June 2011

Gosh! Here it is several years later, and I have big, BIG new! I am finally, at long last
a grandmother. Charles Russell Barron was born on February 20, 2011, and he is the cutest baby ever!
He is four months old now, and full of smiles and gurgles. As soon as I remember how to include a picture, I will put one up so you can see how darling he is!

I'm home now, and getting back into the swing of things at school. Tomorrow I am going to a new school, and I will take my camera so you can see it. Guerrero was built in an old Safeway supermarket and not one student there was born with blue eyes. Tune in for actual pictures of this architectural marvel!

Here we are (notice the leashes) at Arizona's very own Salt River Canyon. This is quite beautiful, if you have never seen it, and fairly close to Scottsdale (just north out of Globe/Miami). It looks like a little Grand Canyon. Nice hairdo, huh?

We stopped near White Sands, New Mexico to see this very Large Array, which turns out to be about twenty giant satellite dishes. They can be moved around and redirected, and have been used to "listen" to space. It was very interesting to see, and now I am kind of sorry we didn't take the time to go to the visitor's center.

This is the road to Fort Lancaster in Texas. It is now a toursit attraction, and by the time we got there it was closed for the day. We decided to put the dogs over the locked gate to this long empty entrance road and let them run around, which, as you can see we did. Then (you would think we'd learn, wouldn't you?) when it was time to go, Toby ducked under the gate and headed off down the highway! He wasn't about to get back in that car. My sister and I both chased him, and he kept going further down this highway...I thought we had seen the last of him, for sure. There was nothing but desert out there; miles and miles for him to disappear into. At last Kiki sweet talked him into stopping and cowering down into a little brown and white fur ball, and she was able to pick him up. No more off-leash time for Toby!!!

On the road

Who doesn't love

Dairy Queen?

Toby is enjoying some ice cream during a spot in L

incoln, New Mexico, which I had never heard of but turns out to be a reall

y nice little place. It is the scene of Billy the Kid's last escape, and they have restored most of the old buildings, courthouse, jail, etc. Every year they stage a re-enactment of that fateful day. Toby cared nothing about Billy the Kid.

Just the ice cream.

Teddy looked so funny with ice cream and leaves on his little beard!

Here is Goober fearlessly attacking Tiger Bunny, who is about 3 times his size. They wrestle arouond like this for hours every day. The kitchen is just off to the left (Tiger never strays too far from the groceries!)

Carrel giving Tedward a ride on the lawn mower on his last night in Texas. The goal had been to ride the four wheeler but there was a problem with the battery on it, so the lawn mower was a good stand in. I think Teddy is liking the experience....it's a little hard to tell. Toby definitely loved it because he loved anything to do with Carrel, but Harley jumped off after just a few feet.

The travellers loaded up the morning of our departure. No kennel in the back seat...we broke it down and stowed it in the trunk, the idea being that there would be room for all three dogs in the back seat. It worked out pretty well, except that Toby almost always situated himself in what my sister called the "lower bunk", that is, the floor behind the passenger seat. And we drove another 1200 vomit-free miles!

Many, many houses, farms, ranches and businesses fly a Texas flag out front. This one is at the LBJ Ranch and Park, our first stop. It was beautiful and quite spacious and there were very few people about. We saw three deer when we first drove back into the park area. We decided to let the dogs run around without leashes; big mistake. Teddy and Harley were great: came when we called and jumped up in the back seat. Toby took one look at the car and headed off at a brisk pace in the opposite direction. I got a box of dog cookies but he wouldn't come until I walked up the hill and away from the car, at which point I grabbed him, the little devil!

This is the back of the Grape Creek Winery just outside of Fredericksburg, Texas. It turns out that Texas produces quite a bit of wine, and the hill country around Fredericksburg was full of vineyards and wineries. I bought a couple of bottles at Grape Creek, one for me and one for my neighbor Ric. Here is a shot of the vineyard there at Grape Creek (I thought they made that name up, but a few miles after leaving this place, we crossed "Grape Creek"). The Texas hill country is just beautiful...check it out if you ever have the chance!