Day 12

 Some days are made for sight seeing and some days are made for friend seeing. My wonder spouse and I spent most of the day today visiting a friend we have known since college. So I guess you could say an old friend. 60+ years ago she and I roomed together at Ball State University for two summer sessions and lived across the hall from each other for three years. During some of that time I was lavaliered (almost engaged) to the man she eventually married. No hard feelings, I had moved on to the man who became my first husband before she and my ex got together. You can see that we've had an interesting, but always good, relationship. Today made us realize that we really must stay in touch more frequently, even if it's just by text and phone. Really good friends need to be held on to. 

Day 11

 Remember the Alamo! Today we spent some hours exploring the Alamo. The first time I saw the Alamo, in 1968, it was just a semi ruined building, sitting at the edge of a busy street. You could walk through it and see the bullet holes but that was about it.  I am happy to report that a lot has happened since then. Some old city buildings were torn down and the Alamo is now part of a city block outdoor museum full of 3-D displays and posters telling the entire history of the Alamo through all its various uses beginning in the early 1700s. The focus is not just on one sad battle; the Alamo is treated as the church it was, men are told to remove their hats, everyone is asked to whisper while they are inside. The entire experience was much more informative, moving and interesting than I expected. So, the next time you're in San Antonio, by all means visit the Alamo. You will remember it. 

Day 10

 After a long south eastward drive across Texas (it's a big state) we arrived in San Antonio and checked in to an elegant old hotel. Then we proceeded to the River Walk which has changed a lot since I was last here. My spouse had been here more recently so he wasn't so surprised. Loud music everywhere we walked and crowds of people. It is a Friday night and some kind of festival was going on so there were lots of people in strange costumes. Everyone was very friendly and helpful as we walked around. We ate at a pub and I had excellent fish and chips. My spouse had potato soup, also very good and we shared a margarita. All in all a fun day. Tomorrow the Alamo. 

Day 9

 Today was spent mostly underground, exploring Carlsbad caverns. It was an amazing adventure. So different from the starry night experience but equally awe inspiring. We took an elevator 750 feet down into the cave then spent an hour and a half walking the trails and looking in amazement at the variety of stalactites and stalagmites. So much beauty hidden underground. We took lots of pictures but they don't do it justice. Now we are waiting to see the bats swarm out of the cave at sunset. Another natural world experience. We are not allowed to take pictures so no bat photos to share. I know you'll be so disappointed. 

Day 8

 This may be my shortest blog ever. My wonder spouse and I spent most of today driving south east across New Mexico. We left Grant's at about 10 am as planned and arrived at Carlsbad about 4 pm. The scenery was nice, much the same as yesterday and the drive was uneventful which is the way we like it. I did get a delicious frozen coffee drink at one of our stops and we had very good French dip sandwiches at McAlister's Deli. Just a driving day in other words. Tomorrow we will explore Carlsbad caverns which should be much more exciting. Thanks for checking in. 

Day 7

 Today was a good day with a drive to Chaco Canyon to view rocks and ruins, and that was a good experience. But the most amazing part of the day started at 4:00am. 

My wonder spouse had reserved a hogan in a dark place for us to stay in last night, hoping that we would see stars.  Since we live in a city, with lots of ambient light, we seldom see any stars at all.  We arrived after dark and it really was very, very dark. Sadly, it was also overcast and spitting rain. So we went to bed, happy to be staying there but disappointed at the lack of stars.  Then the most amazing thing happened. I woke up at 4:00am, looked out the window, and discovered that the sky had cleared and was ablaze with stars. I woke my wonder spouse and we rushed outside to stand in awe, absorbing the silent splendor of the infinity of stars shining down on us. My spouse even saw a meteor. It was a night we will always remember. 

Day 6

 Today was a long day of train riding, and being tourists in a small town. We boarded the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge train, pulled by a genuine steam engine, at 8:30am for the three and a half hour train ride to the small, historic, tourist friendly town of Silverton, high in the mountains. The train ride was lumpy and bumpy, and our car swayed from side to side,  but the scenery was magnificent, also a bit scary at times because of the steep dropoffs on both sides. Silverton was a bit of a disappointment because it is the end of their season and many shops were already closed. On the positive side this probably saved me some money. We did manage to find a good place for lunch, and some excellent ice cream. We boarded the train again at 2:30pm and made it back to Durango by 6:15. At which time my wonder spouse and I got in our car (so much more comfortable than the train) and headed south. After an hour and a half of driving we came to a hogan where we are spending the night. This is in a very dark isolated place where we hoped to see a sky full of stars. Alas, it's raining. Ah well, the best laid plans and all that. Tomorrow is another day.