color.....

......light reflected, refracted, scattered, absorbed... ....hue, saturation, brightness, tint, value, gloss... ...field, depth, range...... spectrum, wheel, palette....... life, energy, vitality. coming from the charcoal sketches of the north to the land of georgia o'keefe, color bursts from everything, everywhere. can't help but notice it, almost overwhelming, almost impossible to take it all in. seeing is believing, being is believing. color is life, life is color........

our mission to bring as much color as possible to our indoor world has entered its second week, aided(?) by the fact that our furniture, and most of our worldly goods, have not yet arrive in new mexico (but that is another story). eggshell, satin, semigloss... ...carnelian, imperial yellow, golden moon, heavy cream, belgium chocolate, venetian plaster, sweet annie, coffee bean, turtle dove.......

nature's color is still abundant......leaves of green, some yellow.......blue skies, clouds added for texture and depth...... brilliant days of sunshine, yellow, gold, amber, orange, red, purple, blue..... ..to be back again tomorrow.

el sol........

....i'll follow the sun, let the sunshine, here comes the sun, good day sunshine, sun is shining, sunny afternoon, sunshine on my shoulder...... makes me happy.

here's looking forward to another sunshine day, i think it'll keep on

Trails.....

...they all lead somewhere. on a journey of 3000 miles one is bound to cross a few trails. for us, there were a few famous ones: the AT, skyline drive, blue ridge parkway, wilderness road, cumberland gap, natchez trace, santa fe trail, chisolm trail, and of course, the mother road, route 66. no doubt there were a few others along the way, then finally....the turquoise trail. an ancient trading route, the present-day turquoise trail connects albuquerque and santa fe, passing through farming and ranching towns, and artists' colonies, like a step back in time.
it had been raining through texas - big rain- after all this is texas, but the skies cleared as we crossed the badlands of new mexico..... made famous by billy the kid...and countless c&w songs. temperature contnues to drop as we slowly climb - started the day at 44, now 38 and still dropping... is that snow?.. ....a quick pitstop at cline's corners.....made necessary 'cuz of poor 'stop' planning. in a hurry to get outta amarillo...no coffee...later. later turned out to be much later. not many options for coffee (or anything) in the west texas panhandle. passed on 'stuckey's even though they offered fried gizzards and livers (everyone knows gizzards and livers are an afternoon snack - not breakfast)...tucumcari, 62 miles...coffee!! after much anticipation, a few more stuckey's, lotsa rain, and road construction....finally... Love's (a gas-pee-coffee stop that has served us well on this trip and others) ..... tucumcari, next 4 exits.....we make our plan - off at the first exit - cruise main st (rt 66) - into Love's.... then back on the highway... oh well, best laid plans...... Love's isn't on 66, just a lotta crap ..... group decision, abort - back on 40w - we'll find something else......... which happened to be a stuckey's a half hour later (coffee jones hit really hard)....watery coffee...lotta laughs, more rain, more construction. an hour after that - Love's. gas, a pee, and good coffee. an hour and a half later....that final pitstop in cline's corners. final leg - 285 - straight as an arrow - an hour down the road - the sangre de cristos ahead..... then the city different. land of enchantment, we have arrived.

the last time we saw our intrepid voyagers.....

......they were enjoying a delicious tex-mex meal in amarillo when it was rudely interrupted by an unwelcomed guest - harry taco...... mmm mmmm good ........ a foot long, black and shiney (no jokes!!!). well all-in-all, amarillo ('yellow') was a larger rest stop than van buren (that's being polite)...... hotel was by the interstate, it was cold, it rained. cops drove thru the super-8 parkinglot every half hour. amarillo used to be yellow, now its grey. amarillo is home to the largest natural deposit of helium on earth (and many minnie mouse impersonators). it's also home to a nuclear-weapons-dismantling facility. also home to alot of cattle. amarillo belongs right where it is - in the middle of the nowhere known as the 'texas panhandle'. on to santa fe

Meet Harry Taco.......

