Desiree

Just a darned nice moment.

Desiree's Wedding

Doug and Desiree's wedding, last Saturday, the culmination of two lives coming together. Who's have guessed it with that perpetually freewheeling tennis pro Doug? I suppose its like they say, "it's just a matter of meeting the right person!" Best wishes guys!

Grace in the Uncompaghre

Damned "No Trespassing" signs- we studied the Colorado Atlas maps and found what appeared to be a great canyon entering the Uncompaghre Plateau on our way to Orvis Hot Springs. We were shut down at the end of a long dirt road by tooky private landholders who seem to want to restrict access and keep it all to themselves. Undeterred, we climbed up on top of the mesa and went for an awesome two hour hike into beautiful sage and pinon lands with killer views of our intended canyon with the San Juans, Grand Mesa and West Elks looming in the distance. Grace says "daddy, take my picture here!"

Mattie's Corner

The difference between the long way to Marfa and the short way is the time it takes to get there.  Photo by Elizabeth Troup

Roy

Marfa, Texas- If your pickup has a strange noise or your Bronco just ain't what she used to be, call Roy, he's your boy. Thirty-eight years in business and he's still in top form, everybody knows Roy.

Enlightened Bean

The Enlightened Bean restaurant in Presidio, Texas is a family run business. Two sisters and their mother own this bit of "culture" in the old border town. They had a photo of the Dalai Lama in the place they proudly flaunted and said they were "on the way" to being enlightened themselves. Here is Spanish speaking mama alongside a wonderful old photo of herself, they were all so sweet!

Our pal Mattie

We stayed one night up at Chinati Hot Springs and the next night they gave our room to someone else. I didn't think it was important to reserve it because who would have thought anyone would find their way all the way out here? With the nearest other place to stay an hour and three quarters away in Marfa, Mattie, who worked some up at the springs, said we could stay in her guest house. Turns out it was an old cafe that Pancho Villa used to frequent in the booming metropolis of Ruidosa, Texas- pretty damned cool. Right on the river across from old Mexico it was certainly another world; Border Patrol trucks parked in obscure little groves of shrubs, huge UFO like blimps with cameras mounted on them and nothing but wilderness and mountains for hundreds of miles until there was any hope of finding some sanctuary. We stayed over at Mattie's and when we went to pay her in the morning she refused, saying "just do something nice for someone else sometime..." Right on Mattie!