Rob's blog: Mini trip...

Remember what Bilbo used to say, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." -J.R.R. Tolkien

We had trouble getting out our front door. We would set the house alarm, get in the car, then think of something we left, or had forgotten do to. We did this not once, not twice, but three times. Yes, the third time is a charm. Warren had an appointment in Albuquerque to get his bike fitted to him. He asked if I wanted to come along. Sometimes, I like being able to stay home while Warren travels because there is no pressure to cook meals, I can stay up as late as I want, and sleep in the next morning, but this time I wanted to go. While he was being fitted, I planned to go shopping or take pictures. I had gotten the book on CD called, Calico Joe, by John Grisham about a baseball player. It was fantastic especially if you love the sport like I do. It was only 4 CDs, so I knew we'd get the whole book listened to in this one trip. I give it 4 stars.

Finally, we were on the road headed toward Albuquerque. The skies looked awfully dark like a rainstorm was brewing, but we only got a couple of drops during our trip. Rats. I sure wish it had rained.

No rains means we have to irrigate. I read somewhere that we have a drought worse than in the dust bowl days. The only difference is our technology so we have a means to water. They did not.

As we drove, I kept noticing what appeared to be horse manure on the road about every mile or so. I mentioned it to Warren. He did not notice the horse dung. He was busy driving and listening to the CD. Men don't notice small things like that, but this was not small. It was huge piles on the road. I wondered how he could miss seeing it. He thought maybe someone had gone horseback riding. Well, I thought, that horse sure had to go to the bathroom a lot.

We had driven just past Encino when I noticed what had caused all the poop on the road. Amazing...

I could not believe my eyes. A double covered wagon. He pulled to the side of the road, and I had Warren to stop, so I could take pictures. I asked, of course. It was one man who came from Arizona. He intended to go across as many states as possible to share the gospel.

I was wrong, too, about the poop; it was not horses, but donkeys.

The man thought I had stopped to tell him where he could camp for the night. He was pretty disappointed that I did not have any good suggestions. His donkey was too!

I like to take pictures of the old buildings along the way. Encino and Vaughn have some great old buildings. Thank goodness, Warren would stop and let me take pictures. Fast ones though, no lingering, or traipsing off road to get shots. I was happy with what I got.

One of the things I have noticed as I have driven this road many times are the crosses on the sides of the road marking where someone has died, I assume, in a car accident. I wonder if I know any of the them. I decided I would start taking pictures of the road side crosses. Only, I did not notice them in time for Warren to stop and let me take pictures, but I jotted down the mile markers so when I go back that way again, I can be on the look out for them, stop, and take pictures. I counted 10. I did notice one in time for Warren to stop.

It was a short trip. We came home the next day just about sundown. Rather than go directly home, I talked Warren into going out to get sunset pictures. There were clouds, and I thought it would be a good sunset. I was wrong again. It was not the greatest, but I did like the place we stopped.