oklahoma ........ started much like arkansas, except cleaner.... 40w straight across the state...really straight. oklahoma city..... midpoint of the land of sooners ... sooners because they didn't wait for the starting gun at the great land rush .... the slight green rolling hills of the eastern half have faded into flat and sagebrush of the west. very flat.......long horizons in all directions. tornado alley.....can see why...pressure drop. a hard rain's gonna fall. then it did. high wind, zero visibility..... auntie em!!!!!!! (oh, that's right kansas was the name of her star). cattle. oil derricks. billboards, old and new. 66, the mother road. world's largest cross....... wait, must be texas, everything's bigger here. amarillo ..... 48 degrees and windy, coldest so far..... scary super 8, iffy wifi, good texmex in a local kitchen..... what's that!!??? .... THERE'S A HAIR IN MY TACO!!!

touching cotton.........

departed nashville, left the bikers, west on 40..........left a camp chair on 4o too.... it hung on for a while..... aramadillo roadkill, green trees, no views. flat. minutes dragged like hours. hours and hours of nothing.... .flat landscape....cotton fields ....dirty, old memphis .......... a pyramid?, wtf?..... ole' man river..... not as impressive in person.....rest stop........ stainless steel urinals....prison? more flat nothing, only more of a nothing than before .... rice ....soy ...flat .....boring. more cotton, more rice, more soy, more steel urinals, more boring. 4 hours. and so that was arkansas.... well, add a few 'hills' in the west - ozarks - and that was arkansas. nightfall in van buren...no feast tonight....van buren is like a large rest stop. waffle house in the morning... then okies on the highway, and ....amarillo.

look away, look away, look away, dixieland......

....short drive from asheville that seemed long. great smokey mountains .......national forests....national parks...... bursting yellows, golds, reds and browns........ then flat, and green .....no view..... speeding volunteers on 4oW ......... knoxville (anytown, usa)....... dollyworld! (?) .......on to the land of gore, sr & jr ...........music city....tired music city .......odd silouhette......... old highway.......... new stadium..... smelly hotel...... porters, part 2 ....... 5:15 sunset (maine!!!!)...... jack's bbq........ heavy on atmosphere (cafeteria!!!), heavy on meat ....... combo platter please, greens, mac & cheese....... fall-apart, super-tender pork shoulder, thank you ...baked-beans, yams ............mmm mmm good!!!!....hey, tv's an hour off- oh yeah, centraltime ..........intestinal distress......jack!!!!!!!!!! No more dicks in The White House!!

Asheville............

........an island of blue in a sea of red. day two crossing the great red expanse of appalachia. today saw a moderate drive from the shennadoah valley south into the smokey mtns, and cherokee nat'l forest. stops for waffles and a killer bee intrusion. the countryside is absolutely beautiful. autumn has arrived here ...pumpkins....leaves of color...a few tourists. asheville - where i'd live if i had to be on the east coast.... a really hip, happenin' town...lots of students, couples young and old......weird, no kids......... beers (oatmeal porter from the local brewer) and intelligent political discourse..... a shout-out here to eddie warhol - check out his film at http://www.youtube.com/EDDIEWARHOL. this country really needs more discussions, not the hate-filled diatribes and nuremburg-like rallies the mccain and palin campaign is conducting and condoning..... harvard scholar vs 896th in a class of 900....and how does managing to allow your multi-million dollar death plane to be shot down by a third-world country while bombing their civilians make you a hero? anyway, i could go on.....but, back to asheville.....good beers, good discussion, hometown connection (go phils!?), the best indian food we've had in a looooong time, and a stroll 'round town with ollie rounded out this extremely uplifting day. there may be hope for this country. if not, at least when the proverbial flood comes, islands like this will protect the knowing. the sheeple will drown in their ignorance.

Skyline Drive...........

