Category: Albuquerque

the long road home: 4 days of driving & a sisterly visit

wanderessence1025 July 12, 2024

Albuquerque to Oklahoma City

Sunday, October 29, 2023: This morning, Mike flew home so he could be at work Monday morning and I packed up the car and began my 4-day solo drive home to Virginia.

Mike had taken the Toyota RAV to Jiffy Lube while we were in Albuquerque because the service light came on and he wanted everything to be in order before I drove the four days home starting Sunday morning. At Jiffy Lube they had changed the oil and topped off the air in the tires and rotated them so I should have been set.

Less than an hour after I’d left Albuquerque on I-40, it started sleeting and I looked at the outdoor temperature. It was 29°F degrees and ice was forming on my windshield. Suddenly the tire pressure light came on, so I pulled off at the first stop I could find. There I used the tire gauge and found all four tires had tire pressure of around 35. Of course I was out in the middle of nowhere and no mechanics were to be found on a Sunday, so I continued driving. At the next couple of towns I stopped to look for a Jiffy Lube but none were to be found. Every time I stopped I measured the tire pressure and it hadn’t changed. I figured I would keep stopping and measuring and if nothing changed I’d wait till I got to Oklahoma City or elsewhere to check them. In Amarillo, Texas a Walmart Superstore was open, so I took my car there to have them check the tires. Again, after having driven for 4 hours, the tire pressure was unchanged. The mechanic said maybe the sensor wasn’t working properly, but if I wanted that checked, he’d need to write up a ticket and I’d have to wait a while till they could get to me.

All of this was very time consuming so my trip to Oklahoma City took much longer than I hoped. The wind was blowing so hard when I stopped at a gas station and opened the door, the wind almost blew off the car door! This was my drive today: sleet, wind, fog and grey skies and constant worry about having a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I made it with all tires intact but who knew what the morning would bring.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Oklahoma City, North.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Oklahoma City, North

Steps: 3,643; Miles 1.54. Drove 561.2 miles. Weather Albuquerque: Hi 71°, Lo 28°. Oklahoma City: Hi 40°, Lo 31°. Rain/sleet.

Oklahoma City to Murphysboro, Illlinois

Monday, October 30: It was a long boring drive today, mostly through Oklahoma and Missouri.

After driving two long days from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City and then to Murphysboro, IL, I arrived at my sister Stephanie’s house where we ate sushi she’d bought from Kroger and toasted each other with beers. 🍻

We binge watched several episodes of The White Lotus, which I’d seen but she hadn’t. It was fun to see the miniature Christmas village and the Halloween village she had created, much like what I saw at the Tinkertown Museum in Albuquerque.

Steph’s miniature Halloween village

Steps: 3,462; Miles 1.47. Drove 572.5 miles. Weather Murphysboro, IL: Hi 47°, Lo 24°. Mostly cloudy.

Halloween in Murphysboro, Illlinois

Tuesday, October 31: I spent Halloween day with Steph. We went out for a delicious lunch at Harbaugh’s Cafe (I had a delicious Earthquake sandwich). When the waitress asked which sides I’d like, I said “cottage cheese,” which shocked Stephanie. “Who orders cottage cheese?” she said, shaking her head. Hey, cottage cheese is good for you, or so I hear!

Earthquake sandwich: whole wheat bread, avocado, tomato, fresh slices mushrooms, onion, and melted smoked Gouda cheese; broiled, topped with sprouts and Ranch dressing & Cottage Cheese at Harbaugh’s Cafe

I dragged her shopping with me to maurices, where I bought 3 flannel shirts.

