Santa Fe Festivities- Day 1

The first night visiting the New Mexico Putnams we had dinner together. Aunt Vickie, Uncle Pat, cousin Mat and his girlfriend Claire and I all had salad and spaghetti with shrimp. After dinner the kids went out to a bar/trash disco club called La Rouge Cat. There were drinks, martinis and dancing. I danced with a gentleman named J. We tore up the dance floor. Having thoroughly enjoyed our night, we went home (Mat and Claire to his place and me to the folks) and crashed.

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Houston- still being edited

Day 1: (Monday) arrival. Called aunt Joy and managed to navigate to their house. It's a great neighborhood with planned walking paths, community center and pools. Joy was at the store when I arrived, so I played with their awesome little dog, Beau. When Joy got home, she pointed me at their pool control panel and asked me to use my youthful tech-savvy to fix their pool heater. After meditating over the manual for a few minutes, I decided there was something mechanically wrong. We went outside to check it out, found a disconnected wire, reconnected it and fixed the pool! Later we baked cookies and they were delicious. Uncle Jim returned from a conference in New Orleans. The same conference that I had run into while visiting New Orleans.

Day 2 (Tuesday): Enjoyed a morning walk with Joy around the planned walking paths and a great yogurt-granola-fruit salad breakfast. Joy came with me to be a Houston tourist. I had read about the Miller outdoor theatre, which is free and open to the public. Tickets were being released at 10am, so that was our first stop. The show was the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company. We saw the show later that night. We went to the health museum which had all kinds of giant body parts and interactive time lapse photo exhibits. There were some that showed the effects of bad habits over time, and some that changed a person's race and gender. After that museum, we were a little pooped, so we decided to head back to the house, but first, we visited the local farmer's market, which Joy had never been to before, anywhere! There were great booths with lavender, cheese, sandwiches, baked goods and honey, among other things. We returned to the house and thoroughly enjoyed the pool. That evening, we went back into Houston to see the Bayanihan Dance show. My favorite number was when a group of men came out with coconut halves strapped to different parts of their body, then used the coconut halves on their hands to hit the others and perform a percussive dance.

Day 3(Wednesday): Culturemap, Houston's place to find out what's happening, was founded by Nic Phillips. After getting in touch with Nic I had an invite to an event called "Ignition". This was where a Chinese gunpowder artist named Cai Guo-Qiang created artwork on panels to be installed at the Museum of Fine Art Houston. He created a design, painted it with gunpowder, and this event was the actual lighting of the gunpowder. I did not get a chance to go the the actual site, but I was able to go the the simulcast show at Saint Arnold's Brewery. In anticipation of this event, I wanted to shop for something fun and fancy to wear. Joy and I went to the Goodwill Select and went shopping. It was pretty great. I got some awesome fancy duds. After Goodwill, we went to a Mexican "dive" as Joy said. It was pretty good and they were really nice. We retired back to the house. I took a nap and then got fancy for my evening out.

I got ready for Ignition, and headed out to St Arnold's brewery. the event was taking place on the second floor. I went up to the counter by the door and actually got to say "I'm on the list". I was then handed a little beer glass, maybe a half pint? In the bottom of the glass were four plastic tokens, yellow with gold writing. These were the drink tokens. Additionally, there were sushi and cupcakes. It was an unusual combination, but quite tasty. the hall was set up with four long rows of tables and three projection screens along the walls. these screens were simulcasting the event. It took much longer to finish the final preparations for ignition then expected. While enjoying food and drink, I met a girl named Michelle and a guy named Mahek. We chatted and there was talk of weekend plans. We all exchanged numbers. As soon as the piece was lit, the staff of Saint Arnold's ushered the crowd out. Mahek was intent on heading to a bar called "The Grove", so we carpooled there. The event he was looking for had ended by the time we got there and my company left to get some rest. I contacted Nic and met him at a bar called Anvil. This place is known for their mixology. Every drink is a work of art and alchol. I got some sort of special with berries in it and chatted with Nic and a friend of his. I have forgotten his name, but he was delightful. After a bit of water, I headed back to Joy and Jim's. There I found Aunt Joy awake, saying she was trying not to worry and was about to send a text. I shared some of my adventures and we both headed to bed.