.......deep in the land of the red staters. pick ups...buzz cuts....t's with no sleeves.... necks of a red hue..... way too many mcsame/painlin signs...... usa, usa. left civilization around noon, south on 95 to the balt beltway.......md drivers waaaaay worse than massholes......who'da thought? frederick to harpers ferry....wva, va, wva, va. on to front royal (read: hicktown) and the skyline drive. leaves just beginning to turn......vines of red, twisting around the giant oaks and chestnuts....maples, birch, ash, yellow poplar....soon to turn. the park was empty (not so in a couple of weeks), there til dark, beautiful sunset while south on 81........ landed in staunton, heart of shennadoah valley..... woodrow wilson prez library...who knew?

bring your seat backs and tray tables to the upright and locked position.......

....as the captain prepares for takeoff. another day of errands and preparation.....more soup and springrolls..... a peanut incident..saved by a loving pho bath...one more commute for old-time's sake....some down-time and a nap......sickness creeping in? been 'round lots o' people, lots o' germs. one more night, some packing and loading (again), then it's off to waynesboro in the hotly contested red state of virginny, via pa, md, and wva. and oh yeah, i wasn't making it up

24 stops in 24hrs

south philly....cheese steaks, jerk chicken, titi hair braiding, one-way streets, traffic lights, double-parking....shunk... why are all the italian bakeries closed today? recovering from the day of prayer?...preying for a cannoli...none to be had. no, not this asian mart and shopping center - the next one, at 6th....spring rolls and tsao's chicken. quick trip to jersey....apples, corn, fruit pies, and....cheese pumpkins? migrants and mcmansions, side-by-side... wtf? banana heads, ice cream and mambo.....paprika chicken and dumplings, late nite and alcohol, technology issues....hospitality of good friends, always there, picking up like yesterday....you vill share your treats now. back up 95 to the backed up 95......another quick family stop, more friends - beers with a fellow traveller, more with a brother from the past, still in tune. pizza...thin crust...well done. back to base camp....debate time....don't believe the lies
another 24 more hours, another 24 more stops....then on the road...what day is it?

and on the seventh day...........

.....we rested. no packing. no driving. no sleep deprivation.
regular meals. regular hours. 'regular' routine when in visiting mode. family, friends, and tea parties. a little more of the same today, with a dash of driving and packing thrown in at the end, just for flavor.

Thru the night

finally off island, no longer lost. escaped maine under cover of onrushing darkness. tight grip broken. a skunky drive thru the night delivered us to friendly, familiar, familial refuge.

another day of packing, though this one topped off with cleaning, numerous trips to the dump (oh to have curbside pickup again!!!), last-minute repairs, and, did i mention packing. couldn't have fit one more thing. refugees. got outta dodge 'round 615p, stopped to sleep at a rest area 11 hours and 5 states later. quick nap, another starbucks, and an hour later....sunrise and refuge.

Put a fork in it.......

first time the space has been empty. ever. it has a nice natural reverb. good room for sound. great room for music. discovered over the years that things occurring downstairs sound much louder upstairs. the symphony of dogs, id tags, and waterbowls all clanging together, repeatedly, at 2am. it's music i'll always have with me.

now where's that fork? i've got a hockey mom to check on.....tick...tick...tick

Departure.......almost

moving van arrived 6pm yesterday. rain arrived 6:05. van departed 2:45am (we crashed @ 4 this morning). rain still here. sacrifices were made along the way.....goodbye cabinets, chair, other stuff we'd just drag across the country.....it's all so unnecessary when you get right down to it. one more day before the adventure really begins...not that it hasn't been an adventure up to this point. cleaning today, and one more exercise in packing 10lbs into a 5lb bag.. missing so much news from the real world while we're in our self-imposed isolation....packing 20 hrs a day leaves little time for anything else...and it's last day of paid internet connectivity for a while.......catching free wireless from here on.....one of the perks of returning to the civilized world. kinda bummed we'll miss the debate...either be on the road, or maine indoor camping for one more night.....catch palin's debate prep here, courtesy of letterman.

happy/sad echoes in the empty house...the room has a good 'live' sound, want to play my guitar in here one last time........the laptop's been jamming with our only tunes 'til sirius on the ride....off to clean..........adios amigas y amigos......