November 10 - November 16, 2024
This week I spent time in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It was a week of cacti 🌵, aliens 👽🛸 (NOT!), and libraries 📚.
Sunday, November 10th
I woke early, worked furiously on my laptop, then had a great morning Google Meet call with my dad. Later on, Monte and I jumped in the golf cart and spent the morning checking out the model homes in their community. I like it here- it’s incredibly peaceful and full of nice people. Arizona in November has been great, however I’ll have to come back in the heat of summer to see if it’s survivable!
Monday, November 11th
It was a total laptop work day, and I never left Monte & Tammy’s. Later, I made them my micro-boosting bean salad for dinner, which Monte tolerated and Tammy liked.
Tammy and I enjoyed a cocktail and some quiet conversation together before I retired for the evening.
This last week has flown by so quickly – I’m off for my next adventure tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 12th
On the road again! I left Monte & Tammy with big hugs and many thanks, and headed into Tucson before heading out of AZ.
My first stop was at Whole Foods, where I picked up a few items, then I headed over to St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church to walk their labyrinth.
One thing I really liked about this labyrinth was the pairs– while many were “in memory of” and other related phrases, I’ve included some of my favorites in the attached photos.
From there, I hit the Rio Vista Natural Resource Park, where I struggled to find the labyrinth. A frequent park visitor was happy to post out the general direction but indicated it was a long way from where I had parked. I opted to jump in my vehicle and drive around the park to the other side, where I found the labyrinth just on the edge of the park close to walking trails.
I made a pit stop at the Goodwill and grabbed some cute shorts at a steal of a price (yay!), then popped over to Costco to stock up on more Premier Protein drinks.
Then, even though Tucson has a ton of labyrinths, I was anxious to get back on the road, so I headed out and east, driving for a couple hours before stopping at the San Simon Rest Area (Eastbound) to grab something to eat before returning to the road.
I suddenly found myself not super motivated to drive too much further, and stopped way earlier than I planned, overnighting in a rest area in Deming, NM.
Wednesday, November 13th
Someone in the rest area was struggling with their car alarm, which went off multiple times just after 3 am this morning, so after a quick restroom break, I was back on the road. However I felt myself flagging just over an hour later, so I stopped at the Petro Travel Center. I didn’t like it there, so I kept driving, and about 15 minutes later I stopped on the other side of Deming, NM. I didn’t like that location either, and kept going until I found a location I liked- the Scenic Overlook in Las Cruces, NM, where I slept for several more hours before committing to the day.
Once I was up and around, I did a little driving around Las Cruces, which I found strangely appealing.
I popped into a locally owner health food store to see fi they had the trace minerals Jon wanted me to start, but they didn’t have any. So then I drove over to Natural Grocers and found the right brand of trace minerals, but not the hydration product Jon recommended. I bought some substitutions, hoping they would do, then stopped in to the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library to work for a bit, had our monthly social hour call with the UnLeashU group, then had my weekly call with Jon. Spoiler alert- Jon is particular about the brand of hydration supplements he wants me to use, so those will be going back to the store.
After my calls, I took a break and ran over to the private residence of Faith Hutson, who welcomed me to walk her labyrinth at Casa de Sol y Sombra, which is one of two labyrinths in Las Cruces.
Her labyrinth was like a little oasis in an otherwise ordinary neighborhood- I love finding and experiencing these hidden gems!
When I left there, I made a brief 10 minute drive to First Christian Church in Las Cruces. I spent 45 minutes enjoying the labyrinth there. The labyrinth was simple with no fancy adornments, but it had a beautiful labyrinth sign near the entrance.
Afterwards, in a moment of weakness caused by a massive carb craving, I stopped at Little Caesars and ate an entire bag of Crazy Bread in one sitting. (Sorry, Jon!)
I returned to the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library and worked for several more hours. I made one more stop- back to Natural Grocers to return the hydration tablets- then headed out of Las Cruces.
I stopped about an hour and a half away at the Tularosa Travel Center to eat a late dinner, then drove another few hours until I stopped for the night at the Chisum Travel Center, near Roswell, NM, where I stopped for the night.
Hopefully, the aliens will swing by tonight and take me for a joyride… 👽🛸
Thursday, November 14th
I woke just after 7 a.m., disappointed to have NOT been abducted. Crestfallen, I headed into Roswell to see what I could see.
What I realized is that just about every road leading into Roswell had a similar greeting sign, differing only with the stickers that adorn them.
And just about EVERYTHING in Roswell has some sort of alien theme or connotation.
I grabbed a (very disappointing) burrito at Burritos & More for breakfast, then spent some time just driving around. I was surprised that I didn’t feel compelled to explore the area since I had initially found the idea of visiting Roswell to be intriguing.
I tried to check out a labyrinth that was supposed to be at a church there, and although the church remained, the labyrinth was gone. 🙁
In the end, Roswell just seems like a small town whose heyday has long since passed and it hasn’t redefined who they are now.
Instead, I hunkered down at the Roswell Public Library for over five hours, working steadily.
In the end, the biggest and eeriest mystery in Roswell were the trees. Something about them just didn’t sit right with me… Pictures can’t explain it- its just the way they looked and felt to me… These are not a wooded area I would want to wander through at night, and I have no idea why…
As I left Roswell, I was able to catch a lovely sunset. Not stunning, but lovely nonetheless.
After leaving Roswell, I drove for several hours, finally stopping for the night at the Ward County Westbound Safety Rest Area in Monaghan’s, TX.
Friday, November 15th
I was up and out of the rest stop early, arriving at the Odessa Family YMCA in Odessa, TX just past 6:00 a.m. I had a good workout and a good swim an shower, before stopping for about a ninety minutes for breakfast and some writing time at the Devoted Grind Coffee House.
Both places just felt GOOD inside… warm, inviting, friendly and relaxing.
Texas YMCAs are much more fervent and direct about promoting Christianity in the YMCA (in a good way!). The kind folks at Devoted Grind Coffee pointed out a quiet back room available for me to use for my conference call, which made my time there both comfortable and productive!
When I got back on the road, it was only for a short while, stopping again to work at the Midland County Centennial Library in Midland, TX where I put in a solid 5 1/2 hours of work time there. It was a gorgeous library- bright and well lit with some fake full sized ‘trees’ throughout the building. I liked the idea of library being built around majestic trees, though the facsimiles left some things to be desired.
Uncertain how much more I wanted to drive for the day, I stopped briefly at the Howard County Safety Rest Area in Coahoma, TX for about a 1/2 hour, then stopped an hour later at the Nolan County Eastbound Rest area in Trent, TX for almost an hour, finally settling in for the night at the Callahan County Eastbound Safety Rest area in Clyde, TX.
Saturday, November 16th
When I left Clyde, TX this morning, I buckled down and put in some road hours before finally stopping at the Fort Worth Public Library (Southwest Regional Branch) for a couple hours.
I stopped at Juice Junkies to grab something to eat for lunch and was pleasantly surprised by all the options available. I ended up leaving with a bunch of snacks and two smoothies.
After I left, I enjoyed a few minutes of driving around the West 7th District of Fort Worth– I’d like to come back some time and spend a few hours wandering with a friend.
Instead, I spent a couple hours working at the Fort Worth Public Library – Riverside location, ran a quick errand at Target (in a moment of genius, I apparently left the plug adapter at a previous library stop, so I needed a replacement) 🙁 and then hit the road for a bit, stopping in Canton, TX at a rest area (I-20 East) for the night.