Later we went out to Thai Taste in Carbondale. Steph had decorated her house to the max for Halloween (even though she only gets a few trick-or-treaters) and we’d spent time in the afternoon at Walmart buying Halloween candy that she wouldn’t be tempted to eat after the night was over. However, we were enjoying our couple of beers and our meal so much at Thai Taste that we lost track of time and forgot about the trick-or-treaters. She saw on her security camera (on her phone while we were in the restaurant) one little group of trick-or-treaters ring her doorbell and turn away disappointed. Sadly she was left with all the Halloween candy since we’d missed the little action there was!

me with Steph forgetting all about the trick-or-treaters

Thai Taste

While in the Walmart, we also bought some delicious red velvet cupcakes which we downed when we returned to her house. I couldn’t eat my second one after dinner, so I left it with her, much to her chagrin.

That evening, we watched more episodes of The White Lotus, all except the last episode.

Steps: 5,783; Mi. 2.45. Drove 0 miles. Weather Hi 47°, Low 24°. Sunny.

Murphysboro, Illinois to Abingdon, Virginia

Wednesday, November 1: The next day, I drove 8 hours to Abingdon, VA, mostly through the interminably long Tennessee.

I stayed at Country Inn and Suites by Radisson in Abingdon.

Steps: 2,898; Miles 1.23. Drove 520.4 miles. Weather: Murphysboro Hi 47°, Lo 26°. Abington Hi 41°, Lo 22°.

Abingdon, Virginia to Oakton, Virginia (home at last!)

Thursday, November 2: Finally, I drove another 6 hours on Thursday and finally made it home at 3:20 p.m. after 4 days of driving on my own. My tire pressure light was on for the entire trip, but my tire pressure never changed and I never stopped again to check it after Amarillo, Texas.

Luckily I made it home in time to see the remaining fall foliage.

fall foliage at home

Here’s my Polarsteps map showing my long drive home and our entire Tex-New Mex Road Trip (+ Atlanta).

Tex-New Mex Road Trip (+ Atlanta)

Steps 5,102; Miles 2.16. Drove 344 miles. Weather Abingdon Hi 51°, Lo 24°. Home: Hi 52°, Lo 30°.

two days in albuquerque, new mexico

wanderessence1025 July 10, 2024

Arrival in Albuquerque

Thursday, October 26, 2023: We arrived in Albuquerque too early to check into our Airbnb, so we drove around checking out the old Route 66 signs. We stopped at El Vado Motel, which opened in 1937 and was one of the first to greet Route 66 travelers. The Plaza, an event space in the motel’s courtyard, hosts local musicians and art markets in summer. There is a taproom, small eateries and a coffee shop.

El Vado Motel

Route 66 signs

We then moved into our Airbnb on 11th Street. Sadly, it wasn’t nearly as nice as the Airbnbs we enjoyed in Santa Fe and Taos. We enjoyed vodka tonics and crackers with pimiento cheese next to the fountain on the patio, then we went for dinner at Asian Noodle Bar. We had our usual sake and Sapporo, accompanied by egg rolls. I had Lad Na with Shrimp and Mike had Thai Tom Yum. My fortune cookie revealed this: “We must overcome difficulties rather than be overcome by them.” I find fortunes these days don’t really predict the future but impart some kind of wisdom or advice.

Our Albuquerque Airbnb

courtyard of our Albuquerque Airbnb

Asian Noodle Bar

Mike at Thai Tom Yum (Rice noodles, shrimp, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and fresh cilantro in spicy lemongrass broth)

Lad Na with Shrimp (Sauteed flat rice noodles and broccoli in Thai gravy sauce)

me at Asian Noodle Bar

origami cranes at Asian Noodle Bar

After dinner we drove down by the University of New Mexico and Nob Hill, checking out the Old Route 66 vibes and neon signs.

Route 66 signs at night

Steps: 6,389; Miles: 2.71. Drove 180.4 miles. Weather Albuquerque: Hi 73°, Lo 47°. Sunny.

