On the Road Again…

Ahh, back on the open road.  We left Kansas City last Saturday just ahead of another snowstorm and headed southwest to Oklahoma City.  We had plans to spend two nights there and catch up with some old friends from Heinz’s Air Force days. 

First sunset back on the road.

We arrived late and settled in at Tinker AFB’s FamCamp.  The next day Anne and Larry came over to check out the rig and share a cup of coffee.  Then it was off to get some Chinese food, only to find out that the restaurant had closed.  No problem, there was a great burger place a couple of blocks away.     S & B Burger Joint has quite a menu of specialty burgers (everything from Green Chile & Cheese, to Peanut Butter topped) along with a long list of ingredients for building your own.  The burgers were great, moist, flavorful, and done to order (a perfect medium rare for me).  Just one warning, if you decide to click on their website, turn down the volume, it comes complete with VERY loud rock music. 

After eating, Anne and Larry took us on a great auto tour of the older residential areas of Oklahoma City.  There were some beautiful homes and some others just screaming for a hug.  After living in California for so many years, the prices seemed ridiculously cheap, the median home price in town is $125,750, with the homes in the area we were touring averaging in the $200,000’s.

Following that we popped into the National Cowboy &Western Heritage Museum.  This is a great museum with a wide variety of exhibits ranging from western art, to a reproduction of a small western town of the 1800’s, to artifacts of life on the western frontier.  The place is phenomenal!  If you’re ever in Oklahoma City we can highly recommend stopping in to check out this place.

“Canyon Princess” by Gerald Balciar

“End of the Trail”, James Earle Fraser

Sculpture in the atrium of the museum entrance.

  

Anne checking out some of the barbed wire samples.

We planned on leaving Oklahoma City on Monday morning, but Mother Nature decided to mess with us a little.  Another storm system starting moving in from the west, threatening high winds, large amounts of rain turning to snow, and lousy driving conditions.  So we decided to sit it out another night, which quickly turned to two nights as I-40 was closed due to blizzard conditions around Amarillo - our next planned stop.  Oklahoma City was predicted to get up to 4” of snow, but the snow didn’t happen and all we got was lots and lots of rain.  Amarillo though was another matter!

Amarillo TX, 18” of snow in 24 hours (photo courtesy of my cousin)

Oklahoma City, can’t quite call this snow in my opinion.

We finally made it to Amarillo on Wednesday, just in time to see all the slush from the melting snow.  We spent one night and met up with my cousin Harold for dinner at another great burger joint, Coyote Bluff Café. If you want an upscale restaurant with designer food and posh surroundings, this is not for you.  However if you like places that define “hole in the wall” with killer food, come on in.  It is cash only, and the food is fantastic.  Their bottles of beer are kept in an old tin washtub in the middle of the dining area, as you want one, you grab it out of the tub and it is charged on the honor system.  The clientele was eclectic, the waitress was efficient and ready to trade one liners all night, and no one was in a hurry to rush us out, letting us sit and trade family tall tales all evening.

Amarillo slush, 2 days after the near record snowfall.

Thursday, and we arrived in Albuquerque, NM to clear skies, temps in the high 50’s (ah, so nice after all that cold in Kansas), and 28% humidity - time to pack away the dehumidifier.  We set up the rig in the FamCamp on Kirtland AFB and headed out to get some REAL Mexican food.  We headed over to El Modelo.  This is yet another hole in the wall joint located close to the train switchyard in an industrial part of town.  They offer take-out only, although there are a few picnic tables on a slab outside.  The restaurant has been in business since 1929 with only two owners and no change in recipes during that whole time.  We were there at around two in the afternoon and it was packed with a constant stream of customers in and out.  Check it out if you’re in town, but remember, the portions are huge and the operative term for their red sauce is…hot!

Heinz enjoying the Mexican platter: tamale, taco, enchilada, rice, refried beans, red chile chorizo, spare rib, chips, and two sopaipillas – all for a whopping $7.80!

On Friday we ran a few errands and checked out the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.  The museum originally opened in 1969 as the Sandia Atomic Museum on Kirtland AFB to show the history of nuclear weapon development and to create better community relations between the military and the public. In 1991, the Museum was charted by Congress to serve as the nation’s repository and steward of nuclear-related historical artifacts. Then, in 2009 they moved to their current location just off the base and the museum was renamed. The collections cover early scientific discoveries of the properties of an atom, the Manhattan Project, WWII weapons projects of Germany and Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cold War, nuclear medicine, nuclear energy, and nuclear accidents.  It has a great hands-on area for kids, which is also interesting for adults. 

