Road Trip

So, after we get the kids all married off, (on Friday the 13th, for extra style points!) we head down to Yuma, AZ. The desert is pretty, in a hostile, oppressive kinda way. All the flora is pointy, and the fauna is venomous or carnivorous.

We met up with Jim's wife at the local chapter of the Elk's Lodge and met some of his old time friends. Fun crowd. A lot of older folks with a laid back attitude, a quick wit, and in many cases, own large swaths of the town.

The next day, we parked at the boarder, and strolled into Algodones, Mexico. The town is one part tourist trap, one part trading post, one part Optical and Dental capital of Mexico.

After a few Margaritas and some shopping, we took off for the day. I looked for some authentic trinket of Mexican culture that I could bring home. Meaning not a refrigerator magnet, and not a trunk full of guys who'll paint my house for 5 bucks. So what did I find?

Awesomeness. THAT'S what I found.

Also, Jim's wife, Cheri, picked up a wedding cake for the newlyweds. There was indeed smeary frosting action, as is tradition.

Sunday, We went on a driving tour of Yuma, and I learned how to play a Dart Game called 301. Quick Rules: You start with 301 points, and have to reduce that score to exactly zero, by landing darts on the marked scoring area. Aside from the difficultly of getting your score exact, you need to hit the doubling ring (a narrow area, if you've ever seen a dart board) on both your first score and your last.

The last day was a 14 hour drive back to Cold Country. We had lunch at a little cafe on an Indian Reservation. Part of the advantage to doing shopping in a place that the government doesn't tread is Tax Free Cigarettes and Liquor. Not to mention picking up a bottle of something difficult to find...

And that's about it. You can view the pictures at your leisure.

Random Encounter: Level 6 Road Trip

As many of you know via random text messages I've been sending to all of you, I spend the weekend in the southwest. First a night in Las Vegas, then onward to Yuma. I would have sent you a text from the third leg of the journey, but I couldn't seem to get a signal in Mexico.

I just got back from a long drive, so I'll not expound tonight, but check back either late night Tuesday or early Wednesday for a lengthy post (might be broken up into several posts) and a massive Flickr dump. (Between hitting the 200 picture limit and close to a half gig of pictures to upload, I'll be upgrading to a pro account very soon.)

...and All that Jazz

I took an opportunity this weekend to get out of the Valley for a while, to meet someone face to face after communicating via blog comments for several months, and to see Chicago at the the Buell Theater in Denver. Darn good show, and it was awfully nice to get out of the Valley for a weekend.

Wyoming Cultural Fact: each corner of the state has some kind of getaway in the boarding state. SE corner has Denver and Fort Collins in Colorado, NE corner has Billings, Montana and Rapid City South Dakota, SW corner has Salt Lake City, and Jackson has Idaho Falls, or rather, they would if they weren't so full of themselves and decided to visit once in a while. Those unfortunate enough to live in the center of the state are faced with an empty wasteland on all sides.

Thanks again to Sarah, for providing the tickets, the drive from Laramie to Denver, and the hospitality!

Happy Independence Day

Hope you're all having a happy 4th. I'll have a major Flickr Update later, but here's a teaser.