"I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in..."

For you youngsters that was the title of a song by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition from 1968.
It's been three weeks since I have set pen to paper (metaphorically speaking), and I am surprised my friends are still checking on me


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 After vacation I worked on getting the yard in shape; at that time I was in bad shape from my back and the resulting sciatica, so I was usually either busy or lying about recovering. Sleep was poor and not enough.  Last week I got some more spine injections, and I am doing better, at least for now.  The muscles are still stiff, and I can feel that things are not right back there, but I am suffering little pain right now. 

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Got a family reunion from my mom's side of the family coming up this weekend; some of my cousins and such I haven't seen in over twenty or thirty years.  Should be interesting meeting some of my relatives that I've never met before.

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It looks as if Eric Holder may be found for contempt for not releasing information on the Fast and Furious fiasco; it won't matter, because he still refuses to cooperate.  He did offer to release the information if they promised to drop the investigation first, but even the Republicans aren't stupid enough to fall for that, though I'm not sure about Bohner; I'm wondering if that idiot has made a deal to try and block things, the way he has been acting.  If Holder didn't do anything wrong, why the secrecy?  And now the President has used executive privilege to try and protect him.  If the President isn't involved, why is he taking the risk of protecting an obvious liar?  Obama is not the type to help anyone unless there is something in it for him (he is a politician, after all), so either he is trying to hide possible White House involvement, or he is worried about Holder blabbing about something he would rather keep quiet.  Personally, my money is on the first scenario.

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 We've been having problems with grass and  brush fires on the south end of the valley; added with the high temperatures and constant wind for the last couple of weeks, and it is a mess for the people living in that area.  Hopefully no one will be injured, or suffer serious property damage.
The fire has been blamed on target shooters, but personally I think it more likely that one of them was careless with a cigarette butt.  Contrary to popular myth, bullets do not cause fire or sparks unless either they are tracers or steel core (armor piercing) rounds.  The Forest Service and BLM have always been somewhat hostile to shooting, so they are quick to make accusations with or without facts.

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"It Ain't Me Babe" by The Turtles
"Hungry" by Paul Revere and the Raiders
"Against the Wind" by Bob Seger
"John The Revelator" by Curtis Stigers and The Forest Rangers
"Mechanical World" by Spirit
"The Old Man Down the Road" by John Fogerty
"It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty
"Alone" by Heart
"The Rebel" by Johnny Cash
"Handle With Care" by The Traveling Wilburys

Home again

Got home the day after Memorial Day, have been catching up on stuff since.

Had a good trip; even lost a few pounds walking around.

We went first to Moab, Utah, one of my favorite areas.
Spent a day there, then went to Durango, Colorado.
Next day we went to Santa Fe, also visited a couple of smaller towns in the surrounding area.
Stayed in Santa Fe until Sunday, drove to Moab that day.
Around noon Monday we started on the road home.

Some pictures of each leg of the trip below.  Click to enlarge.
In a few days I will also be uploading a lot of photos to my Flickr page, if anyone is interested.


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Moab

Mainly took some pictures; also stopped by the two wineries there and got some stuff to take home.

1. Some ocotillo near a lodge by the Colorado River.
2. A canoe on the Colorado River.
3. A shot of the river at sundown, with my back to the sun.
4. Someone's dwelling on the Kane Creek Road alongside the east side of the Colorado River.  There were several of  these; some had houses built against the mountain and had hollowed out into the rock.  I wonder if they are part of a survivalist group?
5 through 10, Some petroglyphs along the river, probably done by Fremont Indians.

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No shots at Durango, we weren't there long enough to do more than eat dinner (some fairly decent barbecue), sleep, and go on our way.

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Santa Fe

Did a lot of walking around Santa Fe, and hit a few museums.  Many of them don't allow pictures, so we only have a few.
Went to a few good restaurants; we managed to get to some that Labrat put on a list for us.  Los Potrillos had some excellent Mexican food, and The Pink Adobe  served me a good steak with a bit of green chiles on top.  The Anasazi Restaurant served me an excellent duck breast, with plantain purée, sautéed onions,  and a tomatillo and orange gastrique.  For breakfasts, we favored the Tecolote Cafe, as we have in the past.
Most of our photos were around the large church there, the St. Francis Cathedral Basilica.
Though I am not religious, I find old churches interesting.  The church was built in the 1800's, around a chapel that was built by the Spanish in 1625.  They have a statue of Mary in there that was brought over from Spain in the same year, and is still in the old chapel part of the church.

I did get some photos at an art gallery of cultures that allowed photos, but no flash.  One of the pictures is below.

We saw some interesting old stuff in the Madrid area, south of  Santa Fe.  There were old mines out there, and a lot of interesting stuff left.

1. Old dentist chair and equipment.
2. Train used at the mine.
3. Some old equipment. 

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Back in Moab, we caught sight of this odd vehicle.  At first it looks like a three-wheel motorcycle, but when you get close and see the engine, it is an eight cylinder car engine.  The lighting was odd, so it didn't turn out very clear.

A trip to Moab wouldn't be the same without a short drive down the Potash Road right outside of Moab.  It goes along the west side of the Colorado and will lead you into the back country if you take it far enough after it changes from paved to dirt road.  These two shots are from a section that gets a lot of mountain climbers who are first learning.  On the bottom picture you can see a light colored vehicle with a couple of climbers getting ready to set out.  The dark vehicle is mine, with my wife standing next to it.

The third picture is from a couple of years ago, to show you what it is like.

 Went by Ken's Lake just south of Moab, saw this big raven looking over his domain (the area is full of them).

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"Question" by The Moody Blues
"Dirty Water" by The Standells
"I've Got You Under My Skin" by Frank Sinatra
"Domino" by Van Morrison
"Hell in a Bucket" by The Grateful Dead
"Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones
"White Room" by Cream
"Dominique" by The Singing Nun
"The Wayward Wind" by Frankie Laine
"Magical Mystery Tour" by The Beatles