ROAD TRIP !!!!!

Road trip. The very words bring a thrill to my heart... the sun and wind in my hair and the joy of the open road.

Since moving to New Mexico-truly a Land of Enchantment, I have tried very hard to make time for small road trips around the state. Started by driving south, I explored the Jornado del Muerto, the Lincoln national Forest, the Capitan Mtns, Hondo, Ruidoso, andTularosa. I traveled west as far as the Acoma Pueblo-several times, east as far as Las Vegas, and North to Taos and Chama and environs.
Of course, I am not including highway trips through the state or the day trips. Each every one of them has been an adventure in its own right. Depending on the season, I have enjoyed snow-covered mountains and trees, racing creeks and rivers, early spring wildflowers carpeting the hillside and the magnificent fall colors. There have been quaint, little towns with great diners and vast stretches of highway with extraordinary views of arroyos, rocky cut-outs of reds and browns and miles of prairie.

Each of these journeys has been exceptional in its own right. And I have taken dozens of pictures on each trip.

So this weekend, along with my faithful sidekick and Road Warrior-the Wicked Thistle-we are going to head out for the great Gila Wilderness. We'll explore cliff dwellings, Cat Walks, Lake Powell, ghost towns and over 3 million acres of National Forest(althogh, I seriously doubt we'll explore even one complete acre). We will be staying in a small lodge near cliff dwellings with its own hot springs. There will be much to see and do as well as some serious R&R. No phone, no TV, no noise, no busyness.

My excitement is only tempered by the fact that the puppies has to go to camp. They will have a marvelous time, they will have five acres and lots of dogs to play with, and there will be no sadness there, but I always miss them.
So what this all means is, there probably won't be much blogging done either, but there may be some good stories, come Monday.

As a footnote, I would like to add a couple of comments. First of all, Oprah must have been reading my blog(and why wouldn't she?), because sure enough yesterday, She had a surprise reunion on her show for a battalion of Marines, just returning after a seven month tour of duty in Iraq.Unbeknownst to them-their families were flown in to meet them! (courtesy of Southwest airlines.) Of that particular unit, three were given purple hearts for injuries, and one was killed(by a roadsise bomb). The three injured Marines were also flown in to reunite with the company.
It was a beautiful experience for everyone. And they were welcomed as True Heroes.

I also read some opinion pieces yesterday, one which described Rudy G. as not being particularly well thought of as a presidential hopeful, by people of New York, for whom he was mayor. I also read a short piece, [resistantly] by Ann Coulter. I was horrified by her remarks about John Edwards, but just needed to reaffirm my reaction. Her piece was on global warming as a religion, and while I'm not a critic myself. I would say the piece belonged in a high school newspaper-really trite.

So that's it, I'm off for the weekend and to those for whom it is pertinent- have a Blessed Easter.