A Party, A Pucker, A Passing and A Power Peregrination

We had an invitation to a Superbowl party on Sunday, and it would be unneighborly  not to accept. First though a stop was in order. In San Jose, the second largest flea market in the US waited for us.

There are a wide variety of goods available. Although there are some individual vendors, there are some  who have a permanent locking stall, and are there every time they are open. They boast 1200 vendors on Saturday and 1500 on Sunday.

Need a chandelier? The heavily crystal encrusted ones which would probably go $1500 in a lighting store are $800. Seems like a good deal.

There are several rows of vendors who specialize in just fruits and vegetables, including vegetables that I don't recognize. I did see Chayote, Tomatillos, Jicama and Nopales but there were others that they don't normally sell in the US or Canada.

Looking for a pinata? There are pinatas of every size, shape and color. I took this picture because of the bright colors at this vendor's stall.

Here is us. Sadly Pat is feeling ill. Little did I know that she was willing to share her calamity. I was soon to find out how calamitous it was.

We left the flea market to head to the party, and to meet up with Pat's brother and sister in law.

Driving to Herb's we had another chance to admire the verdant hills of the Bay Area. They are green at this this time of year and will turn brown later on.

Here are Pat and Herb, getting ready for the struggle of the titans, on the field of combat for gridiron supremacy and the Lombardi trophy. I heard each player on the winning team will get an additional $80,000 and a SuperBowl ring, and the losers $48,000.

We watched the game with friends. The neighbors next door have an orange tree. Being from the great North Wet we are unused to seeing citrus trees in the neighborhood. Cool beans.

Our hostess Linda had a Meyer lemon tree in her backyard. The lemons ripen into orange sized fruits and are extremely juicy. I tried one. The pucker finally came out of my mouth about 15 minutes later.

Linda also has a bird of paradise at the side of the house. It was flowering now.

Here's a plant we put in planters during the summer, Do you recognize it? It's a geranium, and it's almos waist high. What a robust specimen.

Here is a screen shot of the final minutes of the game. The horrid disappointment ensued mere moments later, when the 49ers lost possession and the Ravens made their defeat achingly official. So close, yet it was not to be.

Here is a family shot. From left to right us!

Due to a death in the family, we have made a slight change in our travel plans. After finding emergency air travel to be prohibitively expensive, we drive!!!

If you remember my previous mention of Pat's plague, here is a picture of my groaning, flagging Scooterchick at Dinosaur Caves Park on Hwy 101 near Pismo Beach Ca.

Here we are in the car. She looks good compared to me. Yeah, thanks for sharing baby!!!

We started driving from the Bay Area at just after noon and made it to Colton CA. by nightfall. We were up and driving at just after 6 the following a.m. This is a picture in Eastern CA headed to AZ.

This one is later the same day, in AZ headed for NM. 

Here we stopped at a Rest Area in AZ. There is a nice overlook towards the east.

There are also piles of what look like petrified dinosaur poo. We both know it isn't, but it looks like it.

This one looks like an egg doesn't it....yeah with some more dino poo!!!

Yet some more poo. This stuff is everywhere here. It looks interesting. The trailer in the foreground belongs to the maintenance man who lives on site.

Here is a picture of Scooterchick, coming back from the facilities. hard to believe she can look so good and feel so crappy at the same time. What a beauty of a sicko!

We're still smiling though. The weather is about 75F and sunny, and we continue to drive.

When we could drive no more, we found a hotel in Las Cruces NM. The following morning we were on our way at 06:15. These are the Organ Mountains prior to sunrise.

And here the sun is just getting ready to come up.

The day dawns as we crest the pass and drop down int the White Sands area. The temperature also drops to a chilly 27F or so as we coast across this section of desert towards Alamogordo.

We found this to be a surprise. At the truck weigh scales, the Customs and Border patrol have a check point, and a dog sniffing for contraband. If your story doesn't check out, or you can't produce the correct documents, it's a free one way trip to Mexico.

We stopped to get gas and use the bathroom in Portales. Here is an F-111 that was named "City of Portales" and flew in Vietnam and Desert Storm. Hard to believe this expensive piece of military hardware is now nothing more than a photogenic blip in the desert.

Portales City Hall. Post classical architecture doesn't inspire much wonder does it?

A quick shot of the canyons coming down off the Caprock. I love the color.

And so we return home to Lawton. I was still marveling that the day before yesterday we were in San Francisco and now here we are 1,740 miles later back in Lawton.

It is now the following day, I have slept like a dead man and though still sick am doing better.

I hope you all are well. I'll chat with you later.