Best Western American Motor Inn Albuquerque

Having failed to get to El Malpais I knew I needed to see something other than the inside of my hotel room so I made for the Petroglyph national monument. This was my first national monument of the trip to go with my 7 national parks and my 4 state parks – not that I am counting.

I found the visitor centre and a very helpful (as the NPS rangers always are) man gave me all the gen including explaining the petroglyphs are scratched into the rock whereas pictographs are ...

... it was Thanksgiving morning there was barely a soul at security so I whizzed right by. And, yes, made my flight with minutes to spare. I just hope that my luggage made it on the plane!!! Guess I'll find out tomorrow morning.

Then on my flight from Houston to New York, I recognized a seminary student of mine from over 20 years ago. We had a chuckle about how we both look pretty much like ...

... the phone! All within a day.
Well, I didn't waste much time. There were some lemons to squeeze! I made up with Tami, the test results were negative by Monday, I recovered and spent a ton of time, while waiting on the car, to practice piano, guitar, and paint. We even took a drive through the mountains and had dinner in Santa Fe. By Tuesday night my car was ready and I spent one last evening hanging and ...

Today we got to go swimming at Anny's gym pool. We got guest passes to visit and the kids get in free. We spent about 2 hours swimming in the morning. Caroline and David Andrew got to show off their swimming skills while getting in some practice. After swimming, we got lunch at the pizza place Dion's - pretty popular ...

... teams blast them with air to make them bulge and fly. The sun is setting slowly on Balloon Fiesta Field and it starts to grow darker. The vivid colours of the balloons become duller, but all of the shapes - more than a hundred of them, up and down the grassy park - can easily be made out. Then a count-down starts for the first time over the intercom: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5... everyone starts to join in... 4, 3, 2, 1... and the balloons light their flames ...

I was in Times square in NY taking photos about the crowd crossing the street then i went straight to the airport, get a flight to Albuquerque, there, i picked up a rental car and drove 8 hours to Monument Valley in Arizona, so, exactly 24 hours after time square i was standing in a desert, with for only company a lost dog...actually i appreciated the difference.

I get to the airport in Albuquerque at 4.30pm. my flight is at 6:30pm..I quickly hit the mens room
and eat 8 gelatin capsules of dried, powdered ( fine), peyote. within an hour of consumption
I'm through security and sitting with my laptop and the peyote kicks in."...Woah Mescalito !!!!
..please let me maintain and not have a major freakout here in the airport....just let me maintain and get me on the plane!!!!".....once on board it's smooth sailing...lol

... in Queensland. She hasn't been back since she was twelve. It's about time. This time will be different, since it will be the first time she sees Australia through adult eyes, but it will be special nonetheless. We'll be staying with her brother, aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins from Brisbane to Adelaide. The itinerary, as it stands now, looks like this: Fly to Brisbane A few days in Brisbane A day in Surfers Paradise ...

... we would fill plastic eggs with candy for the Navajo Reservation kids they minister to on Sunday mornings. So, Keegan and Collin got busy and filled them all, with a few pieces for themselves as an incentive. What a great opportunity to teach our kids to be cheerful givers and make a difference in other's lives as they share the love and message of Jesus Christ! It's really late and we're supposed to leave for Easter Sunrise Service at 5:30am.

So first I went and visited my friend Shannon in Albuquerque, who I'd met the year before on the way to Guatemala. This was back in the days, back at the age, when such was the norm, making friends on the road. I’m not sure which was more important, but the best part was that it extended to locals, usually smoking herb, so it must have been ...