A hike on Sandia Peak

Friday, October 27: Our first morning in Albuquerque, we drove to the Sandia Peak Tramway, where we were zipped up by Swiss-made cables for 2.7 miles, or 4,000 feet in elevation, to Sandia Crest, the highest point of the Sandia Mountains (10,273 feet). The Tramway takes about 15 minutes and at the top the temperature is about 20 degrees colder than Albuquerque.

view from the Sandia Peak Tramway

We walked along the ridgeline on the Crest Trail (# 130) for about 2 hours and 40 minutes. We saw amazing views of Albuquerque, situated in the Rio Grande basin within the Rio Grande Rift, a zone of faults that has formed basins and ranges from southern Colorado into Mexico. This rift is five miles deep, one of the greatest troughs on earth. It was a gorgeous day for a stunning walk.

The Kiwanis cabin in the photos below was built in the summer of 1936 by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in an architectural style known as the “Rustic Aesthetic.” It was also meant to reflect early Pueblo building traditions. This standard guided the design of many American Park and Recreation buildings in the 1930s. The goal was to create buildings from rough, unfinished local materials which blended with their physical, historical and cultural surroundings.

The crews collected local limestone for construction of both the cabin and the road embankments. Large slabs were made for the cabin by driving two-man crowbars into rock crevices with sledgehammers. One or two men then swung on the bar to crack off flat sections of the soft stone. These were hefted by hand onto the flatbed truck and hauled to the cabin site.

The CCC men learned as they worked. While building the cabin, Forest Service technicians trained the men in masonry skills. As road crews hauled rocks to the site, the young masons sized and shaped the stones by hand before setting them in concrete mortar. Besides the cabin, the men of the CCC improved the Crest and Ellis Loop roads; built bridges and hung miles of telephone lines; planted trees; cleared campgrounds; developed ski runs, towers and lodges; and searched for lost hikers.

view of Albuquerque from Sandia Peak

me on Sandia Peak

Mike on Sandia Peak

Altitude on Sandia Peak

me on Sandia Peak

Crest Trail (# 130)

Altitude at the far end of Sandia Peak

Crest Trail (# 130)

Kiwanis Cabin

inside the Kiwanis Cabin

looking out from the Kiwanis Cabin

Crest Trail (# 130)

Here are some views of our tram ride down the Peak.

view coming down the Sandia Peak Tramway

altitude at the bottom of the Tramway

Tinkertown Museum

After hiking the Sandia Peak trail, we drove to Tinkertown Museum, founded by artist Ross Ward, a carnival and circus painter. The museum features Ward’s hand-carved miniature Old West town (Tinkertown), which he started carving in 1962, as well as a hand-carved 3-ring circus, a collection of antique wedding cake toppers, tools, vintage signs and other oddities. Many of the displays can be brought to life by feeding quarters into slots. Ward built much of the museum building himself, out of more than 50,000 glass bottles held together by concrete.

Tinkertown Museum

Here are a few tidbits from the automated displays at Tinkertown.

Ward was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in February 1998, and, since it was unsafe for him to drive, he began converting his Jeep Cherokee (on display at the museum) into an art piece covered in pennies and bottle caps. Ward passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2002 at the age of 62.

Ward’s converted Jeep Cherokee

A film crew from Sopapilla Productions was there talking with employees and Ross Ward’s widow, Carla Ward. They stopped me and wanted to know why I’d come to Tinkertown. I said that as soon as I’d read about it, I was determined to see it when we came to Albuquerque. After we finished walking around the outdoor grounds, we met Carla Ward and Mike took a photo of us together.

outdoors at Tinkertown Museum

odd collections at Tinkertown Museum

How to Be Really Alive!

licensce plates

odd collections at Tinkertown Museum

outdoors at Tinkertown Museum

me outdoors at Tinkertown Museum

outdoors at Tinkertown Museum

me with Carla Ward, the artist’s wife

outdoors at Tinkertown Museum

On our way back to our Airbnb from Tinkertown, we stopped in Cedar Crest to take a few photos of Burger Boy. Apparently it has one of the state’s best chile cheeseburgers, but we didn’t stop for that. The paintings of the founding owner, Green Chili Bill, were done by Ross Ward, the artist who created Tinkertown. Burger Boy also has that Route 66 vibe to it.

mural at Burger Boy

Burger Boy

Tomasita’s

Later, after showering and relaxing a bit at our Airbnb, we went out to dinner at Tomasita’s. Of course, I had to have CHILE RELLENOS, while Mike enjoyed CHALUPAS . It was a great way to end our first day in Albuquerque.

