Sic 'Em On A Chicken

See Riley's new chicken toy.

See Riley wait patiently to be given his new chicken.

See Riley run out of patience while waiting to be given his new chicken.

See Riley stay out of arm's reach just in case I decided to take the new chicken toy away.

Paint Project

Just like Jackalope's $150 bench. But free...old bench already in our backyard and leftover paint from another project. :)

I'm Famous!

Lookee here! I am on Indiana Keetha's blog: http://keethastuff.blogspot.com/2010/04/stop-presses-this-just-in.html

On The Road Again

The nice thing about driving instead of flying on our vacation was the chance to see interesting things along the road. David is always happy to stop so we can take some pictures. If you click on the picture below, you can see that it says "Have you slept in a wigwam lately?" under the Wigwam Motel sign.
Old cars were parked in front of some of the wigwams to add to the appeal. The wigwam motel seemed pretty busy and some people were relaxing in their wigwams with the front door open so we got a sneak peak inside. Nothing fancy, but pretty unique!

We took a two-lane highway between Las Vegas, NM and Tucumcari. As we turned onto the highway outside Las Vegas, a sign said "No Gas 74 Miles." What the sign may as well have said was "Nothing...74 miles." The land was dry and flat as far as you could see - which was pretty far. The sky - huge. On the GPS, we saw that the road was about to get really curvy. Why, when it appeared that we were driving across Kansas minus the grain? Ah! As we rounded the first big curve, we saw the breathtaking view in the picture above. That alone was worth getting off the beaten path for a while.
There were lots of interesting abandoned buildings along the way. This one was especially appealing, but the number of beer bottles and cans laying around makes me think that it isn't always so abandoned.
I really think I'm done with school, but this school in Phoenix is very tempting!

Update: I saw this on www.substanceoverstuff.com today - "A contented man is one who enjoys the scenery along the detours." Love that!

Santa Fe

The last leg of our trip took us to Santa Fe. The last time we were there was about 9 years ago, so it was nice to be back. David's favorite Santa Fe restaurant, The Blue Corn, was still there and still delicious. Our first day there, we ate lunch at the Atomic Grill. We opted to sit outside to enjoy the high desert sun. A few minutes after ordering, the wind picked up and the rain moved in. Burr! We still enjoyed our lunch there and returned for breakfast the next morning.

One thing that we had to do while we were there was visit Jackalope. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It is a shop that just goes on and on, with multiple buildings and lots of stuff outside. Lots of imports, some local art. My favorite part may be outside. The colorful pots were tempting, and almost came home with us.
These benches were even more tempting. I don't think there were any two alike. Since I could never have narrowed it down to just one to bring home, I'm opting to paint our old bench instead. I didn't take a picture of it, but they even had a little adobe dog house!

Get Your Kicks On Route 66

Our first night on vacation, we arrived in Santa Rosa, NM. David inquired at the hotel for a good place to eat, and the front desk clerk directed us to the Route 66 Restaurant. The food was good, but the atmosphere was even better.

Signs of Flagstaff

We're home now from a great vacation. It's nice to be home with the pets.

We spent a couple of hours in Flagstaff when we were in the area last summer, but it was getting too dark to take pictures. We were back this trip on a gorgeous blue afternoon. The sky was just as bright blue as the pictures show. I love Flagstaff. It's the home of Northern Arizona University, and seems to be a bit of a hippy town. Flagstaff is on the original Route 66 and it's a bit like stepping back in time. I can't imagine why the signs weren't changed to something new and modern, but what a great thing that they weren't. The signs (oh, and the weather) may be my favorite thing about the town.

We saw a sign at the visitor center that said the railroad connecting Springfield, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean is directly responsible for the town of Flagstaff.

Chop suey? At the Grand Canyon Cafe? I'm not sure I see that connection, but the sign is cool!
The Tourist Home sign may be my favorite. AND...the building it's attached to is for sale! It needs some work, but oh, the potential. Delicious!

Can You Guess Where We Are?

David is in 7th Heaven

And we have sand, but no surf. Where are we?

Smartest Dog Ever :)

Just look at those eyes! Can't you just tell that he's brilliant?