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| OCTOBER
2007
SEATTLE TRIP Photos will be posted shortly, Alaska is DONE, link below: Alaska trips and on Seattle - the flowers at the Pike Place Market, famous for the flying fish! |
| JULY 2007 |
| The
work of a skilled sculptor?
Actually this is exhaust pipe from a Loris salvage shop! |
| MAY
2007
FRANKLIN, NORTH CAROLINA Gem Show |
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| Here's
an example of the crystals from Brazil you can see at the show
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One
booth showing the calcite display items available
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| Uncut
LAPIS LAZULI gemstone from Afghanistan
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The
nearby town of Sylva, NC was displaying their Confederate Flags on the
Courthouse, not your typical choice for a patriotic statement
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| Our
friends Renee & Dale bought a carved moose from wood carvers "The
Bear Necessity", as a symbol of their new business "Outside the
Norm". They sure bought enough inventory to get a good start!
Renee and Heidi in the parking lot of the Whistle Stop Mall, having a light-hearted girly moment
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| We
visited our favorite furniture store in the Whistle Stop Mall, Amish-made
log furniture. We will own one of these beds one day, if we can ever
get it home and have a ceiling high enough!
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| A
baby miniature pony, along with its mother, our "Awwww" photo of
the moment
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| Across
the street from the miniature horses was this wolf-dog on the porch (I
shot the photo from a distance, for safety sake!)
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| MAY
18-28, 2007
EL PASO, Texas We actually went to El Paso to cross to Juarez to get dental work done (American-trained dentists that do terrific work on crowns & root canals for a fraction of the American prices). We, of course, explored the surroundings and have much to share! |
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| STATUE
at EL PASO AIRPORT
The Don Juan de Onate Salazar (holding the La Toma Declaration in his hand), riding on an Andalusian horse unveiled in April of 2007 (the month before we arrived) is the largest & heaviest equestrian statue in the world at 34 feet tall, 18 tons. |
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| POST
OFFICE, EL PASO TX
At the post office near the airport, there was a LONG line...it turned out this was a designated day to file your passport papers for the new regulations. This is a big deal for a border state such as El Paso. Here is Glenn with Margie, the postal clerk who explained it to us. Thankfully for us, the SHORT line was for postage. A great and friendly post office! |
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| EL
PASO SADDLE BLANKET STORE
A place everyone must visit when coming to El Paso, it retains the flavor of the Old West, and the colorful Mexican history as well
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| Great
vintage cars in the parking lot
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The
traditional Wooden Indian near the entrance
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A
view of the main showroom, there are so many rugs and blankets it will
boggle the mind
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The
front desk, flanked by colorful Great Danes
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| The
pottery & artifacts room
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Dream
catchers made of jaws, and religious crosses
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Lots
of cow horns to choose from
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| Artifact
costumes & pottery for the Day of the Dead parades
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Other
incredibly colorful pottery of roosters, bulls etc.
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| Leather
saddles galore
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Hand
painting work-in-progress on a cow skull
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| GROCERY
STORE
Local foods always interest us, here in El Paso was an endless selection of hot peppers, rice, beans, big cinnamon sticks, and pickled pork skins |
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| El Paso...a walkabout the town | |||
| Tradicione's
furniture store on Gateway Blvd. with unique wrought iron animal
figures on the fence, and a beautiful mural:
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| Right
next to that, the "YES" store with Tropical Colorful prom
dresses that were such a treat to the eye! A number of designers
display in this store, see the link below for even more. Wow!
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| An
Oriental Imports store that had a huge vase with crystalline glaze (the
glaze has real quartz crystals within it that GROW when they are put in
the kiln to fire. Heidi has a collection of them, but none this
big! If only we knew how to get it home...
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| The
stone used in many buildings, fences, garages and other structures made
the architecture of El Paso interesting, we drove many miles to view the
handiwork in stone:
Then an unusual kiosk
The famous Rosa's Cantina from the song "El Paso" by Marty Robbins:
Another colorful restaurant:
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| Floral
delivery trucks - what a great idea!