Mike with CHALUPAS (Two crispy corn tortillas topped with refried beans,melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and guacamole)

CHILE RELLENOS (Two New Mexico chiles stuffed with cheese, coated with a bread crumb batter and served with green chile, and refried beans)

me with Chele Rellenos

Steps: 13,379. Miles 5.67. Drove 88.1 miles. Weather (Albuquerque) Hi 73°, Lo 48°. (Sandia Peak Hi 67°, Lo 42°). Sunny.

Old Town Albuquerque

Saturday, October 28: Our second day in Albuquerque, we went to the Old Town after stopping at the Palms Trading Company to peruse the New Mexican silver and turquoise jewelry. The Old Town is a labyrinth of old adobe buildings that are now mostly clothing and souvenir galleries. This day, the New Mexicans were out in force celebrating Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a weeklong celebration from October 28-November 4. We happened to be here on the first day of the celebration, and there was a line of old trucks decorated to the hilt with memorabilia honoring deceased family members. It was a festive atmosphere, and we just happened to luck out being here at this time.

Dia de Los Muertos in Old Town Albuquerque

me in Old Town Albuquerque

Dia de Los Muertos in Old Town Albuquerque

Old Town plaza

Old Town Albuquerque

We visited the San Felipe de Neri Church, established on the west side of the plaza in 1706. When it basically melted in the rainy season of 1792, it was replaced on the north side of the plaza with walls made of adobe-like terrones (sun-dried bricks cut from sod) which are more than 5 feet thick. Masses here are conducted three times a day, once in Spanish.

In the late 19th century, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy of Santa Fe added his European touches to the church, including wooden folk Gothic spires. Jesuit priests from Naples added more non-Spanish details.

San Felipe de Neri Church

Albuquerque Museum

After our wanders around Old Town Albuquerque, we went to the Albuquerque Museum. Outdoors in the sculpture garden, we admired the sculptures of “Sonny” Rivera and Betty Sabo, “La Jornada,” which commemorated 400 years since the arrival of the Spanish settlers and their families in what is now New Mexico. Sabo and Rivera worked together to create depictions of a few of the original 400 men (130 of whom brought families), 83 wagons and carts, and over 7,000 stock animals who arrived in New Mexico in 1598.

“La Jornada”

“the Dancer” by Michael A. Naranjo 1990

Inside the museum, we perused the exhibit titled “O’Keeffe and Moore.” The exhibition juxtaposed the works of Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) and Henry Moore (1898-1986), artists who approached Modernism through the use of natural forms. Both artists relocated from urban centers to rural locations with open landscapes. They both amassed vast personal collections of animal skulls, bones, gnarled driftwood, stones and coiled seashells, which inspired some of their most important creations.

Below are some of O’Keeffe’s creations.

“Spring” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1948

“Pedernal” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1941

“Purple HIlls” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1935

“Back of Marie’s No. 4” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1931

“Hills Before Taos” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1930

“Storm Cloud, Lake George” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1923

“Black Place II” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1945

“Cliffs Beyond Abiquiú, Dry Waterfall” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1943

“Canyon Country, White and Brown Cliffs” by Georgia O’Keeffe, c. 1965

“From the River – Pale” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1959

“Grey Cross with Blue” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1929

“Red Hills and Bones” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1941

“In the Patio I” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1946

“Mule’s Skull with Pink Poinsettia” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1936

“Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1938

“Pelvis IV” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1944

“Pelvis with Distance” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1943

“Calla Lilly in Tall Glass No 2” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1932

“Mask with Golden Apple” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1923

