Home

We rolled out of Roswell, NM at 0900 CST and rolled into the driveway at 2230 CST.  By my math, we covered those miles in 13.5 hours.  We stopped for gas several times and ate lunch at a local place in Sweetwater, TX.

We ate at Buck's Steak and Barbeque.  If you ever stop there (and they have the PawPaw seal of  approval), do not be so weak as to order the large chicken-fried steak.  It was all I could do to get around the small one.  The boys both ordered the brisket sandwich.  I gave half my steak to one of the boys and Belle gave half her steak to the other one.

It is nearly impossible to fill up teenaged boys.  But, I reckon, with the time in New Mexico this morning and the time in Louisiana this evening it took us about 10 hours to waltz across Texas.

Roswell, Ruidoso

We ate lunch in Roswell with elder son, then decided to take a drive up into the Sierra Blanco mountains near Ruidoso.  The day was drizzly and grey, but the stark beauty of the mountains shown through.  For a boy who grew up in the swamps of Louisiana, these landscapes were simply amazing.

Fog, or clouds rolling over the mountain.

The elevation over the pass into Ruidoso was 6000 ft.  Not as high as Los Alamos (7171), but a lot higher than I had been in a while.

It's hard to capture the grandeur of these mountains.  I'm going to have to come back in the summer when I can get out of the vehicle and take better photos.

Tomorrow morning we're going to point the van east and start home.  With three drivers and a 12 hour jaunt across Texas, we should be able to make it in one day.  With luck, I'll be in my own bed sometime late Friday night.

Day Tripping

We took a few hours to run into Santa Fe.  Too damned cold for sightseeing, but Belle wanted to go to a shopping center, and we took the time for a little car-touring and lunch.

Grandson Quinton driving, Belle navigating.  PawPaw was in the back seat  enjoying the ride.

Weird rock formation outside Santa Fe

Inside a restaurant in Santa Fe.  I don't remember the name, but the burritos were excellent.

Carne asada burrito.  It weighed about 2 lbs, and I ate it with a fork.

Mesas amaze me.

The Los Alamos Airport (KLAM) is 7171 MSL

We'll spend tonight in Los Alamos, then head to Roswell tomorrow morning. 

Snow

The snow in the mountains is totally unlike the show I'm familiar with from home.  While we don't get much snow at home in Deep South Louisiana, the mountains get plenty of snow, and it's light, fluffy, and dry.  The snow I'm familiar with is big flakes of wet heavy snow.

It's interesting, the regional difference of nearly everything.  Not better or worse, necessarily, but different.  Los Alamos is an interesting study in juxtaposition.  While the lab is still the main reason for this place to exist, and they're still doing science over there, it' is easy to tell that this place is basically a converted military town.  The housing, for the most part, is military quarters from the '50s or '60s, still in use, but privately owned.   So, when I look around, I feel like I've been here, knowing full well that I haven't.  The residential areas feel like military housing, which they once were.

The kids are at work, so we're going to go down the mountain to Santa Fe to plunder around for a bit.  I don't know how much sight-seeing we'll do, but Belle want to find a Best Buy, and there isn't any such thing on this mesa.   So, in a bit, we'll head to Santa Fe and meet the kids back here after work.

Museums

We spent the day in museums in Los Alamos.  Normally, a place has a history, but the history of Los Alamos began, basically, in 1939.  Oh, there were some homesteaders, but the government ran them off.  And, there was a prep school for wealthy east-coast boys, but the government ran them of and used the buildings to start the atomic lab.

They needed a place to blow-up stuff and this remote mesa seemed like just the place.  They've been blowing-up stuff ever sense.. 

Grandson looking at a replica of Fat Man, the bomb we dropped on Nagasaki to end the war.

 

Grandsons looking at a replica of Little Man, the bomb that put Hiroshima on the world stage.

It's been a day of museums.  The kids will be home from work soon and we'll plan supper.

Roswell and Los Alamos

Belle and I are touring this week with a couple of grandsons.  One of our sons lives in Roswell, NM, working for a huge manufacturer of cheese.  Another son lives in Los Alamos, NM, where his wife works as a veterinarian and he works for the park service.  So, we're touring around, visiting kids.

We drove across Texas in one day, Saturday.  That in itself is no small feat and when we rolled into Roswell on Saturday evening, we were whacked, and fell into bed.  We got up yesterday morning, ate lunch with elder son, and drive north to Los Alamos, got here last night just after dark.

The kids are at work, so we're going to tour about here today.  I want to see the Manhattan Project museum and the Bradbury Museum, then we'll meet back at the house for the evening.