Museum entrance

Casings for Fat Man and Little Boy

Who remembers Bert the Turtle and nuclear bombing drills?  I do!  Really, what were they thinking??

How about shoe fitting fluoroscopes?  The “scientific” way to see if your shoes fit!

Today is Saturday and Heinz spent the morning spit-polishing our rolling home.  I should probably have felt guilty for being lazy, reading a good book and working on this blog entry, but somehow, I didn’t.

We ended our day at Barnes and Noble, kicking back with magazines after a wonderful meal at yet another fine dining establishment…Ezra’s Place, located in the Lucky 66 Bowling Alley.  But what a meal!

  

Heading in for another dining adventure.

Heinz opted for Scallop Tacos.

I went for the roast quail and fingerling potatoes with poblano sauce.  Bowling alley fare at its finest!

We’re off to chase another squirrel tomorrow.  The weather is beautiful and Navajo Dam and the San Juan River is calling.  Heinz has checked out his fly-fishing equipment and I’m busy reading Fly Patterns of Northern New Mexico.  Hopefully, I’ll be making some good trout meals while we are there!  There’s no wifi up there, so we’ll check in after we get off the river.  Promise not to be another three months between blog entries.

Late February and still in Kansas

The days are flying by and it's hard to believe that most of February is already gone.  We're still hanging out in Kansas.  Heinz has been working like a dog in the cold, snow, rain, melting snow, warm weather, cloudy weather, and crazy weather - heck, one would think he was a mailman in a previous life!  It's been anywhere from a high of 15 to a high of 60 during the past few months.  But the maintenance he planned on the rig is about done.  We had quite a bit of rust in the basement that Heinz decided to tackle on his own.  Luckily he has an uncle in Lawrence KS who has an auto repair shop who offered up his tools, side yard, and advice.   We moved in back in late November and Heinz went to work rebuilding the bays behind and just in front of the back wheels.  He got pretty good at using metal saws, sandblasting, grinding, and welding along the way.

Before repairs.

Before repairs.

Battery bay after reconstruction.

In addition he and various relatives (thanks Craig, Carl, and Grady) changed out the ball joints and brakes on the rig.

Ball joint replacement.

Next up was powder-coating the bases of the outside mirrors and we were done in Lawrence.  Heinz’s estimate of a one-month job was a little off, closer to two, but what the heck, the labor was cheap.  While he was busy crawling around in the dirt, I tried to help where I could and stay out of the way where I couldn't.  In that endeavor I took advantage of some of the holiday events in Lawrence. 

First up was the annual Christmas horse parade.  Suzi and I took in the 20^th anniversary of this parade where costumed horses and wagons came from as far as South Dakota to participate.  There were 113 official participants this year, with a total of over 600 horses and 1,000 riders.  This is a parade made up of only horseback riders, horse drawn wagons, horse drawn carts, horse drawn stagecoaches, horse drawn buggies, etc.  You get the idea - horses drawing things everywhere.  It was really pretty cool to watch.  There were some absolutely beautiful animals on display.  If you're interested in checking out more photos, go to: s1004.beta.photobucket.com/user/thuester/library/   Then click on "show albums and stories" on the left side, then Lawrence KS 2012.  

This is my best side, dahling!

All dressed up.

Working boots.

Head high Lester, there's cameras shooting.

Man, is my stylist is GOOD - or what?!

Next up was the Holiday Farmer's Market.  Suzi and I met up with Aunt Annelee and her future daughter-in-law, Jessica to explore all the goodies on display.  We bought some odds and ends and picked up lots of ideas for home projects for holiday decorating.  I also enjoyed picking up some great winter vegetables along the way.  

A couple of miles down the road, a local Methodist church was having their annual Festival of the Nativities - so I walked down.  The parishioners have been collecting Nativity scenes from all over the world for years and have been displaying them for the month of December for quite a few and inviting the community to visit.  There are scenes from Christmas ornament-sized, to life-sized displayed all over the sanctuary and several classrooms throughout the building.  In addition, the congregation has a bake sale and ornament/decorations sale each weekend during the month to fund new acquisitions.