“Feather and Brown Leaf” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1935

“Series I White & Blue Flower Shapes” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1919

“Alligator Pears” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1923

“Red Hill and White Shell” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1938

“Pink Shell with Seaweed” by Georgia O’Keeffe, ca. 1938

“Clam Shell” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1930

“The White Flower (White Trumpet Flower) by Georgia O’Keeffe 1932

“Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. 111” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1930

“Red Cannas” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1927

“Autumn Leaves – Lake George NY” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1924

“Leaf Motif No. 2” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1924

“White Iris” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1930

“Canna Leaves” by Georgia O’Keeffe 1925

Henry Moore’s sculptures were interspersed throughout the gallery.

“Reclining Figure” by Henry Moore 1959-64

“Mother and Child” by Henry Moore 1978

“Two Piece Reclining Figure: Armless” by Henry Moore 1975

“Working Model for Mirror Knife Edge” by Henry Moore 1976

“Working Model for Three Piece No. 3: Vertebrae” by Henry Moore 1968

“Working Model for Reclining Figure: Hand” by Henry Moore 1978

“Thin Reclining Figure” by Henry Moore 1979-80

“Working Model for Upright Internal/External Form” by Henry Moore 1951

At the heart of the exhibit were recreations of both artists’ studios, featuring their original found objects, furnishings and tools.

I was fascinated by the recreation of Georgia O’Keeffe’s studio at Ghost Ranch, about 60 miles from Santa Fe, using the original furnishings and objects from her studio from around 1946. She began regular visits to New Mexico in 1929 and acquired Ghost Ranch in 1940. In 1945, she acquired her other home and studio in Abiquiú, about 15 miles from Ghost Ranch. She settled there permanently in 1949 and for decades lived and worked seasonally in both Ghost Ranch (summer and autumn) and Abiquiú (winter and spring). For more about the artist’s Abiquiú home, you can see my earlier post: the landscapes of georgia o’keeffe.

recreation of Georgia O’Keeffe’s studio

Below are some photos of the recreation of Henry Moore’s studio. Moore settled in Hoglands, a farmhouse partially dating to the 15th century, surrounded by sheep fields in Perry Green, a tiny hamlet an hour from London in rural Hertfordshire. This became his home during the Blitz in 1941 and he remained there until his death in 1986. There Moore maintained several studios, most converted from agricultural sheds or barns, one for each medium of his working practice: a drawing studio; a carving studio; a graphics studio; an enlargement studio; the Plastic Studio for working on plasters in natural light; the Top Studio, which was used for his pre-1970s work – patination of bronzes and photography; and finally the Bourne Maquette Studio, named for the creek that wound through the grounds. It was this last studio, where Moore worked routinely from the 1970s and where he housed his collection of found objects and plaster maquettes, that was created here with its original contents.

recreation of Henry Moore’s studio

The two artists met only once that is documented, during Moore’s solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in December 1946. O’Keeffe’s solo exhibition had taken place there in May of that same year.

Although many critics and observers over the years have suggested that many of O’Keeffe’s paintings were sexual in nature, O’Keeffe didn’t care for his interpretation and vehemently denied she had any intention of depicting the female anatomy.

There were other permanent exhibits at the museum. We especially enjoyed “Common Ground: Art in New Mexico.” It relates continuities in the southwest from Native American traditions to European aesthetics from colonial Spanish and Mexican settlers, to diverse contemporary aesthetic explorations.

In the photo gallery below, the painting “My Three Fates” by Dorothy Brett shows three women at a kitchen table who represent Mabel Dodge Luhan, Frieda Lawrence, and a self portrait of Dorothy Brett (the artist). Outside sitting against a tree is English writer D.H. Lawrence, who visited Taos first in 1923 at the invitation of Mabel Dodge Luhan and returned to London to recruit friends to move to Taos. Dorothy Brett was the only person, besides Lawrence’s wife Frieda, who took up the invitation to create a utopian society he called “Ranamin.”

