Santa Fe, Day 4

I had a whole long post about me watching this show and bingeing it in 3 days. But I accidentally overwrote it. Too bad, it was a masterpiece…

On The Santa Fe Trail, Day Three

Today was the end of the trail. It was a short day too, with only 4 1/2 hours on the road. We returned to a cold house; it was deja vu all over again, again. Last January, after returning back from Sally’s mom’s 98th birthday, we were greeted with the same scenario: the radiant floor heating was not working, and the same boiler was still serving up the on-demand hot water.

Carlsbad Caverns

Today was Cavern Day. The VRBO is a mere 35 miles from the caverns, and we had a 9:30 timed entry pass, so naturally we left ‘home’ at like 8:00 AM. We thought the road might still be icy, but it wasn’t, and our 8:30 arrival at the Visitor Center meant we were in for a 30-minute wait before we could get in the building. I parked facing the south at Sally’s suggestion because it allowed a nice view out over the valley from our elevation in the Guadalupe Mountains. By the time they opened the doors, there were a half-dozen folks waiting with us to get in. We had to check in and show our National Park pass and the reservation ticket.

After wandering the 2 gift shops and a restroom visit, we were ready to ride the elevator down the 750 feet to the Big Room. Our original intention was to walk down the natural entrance, but we couldn’t because it was closed due to the ice remaining at least halfway down. Turns out the ride was kind of worth it, because after finishing walking the mile and a half loop around the inside, we were ready to get back up to the top.

I put the visit on par with the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere; it was worth the money for the experience, but I don’t need to see it again.

On The Santa Fe Trail, Day Two

When we got off I-10 to head north towards Carlsbad, it was in the town of Fort Stockton, TX. That name was somehow familiar, and I thought I might have been there before. Sally had picked out my photo of the day while she was looking around for gas. The town’s claim to fame was a very large roadrunner statue called Paisano Pete. When I saw it, I was pretty sure it wasn’t for the first time. When I got back in the car, I checked my external memory bank, this here blog, and sure enough, Donna and I spent a night here in 2013 on our way to meet her brothers in Big Bend National Park.

I, of course, can’t be certain that I have seen the statue before, but when I get back home to Fairview, I’ll have a look in a photo album…kids, a photo album is where you store the glossy 3×5 pieces of paper that have an image on them from the developed film…kids, film is not a movie, but a roll of photosensitive…oh, forget it. I’ll check to see if I do have a photo of the roadrunner statue from back then.

On The Santa Fe Trail, Day One and a Half

The half day is because we spent yesterday getting a head start. This is the first time we won’t spend two nights in the state of Texas on a New Mexico-Louisiana trip. It’ll possibly be the last one too all because of our Carlsbad Caverns side trip.

As you can guess, we stopped at a Buc-ee’s. Actually we stopped at two of them, Baytown and Luling, thereby making up for zero stops at one on the Nov-Dec trip. There were 3 along our I-10 route, but we skipped the Katy one because it was only 50 miles from the first one. There were nature breaks at both, and there was some shopping done, but the only purchases made were drinks for me at each and gas at one for the Tucson.

Loiusiana, Day Five and a Half

Today was to be a full day, with tomorrow being the start of the trip west towards Carlsbad. But with the winter weather that has swept through the south and along our route, we pivoted. Original route was Hammond to Waco to Carlsbad, so we planned a more southern route through San Antonio to avoid as much of the bad weather as possible.

We were also worrying about dealing with Baton Rouge rush hour traffic and the tall bridge over the Mississippi in sub-freezing weather; we snuck out this afternoon and drove a hundred fifty miles west in the dry, above-freezing weather. This move has an additional benefit in that we now have a couple of shorter drives to get to Carlsbad. And we might just need that extra time because some of the roads along the route, even this far south, might be hazardous and slower to travel.

But before Sally and I left Hammond, there was one last birthday present she needed help with: spending the gift certificate to a local restaurant she received as a present yesterday. We had a very nice brunch at Tope La. I finished my whole omelet, but both ladies boxed up about half of their meals for later consumption.

Loiusiana, Day Five

This was it, the Main Event! Adele’s birthday was actually yesterday, but the party was scheduled for a Saturday so more of the family could attend. There were a couple dozen attendees in person, from longtime friends to all three kids, with some of their kids and their kids’ kids, AKA great grandkids. There was also a FaceTime call with the missing grandkid in Alaska and a niece with the new grandniece in Wisconsin, and someone else in Hawaii.

It was at the house of Sally’s older sister and her husband, and they went all out on the 99 stuff. She got the shirt, and the banner behind her had “99 & Fabulous” on it. She is also sporting a sash with that same sentiment and a tiara with 99 in the middle. They also got a 99th birthday card and one of those trivia pamphlets all about 1927.

Food was potluck, with every guest bringing something to nosh on. Someone brought the large birthday cake, and because it is Mardi Gras season, the hosts bought 2 King Cakes from 2 different local bakeries. There was also champagne. The party wound down after about 4 hours, but not because of the birthday girl; she was still kickin’ and it was the generation below with tired eyes that wanted to head out…