Day 4:(Thursday) I wore my new thrift store dress and headed out to visit the office of Culturemap. There I met with Nic again and he gave me a tour of the office. It's a nice open layout with lovely wood floors. It looks like a nicely converted warehouse space. Nic also gave me a pass to the butterfly house in the Houston museum of natural science. butterfly, Rothko, byzantine fresco chapel museum, cy twombly gallery, MFAH cafe, CAMH triangle, leftover mexican

Day 5: (Friday) Jim's office at MonoFlo. Post office, HEB, Bank, airport-Dan and Katie, bbq-spring creek, new gmail account

Day 6: (Saturday) biscuits and choc. gravy. beer can house, orange show, cookies, late night run to the HEB, pool, bike

Day 7: (Sunday) french toast, walk, bikeride, pool, Chuy's tex-mex, fashion show, gander mtn, rei, girl shopping, pack. go.

terrible traffic, sprawing sprawl, "quintessential big city" -Jim Putnam

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Camping with Alligators

Lake Charles is a small community. In the car I started playing a game where I would hit the scan button on the radio and get a general survey of what the locals had to listen to. Lake Charles had very few stations, and what they did have was religious, country or sports. Bible belt.

It was a bit difficult to convince the GPS that there was a campground nearby, but once that was accomplished, I made my way in the blinding sunlight that greets the evening westward traveler. Sam Houston Jones campground was my home for the night. It was dark when I finally found where the tent sites were and began setting up my sister's tent for the first time (oops). With minimal gnashing of teeth and only a little swearing, I had a tent, cot and blankets, with my sleeping bag nearby, just in case. I thought I would blog or something, but I snuggled with my phone and dropped off to sleep instead. I woke shivering and realized they did have cold this far south. After furious debates about how cold it would be to get the sleeping bag versus just lie there in my blanket, or maybe just pack up and drive somewhere, I finally sat up and switched coverings. My sleeping bag is awesome. Just before leaving Detroit I found it at an Army Surplus store. It's a -20 F bag. This was my first time using it, I was amazed and relieved and went back to sleep.

In the morning (for real this time), I packed up, but decided to check out the park before leaving. What I thought were low valleys beside the road were swaplands and ponds. There were signs everywhere stating "Alligators in Area" which was charmingly alliterative. I saw three blue herons, a bunch of sleeping ducks, and a bridge crossing over a swamp/pond. It was very different from anything I'd seen before.

I did not see any alligators.

And then camping was over.

New Orleans-Day

After waking up in a luxurious bed, I ate at the hotel's breakfast and packed up. I decided I couldn't travel all that distance without spending a little more time in the Big Easy. With the car packed and the sun up, I headed back into town.

I parked near the WWII museum and decided to walk around from there. Being a cheapskate, I checked out the gift shop but decided to skip the museum (and the admission). From there I set out on my quest for beignet from the Cafe Du Monde. I understood that they were a sort of doughnut and it sounded like a good midmorning snack.

It was a hearty walk across town. On the way I chatted with a fellow from Australia. He was walking along the sidewalk just ahead of me, and when I caught up to him I struck up a conversation. We walked as far as the cafe, then parted ways. The Cafe Du Monde was packed. There was a line for people to dine in, and a line for carryout. I lined up for carryout and began chatting with the ladies that lined up after me. They were part of of a tour group but seemed very unwilling to share. I turned around and waited for my powdered sugar goodness. While waiting we were treated to a tuba performance. My order of sweets was quickly in hand and I set off for a little more exploring before moving on.

Checking the phone map, I set a course roughly back towards my car, but along the river side of Decater Street. I got as far as Jackson square and found a breakdancing show about to begin. The show was taking place across the street from Jackson square in a stone amphitheater built facing the street. The three performers took awhile to rally the crowd and draw in as many people as they could. They made fun of people and cars, joked about being just out of prison and were generally hilarious. They said their previous jobs were "being in your house when you're not." Later, when they were accepting donations they'd say "your house is safe, your house is safe..."

After the show I headed back to my car, feeling like I got a true taste of New Orleans. When I was almost at my car, I saw something in the distance and took another detour. There was a great painting of a whale on the side of a building, it may have been the aquarium. There was also the Riverwalk mall. I headed toward the mall, considering getting something real to eat, but instead oohed and ahhed the fancy sea-themed decorations. On the way out I noticed a steady stream of people with matching bags and lanyards. It seemed a convention was in town. I debated going in and trying to snag some swag, but first, I had to know what it was. I stopped a gentleman with a lanyard and asked. It was a wastewater management convention. I decided to pass.