“Pueblo Moonlight” by Howard Norton Cook 1927

“Hot Country” by Elmer Schooley 1983-85

“A New Mexico Procession” by Jerry West 1983

“Studio Bay with View of Taos Pueblo” by Robert Ellis 1974

“Ampurias” by Clinton Adams 1990

“Khwee…Seng” by Nora Naranjo Morse 1991

“Juarez” by Elaine de Kooning 1959

“Joeenie (The Sun)” by Sheldon Harvey 2010

“El Crepúsculo” by Frank McCulloch

“A Shower in a Dry Year” by Peter Hurd 1969

“Common Ground: Art in New Mexico”

“New Mexico Landscape” by Carl Von Hassler 1920

“Portrait in a White Suit” by Fritz Scholder 1983

“Pueblo Woman of Taos” by Oscar E. Berninghaus 1925

“Pueblo Girl (Juanita)” by Emil Bisttram 1934

“Star Road and White Sun” by Ernest L. Blumenschein 1920

“Artist in Studio” by T.C. Cannon 1975

“My Three Fates” by Dorothy Brett 1958

“Common Ground: Art in New Mexico”

“Only in Albuquerque” at the Albuquerque Art Museum

“Reredo” by Monica Sosaya Halford 1982

Random Albuquerque

We returned to the Old Town to do some more shopping. We continued to enjoy scenes of Día de Los Muertos.

Old Town Albuquerque

We took a drive to capture more of the Route 66 vintage signs along the old road.

The last photo is the KiMo Theatre. From its website: “The KiMo Theatre, a Pueblo Deco picture palace, opened on September 19, 1927. Pueblo Deco was a flamboyant, short-lived architectural style that fused the spirit of the Native American cultures of the Southwest with the exuberance of Art Deco. Pueblo Deco appeared at a time when movie-mad communities were constructing film palaces based on exotic models such as Moorish mosques and Chinese pavilions.”

Signs along the old Route 66

wall of signs along the old Route 66

Route 66 Diner

KiMo Theatre

For our last meal in Albuquerque, we went to Duran’s Central Pharmacy and sat on the swiveling diner stools for Duran’s Green Chile Cheeseburgers. What a classic place to end our time in New Mexico.

Duran’s Central Pharmacy

Mike at Duran’s Central Pharmacy

me at Duran’s Central Pharmacy

Duran’s Green Chile Cheeseburger

Dinner at Duran’s Central Pharmacy

Duran’s Green Chile Cheeseburger

Whichever bathroom

Duran’s Central Pharmacy

After our dinner at Duran Central Pharmacy, Mike took a walk on his own around our Albuquerque neighborhood and took some pictures in the beautiful waning light.

our Albuquerque neighborhood

The next morning, Mike would fly home so he could be at work Monday morning and I packed up the Toyota RAV to begin my four day solo drive home.

Steps: 5,620. Miles 2.38. Drove 12.7 miles. Weather Hi 74°, Low 42°. Sunny.

anticipation & preparation: a texas & new mexico road trip (+ a stopover in atlanta)

wanderessence1025 September 27, 2023

We’re finally on our way to visit parts of Texas and New Mexico, with a long stop-off in Atlanta, GA beforehand to meet our new granddaughter. Her due date is October 1, so we hope she’ll be in this world by the time we arrive (0r soon after!). We had originally planned this trip for 2020, but of course, like everyone else, we were waylaid by the pandemic. A year ago, we made reservations for mid-October at Chisos Mountains Lodge in Big Bend National Park; we had to reserve these spots a year ahead. We hadn’t planned anything else in the meantime; we figured we would build our trip around that stop when the time got closer. We certainly didn’t expect we’d be having our first granddaughter arriving!

I have been to parts of Texas before, namely Dallas (2016) and brief stops in El Paso and Abilene on my way back from my Canyon & Cactus Road trip in 2020. I have also been to the northwest corner of New Mexico, to Bisti Badlands, Chaco Canyon National Park, and the town of Gallup in May of 2018. All of the places we’re going this time will be new to us.

