Dreams, Moments, Travels
Don’t read further than this, I’m warning you. While this might strike you like some nice closeup of thigh-high fishnet stockings, it is actually the shadow cast from the late afternoon sun shining through a desk panel onto my upper thigh – that’s right, you are for the first time, looking at my inner thigh. Told you you would be grossed out; warned you to stop reading, but no, you got suckered into wanting to know, just what is this. More anatomy to follow.
So I’s pulls up to my local faux-schnizzle Circle K, revvin the engine with some deep bizzzowwww’s coming from this whack Type-R muffler I just installed on our Hyundai Accent. It’s daylight so the street-glow is off, but being daylight makes it easier to see our NOS sticker in the back window impressin all the byatches. Caroline boughts me this new white cap and yo, you know I’m wearing it date-rape style, naw man, I mean backwards, cuz you punks know you don’t wanna be frowin down wit someone likes me. So, dawg, if you wonderin how’d this convenience store becomes my faves, check out da poster wit all da bling eats – yo!
Try as I may, I could not keep up with my site. This bronchitis intrusion laid waste to my best efforts. No flu, no cold, no allergy, or hangover has ever taken so much from me. As I write this I am still under the weather, hoping this clears before our next scheduled vacation in early May.
Turns out I am allergic to one of the meds I am being given for bronchitis. Late in the evening and early morning I awake, I am forced awake by the inability to breathe. I am left gasping, barely able to capture or exhale a tablespoon of air. I try pouring in water, putting tiger balm under my nose, but I just have to wait a few moments sitting up for my airway to relax from being in the grips of a bronchospasm. And now I learn that the Chinese use honeysuckle tea and something called forsythia to treat bronchitis without worrying about cardiovascular collapse or sudden death – another side effect of the med I was prescribed.
Today’s breakfast was, of course, enjoyed again at the El Camino Restaurant & Lounge in Socorro, New Mexico, before striking off on the scenic route through Magdalena on our way back to Arizona.
The drive out here on the western side of the middle of New Mexico is lots of endless beauty.
Along the way, we passed the Very Large Array pictured above.
A lone pronghorn sheep acts as a cattle guard near the intersection of Datil. We’ll keep on driving toward Pie Town, and for the umpteenth time, we’ll yet again strike having yet to taste the pie in Pie Town.
Back in Arizona, the clouds will give way to blue skies and the cold became a distant memory as the baking Phoenix desert welcomed us back with hazy smoke-filled horizons due to a fire 40 miles away.
Cold, windy, grey, and dismal are the conditions awaiting us at the Trinity Site. A record cold snap across the midwest snagged this part of New Mexico near Socorro. This land that experienced the world’s first nuclear explosion is made miserable by today’s weather. I think all 2,886 other visitors would agree from the grumbling we heard.
Our previous visit was in April 2001, when blue skies and warm weather made the place downright nice. If you find yourself in the area on the first Saturday of April or October between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., stop by; it’s free, and you will be one of the approximately 6,000 visitors per year who will visit the obelisk marking ground zero of this historic event.
After our visit to the Trinity Site, we took a nap as the songbirds, wind, and water nudged us to sleep at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
For lunch, we returned to Socorro and our favorite New Mexico eatery, known as the El Camino Family Restaurant.
The day continued with a short road trip to Carrizozo…
…Claunch…
…and Mountainair.