Catching Up

This is likely to be long and rambling as I've been traveling and that puts me in a wordy mood.

I finally got my lazy butt out of Glenn Eden and spent a couple of very pleasant days camped at DeAnza Springs, about fifty miles west of El Centro, California. I liked it well enough that I was considering the possibility of snowbirding there. Then they told me that they actually had snow as recently as the week before. Not my idea of fun.

As I was driving along toward Arizona, I decided to check out a town I saw along the way called Tequila Bend. Coming out of Yuma, I realized I'd misread the sign--or my puny brain had played with it--and it was Gila Bend. No fun on that. So I camped at Tacna, Arizona for a couple of days.

Visited my friend Jim down south of Tucson for the weekend and he assured me that tequila was available in plentiful supply. But another friend, Doug, noted that he hadn't been able to find Tequila Bend on any maps or in any references and thought perhaps I'd stumbled upon the location for my next book. That was all it took for me to go rocketing off with a new story (only in my head at the moment) of a poor settler who stumbles upon a good place in the Southwest for a homestead near the river. The settler is T. Killa and the name for his little trading post soon is transposed to Tequila Bend. While out exploring his little area, he discovers a small man who is very hairy. Turns out, he's the first illegal alien in that part of the country, but after they learn to communicate, they become good friends and partners. Some crisis occurs (give me a break, I haven't written the story yet) and T. Killa and alien friend are transported in time to the 21st century. Most time travel stories are to the past for some unknown reason, but this one goes a couple hundred years into T. Killa's future. Most of the story is then about how easy it is for a gun-toting pioneer of the 19th century to get along in the might-makes-right 21st century, all while trying to get back to Tequila Bend. So there.

Above is the trading post at Tequila Bend (Really Black Canyon City, AZ where I camped for a few days while taking care of a couple of client projects. Below it is my rendition of T. Killa.

So in my naiveté, I thought about the fact that there were some places in Northern Arizona I hadn't explored the last time I went across, so I headed up to Flagstaff and then east on I-40. I had to stop in Windblown Arizona to stand on a corner, of course.

In fact, the wind was so strong that as I slowed to exit the freeway, a gust tore the refrigerator vent cap off the top of the trailer and sent it east faster than I was going. Which is why I'm currently in Albuquerque, NM about to get a repair. I did, however, get a chance to visit The Petrified Forest National Park and take a long drive and a few hikes through the Painted Desert.

I remembered this vaguely from a trip between my junior and senior years in college when I came home and told my folks that I thought this was probably the last time I'd be back to take a family vacation with them and Kim. So we packed up the car and drove to California to see my grandfather, then back to Albuquerque to see Mom's brother. It's the first (only) family car trip that I remember actually camping out and we drove through the Painted Desert but didn't stop. I always wanted to return and now I have.

My totem, the raven, kept showing up wherever I parked to take a hike or a picture in the desert. I thought that was quite friendly of him, so I bought a little commemorative at the gift shop to hang from my mirror along with the dream catcher. Now he travels with me.

This picture is just in case you had any doubts about how it is pronounced down here. In all fairness, the RV Park recently changed owners and they are working hard to get it renovated and in better condition for overnighters. I spent three nights and aside from the wind, rain, snow, sleet, and hail, it was very pleasant.

I got revisions on two client projects and spent time focusing on getting them out, but decided to stay an extra day as a writing day as I'd traveled, produced, and toured for a couple of days with little of my own work to show for it. As a result, I finished the final draft of City Limits and it is now in the hands of my very capable editor and proofreader. I'm looking forward to getting this book out early in the summer. I feel like it could be the best I've managed to produce since The Gutenberg Rubric.

When I took off (nearly literally) I continued to get buffeted by high winds and unpredictable precipitation. Not sure if the picture above was my farewell to Arizona or my welcome to New Mexico. From this point, however, the weather continued to be problematic all the way to Sky City (Acoma) where I booked a hotel room for the night just to have unlimited hot water for two or three showers. I passed several accidents and traffic westbound was at a complete standstill in three different locations approaching the Continental Divide and just after. I was glad to get inside and it was a reasonable price for the benefits derived.

I'm now in Albuquerque New Mexico where in just a couple of hours I will get the vent on the roof fixed and spend some time shopping for supplies. Then I'll be making my way over to visit sister Sharon in Texas by the weekend.

This post is one I'm quite proud of because I have succeeded in making no overtly political commentary, which was part of why it was delayed. Every time I sat down to write, I was spewing out reams of disgust over our political and social condition. Perhaps I got all the way through this one without offending anyone.