George W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum, Dallas, TX 2016

Dallas Arboretum 2016

view of Kennedy assassination location from Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza in Dallas, TX 2016

Gallup, New Mexico in 2018

Gallup, New Mexico 2018

Chaco Canyon National Park, NM in 2018

Chaco Canyon National Park (2018)

Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM in 2018

Bisti Badlands, NM in 2018

Mission in El Paso, TX 2020

Abilene, TX 2020

Our big hurdle this time will be the looming government shutdown after September 30. A handful of right-wing nut-job Republicans is vowing to shut the government down, which would include the national parks. Of course the whole showdown really pisses me off, as these extreme right-wingers don’t ever offer any solutions to the country’s problems, but instead thrive on chaos and hysteria. No matter, we won’t let them ruin our plans. If we can’t go to the national parks, we’ll simply visit towns and state parks. Either way, we’re going, but the trip will be a different trip altogether if we can’t visit the many national parks in these areas.

Our plan is to stay in Atlanta for over a week, visit Caddo Lake, TX, where we have arranged a boat ride, drive to Austin for a couple of nights and then stop in Fredericksburg, TX briefly to see the Hill Country and the German culture there. By a stroke of luck, we’ve found that the annular solar eclipse, which will be on October 14, will be visible in Fredericksburg on the day we plan to be there. Hopefully, we will be able to see the “ring of fire” when the Moon blocks all but the outer edge of the Sun. (See New NASA Map Details 2023 and 2023 Solar Eclipses in the US).

Then we will head to Big Bend National Park in west Texas; as it’s the first National Park on our itinerary, we’ll have to shift gears in transit if the government is still shut down at that time. After leaving Big Bend, we plan to go to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Park in New Mexico, which will both be closed if the government is still shut down. Then we’ll head up to Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Taos and finally Albuquerque, none of which should be affected by the shutdown, but visits to any surrounding national parks or monuments will have to be curtailed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that even if the government does shut down, they’ll reopen by the middle of October, otherwise, we’ll need to revise our plans on the fly. The longest government shut down so far in history was 34 days in December of 2018, when Trump was president. Who knows how long these lunatics will hold the government hostage to their right-wing demands. I’m hoping for the best, but I truly don’t believe they will act in the interest of the American people.

Of course, as always, I’ve been reading a lot of books to prepare for our trip. Here’s my list of books set in Georgia, Texas and New Mexico. The books in bold green are books I own but haven’t yet read. The ones with star ratings and links are the ones I’ve read. Others are only suggestions. You can see my list of all books set in the U.S. here: books & novels | u.s.a. |.

Georgia

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Childhood by Harry Crews
The Twelve-Mile Straight by Eleanor Henderson
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers ****
Atlanta
1. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
2. Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
3. The End of October by Lawrence Wright
4. The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar
5. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
6. Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn by Gary M. Pomerantz
7. The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Greene
8. Peachtree Road by Anne Rivers Siddons

