Second Day – Solo in Germany

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Frankfurt, Germany

In 2015, I visited Frankfurt by myself because John was too busy with his company. I really wanted to go right at that time, early September because that would allow me to help celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday and my mother’s 80th birthday at the annual family reunion hosted by Klaus’ family. I would only stay a little over a week and managed to see different family members every day. My calendar was packed! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any notes, and some of my photos were lost along with my phone (always back up your phone!!!), so it is difficult to fill in these entries so much later with so little to work with. 

On my second morning in Frankfurt, I headed to my mother’s again for a visit. This time, I decided to take a stroll down to the Main and across the Eiserne Steg.

Caroline Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

This was my best attempt at a selfie. The weather was nice enough not to need a sweater, even though it was early.

Frankfurt, Germany

I then walked across the Romerberg, back towards Zeil and Konstablerwache.

Frankfurt, Germany

I remember looking for a mailbox and finding one here at Liebfrauenberg.

Frankfurt, Germany

This is the view from upstairs in Zeil Gallerie, a shopping mall on Zeil, looking West. This was one of the few places I found in Frankfurt that had free WIFI and I stopped here a lot to chat with John.

Later that day, while visiting my mother, it turned out that her eye infection was getting much worse. Stephanie and I decided to bring her to the emergency room at the eye clinic and they admitted her. This took most of the rest of the day because the waiting room was packed.

First Day – Solo in Germany

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise in Frankfurt, Germany

In 2015, I visited Frankfurt by myself because John was too busy with his company. I really wanted to go right at that time, early September because that would allow me to help celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday and my mother’s 80th birthday at the annual family reunion hosted by Klaus’ family. I would only stay a little over a week and managed to see different family members every day. My calendar was packed! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any notes, and some of my photos were lost along with my phone (always back up your phone!!!), so it is difficult to fill in these entries so much later with so little to work with. 

I landed in Frankfurt! What a relief after almost missing my connecting flight in D.C. because I thought I’d have to change terminals, which ended up not being true. I was the second last person to enter the plane before the doors closed! Continuing on that theme, in Frankfurt, I thought my bag was lost in transit for probably 10 minutes until I realized that the lonely black bag circling the baggage carousel was actually my red bag, flipped upside down. Somehow, I had never noticed that our bag wasn’t red on all sides. I texted John the good news while I was still able to use the airport WIFI.

Frankfurt, Germany

Since I landed at around 7.30 in the morning, I had told my sister and brother-in-law not to pick me up from the airport and headed towards my mother’s apartment using public transport. On the way, I bought my first day-ticket for public transport at the RMV store at Hauptwache.

Frankfurt, Germany

Afterward, I went for a walk past Hauptwache Cafe to the nearest post office to buy stamps. Businesses were just opening and I was amazed to see that the street cleaners are still using old-timey brooms made with twigs instead of leaf blowers.

Frankfurt, Germany

I had promised John I would write a card every day, and I already had one ready to go, which I had picked up at the Phoenix airport.

Frankfurt, Germany

Next, I strolled down Zeil towards Konstablerwache. Before I hopped on the train to Bornheim, I took a good look at all the fresh local produce for sale at the market.

Frankfurt, Germany

This is Saalburgstrasse. My mother’s house is the somewhat bluish one about four houses down on the right. Considering it had been cloudy when I landed, I was happy to see blue sky.

Jutta Engelhardt in Frankfurt, Germany

My mom was so happy to see me. We had a lot to talk about and eventually decided to celebrate with a slice of plum cake at Café Eifler at the corner of Saalburgstrasse and Berger Strasse.  I love plums (specifically, damson plums), and plum cake was very much in season and on offer everywhere. I ended up eating a slice just about every day I was in Germany.

It got late when I finally got to the Engelhardt’s, where we looked at their vacation photos (they had just returned from a trip to Japan!) and then fixed up my bed in the attic, where I sadly went to sleep by myself.

Lost Texas – Day 7

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

El Camino Family Restaurant in Socorro, New Mexico

Tampico Steak for breakfast, Mr. Wise? Of course, only the best breakfast for me. I could have opted for eggs and some other shite, but come on, we’re in Socorro, and the El Camino Family Restaurant may not be around forever, so I need to have my favorite dish every time we stop. As a matter of fact, I believe I could eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for at least a few consecutive days.

Very Large Array in Datil, New Mexico

Sending this one via satellite, as stated over the previous six days; this post is coming at you from the future, as in February 2023, because back in 2015, your’s truly were distracted by all manner of things and failed to blog about many things, this being just one of those things. The photo is from the Very Large Array in Datil, New Mexico.

John Wise and Caroline Wise in Pie Town, New Mexico

We are in Pie Town, New Mexico, and it just so happens to be one of those ultra-rare occasions where something is open in Pie Town. Coffee, pie, and ice cream don’t get better than here in Pie Town, well, unless you are at the Thunderbird Restaurant at Mt. Carmel Junction in southern Utah for some “Ho-Made” pie because who doesn’t like some authentic Ho-Made pie?

Caroline Wise at Arizona State Line

Yay, we survived Texas, the flooding, fiber shops, too much barbecue, green chilies, pie, and unfocused John, who should have brought his DSLR and taken notes so things wouldn’t simply be lost.