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| This
private residence was full of what appeared to be Hindu goddesses or
gargoyles or both:
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Many
of the overpasses were made into art forms with mosaics of brick &
colors
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Just
outside of the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino entrance, an
enterprising three-some created shade and seats to fish in the
canal. We met Buddy, Irma and Sam
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| Beautiful
blooms right in El Paso
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| WHOOPEE
BOWL ANTIQUES
Outside of El Paso, this eclectic store took up some of our time to explore. Cast animal figures of ram, cow, gator, horse, bear, gargoyles, cactus, wrought iron gates, dinosaurs, buffalo, bulldogs, pigs, Indians, cats, elephants, elk, hippo - and that was just OUTSIDE |
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Even live koi in a large pond:
Mariachi band of musicians in iron..
INSIDE - a taxidermy raccoon that was hilarious--who scared him? And a llama made of shag carpet?
A silver belt buckle just for "Diane", what a story that must have been...
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| THE
PASTRY CHEF (A European Bakery & Restaurant)
Turtle Cove Shopping Center, El Paso A wonderful surprise to find, especially the gifted Polish pastry chef Kazimiera Helinski that we complimented on her delicious & beautiful hard work. How can you resist the ladybug & butterfly cookies? And so many other pastries to choose from. She came here in 1981 at the age of 41 as a refugee from the Polish Revolution. We are glad you came! |
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| EL PASO MUSEUM OF ART | |||
| a
HUGE horse head at the entryway
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Elegy
on the death of Cesar Chavez
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An
upended boat sculpture
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Hmmm,
a shapely form, but a but cold for Glenn's taste:
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| The
Fireman
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| EL
PASO MUNICIPAL ROSE GARDEN
Right in El Paso, another pleasant surprise was a beautifully well-kept rose garden, that included a ball park too. Just enjoy the variety and exquisite formation of the roses...
To comfort man--to whisper hope, when e'er his faith is dim, for who so careth for the flowers will care much more for him.
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| We
drove by the office of, a
one-armed man handy with a gun! Glenn tells of his Corvette fitted
with cuffs for knives, guns, etc. that he could switch his artificial arm
over in a jiffy.
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A
patriotic flower flag at the Wal-Mart store
An unforgettable view from Rim Road on Memorial Day, of the Wells Fargo Bank in El Paso displaying an American flag on its building
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Glenn's
old friend and neighbor Darlene, a fellow horse lover, is still thriving
in her home and enjoying her horses out back
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| BALLOON
FEST at the Water Park
An extravaganza of balloons launching, we saw it all from the bluff at the Water Park, starting at dawn (free, the bluff road runs alongside the water park). What an experience! You will see the progress from a field of cars to an explosion of color. The sound of the propane heaters, the colors growing, then rising, multiplying. Everyone's a kid at heart when you see something like this. An uplifting experience! |
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Tweety Bird!
The winds had begun to change, becoming dangerous for one balloon that landed near the road
An ENORMOUS Rain Forest Tree balloon with parrots & toucans, it took a long time to fill, then due to the wind change, it never took off.
This balloon also never had time to inflate before the winds changed a different direction and they had to deflate.
A Huge Purple People Eater balloon, another unusual balloon!
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| CATTLEMAN'S
STEAK HOUSE RESTAURANT
Not to be confused with other Cattleman's Restaurant Chains, this is a single entity, at Indian Cliffs Ranch, 35 minutes from El Paso. Started & continued by proud German Dieter Gerzymisch, first to accommodate the dining needs and horse rental for the soldiers at Fort Bliss, it kept growing to the entertainment destination you see today. It has also been a movie location for numerous films shot here. http://www.cattlemanssteakhouse.com/ Always a dining experience, it was a pleasure to re-visit. |
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| An
extensive array of bronze animals scattered throughout the spacious
acreage
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The
entryway carport was alive with the noise of small birds
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Cannons
& bells adorn the entry
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Glenn was already planning to have the "Dinosaur Ribs" from the
longhorn cattle famous in the area
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Plenty
of ambience of the Wild West, with memorabilia and Western saddles
everywhere
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Is
this a happy man or what?
