Red Paint PowWow

After going through Las Cruces yet AGAIN (we stopped and had dinner with my parents) we made it all the way to Silver City, NM that night. The next morning (Sun, 1/21/07) we went to the Red Paint PowWow. The Red Paint tribe are the Warm Springs Apache that live in southern NM. It started out with a gourd dance which was rather ho-hum as it was very repetitive so we did some shopping in the morning amongst the Native American handmade jewelry. I bought a beautiful silver necklace from this artist.Some beautiful arrows that were for sale.This little girl was getting ready in the hallway. Her whole family had on traditional dress and was preparing for the contest.
During the 'Grand Entry' all the groups came onto the main floor one by one, until everyone was dancing and whirling around the center of the gym.We were invited to join in one of the dances. Petra was dying to try some of the moves she'd seen earlier but we just kept it to a step-slide-step-slide like everyone else.
Our only complaint of the day was that it really started so much later than advertised so we ended up spending most of the day there. We wanted to get out because there were predictions for MORE snow!

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Later that day, still Sat 1/20/07, we finally made it back to Las Cruces. As soon as I parked the car in my parents' driveway I realized that I'd forgotten my purse at the Quizno's in El Paso where we'd had lunch! Ugh. So we had to drive almost an hour EAST again, but luckily my sister convinced us to go to Mexico in the meantime since the border crossing is right there!

We took this Border Jumper trolley so we didn't have to worry about driving or parking or directions, and got out at an indoor market for an hour.
Chile peppers!Me wearing a sombrero! Just before we took this picture the store owner (who had offered the free pictures) said "$5 per picture" but we just pretended we didn't hear him. :)I bought a silver shoe necklace for $8 from this vendor.Us outside the market waiting for the trolley to pick us up.
There's a baby on her back in that sling.
A food vendor in the middle of traffic.Two street musicians.Buying a snack on the US-Mexico bridge.El Paso, TX from the bridge
We stopped at a hotel in El Paso with a beautiful stained glass dome before heading to the car.

Icicle Desert

That morning (Sat 1/20/07) we were trying to plan our next move over the hotel breakfast, which actually included waffles. A fellow traveler overheard us and shared her story of getting stuck at a gas station for several hours a ways down the road, then following a snowplow into town. She was convinced everything would melt by noon and that we should try going back through the mountains and continue on our original route. Petra and I were very worried about getting stuck somewhere and the roads and forecast did NOT look good north of us. We decided, reluctantly, to turn around and head back west and scrap our entire well-planned itinerary. This lady was very excited for us and STRONGLY encouraged us not to give up! When we pulled over to take this picture below she happened to be behind us and was sure we were having car trouble. We were just glad she wasn't on our road trip with us as I'm sure we would not have gotten a word in edge-wise!
We stopped at a rest area and in the time we were there the clouds lifted and the sun came out! This first picture was right after we stopped, you couldn't even see the mountains across the way!
This was farther up the road with blue sky!

Van Horn, TX

That afternoon, on Fri 1/19/07, we had planned to go to White Sands National Monument, but when we called to check it was CLOSED due to heavy snow fall!! Crazy. So we realized we had to skip that and instead headed toward Carlsbad Caverns via the southern route, through Texas, since that's what looked better on the Department of Transportation websites. Three-quarters of the way there there was a road block and the road ahead was closed due to snow and ice. When I asked the men in the snowplow where we could get gas and a hotel for the night he replied (in a VERY noticeable Texan drawl):
"Your best bet is prolly Van Horn to the south, but no one's been that way, good luck!"
Petra repeated it every chance she got for the rest of the trip.

What you can't see on the picture below is the icicles hanging from the bottom of the sign.Freezing rain coating the rosebushesJavier mournfully surveying the pristine snow in the parking lot, were we going to be able to get out of this town?!
Using a credit card to scrape the snow off the windshield.Making the most of it, and glad we were getting out!

Petra's arrival and pictures in Las Cruces.

This is 'Javier'. He is a froggy sippy cup that was a gag gift from Petra's new boyfriend and we took pictures of him all along our trip. Perfect thing to add to a blog, I thought! Here he is overlooking El Paso and Cuidad Juarez after I picked them up from the airport.Here's Petra and me at that same spot:That night we went out for a drink with some friends and my parents, since I was going to be leaving town for a while. Jason is the only one that actually came. I felt like I had no friends! :( We went running that morning! I was very proud of us. :)
Then we went for a short walk around Mesilla, which is the older Spanish town just outside Las Cruces. Mom came along too.Here we are in the Mesilla PlazaJavier and us with piranhas!
Petra and mom in Mesilla Plaza. It was raining already!

That's all for Las Cruces, I'll post more of Texas and Mexico later!

I'm in California!

We made it! Petra and I ended up having to change our ENTIRE itinerary because of all the snow southern NM and western TX got hit with! We tried to drive to Carlsbad Caverns the second day and ended up getting diverted and almost getting stuck in Van Horn, TX. We were happy we got a hotel and food and gas and then got out! Since other roads in NM looked bad too we decided to just head west, and we spent a few days in AZ before heading to CA. We went to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico briefly, saw an Indian pow-wow in Silver City, NM, went to the Biosphere 2 and Saguaro National Parks in Tucson, and Taliesen West, the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Phoenix. Oh and the Joshua Tree National Park in Cali. We did go to Disneyland and Magic Kingdom and had fun at those places, thankfully. All in all, once we got past the disappointment we had a great trip. And it's great to see my sister!

