So, I'm back after a FABULOUS three week adventure Out West.
Yes, I missed my husband and kids...there, we got that disclaimer out of the way.
I spent 10 days in Vancouver with my parental units and my brother, who was never once left in charge. Yes, that's a fully loaded statement to annoy him when he reads this.
Most of the 11 days I was in Vancouver were warm and sunny. Ah, the bliss of a sunny day by the ocean after The Longest Winter In History. Seriously, it was so snowy in April that I expected a sleigh and some reindeer to land on my roof.
While I was on The Best Coast, I got to spend some time with old friends and go for LONG walks on what is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful pathways on the planet.
The photo doesn't do it justice, but I'm sure you can imagine the sweeping epic view. This is a dyke where the mighty Fraser River meets the Pacific Ocean. It is breathtakingly beautiful.
Same spot, different night...
Vancouver is gorgeous in Spring, and I hit the perfect week for flowers in bloom.
My friend B and I strolled Van Dusen Gardens and just lost our minds at the beauty all around us. Okay, *I* did. She's still perfectly sane.
The best part of my time in Vancouver was the time with my parents and my brother. We got to spend my birthday, my dad's birthday, AND Mother's Day together.
All the day to day stuff that many people take for granted, if they live near family, is what I soaked up.
Stuff like enjoying our meals together, and ohhhhh, look!! Cupcakes on my birthday. Oh yeah, I "soaked" a few of those up, all right.
After a lovely visit in Vancouver, I hopped a plane to San Francisco, and then the next day, The 2019 Thelma and Louise Road Trip began with a stop in Vegas to make some quick cash on the slots before we touched down in Albuquerque.
Kidding!!
We played poker...
Once we got the rental car, forever known as The Subaru of Justice, we headed into town.
Look, it even has a cape!
Photo cred: Thelma
We checked into our hotel and then went walkabout until dinner, and ohhhhh, the sky!
And umm, the murals are strong in that town.
Photo cred: Thelma
From Albuquerque, we headed down to the Bosque Redondo Museum at Fort Sumner. I'd been there three times, so I knew what I was getting into. It's a museum, it's the remnants of a prison camp, it's a burial ground, it's a monument to the hell brought upon one culture by another. The GPS Fairy took us on a "new" route, one I'd never been down, but it was nice to see the farm fields of Fort Sumner that run behind the museum property...
After being greeted by the lovely R and C in the museum, and being introduced to Aaron Roth, the director of Bosque Redondo Museum, we enjoyed a special tour, and then Thelma and Louise went walkabout on the grounds.
This is a blurry shot of the soldier's barracks...
And this is what the prisoners had to "live" in. Yes, there were animal hides and mud to cover the meager branches, as if that make anything it better? The Navajo people had to endure 4 1/2 years in that hellhole.
Here's the Pecos River, with its alkali water and who knows what else. Basically, flowing poison.
Yes, it was awful to visit there, but it was also hopeful, because that is where we saw Tappan's Copy of the 1868 Treaty. We weren't allowed to take photos of it, because it's so delicate, and it was in a gun safe, which doesn't make for a great photo.
(If you want to know more about this INCREDIBLE find, simply look it up. You'll learn a lot more than I've told you here...)
After Thelma hauled Louise away from Bosque Redondo, they headed toward White Sands. For someone who endures months of snow each year, that place was surreal!
It was 92F!!! And because that sand was gypsum, we didn't fry our hands and feet.
Please be aware that Holloman Air Force Base is next door, so if there's a missile test launch, the road to White Sands is closed for an hour.
You're welcome.
We headed out across the vast and beautiful desert, and yes, there was lots to see and photograph!
But years ago, Thelma and Louise had visited an oasis in the desert, and now, they were going back...
To the legendary and mystical place known as El Morro...
High up on that cuesta, 200 feet about the ground, there lays a village...
More from Thelma and Louise at El Morro next time.
Fun fact about El Morro: the winds up top were so strong that I got blown off balance at least once, and had to hang on to my beloved Bolivian cowboy hat lest it blow all the way to Kansas!!
PS: before we got to El Morro, there was this high-speed police chase down a dusty New Mexico highway...