We;ll leave here Wednesday morning, and return to Roswell, where we'll spend Thanksgiving.

We will load the van on Friday morning and head east, planning to make Texas again in one jump.  With luck, I"ll sleep in my own bed on Friday night.  If, not, on Saturday.  One thing I've learned so far on this trip is that altitude is a thing.  At 7300 ft elevation, I can't climb stairs like I can at 87 feet where I normally live.

Kansas State The Banquet

We went to the banquet last night at Kansas State.  Good times and good people.  The ladies sparkled and the men wore their Sunday best.  In this outfit, I'm known as Major D (everyone in CFDA has an alias) and the lady that you know as Belle, is Blue Eyed Belle).

Major D and Blue Eyed Belle

They gave out awards to this point, to shorten the award ceremony on Sunday.

Major D took 2nd place in Men's Super Senior, losing to my good friend Diamondback Billy, out of Pocohontas, AR.  Billy shot the match clean, and the only fellow I lost to was Billy.  I had him 2-2 on two occasions, but he always managed to get to the target a little faster than I did.

Blue Eyed Belle won third in her category, behind Snake Charmer and Sky Queen, both fine ladies and great competitors.

L-R - Blue Eyed Belle, Snake Charmer, Sky Queen.

Northern Kansas is an interesting place.  We awoke this morning to cool temps and a nice breeze.  We're through shooting this weekend, and all the faster guns are finishing the main match.  We've decided that it's time to pack the van and head home.  Louisiana is 14 hours away and the more time we can spend southbound the better we'll feel when we get there.

Kansas Day 2

No photos today, we were shooting the whole day and I went to the seventh round.  We finished (Belle, Zach, and I) at about 2:0 so we packed up and went back tot he room.  We stopped by a tiny liquor store in this tiny town to see if we could find some of Belle's favorite wine.  The owner thanked us for coming to town, (we were still dressed in gunfighter garb), and I asked him if he had any interesting bourbons.

He walked around the counter and picked up a battle of Weller Antique 107.  I had never tried it, so I told him I'd take it.  He said that his distributor got it very infrequently, and that he only had two bottles.  I dismissed that as retail marketing.  Good retail marketing.  The price was $50.00, which is more than I usually pay for bourbon, but we are on vacation, and this is a special bottle, so I paid the tarrif.

We got back to the room and I did a Google search.  Evidently, this is much better whiskey than I suspected.  Retail prices are all over, from $30.00 to $300.00 with the vast majority in the $100 range. Some reviewers compare it to "Poor Man's Pappy", a blend that came out several years ago to try and replicate Pappy Van Winkle.

I'll take this one home, unopened, and sample it at leisure.

Kentucky State, Day Thee

Yesterday before the end of the seventh round, the skies opened up, the range lost power and we were driven ignominiously from the venue by the might of a Kentucky thunderstorm.

No matter, we wee almost finished for the day, and we had a banquet to attend.  Oh, and the ladies sparkled.  The women have learned that CFDA is a wardrobe opportunity, the occasion where they can dress in Victorian attire and sparkle a bit.  Sparkle they did.

Blue Eyed Belle (left), with Slowpoke, a friend from Virginia.  Slowpoke is also a magnificent competitor who wins championships regulaly.  I met her at Texas State this year, where she won the Southern Territoials.

Left to right:  Miss E, Whiplash, Texas Rose, and Gentleman George.

The banquet was a smashing success.  Good food, good people, and lots of laughter.  The Bluegrass Gast Draw did a great job on the banquet.  And Trophies, did I mention trophies?

We got up this morning and went over to the shooting venue.  Big Mark, our club president was still "alive", and we waited until he was out of the match, then got on the road.

That's the trophy for Mens Senior Category, 2nd place.  That's the one that they let me bring home.  Not too shabby.

Blue Eyed Belle, Big Mark, and I left Hartford Kentucky about 9:30 this morning.  We'e now in a hotel in Memphis, TN and we'll be home tomorrow morning.  Kentucky State is over, and it's time for us to get really busy planning our invitational fo mid-November.

Everyone is invited.  Go to the Thorn Valley Facebook page for more information.

Arrived

Twelve hours on the road and we've arrived in Beaver Dam, Kentucky.  We've checked in to the hotel, and we're ensconced for the evening.  The shoot doesn't start until noon-ish tomorrow, so we've got plenty of time to rest and get settled in.  Milady is on her Kindle, and I'm on the wi-fi, and we're okay.

After we checked into the motel, we walked down to Denny's for a chicken-fried steak.  The hike was all of about 50 yards.  Very convenient.  We ran into Skagway Sam, Lucky 45, and their ladies.  So, shooters are arriving.  The lady at the desk is pleasantly surprised that her hotel is filling up with gunfighters.  "Everyone seems so pleasant."

