Today I played tourist in the city of Santa Fe, NM. with Charm. This is the El Rancho De Las Golondrinas, originally a stage coach stop on the way to and from Santa Fe. It was interesting to see how things were built back in the 1860's.

Everything is adobe and wood. 

This is Charm talking with one of the tour people.

Then we walked around "Old Town Sante Fe."  Admittedly a tourist spot with lots of things to buy in shops and from Native Americans with their wares on blankets on the sidewalk.

I wanted to buy this statue and put in my front yard to ward off evil spirits.  If I believed in that sort of thing.  LOL!!

Last weekend presidential hopeful, Gov. Rick Perry from Texas, hosted "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis," in Houston.  The rally attracted some 30,000 folks.

The rally was dwarfed by the city of Houston's first ever city-wide back-to-school event 7 miles away where an estimated 100,000 people showed up to receive free back packs, school supplies, uniforms, haircut vouchers, immunizations and fresh produce.  The demand was so great, the event had to be shut down by 10:00 am and turn people away. 

Instead of all that silly praying, think of the good the Gov. could have done if he had donated the money spent on his publicity stunt to the back to school event.  I'm just saying ...

That sign should probably read "two wars" or if you count "Libia 2.5 wars."

I have to say that Nebraska and Kansas looked the same going west and south as it did going north and east the other day. I told a guy at the conference it is so flat here that you can actually see the curvature of the earth as you look off in the distance.  Funny he didn't laugh!!

I chose to leave the conference today (Sunday) as the lineup didn't look worth sticking around for. I caught a quick breakfast in the hotel dinning room and made myself a waffle.

Now I have usually had pretty good luck staying at Motel 6's, although the one in Omaha looked pretty run down and seedy.  The one here in Oklahoma City has taken the prize for worst I have ever experienced.  I checked into my room and noticed an odd smell but you know how you quickly adapt to odd smells.  As the evening went on, the occupants of the room next to me came to their room.  Now keep in mind that we have adjoining rooms with a locked door between us. 

The male occupant began talking real loud on the phone and yelling at at least one child.  The noise got louder and louder, and at one point I thought I heard a dog bark.  After I had had enough, I went to the front desk and asked for a different room, which they gladly provided.  On my way back to my room, I took a quick peek into the open window of the room next door and found a very large man, a child and two dogs in the room  One of the dogs was a pit bull in a cage.  Now  I know where I recognized the smell from.  Dogs!! 

My new room is nice and quiet and quite a ways down from the first.  (With no adjoining room)  I may have to re-think the whole Motel 6 thing in future trips, and I hope the one I'm planning on staying in tomorrow in Albuquerque is nicer.

I did manage to get out and find a Starbucks.  I came back and watched a really good PBS concert with Barbara Streisand. 

The conference started this morning at 9:00 am. I got there at 8:10 am and nothing was set up, including the sign-in table or vendor booths. The speakers were good and the program ran pretty much on time. They gave us a critique form, so I was able to render some advice from my attendance at many conferences. This is the first one this group has put on and it looked like one or two people were doing most of the work. They didn't seem to want my help when offered. There were about 80 people in attendance. 

After the last speaker of the afternoon, I was able to do a little sightseeing around Omaha. I saw the mighty Missouri River, which I was told is just below flood stage.

I went up on this pedestrian bridge that goes over the river and took the photo below.  It was a beautiful day with temps in the low 80's and low humidity.  I'm told by the locals this is rare for this time of year.

Omaha is the home of the Men's NCAA College baseball world series.  This is the new stadium built for that and a minor league team affiliated with the Kansas City Royals.

Its been an interesting day. I started out my day, as I do on most days when I'm on the road, by stopping at McDonald's for hot a cakes and sausage breakfast. I always ask for a second container of syrup because the hot cakes soak it up pretty quick. Today, I asked for my usual order only to be told that an extra syrup would cost my 30 cents. 30 cents!!!! I know its not the clerk's vault, but I had to tell her that I had never been charged for a second syrup. She said, "I'm sorry. I don't set the prices." Now I know that, but talk about nickle and dimeing us!!!

The second interesting thing I saw this morning was in the little town of Minneapolis, Kansas. I was down below a quarter of a tank and thought it best to seek petrol and a restroom at my next opportunity.

