Albuquerque

Most of you have seen my pictures from my adventure but I figured it would be nice to give a little rundown on here as well.

After Yosemite I drove to Flagstaff. I have heard wonderful things about Flagstaff, but I didn't stay more than a night. It was a means to an end to get to Albuquerque. The hotel was good and I slept like a rock after my twelve hour drive.

The next day I woke up a little late and enjoyed my five hour drive to Albuquerque. On the way I ran into two almost interesting things. The first was a meteor crater. I was going to go see it but they were charging $15 and I wasn't buying, so I left. The second was an exit called Buffalo Pasture, or something of the like, and had cattle grates at the bottom. It looked promising. I was wrong. 0 for 2 I continued on to Albuquerque. What a giant city. Holy cow! Big and brown. Not much appealed me. The mountain backdrop was spectacular but the only color on the city itself was the teal paint on the sides of the salmon pink freeways. Ew. (Yes I'm a snob, no I don't care.) It didn't matter much. The city itself was not the destination. I spent a good couple of hours trying to figure out where I should stay. Finally calling up Holiday Inn (they had many hotels in the area) and asking the guy at the front desk which one of their hotels he would park at if he had his life in his car. I settled in pretty early, leaving once to get food, and try to prepare for what was going to be a completely unpredictable experience the next day.

I woke up early with three very specific goals: food, flowers and, God help me! not getting lost. I went to Whole Foods, icky icky. I got some purple tulips, hot food bar grub and a beer. Turning into the cemetery my stomach did flip flops. All I could think is that she must be getting a hell of a kick out of the entire ordeal. The men in the office looked surprised to see a visitor and were very helpful. He drove with me out to the spot. I had given him her mom's name as well since Jasmine said that had helped on the phone. He pointed me to Donna and left. I was kind of happy he wasn't there when I found Karen. It was nice to have that moment by myself. She is about ten feet from the fence, the sidewalk and the road. At least she has somethin' to look at. Sitting down I wasn't really sure what to do next. I'm not big on cemetery visits. Most of my family is scattered in the Bay and I am a strong believer that living your life to the fullest and thinking of those lost at important moments shows greater respect than sitting in front of a chunk of marble being sad.

I started eating my lunch and decided to call Jasmine. A short conversation but it helped get me into a mode where I believed I was actually there. You have to understand, next month, May, it will be eleven years since Karen died. I have pictured being at her grave site a good hundred or so times over the years but I don't know if I ever thought I would get it together and go. Even this time, I can't claim was all about her, obviously I had other motivations for driving to Albuquerque.

I started chatting with her. I don't know if she would approve, probably tell me I'm crazy, but it seemed like the thing to do. After finishing my lunch I opened the beer. Brown bagging it in the cemetery. I'm sure that most of you are making faces at this, but only those who didn't know Karen. She would think it was hilarious. Plus, I am quite sure that we would have enjoyed a brew or two by now if she were still alive. It was hard to leave. I know I probably won't go back. Like I said, I would rather be paying my respects living my life to the fullest, if for no other reason than to give her a good show from where ever she may be watching.

When I left her I went to the only touristy part of Albuquerque I could find, old town. I wanted to find a little nack for me and something for Jasmine as well. I found just what I was looking for in Butch Phillips. Don't get too excited, he's a photographer. He does amazing work and loves what he does. The title is a link to a site with some of his work. I didn't pay those prices for his stuff, be sure, but it's a good idea of his style and skill. With the shopping tied up I went for food. A burger did the trick while watching some bad TV and eventually going to sleep.

Austin, here I come!