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Movies
shot on location here
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| An
exotic animal zoo, including ostriches (with eggs)
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Quail
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Peacock
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Llama
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| Buffalo
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Sicilian
burro
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Brahman
bull
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| Fascinating
El Paso fashion is for the young women to wear high heels with Capri
pants, I snapped this picture in the parking lot, but we saw this often
during our stay in El Paso.
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| NEW MEXICO (May 18-28, 2007) | |||
| LOCAL
FLORA & FAUNA, New Mexico
Since it had rained recently, we experienced the wonderful bonus of seeing the desert bloom as never before |
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| Soapstone
yucca
Of course, while taking this photo, I picked up this little friend on the hem of my pants, ouch!
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| Prickly pear cactus in bloom
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| Other
wondrous desert blooms
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| Two-Room
School House, Hwy 54 (on the way from El Paso to Alamagordo), Oro
Grande NM
We saw a sign for a "Beggar's Festival & Hobo Convention" and turned in out of curiosity.
We found an interesting gentleman caretaker who explained the unique roof water collection, and how he continues to raise money to restore the school house. He also told how the school bell had been shot at and eventually stolen. |
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| Turtle
race! This was for the festival
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Post
office, across the street, for Oro Grande NM
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Bird
of Paradise bushes
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Purple
& yellow flowers near the school house
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| Hobosaurus
- a new species of dinosaur!
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Inside
the schoolhouse, it was a re-sale shop
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"All
hoboes & beggars must leave town after festivities concluded"
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Hand
made wooden cars & trucks, made by a retired colonel turned cowboy
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| The
Wishing Well (a toilet full of rocks, inside a truck tire)
The Wishing Well Token you get for making a donation:
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| RATTLESNAKE
PIT, MOORE'S TRADING POST
Outside of Alamagordo approaching Cloudcroft, we saw this quonset building and had to stop. They did indeed have a rattlesnake pit, folks would reach a fishing pole with a balloon down there for the snakes to bite & pop the balloon. |
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Inside was a big re-sale store, in the back room was a REALLY LARGE rattlesnake, though without a size reference this will not impact you as it did us: What we did find of interest was a LARGE zebra skin in pristine condition, which we bought and kept till we chose to sell it in December of '07:
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| WHITE
SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT
Alamagordo, New Mexico
A unique 275 square miles of PURE WHITE GYPSUM SAND, the world's largest. To the north is the White Sands Missile Testing Range. The dunes grow and change by the minute, though due to the surrounding hills (the Tularosa Basin), the gypsum never escapes. So it dissolves when it rains, grows beautiful gypsum crystal formations, then the wind breaks them back down to sand again. |
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| Changing
from desert to what appears to be snow but it is just the white sand
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Selenite,
satin spar, desert rose, and gypsum flowers are the four crystalline
varieties of gypsum
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Examples
of gypsum, selenite rosettes, gypsum made into wallboard, and into plaster
of paris
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Examples
of river sand, Hawaii volcanic sand, Florida coquina shell sand, and the
gypsum white sand
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| The
shapes of the dunes: dome, ripple transverse, crescent barchun, and
hairpin parabolic
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The
view of the entire Tularosa Basin showing the white sands and dry
"playa" Lake Lucero
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Some
vegetation can survive rooted in the sand
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Heidi
squinting at the bright white of the sand
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| You
would swear you were driving in a snow covered region. The
appearance of a "snow plow" did nothing to dispel this thought.
Some vegetation has to have long roots to withstand the shifting sands
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| An
area with covered picnic tables where we wrote up postcards to mail, one
of the more unusual picnic spots we've been!
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| More
of the succulent cactus flowers in the landscaped area of the Visitor's
Center. A colorful ending to a highly unusual experience
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