Listen Up! It's time for me to blog from the road

TheSpew, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

Greetings, snowflakes! Greetings from Queen Flake as she travels through the wilds of New Mexico. Yes, it’s finally time for me to catch you up on the events of the day, and what’s going on with my trip.

Let’s see, for starters, it was raining in Austin when I left. I got to the airport just in time this morning too-the Blue Van was a tad late and I got the latest time slot they had available, plus there was a huge line in security. Phew! I mean, it took us a long time to get up to the TSA inquiry booth and show our first ID, before even getting to the “take off your shoes, take out your laptop, this is all but a strip search” X-Ray station.

Oddly enough, this was the first time I had gone through “the machine” with eyeglass, so, embarrassingly enough, I had to stop and ask somebody, “Excuse me, do you think these will ring?” I asked the nice lady in front of me and she said that, “no, she goes through with them all of the time.” Good, so now I know that. Glasses are fun most of the time, but sometimes they (and middle age in general!) throw me a monkey wrench.

Off to DFW…what can I say about that? It’s a huge airport-I didn’t even know they had a train there. I would up having to take the train to my next plane, and plunked myself right in front of the Admiral’s Lounge at terminal C. I kept hoping a rich, cute Admiral would come out and sweep me off my feet-no such luck. On a positive note though, they let military personnel use the Admiral’s club so I’m glad a lot of the service men (and ladies!) got to hang out in such posh surroundings. Good for them and cudos to American Airlines for doing that.

After DWF, I had a really nice flight-I met up with a lady from ABQ who was headed home and we wound up talking the entire flight. Talking about photography, vuvuzelas (my favorite topic as of late!) and all kinds of stuff. It was wonderful to have a nice flight where we talked the whole way and I’m so glad I met her. Yay! Flying the friendly skies instead of getting stuck next to a grumpy person. How cool is that?

Next up, the dreaded rental car ordeal. Oh right! For those of you who know me already, you already know about my run-in’s with rental cars in New Mexico (it isn’t over until the check engine light stops glowing!) So, needless to say, I was *so* looking forward to what New Mexico had to offer me this time around. Well, I’m pleased to say, that “spell” might just be broken. This time out, we’ve got a silver colored Toyota Rav4 with an a/c that works. It’s cute, it’s peppy, it’s, “so far so good” as far as New Mexico rental cars go. The biggest grief I’d had so far was that, upon check-in, the adjustable steering wheel was placed so low it compressed my knees on the way to the hotel. I had to actually stop, read the manual, and figure out how to fix this right away. Phew! My knees thank you, Mr. Toyota, for an easy to read operator’s manual, complete with a detailed index.

The hotel is fantastic, but I was so tired, I wound up just checking in and taking a nap. Zzzz. Was good to finally get some shut eye-I’ve been going non-stop, no food, no sleep for about two days now, and that starts to get really hard, take a toll on the old (hey, who you calling old, I’m still “middle aged”) body. Feeling much better now.

Went to Old Town to walk around and maybe get some eats when I happened upon the most lovely Chamber music string quartet performing in the square. Was fantastic! Loved it! I tried to get some video for you (yes, I did say video!) with the iphone, might be able to post tomorrow, watch this space for details. I wasn’t expecting Bach in the park and it was a pleasant surprise. A lovely evening entirely, I can’t wait to go back again tomorrow and try to sneak in some real photos (oh, right! *Smacks head* that’s what we’re here for!)

Next up, it was time to eat. Checked in at La Hacienda where I had some fajitas and they had great sopapillas with fresh honey. Glory be! I might have finally found a cure for my recent scratchy throat-this was just what the doctor ordered. Sopapillas with honey were the best but, the entire time I was sitting there I just could not remember how to say “honey” in Spanish. I asked the waiter and he did not know either. I told him, “Great, now I’m probably going to remember it when I least expect it. I’ll probably wake up in the middle of the night, screaming that word in Spanish and the neighbors will think I’m having some kind of strange affair or something.” We both laughed. (Note to self: miel. Drats! I knew that too!)

Well, enough babbling for one day, tomorrow (hopefully) starts some serious shooting.

Until next time…