Yeah,we are.  An armed society is a polite society.

Showdown in Cowtown

I've talked about this before, but later this month, Major D, Blue Eyed Bell, and Akarate Zach are headed to Fort Worth Texas for a combined event; The Texas State Championship and the Southern Territorials of Cowboy Fast Draw.  April 20-24, we'll be shooting at the historic Stockyards.

Of course, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.  Lots of info on that little poster.

Last year, it was two separate events, but this year three clubs have combined to do one large event with two sanctioned matches.  Again, last year, each separate event drew over 100 participants and they're hoping that this year they can top it.

The historic stockyards has an events page linked to their calendar that has more information.

We're stoked.  There will be plenty to do, plenty to watch, lots of good food and shopping opportunities.  It'll be a nice mini-vacation for both Milady and me.  They've got lots of things planned for us when we're not shooting.  Or, you can just slip off and do your own thing.

I'm really looking forward to this.

Tuesday Ramblings

Ran errands this morning, got a lot done.  Getting-ready stuff for the Odessa trip coming up.

It's hot out there.  Damned hot.  Accuweather says 91F with a heat index of 105.  That might be.  My back porch thermometer shows 95F in the shade.  With 50% humidity, that puts the heat index at 102, and we haven't reached the heat of the day.  I'll spend the afternoon indoors, checking my list for the trip.

I'm cooking tomorrow for Milady's work crew.  They get paid every-other Thursday, and like most of the pore-an-starvin', on the day before payday they're broke, so she has begun feeding the whole crew on the day before payday.  The menu tomorrow is smoked chicken and Ouida potatoes.  I'll get up in the morning, put those birds in the smoker, then piddle around the back yard.  About 10:00, put on the potatoes, then assemble the meal.  Delivery for 11:30.  Then, I'll come home and start packing for the trip in earnest.

We'll leave here when Milady gets off work.  We'll check the list, make sure everything is packed, and put several hours on the road before we find a hotel for the night.  It's a long way to Odessa (a little over nine hours) and Milady wants to get a jump on the road show.

We're Home

We left northern Mississippi and drove home today, taking our time, stopping to look at things that interested us.  Like this:

The Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, MS.  Clarksdale is the epicenter of the blues music scene in Mississippi.  Directly across the street is the Blues museum,  It's a cool spot to visit, and while it wasn't yet open, we stopped long enough to pay homage to the blues greats.

An interesting mural on the other side of the building.

Northern Mississippi used to be extremely poor, some of the poorest counties in the country.  You can still see evidence of crushing poverty all along Highway 61, but change has already begun.  Lots of tourist industry in the area.  Milady, I, and our BIL and SIL dropped a fair bundle, both on lodging, meals, entertainment over a four day period, and while we spent some time in the casinos, we also spent time talking to people.

I was talking to a porter yesterday and he told me that before the casinos came in , Tunica county was the poorest county in Mississippi, and now it's one of the richest.

The Mississippi Delta country, north of Jackson along the Mississippi river is a place of great natural wealth, both in the soil that supports crops and the people who spring from that soil.  It's a great area if you want to experience southern culture, and I recommend it to the inquisitive traveler.

Heading Home

In another hour or so, we'll be heading home, pointing it south to return to our own bed and get ready to finish the week.  Hopefully, we're starting a large project tomorrow that will take me most of the month.  I'm going slow, pacing myself, and as long as I make progress every day I'll be happy.  More about that later.

Today we're driving, and our GPS is giving me a route that I've never used.  It tells me that this is the fastest route home, and I'm willing to take the chance.  I generally agree with the GPS, except on local routes where I know the roads, but this one is routing me through southern Arkansas.  However, I want to look at some new country and I don't think I've ever been in the southeast corner of Arkansas.  Today, just for giggles, I'm going to follow the GPS precisely, making the turns and lane changes that it gives me.

We'll see, but we should be home before the calendar turns over.

Beal Street, Memphis, Tennessee.

Tunica

We got as far as Tunica, MS yesterday and checked into a nice Quality Inn near the casino strip.  Awoke this morning to thunderstorms, and the Weather Channel on the TV tells me that Memphis is having a really interesting Sunday.

We had planned to go into Memphis today and poke around, maybe eat some barbecue, but it looks as if the weather has conspired against us.  Flash-flooding, stalled cars, heavy thunderstorms, and a threat of a tornado.  Can I pick a vacation spot, or what?