I got back in the trusty fit and programmed in a location halfway between New Orleans and Houston, a small Louisiana town called Lake Charles. The plan: Go camping.

New Orleans-Night

 I arrived in New Orleans in the early evening on the 3rd of October. I checked into my hotel, changed, got refreshed and took a cab into town. The cab rolled into the bright madness that is New Orleans around 8pm. On the list of things to see was Jackson Square and the surrounding attractions. I wandered the streets, flowing with people, who were in turn flowing with beer and mixed drinks. On the first attempt to head to the square, I hopelessly missed my mark and ended up facing a riverboat. At this point I pulled out my trusty phone and studied the map with my little blue arrow to sort out this new place.

Jackson Square was closed that late at night, but the art sellers and fortune tellers were still out. I decided a palm reading would be interesting. I was hoping that my hands would immediately tell someone that I was an artist, and that I worked with my hands, had calluses and such. I sat down at a woman's table and she offered me hand sanitizer, then proceeded to say the same old script to me that she had undoubtedly told hundreds, if not thousands, of other tourists. She was good enough to pick up on environmental cues and told me what my body language told her. Thoroughly over that experience, I decided to see what the hubub on Bourbon Street was all about. To get to Burbon Street, one has to merely head toward the brightest, loudest things in the distance. Upon reaching this cacophony, you realize it's even bigger and brighter and louder than you thought.

Having accomplished that goal, I decided I would scope out some authentic New Orleans cuisine. Not immediately hungry, I decided I would work up an appetite by walking the full length of the French Quarter and checking out all of the places to eat. One of the most surprising things was the generous sprinkling of strip clubs and titty bars among the souvenir shops, bars, and jazz clubs. There was no red light district, it was a fairly continuous supply of nudie ladies along the entire street. On a different note, the live music was awesome and everywhere. There would be bars next to bars, speaker systems competing, bands having a grand old time.

I reached one end and decided one of the first places I saw was where I wanted to eat. It was called the Cajun Cabin and had a sampler plate that had all of the classic dishes tourists were supposed to try: red beans and rice, jambalaya, and gumbo. The food was good, the waiters were nice, and I was fed.

Since I completed my missions, I created another: find the gay district and go dancing! For this one the phone of all map knowledge was not used, and it was a failure. On my way toward some rainbow flags, two guys said hi, so I stopped to chat. After talking to them a few minutes I was a little creeped out by their intentions, so I went on my merry way.

I wandered along new streets, partly to avoid the creepy guys, partly to see as much as I could. I was ready to call it quits and flag down a taxi when I complemented a girl's top, and we started chatting. Her name was Michelle and she was a local. She was heading to a bar to meet up with some friends and invited me along. I gladly joined her. The bar was a good distance from Bourbon Street and a neat hangout. After having some great conversations, I looked at the time and decided to call it a night.

I flagged down a taxi and headed back to the hotel. The taxi driver was really chatty and I enjoyed his company. After getting into the room I collapsed into the giant fluffy bed and slept.

more to come...

chattanooga farewell

Departed from Carolyn and Carol's house this morning. I'm about halfway to New Orleans and have stopped for a picnic.

The last two days focused on family. Thursday I visited with my cousin Mark, his wife Heather and their baby Bella Grace. Yesterday (Friday) was visiting with aunt Vicki and Amy's kids, the new baby Hannah, and that crazy duo, Amanda and Jordan. We visited their school and had lunch, then Cousin Andy met Vicki and me. We waited for the kids to get home from school and then proceeded to a corn maze. I didn't see my cousin Amy, she was at work.

After activities with the kids I had Vicki drop me off at the theatre to see The Fantastiks. Andy was going to join me, but couldn't. The show was cute, but not very daring. It did not inspire me to join their team.

The show ended and I found myself without a car, so, eager for adventure, I used the map and GPS on my phone to make my way back to the house. At one point it seemed like cutting through a yard would make a good shortcut. The property was a bit larger than I expected and I ended up crawling through some thorns before making it to the street on the other side.

One of the most interesting things about this visit was the perspectives of my guides and therefore the different sides of the city that I got to see. Uncle Dave and Aunt Rebecca showed me independent shops and galleries. Aunt Carol and Carolyn showed me the well established attractions and historical sites. Aunt Vicki showed me the elementary school and the neighborhoods that she helped with the AA meetings, which are usually invisible to a tourist. Last of all, my wanderings at night showed me the young hip crowd gathering in bars for music, or in coffee shops or front porches.

Amazing

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