buy liquor in the grocery stores!

Saturday, August 3

We took a drive over to Bonito Lake today. Apparently the drought was not kind to the lake, though. It was muddy and low and overcrowded with fisherman. But the area was pretty, so we headed off to look for a place to bike. As this was within the wilderness area, the hiking paths were off limits, but we saw some dirt roads on the map, so that's where we headed. As it turned out, the main road turned into dirt as we drove up the nearby mountain. We decided that Erica and I would do a downhill coast from the top, and Ed would drive down to pick us up. It was a lot of fun. Erica and I got up to high speeds and barely had to pedal. We did stop to check out remnants of a mine, but Ed never passed us. When we got to the bottom, we found out why. He had been collecting rocks. We have been very frustrated in Houston that there are no rocks to be found anywhere for landscaping, except for at the rock store. So we actually plan to haul back about 10 boulders.

On the way back from the ride, we stopped at an art gallery where Ed dropped a bundle on a piece of art for the dining room wall. It will look great on the red walls.

Friday, August 2

Ed and Erica's last tee time. I decided to drive back up to Capitan and visit the Smokey Bear Historical Park. I learned a lot about Smokey and finally got to see his grave. I remember seeing him at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

From Capitan I drove over to Highway 54 to visit the Three Rivers Petroglyph site. I had hoped to stop along the way and take a picture at the gated road to the Trinity site where the first atomic bomb was detonated, but road construction prevented it. I don't know if there was anything to see there, anyway. I did see a ranch I wouldn't mind owning!

The petroglyph site was not what I expected. I thought it would be a wall or cave with petroglyphs, and that I would stop, take a couple of quick pictures, and head back to Ruidoso. Instead I found it to be a remote site with several rocky hills to climb. It also had about 21,000 petroglyphs, all of which I could approach and photograph (only took about 25 pictures, though!). Most were on small rocks that could be stolen or damaged; I hope having these so accessible isn't a problem. It was nice to be able to explore the rocks and come across petroglyph surprises, though. It didn't seem as much like a tourist site. My favorite petroglyph reminded me of a whippet; very silly. These petroglyphs were made by Jornada Mogollon people. If I had walked a bit further, I could have seen the partially excavated village of these people, but it was hot and I was late to pick up Erica and Ed, so I decided to save it for another time (maybe even Saturday).

Thursday, August 1

Hike day at last. Our destination: Lookout Mountain, elevation 11,580. We would have preferred to climb the highest peak in this range, Sierra Blanca, but that is within the Apache reservation and so is closed to the public. Lookout is the second highest, though. It's a little closer to the ski area than I would have preferred, but I decided to go with this choice because of the view I thought we'd get, and also because I was a little worried that we weren't well enough prepared physically. Our practice hike on Tuesday helped and I at least had become accustomed to the altitude days ago, but Ed and I are still out of shape, Ed and Erica would be hiking in tennis shoes, and Ed is so accident prone. Even though it wasn't even a seven-mile hike, I took matches, a thermal blanket, a flashlight, lots of water and two cell phones, but figured being close to civilization might come in handy.

The hike took us through alpine meadows, along mountain streams, across springs, through deep forests, and yes, up a ski slope at one point. We did miss one switchback, but disovered our error before we got too far off track. Finally we could see the summit, a rocky peak above the treeline. The last bit was very stenuous, across delicate tundra plants until finally, the top! Erica and I got there first and were digging into the food already when Ed arrived and started videotaping the 360 degree view. And then, HAIL! Without any warning we were being pelted with quarter-inch hail. We sought shelter against a stone wall and dug out the thermal blanket. Ed was happily nestled between me and Erica, who was completely exposed on one side. She was yelling Ow!, I was laughing at the whole situation, and Ed did attempt to videotape the view from under the foil. This lasted about 10 minutes, then we ventured out to assess the weather. Suddenly lightning strikes sent us bolting for real cover. We headed down to a ski hut we could see, disappointed that after three hours of hard work, we hadn't even gotten to enjoy the view. Luckily the ski hut was unlocked. We broke out our lunch, Erica aghast at all the moth parts strewn about the temporarily abandoned structure, and watched storm after storm approach, pelt the building, and blow by. After more than an hour, the coast looked clear and we headed back up to the summit to collect our reward. We spent quite awhile up there this time, watching as our storms swept west toward White Sands. This time the lightning was far enough away to enjoy. I photographed the tundra flowers, Erica threw rocks into the canyon below, and we finally felt that the hail and thunderstorms hadn't really ruined the hike. It had lowered the temperature about 20 degrees, but the gusts had calmed down and we knew that as soon as we got moving again we'd be warm.

The trip down was of course a breeze. We were surprised at the end to see that it took an hour and a half. It seemed more like 45 minutes! We noticed several piles of bear scat that had been deposited since we passed on the way up, so we looked hopefully for bears (and elk), but didn't see any. Bears are very common here, but not very agressive unless provoked.

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