Books set in Georgia

Georgia map, Guidebook & my journal

Texas

by Mary Karr ****
by Paulette Jiles ****
The Color of Lighting by Paulette Jiles
Whisper Network by Chandler Baker ***
God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright (currently reading)
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore (Odessa, TX) *****
by Sandra Cisneros ***
by Cormac McCarthy ****
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Dead Man’s Walk (Lonesome Dove prequel #1) by Larry McMurtry
Comanche Moon (Lonesome Dove prequel #2) by Larry McMurtry
by Larry McMurtry *****
Streets of Laredo (Lonesome Dove sequel #4) by Larry McMurtry
Moving On by Larry McMurtry
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers by Larry McMurtry
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry
Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry
Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry
In a Narrow Grave by Larry McMurtry (essays)
The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
Old Buildings in North Texas by Jen Waldo
Why Stuff Matters by Jen Waldo
Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge
The Way Back to Happiness by Elizabeth Bass
Playing Dead by Julia Heaberlin
Jam on the Vine by LaShondra Katrice Barnett
Texas by James A. Michener
Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler
The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook
The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel
Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place by Susan Wittig Albert
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Goodbye to a River by John Graves
Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce
The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
Friendswood by René Steinke
Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation by John Phillip Santos
Armadillos and Old Lace by Kinky Friedman
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Oprah Book Club)
The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black
The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt
Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan-Lori Parks
All the Land to Hold Us by Rick Bass
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Brownsville by Oscar Casares
The Gay Place by Billy Lee Brammer
George Washington Gómez by Américo Paredes
The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña by Dagoberto Gilb (around El Paso)
Strange Peaches by Edwin Shrake
The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
Nothing Happened and Then It Did by Jake Silverstein
Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson
Stardust by Carla Stewart
The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy
The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (memoir)
Before the Rain Falls by Camille Di Maio
Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (non-fiction)
Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart
Norwood by Charles Portis (also Arkansas)
Giant by Edna Ferber
Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (east Texas)
Lonely Planet Texas (2014)
Houston
1. by Alicia Erian ****
Austin
1. by Mary Helen Specht ****
2. Waterloo by Karen Olsson

Books set in Texas

Texas map and guidebook

New Mexico

by Denise Chavez
by Willa Cather
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (currently reading)
by Kirstin Valdez Quade
by Goldberry Long
The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob (& India & Seattle)
by Tony Hillerman
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
The Wailing Wood by Tony Hillerman
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli ***
Cities of the Plain (Border Trilogy #3) by Cormac McCarthy
The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church *****
The Painter by Peter Heller
The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter
The Milagro Bean Field War by John Nichols
The Nirvana Blues by John Nichols
Georgia O’Keefe: 100 Flowers
The Woman at Otowi Crossing by Frank Waters
The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook
Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (Manhattan Project)
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford
Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon
Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone
American Elsewhere by Robert Bennett
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn by John Nichols
Bone Horses by Lesley Poling-Kempes
Moon New Mexico: Outdoor Adventures, Road Trips, Local Culture (Travel Guide) by Steven Horak ****
Moon Santa Fe, Taos, & Albuquerque by Steven Horak (currently reading)

New Mexico magazines & guidebooks

books set in New Mexico

There are also endless numbers of movies set in these states. I won’t list them all here, but you can find them on my page: movies | u.s.a. |. The list below includes only the movies I’ve seen.

Georgia

Gone With the Wind (1939) *****
Deliverance (1972) *****
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) *****
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) *****
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) ****
Catch Me If You Can (2002) ***
Footloose (2011) ****

Texas

Old Yeller (1957) *****
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) ****
True Grit (1969) ****
The Last Picture Show (1971) ****
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) ****
Smoky and the Bandit (1977) ****
Lonesome Dove (TV miniseries 1989) *****
All the Pretty Horses (2000) ****
Miss Congeniality (2000) ****
Friday Night Lights (2004) ****
No Country for Old Men (2007) ***
Crazy Heart (2009) ****
True Grit (2010) ****
Jackie (2016) ****
News of the World (2020) ***

New Mexico

The Tao of Steve (2000) ***
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) *****
Georgia O’Keefe (2009) ****
Crazy Heart (2009) ****
Oppenheimer (2023) *****

Various resources:

As always, I hope all goes according to plan. And if there are surprises along the way, I hope they are good ones!

Albuquerque to Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City to Murphysboro, Illlinois

Halloween in Murphysboro, Illlinois

Murphysboro, Illinois to Abingdon, Virginia

Abingdon, Virginia to Oakton, Virginia (home at last!)

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Arrival in Albuquerque

A hike on Sandia Peak

Tinkertown Museum

Tomasita’s

Old Town Albuquerque

Albuquerque Museum

Random Albuquerque

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