Tripping the Light Fantastic

We left Amarillo on July 3 and headed for Dallas, home of JR, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and the site of JFK's assassination. Big surprise, we arrived to ghost town. The best place time to stay in a fancy hotel for really cheap is July 4th. The $300 room was reduced to $85 and for $50 more, if we had splurged, could have had the $500 suite. Loving discounts and special deals I urged Stephen to consider but being practical and Scottish we went for the regular room. It was not disappointing.

After a splash in the rooftop pool we headed to the hotel's restaurant and got significantly sloshed, returned to our room and admired the various pre-July 4th fireworks from our 32nd floor perch.

July 4th began with a visit to the site of JFK’s assassination and the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza store. Being the only sightseers at 9:30am on Independence Day we were literally chased across the street, the exact site if the shooting, by a wee tour guide desperate to make some cash on tourists. We escaped into the Museum store and agreed that the place was a morbid reminder of that terrible day. Secretly we wondered if the neighboring businesses weren’t a bit thankful for the vicinity of the tragedy, as it afforded them business.

It began to rain so we ran back to the hotel attempting to dodge raindrops. No luck, my hair had that special frizzy blow-dried windstorm look. But the run was fun and we felt like little kids playing on a big empty stage set depicting downtown Dallas.

Four hours later we were finally in Houston. I can’t offer any more details about arrival since I fell asleep and only awakened as we pulled into the hotel’s parking garage. We’re Back! After a snooze we visited the new house, which had a moving van parked out front indicating that the previous residents were still packing. Knowing that this would delay our move-in we headed back to the hotel and decided not to worry about the situation. Instead we joined 20 or so other guests in the darkened top floor conference rooms to watch the various fireworks displays.

We all agreed that the downtown Houston display was spectacular! It was ten minutes of multi-layered and multi-height fireworks. Everything is bigger in Texas. Visiting the house again today Stephen pointed out that our view of the Houston Skyline would guarantee us front row seats at next year’s display.

Cadillac Ranch

Running down the road trying to loosen our load we made it to Amarillo, Texas and gave a quick glance at half dozen cars parked along an empty field. Zooming by at 70 mph, Stephen noticed that people were walking from their cars to a series of Cadillacs planted head first in the ground. The vertical column of colorful cars is Cadillac Ranch.

We immediately pulled off the road, chucked a U-ee (Stephen's favorite American term) and joined the crowd. Families of all ages, shapes and sizes were parking their cars and trekking out to explore the sculptural installation. The Cadillacs are covered in spray, proclamations of love from Wendy & James, Ben and Linda, Matt and Marlene (just checking to see if you are reading closely) Just when I needed a Hearts in San Francisco bumper sticker I didn't have one.

We wandered around the cars and photographed them from various angles. I managed to get some hip shots of folks trying to make sense of this unusual sight. Free art? Is it art? Why aren’t they charging? Whose idea is this? Hey we coulda driven our motorcycles up the path.

What I appreciate most is that the art is accessible, touchable, climbable and changeable. There are no white walls, controlled lighting, lines of tape on the floor keeping you away, or guards to intimidate you. Frankly, I glaze over in the traditional arts environments. My way of enjoying works of art is interactive. Maybe I am not alone.

Half Way to Houston

Aunt Patty at Shidoni foundry in Santa Fe

having a bad hair day.

We're in Santa Fe visiting my Aunt Patty and Uncle Nolan. Stephen met me at the Albuquerque on Thursday after his venture from CA to NM. Life is relaxed adn the setting beautiful. Perhaps a house in Santa Fe and another in Houston... in 20 years.