Friday, January 30, 2009

Facebook

This Facebook phenomena is bizarre. We have to say, WE LOVE IT. Not sure why it works so well but it does. It could be the excellent communication skills of Facebook. "They" are quick to let you know of any change to anyone's status. We recommend it!

Art Books


While in Baltimore, we went to the American Visionary Art Museum. They have an excellent book store/gift shop called Sideshow. The owner is so fun and nice.
We purchased 5 books we'd like to recommend:

Cine Mexicano:  the graphics and illustrations are so worth it! 
Crop Circles by the Alexanders. You cannot believe these images.
Hundertwasser Architecture  :  kinda wacky stuff, but inspiring.
and
H.C. Westermann:  and here's something we found out from the book:   He was close to Donald Judd and bought a house in Marfa in the last 70's. We are on a quest to find the house he purchased. 

Friday, January 23, 2009

Center of the Universe

on January 20, 2009:

Mass Exodus

One of our very favorite moments of the Inauguration day ... was leaving. We headed down the Mall and toward the Lincoln Memorial. The crowd forced us out by way of 18th Street. You really had no choice in what direction you wanted to go because it was so tight with people going north -- you were forced into this one direction. I kept asking people: "where are you going?" or "where are we going?" 
But what was cool was how joyously happy everyone was. It was a helpful, sweet crowd. Guys were climbing on buses to take photos of the street of people and everyone would cheer or scream "OBAMA!"  
As far as you could see in any direction or street, it was filled with people walking. No one was moving fast or could move fast. Just a slow march to the millions of destinations. Not sure we will ever experience anything like it again. 

We headed to Brasserie Beck on 11th and K St. What should have taken us 20 minutes took 2 hours. We had a celebratory lunch with wine, lamb, french onion soup, salads and more cocktails. It was a wonderful follow up for the day.
And warm!

On the Mall the day of the Inauguration

We have a lot of crowd shots. Too many for posting. One of the cool things we could not capture on camera was before anything started, a plane left a big "O" contrail above the Washington Monument. It was too big to capture but it was pretty darn cool.




Going to the Inauguration Part 2

We went down this street and through a tunnel to the Mall. One man's voice started singing out and then everyone joined. It was wonderful.
But as far as you could see in front and behind us were people heading to the Mall.

This man was so interesting:

Going to the Inauguration

We rode a water taxi to the Inauguration. Thank you, Eric! It was a blast. And, from reports about the Metro, it was the best way to get there. It was warm and we had a bathroom!

On The Mall the night before

We were on The Mall the night before the Inauguration. It was packed! Thousands of people were out there. People were hugging each other and so darn happy. 
We had dinner at Jaleo (thank you Rocky and Adrina.) It was great. 
Below are random shots of the evening.



Carousel ride on The Mall in DC

I rode the dragon and afterward learned it made a young boy cry because he wanted the dragon. 
I wish he'd asked me because I would have given it to him.
Yes, I made Kelly and Sean ride this. I love carousels!

The Black Tie and Boots Ball

We went to the Black Tie and Boots Ball. Truly, the highlights were Dale Watson and The Kilgore Rangerettes. We are pretty sure the Rangerettes are Republicans but they had high kicks. We are glad we went to an Inaugural Ball but it's probably our last. 

Camp wore his "BDAY" suit and it was the hit of the Ball. Everyone wanted a photo of it.


Headed to DC

Here we are with the Colorado Governor. Headed to DC!


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Lucky, indeed!

Not only were we given 2 tickets to Obama's swearing-in, we just received 2 tickets to the Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball. The Obamas and Bidens are expected to attend. We are so thankful to Marfa Public Radio and the Halperns for their generosity. We are running on excitement over here!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Dinner with friends is the best!


Menu:
Carne Asado
Green posole with roasted poblanos, white beans, mushrooms, tomatillos, jalapenos, cilantro, scallions.
Socorro's enchiladas
Black beans
Spanish rice
and all the fixin's for the posole and or tacos.
Malbec and tequila. (Diana:  we used the blue glasses for the Malbec!)

It was one of those dinner parties where everyone was so excited and happy to be with one another that we all talked at once. 

And later, we pulled out the "raft" for our fireside gathering. 

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Lovebirds are having babies!


You can't believe how tiny they are.

A Thank You to Dave


for letting us ride with dolphin and being our friend.

Camp's latest/greatest.


Better photos coming -- I'm so excited about it though.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Welcome home dinner at Harry and Shelley's

Shelley is a rockstar. 
Pork tenderloin.
Roasted veggies.
Spinach with garlic.
Black-eyed peas for luck. And cornbread.
Mac & cheese.
A killer salad with Green Goddess dressing.
And 1983 Bordeaux.

I did ask her to keep it simple. Oh well.

More Mexican pottery for the collection

We love these nesting pots. We found them in Bisbee. 
Bisbee has great antique shopping.

Shells for Jayne

Treasures from the beach:








Sunday, January 4, 2009

Home.

We are home. Our trip to Mexico was super. 

Douglas, AZ and new friends

We had a fantastic day in Douglas, AZ. Thanks to Hunter, Harrod and "Moose."
If you pass through that area, knock on their door and check out the upcoming Art Car Museum.

We had a tequila at the Gadsden Hotel's Saddle & Spur Tavern.



And, Hwy 9 from Rodeo, NM to El Paso is beautiful. The highway almost touches Mexico. There were cairns on the Mexico side. Some as tall as a person and incredible. We are so curious who did these and why.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Dolphin video here.

Back in the USA!!!

We are back in the USA!
And, we want everyone to know it is so easy to drive/travel in Mexico. This was the year we received the most warnings from folks and it was the easiest year yet. Not one single problem. Our wait at the border (Naco) was 19 minutes. Driving south from Tucson into Sonora is a No Hassle Zone. They mean it, too. No paperwork needed. 

We took a different route home. We went over the Sierra Madres and it was a 2 laneR with no room for error. But high desert with oaks, saguarros, organ pipe, sotol and copper mines.

We are staying the night in Bisbee, AZ. We have dinner reservations at Cafe Roca. We remember it as being very good -- we went years ago with the Fishlocks. 

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Riding with Dolphin

Bahia de Kino in Watercolors





New Year's Day lunche


Posole. It was so good. A woman from a corner cart was selling it. She sold us the last of the pot.

The final sunset of 2008

Shell Feet


This is the area where we found a whale bone. It's coming home with us.

A perfect New Year's Eve.



We swam with the dolphin. (Video coming when we have a better connection.)
We had black-eyed peas at midnight and took a walk on the beach at 3 a.m. 

Happy New Year.