I pulled into the only gas station I could find in town and first I couldn't find a slot to run my credit card to get gas. Finally I realized that you pump your gas first and then go in and pay. When I told the nice lady at the counter I couldn't remember the last time I was able to pump my gas before paying  she said, "it saves time." They obviously don't have drive-offs there.

After paying for my gas, I went into the bathroom. There I found a sign that said, "please don't spit on the floor." It gave me quite a chuckle and helped remind me where in America I was.

The photo above is of a weather front I was driving towards.  As it turned out, as bad as it looks, all I got was a few showers out of it.

The local state police at work.

When I got to Omaha, I got quite turned around looking for the college where the conference is going to be held.  After finally getting my bearings, I came upon this crash.  I guess it had just occurred as people were running out to the car and checking inside.  Then the first unit on the scene pulled right into my lane so I ended up going right here and circling around it. 

This is what I saw on my trip today.  This is what east Colorado and west Kansas look like.  I can also tell you that Kit Carson, Colorado is nothing but a wide spot in the road.  I'm in Hays, Kansas this evening.  I have about 300 miles more to go tomorrow.  I also lost an hour of driving by moving into the central time zone. 

I went to "Freddy's Steakburgers" for dinner this evening.  They have a burger described as "California Style."  So I had to ask.  It is a burger with thousand island dressing ala In-N-Out.  Go figure.  I had one, and they aren't as good as In-N-Out. 

This is one of the big lies the Republicans would like you to believe, and a core point of their thinking. The rich are the ones who hire people, so we should cut their taxes so they will have the money to hire more people.  So far it doesn't seem to be working and President Bush II cut their taxes years ago.

On the stretch of highway between Santa Fe and Taos, the road travels along the Rio Grande River and thru part of the Rio Grande Gorge. I stopped along the side of the road to have a look.

As you can see, this is a popular spot for river rafting. Looks like it would be fun.

I drove I/S 40 to Albuquerque, turned north on I/S 25 to Santa Fe, NM. Then the fun began.  The freeway went to a four-lane highway-

To a two-lane highway-

To winding mountain roads-

To flat open prairie.  I've always felt that you have to get off the main highways to really see the country side.  Part of the reason I came this way was to see Taos, NM.  There wasn't much to see, but it was a great drive.

I made it to Raton, NM this evening.  Raton is in the N/E corner of New Mexico.  Those clouds you can see up ahead ended up pouring rain and hail on my car when I got back from eating dinner. 

Tomorrow I will head out to Kit Carson, Colorado, and then N/E towards Nebraska.

I got an early start to my road trip. I was up at 4:30 am with Karen and out on the road just before 6:00 am. The photo below is the sun coming up as I'm driving thru Victorville.

The photo below is of a field of some kind of yellow flowers I thought was real pretty. 

Got a few sprinkles going thru the mountains  of Flagstaff, Az.  Hardly enough to have to use the wipers for.

My plan was to spend the first night in Winslow, Az.  But when I got there and checked out the area, I decided to move on to Gallup, NM.  I am staying in a very nice Travelodge in Gallup and the girl at the front desk directed me to a little "hole in the wall" restaurant for some really good Mexican food.

Heading out first thing in the morning for Omaha, NE.  The plan is tomorrow night in Winslow, AZ, Wednesday night in Tucumcari, NM, Thursday night in Wichita, KS, and Friday, Sat, and perhaps Sunday in Omaha.  It's gonna be awesome!!!  I'll be posting photos as I go.

This is the latest photo of our grand daughter due in December.

Went for a bike ride Monday and again today.(Friday) Both days I rode around the neighborhood here in South Ontario. Monday I stopped for a bit at Westwind Park.  Got in about 15 miles each day. 

Thursday evening Josh, Karen, and I went to see the Angels play my Twins. We always have a friendly rivalry when the two teams get together. We make Karen sit between us to keep up safe from one another!!!

Sadly, my Twins lost the game, scoring only one run on Jim Thome's 598th home run of his career.

It was a fun evening non the less.

I found a facebook page called "Chino Natives Sharing the Memories."  One of the people posted this 6th grade photo, and if you look closely, you will fine me right in the middle.

Right slant loop pie!!!

This photo says a lot.