Trip east continued: On through New Mexico to Kansas and beyond

Another easy drive to Santa Fe.  Well, easy until I got to the city.  Although I'd  spent some time in Santa Fe working on the Obama campaign (before de-camping for two Las Vegases), familiarity only sowed confusion.  I couldn't quite find my way to Nancy's apartment--which, it turns out, was right in downtown.  I marshalled assistance from 1) not so helpful Google Map lady, 2)a medium helpful woman in the Trader Joe's parking lot and 3)very helpful phone directions from Nancy who was well aware of perils all potential confusions.  Once I found her, we headed for our lunch (oh I was starving) at a nearby restaurant.  It was a few minutes past 4.  Lunch, we were told, by the hostess was no longer being served, but in the land of Santa Fe relaxed, the cook instantly offered to make us a proper meal.  I had my chile rellenos with red and green chile and a sopapilla to fortify me for the rest of my drive.

Before I left, we stopped at the Gallery on Santa Fe's art laden Canyon Drive that Nancy manages--and then thanks to a surprising burst of memory, I was able to find the home of one of Sam's college room-mates parents were we'd stayed three years ago.  Pretty impressive as I didn't even know the name of their street.  A short  delightful visit with them before I left Santa Fe, heading over the mountains towards Springer, New Mexico--about two hours further east. 
                                                                         

My goal was to arrive before dark--and I just made it.  The Brown Hotel was as advertised--an old cowboy hotel--bathrooms down the hall, sinks in the room, in an area that had once been cow country, but few cows to be seen.   Residents, no longer cowboys, commute to work at the prison and nursing homes in Raton, about 40 miles north.  Are prisons and variations of nursing homes the main employers in deeply rural America?

The shared shower didn't get much traffic.  Perhaps two other rooms were rented.  The bulk of traffic is during hunting season.  The buffalo might not roam, but the antelopes do.  I actually saw living antelopes for the first time along these roads.


In the morning, had a huge breakfast of Huevos Rancheros, and stretching out the breakfast with an extra coffee and donut for the road I headed towards Wichita.

This was a slightly different route than the one I'd taken the year before, and perhaps because of my fine breakfast, or maybe the weather, it did not seem nearly as desolate this time.  Not much acctivity on the two late highways--a few cars in the opposite direction, but I don't believe I either passed or was passed by another car or truck for the entire journey.

I arrived in Wichita--easily found my way to Laura and Tom's house (this time familiarity did not betray--it was my 3rd stop there--and with the aid of the voice of Google, I sailed right to their door, even earlier than they'd expected.

In previous visits, where I'd lingered to avoid the threat of tornadoes as well as for the fine visiting, I'd sampled Wichita Bar-B-Que, hamburgers and middle eastern food, as well as Tom's excellent cooking.   This time, he'd prepared one of his mother's recipes--Chicken with Dumplings.  Dumplings, in this rendition, turn out to be thick noodles (not so unusual, but I'd never heard of it, green beans with bacon and orange flan for dessert.  A perfect Kansas meal--well perhaps the flan is not so mid-western, but it did the trick.  I got to once again admire their massive kitchen re-model--inspiration for tasks awaiting me in New Jersey before joining Laura for an after-dinner walk along the river.  Their house is very close to the junction of the Big and Little Arkansas InKansas--as I'd learned on my first visit--they do not say Ar-Kan-Saw--but Ar-Kan-Sas.  The air had cooled, the park was lovely and I indeed felt like a Wichita regular.

I left first thing the next morning when Tom drove Laura to the airport--she  was taking an early flight to Detroit to help her sister.  I'd hoped to cross many states and get as far as Terre Haute, Indiana.