Peru

This one, made of brown paper, was found on the church doorstep, no one has come forward as the maker or donator.

One wall, in one classroom.

Along the way we took some time for cooking (lunch every Monday for the guys in the shop), baking (all those Christmas goodies), exploring Lawrence's downtown area (mostly me), and enjoying being around Heinz's family.

Linzertortes cooling.

Lawrence, all dressed up for the holidays.

Moon gazing thru the treetops.

Decorating the rig.

We pulled out of Lawrence in mid-January, leaving our fabulous gated community behind.  I don't think anyone believed us, but between the propane and space heater we stayed toasty warm even when the temperatures dropped into the single digits and with easy access to both fresh water and a place to dump gray/black water we were set.  On leaving we thanked Uncle Craig for the hospitality and told him we'd be sure to recommend his place for anyone looking for all the amenities:)  Luckily, he laughed! Here's a few shots showing all those luxuries...

The gated community entrance.

Modern outdoor sculpture of found objects.

Sculpture garden in the snow.

More of the sculpture garden.

The woods on the edge of the property.

Murals were everywhere.

Mid-January found us back in Kansas City with plans of leaving within a couple of weeks.  But I ended up with a bad back and we stayed for me to have physical therapy for a month.  (I'm MUCH better now.)  So while we hung out, Heinz installed a couple of new TV's, exchanging out our old (very old) units for HD and a new self-seeking satellite receiver on the roof.  Sure is nice to see all that detail again!  I also got a wild hair to get the curtains in the front window cleaned, probably the first time since they were hung.  After finding out that it would be around $150 per curtain I reined in that wild hair and made a new set instead.

New curtains with the new TV installation.

But the delay in leaving town didn't leave us with only work to fill our time.  We took advantage of hanging out with Suzi and Carl and checked out some of the entertainment opportunities.  We checked out the Mid-Plains RV Show, Cirque de Soleil's Quidam, the Science of Rock & Roll and miniature railroad exhibits at Union Station, and spent several nights talking smack while playing Sorry!

Planning out strategy.

Grieving after losing 4 straight games of Sorry.

  

Poster at the Science of Rock & Roll.

Miniature railroad display.

We haven't quite gotten the hang of the whole snowbird mentality however.  We hung out in Kansas City just a bit too long.  The plan was to leave today, but yesterday, as you may have heard on the news, Kansas City encountered the biggest one day snowfall in its history: 12 inches in less than 24 hours.  So this morning was spent digging out.  The new plan is to pull out first thing in the morning and actually start heading to warmer climates.  Especially since more snow is predicted for Monday. 

We knew we'd stayed too long when the car was this deep by noon!

Home sweet home, all snowed in.

Digging us out.

The neighbors came to check out the action.

So tomorrow we plan to hit the road and I plan to make my postings a little more regularly than over the past few months.  Of course, any posting will be more regular.  Thanks for your tolerance and stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's our friends of the day.

Sammy enjoys a belly rub.

Frankie shows off his new scarf.

Is it dignified to walk a pig on a leash?  For the pig?

Trying to find a warm spot in the trees.

Drifting with the winds...

Ouch, just hopped on the site and realized that it's been a month since I posted.  Where did the time go??

Our last entry had us leaving San Antonio and heading west.  We took three days to get to Santa Fe via Las Cruces and Hatch NM.  Ahh, Las Cruces... home of La Posta restaurant.  This has become one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and it's always worth going 200+ miles out of your way to eat some enchiladas and sip on a margarita :)  While there, we also took a drive out to Hatch NM, home of the best peppers grown by humans.  Hatch chiles have become very popular, but are limited in distribution outside of New Mexico, although our daughter has spotted them in Los Angeles and Suzi has spotted a VERY small amount in Kansas City in the past year or two.  I have also heard that there are places advertising Hatch chiles that are not actually grown in that region - GASP!  Your grocer should be able to name the town of origin if they are truly Hatches.  The real deal are grown in an area along the Mesilla Valley stretching on both sides of the Rio Grande river from Arrey, NM in the north to Tonuco Mountain just south of Hatch, NM.  The chiles are not one variety, but several that range in heat from very mild to very spicy, collectively known as Hatch chiles.  We usually pick up some of the medium.  We didn't make it to town this year in time to pick up any fresh chiles to roast on our own, so instead I picked up 6 pounds of already roasted and frozen at one of the chile stands in town (you can order them on line if you so desire).   Warning, if you see small cans of green chiles in the Mexican section of your local grocery store labeled "Hatch Chiles" be aware that this product is actually from a company in Brunswick, Georgia.  They are good chiles, excellent when you can't get the real thing, but NOT true Hatch chiles.  The company simply bought the rights to the name and use peppers from all over the southwest.