Some thoughts on the Tunica Casinos.  They're built in a corn field.  Seriously, the folks who decided to build these casinos on the Mississippi river in northern Mississippi used agricultural land to build their casinos.  In this motel on a road that's called Casino Strip Resort, we/re surrounded by soybeans, corn, and cotton.

When we left yesterday morning, we crossed the river at Vicksburg and headed north on US 61,  I've driven in Mississippi lots of times but I didn't realize that the Mississippi Delta had so much farm land.  Nearly 200 miles of crop fields along both sides of the highway, about half of that a two lane road.  It was an interesting drive if you like looking at crop land (and I do, I'm basically a country boy at heart).  One thing that surprised me is the amount of rice growing this far north.  Lots of rice being grown in the Delta.

More later.  I'm going to watch the weather and try to plot a course that will keep us entertained today.

Friday Afternoon

Spent the morning working at the nursing home, installing privacy curtains, until we ran out of material, then took Milady to lunch before heading home.  Driving toward the house, the classic station played this old favorite by Arlo Guthrie.

And the sons of Pullman porters, and the sons of engineers,
ride their father's magic carpet made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep are rocking to the gentle beat,
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

That song gives me wanderlust in the worst way, and it's a good thing that Milady and I have a trip planned, or when she got home this afternoon, I'd tell her to put some jeans in a bag, and we'd hit the road.

Last Day

Yesterday was the last day for students in our local public schools, and today the teachers are cleaning up paperwork, getting ready for the summer vacation.  This day is interesting for the Resource Officers, because it represents a change of pace.  Some will be off for a while, some will work on other assignments, depending on the leave time they've accumulated.    Our retrainer starts in two weeks, where we maintain the qualifications necessary for POST certification.

For myself, I"m off for two weeks.  Milady and I are going to slip away this afternoon, to spend a weekend at her brother's place.  He's been telling us about a restaurant and we're going to sample it, then spend the rest of the weekend visiting family.  We'll be back late Sunday afternoon.

Don't look for any posting over the weekend.  I'm sure that the guys on my blogroll will provide free entertainment while I'm goine, but I'm not taking the computer with me, and I'm not sure if BIL has wireless set up at his house, anyway.

Y'all be safe.  I'll be back on Monday.

Out of Town

In another couple of hours, Milady and I are going to get in the car and head south.  Today is our 10th Anniversary, and a nephew is getting married tomorrow, so we're heading to Covington, LA to meet other members of the family and celebrate his wedding.  He's got a great gal; she's been hanging around the family for several years.  They're through with college and launched, so they've decided it's time to take the next step.  They're both great kids, and I hope for them the happiness that comes with a long, blissful marriage.

The one downside to this trip is that I've got to drive through Baton Rouge.  When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the levees failed, about half of the refugees from that disaster washed ashore in Baton Rouge, effectively doubling the population of the city, literally in the space of a week.  It's been nearly eight years since Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and the roadwork in Baton Rouge has yet to catch up to the increase in population.  Traffic there is a disaster on a good day.  There's a place called the 10-12 split, where traffic toward New Orleans goes down I-10, and traffic to the North Shore and points east go down I-12.  That interchange has been known to turn into an eight lane parking lot and I dread going through there every time I drive in Baton Rouge.

I have promised Milady that in honor of our anniversary I will not actively curse every idiotic driver I see when we get to Baton Rouge.  It is normally my practice to critique the driving habits of idiots and that stretch of road is full of them.

So, we'll be out of town this weekend and back on Sunday mid-day.  Y'all have a great weekend.

Home at Last

We pulled into the driveway at 2:00 p.m., local time.  I was amazed at the height of the grass in the lawn.  The only question now is if I want to mow it, or contract it for hay.  It's nice bahia, but I don't think they could get a full trailer of hay.  Probably not worth the effort; I'll mow it.  Later.

With a full SUV, we looked like a traveling gypsy show, my apologies to the travelers.  Folks who pack and travel long distances on a regular basis probably have their act together. We did not.

Luggage strapped to the roof, luggage on the rack, the inside full of six souls.  I took this picture somewhere in Alabama yesterday.  I bet that we were a sight, rolling down the road.

Sometime tomorrow, I"ll start posting something that looks like regular content.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Lately, I've been trusting the dog off his leash, and he's responding well.  Last week, we explored the lot next to the house and the dog enjoyed his exploring.

A classic pointing pose, although he's not a pointer and there were no birds in sight.  I think he was simply walking up the hill.

I'm not sure what was under that log that riveted his attention.  It may simply have been the pond water, or there might have been a critter under there.  We'll never know.

We should be home late this afternoon, and pick the dog up from the groomer tomorrow morning.