Niyaz in concert at The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

After getting back to Phoenix, there was no rest for the wicked, as we had a concert to attend at the Musical Instrument Museum. Niyaz was playing, and we certainly didn’t want to miss this opportunity to see them.

Now that I’m finally done with this post, it’s sad, tragic even, that this trip lay fallow for all these years. It was a big mistake to allow it to fall between the cracks and its memories to largely be lost, but such is life for most people. The problem is, I never wanted to be “most people,” and so I suffered a certain amount of regret that I allowed work to consume most everything over the years I felt I was following my dreams. Dreams should be multi-dimensional, just like the virtual reality I was attempting to create. Don’t forget to live while you work and love someone else. I don’t mean to imply things weren’t great, but I should have been managing my private life better during these years.

Lost Texas – Day 6

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Eagle Nest, New Mexico

…Yesterday I closed my post with Caroline having plans for pushing us in this direction towards Eagle Nest, New Mexico. Things will become clear soon enough.

Once more, I’m letting the reader know that these posts are arriving eight years after the travels were had. It wasn’t until February 2023 that I finally tried tackling the chore. As life and work often get in the way of things, so it was back in 2015, well, 2014 through mid-2017, for that matter. I feel that it’s better for these images to find a place on the blog, though the narrative is thin due to us not having notes to accompany the images.

Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Our primary objective is now to go home, but we are not interested in the most direct route, though south is the general direction we need to travel, so things are working out.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park in Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Oh, what’s that? It’s the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park, which sure feels like a strange bit of architecture out here.

Somewhere between Eagle Nest and Mora, New Mexico

That memorial would have been the turn-off had we intended to visit Taos today, but that’s not where we’re headed.

Caroline Wise at Mora Valley Spinning Mill in Mora, New Mexico

This is what I was alluding to regarding Caroline’s plans for how our altered path could play out. We are about 50 miles south of our motel in the small town of Mora, where the Mora Valley Spinning Mill is located and is open. Caroline is not holding that yarn for the sake of the photo; it is but one small part of what we’ll leave with.

Caroline Wise at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center in Espanola, New Mexico

Sixty-five miles west of Mora is the small town of Española and the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, where they sell yarn and other fiber-arts-related stuff Caroline’s paws must fondle.

John Wise at Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center in Espanola, New Mexico

While Caroline busies herself lost in Yarnland, just over there next to Dreamland, I took up the designated “I’m not interested” section of the store, using my time of isolated sulking while yarn shopping to share this image of my newest handmade socks made from two shades of green yarn acquired at the Fiber Factory in Mesa, Arizona.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Here we are in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a quick visit. We’ve already had lunch at Tia Sophia’s, where they serve up New Mexican cuisine, and are now on our way to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

The inside of the cathedral is not a very ornate affair, but that doesn’t matter; we still enjoy the ambiance.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

After we did a quick walkthrough of the Palace of the Governors, we strolled around the corner to visit the New Mexico History Museum. These “finger-woven socks” made of yucca fiber weren’t the only things on exhibit, but as they are hand-woven, you can be certain that Caroline was enchanted by them; I suppose I should be happy that my wife uses soft wool to make my socks because those appear a bit rough on the edges.

Somewhere between Albuquerque and Socorro, New Mexico

Somewhere south of Albuquerque.

El Camino Family Restaurant in Socorro, New Mexico

The next stop was at the World Famous El Camino Family Restaurant, famous because we’ve posted about it so frequently. Tampico steak, Mr. Wise? Well, of course. Where we stayed is of no concern as after eating at our favorite New Mexican diner, we could sleep on a bed of nails. Guess where we’ll be having breakfast tomorrow?

Lost Texas – Day 5

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Somewhere in western Oklahoma

Things only got worse overnight regarding the flooding in this area on the borders between Oklahoma and Texas. We were told there was no chance of continuing north and that the Red River was unpassable to the south. Originally, our goal had been to pass through Medicine Lodge, Kansas, because I liked the name and then continue north to Great Bend, also in Kansas, which would allow us to connect lines on our map of the U.S. Our only way forward today was to try and go west, the operative word was “try” because we were warned that we may or may not find a way due to water spilling everywhere.

Somewhere in western Oklahoma

(I should reiterate that this post and the ones around it are all being written in February 2023. I didn’t post much of anything from 2014 through 2017 because I was preoccupied to distraction with the operations of my company TimefireVR.)

While the water that was crossing the road in the photo above this one didn’t look too deep, nobody else came along, so we couldn’t judge what the conditions were and instead turned around. We encountered a lot of flooded fields as Caroline tried to navigate us through the maze of rural roads.

Somewhere in western Oklahoma

At times, the water collecting appeared to be a flooded stream or small river bed, but as it crossed roads, we deferred with extra caution and just kept hunting for a way westward.

Caroline Wise in Texas

Thanks go to this magic turtle that offered us a way out by pointing the way. Though he was camera shy he stated that he’s always eschewed the limelight for helping humans on their path and stay safe.

Somewhere in the panhandle of Texas

The middle of the Texas Panhandle was high and dry; we started to try and breathe easily.

New Mexico state line

We passed into New Mexico between Texline, Texas, and Clayton, New Mexico, with the rain seemingly closing in on us. With this, our Kansas, Colorado, and Utah part of the loop was struck from the plan and now we were limping back home. Our destination this evening was still about 150 miles away over in Eagle Nest, New Mexico. Caroline had plans…