I will upload more pics later but here is one of the coat I bought Naani because I was nervous about leaving her in the car for hours while we did tourist stuff. It worked out just fine!

Petra and Michelle's Southwest Extraveganza!

My best friend from high school, Petra, flies in tomorrow evening to see the desert for the first time in her life. Oh, and to see me too. My sister Sara, who moved out to Cali six months ago and is a little lonely now that her boyfriend is gone, invited me to come stay out there for a couple weeks or months while I figure out what's going on with my life. So to combine these two things, Petra and I are taking a road trip all around New Mexico, then to the Grand Canyon and on to L.A.! Here's a picture of Petra and me from last year:

This is our list of things we plan to see: Las Cruces, Agurirre Springs, White Sands, Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Bandelier National Monument, Albuquerque, Petrified National Forest, Grand Canyon, and then Disneyland and Magic Mountain in LA. Unless we change our minds along the way.

We will be driving my parents' mini-van so we can get practice for being future soccer-moms. Not really, although I can see both of us in that role later in life. If we take the Chevy Lumina then I can bring my grandfather's desk back to New Mexico. The desk was brought to LA by my Uncle Bob after Grandpa passed away two years ago and has been stuck there until now. Also, this way I'll have my own set of wheels while I'm in Cali, which is highly desirable.

Now, what I'm really supposed to be doing is packing...

Quicken and quiver

Failing a test makes you feel stupid. Failing the same test three times causes intense self doubt and a deep inner questioning of one's abilities. You start to wonder if you even deserve to be taking said test. I have taken, and failed, the National Veterinary Boards three times, and am waiting on the results of a fourth. I have been close to passing each time, but that's simply unacceptable to the examiners, and a hundredfold so to myself.

Every time I walk out our front door to check the mail now my steps quicken and my insides quiver. Some days I go as soon as I think the mailman will have arrived, some days I pretend to myself that I have forgotten and let someone else get it. In the past I called to get my results over the phone because it was faster, but recently I have been unable to pick up the telephone and dial the number. I even go so far as to avoid people that know I am due to receive my results so as not to have to answer their (well-meaning) questions.

I desperately hope that once I do finally pass The Test, my confidence will not have permanently suffered from this agonizing experience. Already I find myself questioning my knowledge and abilities more frequently, despite that working as a veterinary technician in the intervening months has improved my skills, and then quitting to study full time increased the volume of material stored in my brain. I timidly look forward to truly proving that to myself one day soon!

The silken swoosh

OK, so I realized today that there is no way I am going to maintain my previous tone for years to come. It is too different from my regular writing style, and feels like too much effort, for me to be able to continue it day in and day out. I was going to erase my previous entries but then I realized, I can still attempt to write well on some days, when the mood strikes me, and just write train-of-thought the rest of the time. This blog is about me, and I am not the same every day.

Of course, no sooner had I written that paragraph than I wanted to try to write creatively again. I yearn to capture the silken swoosh of my skis on the glistening white blanket that tucks in the forested land around me. The euphoria of perfectly linked turns that seem without effort, feeling as if I am soaring a few heavenly inches above the earth, is something I will lust and crave for perpetuity. The beauty of the snow-and-crystal-frosted pine trees hibernating in their wintry glory beneath the vast never-ending azure blue bowl of the southwest sky is a backdrop that human grandeur cannot compete with. The exhilaration I experience from the ability of my own body, which I have sweated and cried and fought to change and can give me so much joy and pleasure and happiness, is most evident when I am hurtling down a bumps run in complete control. There are, in fact, no words to capture that electricity felt at the top of an expert's only run with the knowledge that I have the skill to rock it and make it seem easy! The attempt at transmitting that power is enough and it will continue to be a reason why I write.

Chug and hum

When it comes time to pack for a trip, often I must still unpack and do laundry (gasp!) from the last excursion I was on. A half-full suitcase is a common presence on my bedroom floor. The night before departure I can be found rushing about from room to room with my beloved mutt a permanent fixture at my heels as a reminder that she does not want to be forgotten. The multi-colored mounds of clothing on my floor disappear and my bags empty as the washer and dryer chug and hum away. I hunt down cords, chargers, and accessories, and assemble toiletries, jewelry, and make-up. I ensure that my mock-suede brown boots and the thick white cable knit sweater are found and ready to go. I sort through the haphazard stack of papers on my desk to ensure there are no bills to pay and call friends that may not know I'll be away.

This scene unfolded again this morning and at the designated time when Dad finished seeing patients, 3:30 pm, I was just finishing scooping dog kibble into a ziplock bag and collecting food bowls and leashes (yes the dog came partway!). I took a later shift behind the ribbed steering wheel of our worn four-wheel-drive Jeep during our northward drive into the white-capped mountains. The greater remainder of my journey was spent on my sleek new silver MacBook enthusiastically typing away, brainstorming ideas for this baby blog. I did a little happy dance when we arrived to see the cheery fire in the rustic Taos hotel lobby and the included high-speed internet.

Although I only plan to update every 2-4 days or so in the future, I am still chomping at the bit and too impatient to wait that long at the moment. Today was a productive and creative jaunt and I look forward to much more of the same with this new journalistic adventure!