This year's ristras drying.

Chile Willie's, best home-made salsa in Hatch.

Chiles drying on the rooftops.

We finally made it to Santa Fe and pulled into the KOA on the edge of town.  This was a very nice campground and not crowded at all as it was off-season.  In fact, the camp closed for the winter a couple of days after we pulled out.  The night we arrived, the temperature dropped to 27 degrees.  Somehow, we have failed to grasp the concept of traveling south with the weather!

The day after we arrived, we drove back down Albuquerque so Heinz could hop on a plane back to Kansas City, for a visit with his dentist, a visit with his sister, a chance to see Joe Bonnamassa in concert yet again (third time in two years, I think the man's a fan), and take care of some other chores.  I, on the other hand, settled into Santa Fe and prepared to enjoy the weeklong Embroiderers' Guild of America's annual national conference.  

The conference was great; 600+ people (mostly women, but a few men) from 48 of the 50 states and 4 foreign countries, all walking, talking, breathing needlework (heavy sigh of contentment).  I took two design classes, both involving fabric painting and surface embroidery - but there were classes on just about any type of embroidery that can be done with a one-eyed needle.  There were also banquets, receptions, a bookstore devoted to the needle arts, and a boutique carrying all sorts of needlework supplies.  There was also the ever popular Trading Post, an evening with 45-50 vendors selling local jewelry, supplies, needlepoint canvases, stitching "gadgets" and just about anything else you might want that could be related to needlework.  It was a great week and passed way too quickly.

Class number one: Transferring a photograph to canvas, painting the fabric, then enhancing the photo with embroidery.

What a variety of fabric painting!

Class number two: playing with paints, bleeding tissue paper, fabric, construction paper, threads; 

multi-media art at it's finest.

My interpretation of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay at sunset (in needlepoint and paint).

After a week, my conference ended, but there was a bright note as Heinz made it back to Santa Fe.  We stayed put for a few days to explore the area.  Santa Fe is a fascinating city.  It has been occupied since native Indians built the first pueblos around 1400 A.D.  The city is the country's third largest art market after Los Angeles and New York City.  There are 200+ galleries in town, many individual studios, and several major museums - all devoted to art.  In addition there is some great food in Santa Fe.  Several locals mentioned that the best breakfast in town was to be found at Harry's Roadhouse.  Luckily this wonder was located just down the road from the KOA - so we checked it out.  The locals were right, the food was fabulous.  

Santa Fe house and gate

We drove up to Taos to see the Taos Pueblo, a place that's been on our list of "gotta see" for years.  The pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the U.S. - well over 1,000 years.  The two main structures are called the North House and the South House.  The buildings are many individual homes built side by side and in layers with common walls and no connecting doorways, the original American apartment houses.  The buildings are made of adobe, owned by individual families, and passed down through generations.  Families still live in the buildings, some continuously, others occupy their pueblo homes only during feast days.  There is no electricity or running water in the sacred village.  Water comes from the Red Willow Creek that runs through the village from its source in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 30 miles away.  The wilderness area that the river runs through is sacred to the Taos Pueblo people and non-tribal members are not allowed to trek into the area, thus the water is crystal clear.   

Taos Pueblo, North House

  

Rio Grande River between Taos and Santa Fe

Cottonwood tree, the golden color was everywhere.

Leaving Santa Fe, we headed east once again and are now back in the Kansas City area.  Heinz has installed a motorcycle lift on the rear and is in seventh heaven as the GSA gets to come along from now on.  While in the area we enjoyed several Veteran's Day offerings by a variety of local businesses including free massages, free donuts, and discounted gasoline.  

Ready for action.

We're currently in Lawrence KS, where Heinz's uncle is coaching him through the repair of some rust damage to the basement and replacing the ball joints.  We'll keep you posted as to when we will be hitting the road again.  In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Our friends of the day are:

Checking out the pueblo.

Chilling out after getting my mohawk groomed.