Elephant Butte

Gentle readers,

We camped last night in Elephant Butte National Park, which actually does not have a view of the butte.  It was ok, lovely and cool after the sun went down (I had to put on jeans - the first time since leaving ON on Aug 2).  We stayed in a shelter, I will post pics soon.

The only downside -- mosquitos.  That, and my sleeping bag is too warm. The combo means I slept maybe 4 hours last night.

I've also not been fasting since my journey started, and I can tell.  My clothes are all tighter, and I'm sad to have fallen off the wagon so hard.  So this morning I decided it was time to start up again, come hell or high water. So far, so good, despite two lovely veggie locations we discovered in Truth or Concequences today.

Well, must go examine the butte now....

Love from the road!

New Orleans Photos

The Mississippi in the morning, with St Louis' Cathedral presiding over a tug-and-barge operation.

Have a go, gentle readers!

Captions, and more photos from Austin, TX to come! :)

Please go to Flickr

I'm having issues posting photos -- I think the main trouble is they're so darn large (I'm shooting in RAW on the Nikon D-80 SLR).  So, instead of writing tons about what I did today, I'll just show you.  With a small note.

Austin, TX depart 00:30 aug 9
Midland, TX arrive at 07:00 aug 9
Lock keys in car, 07:15
Midland Lock and Key opens car, 9:20
White's Town NM, near Carlsbad Caverns arrive 13:00ish (local time, 14:00 Austin time, 15:00 Ontario time)
Drive towards Guadalupe Mountains, 13:30ish
Drive by Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX 15:00ish
Arrive in El Paso, TX 19:00ish

Thank god it's shower time, 19:05ish.


Tomorrow we're off to see Elephant Butte, which is near Truth or Consequence, NM.  We're camping there overnight, then off to the Grand Canyon the next day, where we will stay (probably in Flagstaff, AZ) a couple of days.  Then it's off to Las Vegas, Nevada, Los Angeles California, and up the coast to San Fransisco.  w00t!

New Orleans

This sure is an interesting town.  Yesterday was so hot, you sweat just standing around, and we were doing more than that.  I don't ever remember sweating so much!  We kept going in and out of stores and malls with air conditioning, just to stay sane.  Sarah assures me that you can become acclimatized, but I don't know if I'll have enough time here (we head out Thursday, Austin-bound).

Sarah and Britt took me to a lovely little cafe called Tout de Suite down the street, where there was a variety of tasty veggie menu options (a rare find in the US, it seems).  They have free WiFi access, most importantly!  We had a filling brunch with leafy and quinoa salads, veggie burgers, and my first chicory coffee (a specialty here -- I love it!).  I took many pictures of the art that lines the walls, all done by local artists.  My favourite pieces were the "fleur-debris" which remind me of Barb Howarth's Junk Ladies that I used to help create.

We saw some lovely sights:  Jackson Square, the outside of the St. Louis Cathedral, with the fountain and statue of Andrew Jackson out front.  His statue was apparently erected by Baroness Pontalba, who had it commissioned and set up facing her apartment because he'd never tipped his had to her while he was alive.  The apartment buildings, which match each other on opposite sides of the square, were designed by the Baroness, and are the oldest continuously rented apartment buildings in America.  There was a lovely bistro that had some good cheap food, and $1 strawberry daiquiris... they were mighty tasty.

Then we went out on the town, to meet up with Britt's friend Jorge from Nicaragua, and met some random british guy on the way.  We ended the night at a bar with a live blues band, including a woman playing the washboard (with attached cymbal and cowbell) very well!

Dates

Here's our general destination plan:

Austin, TX: Aug 5-8
Aug 8-9 Travel to
Sedona, AZ: Aug 9-12 (Grand Canyon)
Las Vegas, NV: Aug 13
Los Angeles, CA: Aug 14
San Francisco, CA: Aug 15-19
Campbel, CA (near San Jose): Aug 20-22ish (Sarah's Parents place)
Portland, OR (12 hr dr): Aug 23-29 (Portland Zine Festival)

Burning Man !  Aug 30-Sept 6

Loves from the road!

Guess who went through additional "random" screening?

Yep, I did. Aparently the US of A isn't secure enough. Good news my flight was delayed so I can still make it. Also, no body searches required, just a rifling through of my bags.

Now all I ask of the universe is to make my connecting flight.

Oh shit*, tomorrow's Aug. 2nd!

*sorry for the curse word, Mom.

So, this afternoon, while hanging out with lovely ladies, my friend Rachel asked me if I was leaving tomorrow.  I said, no, I'm leaving Tuesday the 2nd.  When she said tomorrow was the second, I had to check the cell phone to verify.  Yep, today (Sunday) is in fact August first, my plane does in fact leave August 2nd, which means I've "lost" 24 hours and I'm leaving tomorrow.

Tomorrow's too soon!  I haven't packed completely, I had made plans with friends for wonderful sleepovers tomorrow night, and a leisurely trek to the airport from Toronto city centre.... all changed.  I had a small anxiety attack.  I had to leave the lovely gathering, and get home to begin packing in earnest, and crossing 't's and dotting 'i's.

Lists, lists, lists..........