March 7

Today I'm writing while we are driving to Santa Fe. Here is a link of the TranMountains we are passing along the way.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/el-paso/115675-here-pictures-taken-transmountain-road.html

Something we need to explore more on the next trip...Trans-Mountain Highway: El Paso and Franklin Mountains El Paso Texas Scenic Byways.

Traveling on Interstate 10 to the left our continuous cow farms and Alfalfa farms right on the side of the highway. To the right are the mountains. Here's a tidbit of info....they have large rats here call Nutria.....actually they have them in Lafayette also. Here is a link for more info on them...

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/7720/nutria.html

New Mexico has terrific landscapes along I10. The redness in the mountains is starting to show up. Not sure what it is that causes the redness but will find out. Went through my first checkpoint…..a bit intimidating. Police and a dog. The wind is picking up and the temp is dropping. We are back in jackets, socks and shoes.

I think today was my first day of being in a rhythm of this trip. Blogging during the drive works well. When I see signs I can quickly look up what the area is all about. I’ve mentioned this before but it worth another mention……electronics makes this trip very easy.

March 6

Another travel day. Took us about 7 to 8 hrs to reach El Paso, Tx. It was a great drive. The pictures don't show much but the landscape is a great deal different than the 'Burg. Actual plateaus. Allowable speed on Interstate 10 was 80. We made pretty good time. Tomorrow is Santa Fe....YEA!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/byrne15017/ElPaso?authkey=Gv1sRgCOix_aGH4aTS7wE&feat=directlink

March 5

Austin.....what a city. Ashley has been noticing that our entire trip everyone has been over 50. Well we hit Austin, which was suggested by the Morgan's. It's a total reversal....I think I saw three people over 35. Anyway, the city is terrific. Lots of parks, kayaking, biking everything anyone would want.

Some photos..

.http://picasaweb.google.com/byrne15017/Austin?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSIzt7S9LLYAQ&feat=directlink

March 4

Went to San Antonio today. Toured the Alamo, walked the Riverwalk, shopped. If you ever get to the Alamo, do the Discovery Tour for $5. It’s on an audio device with earphones. Well worth the $5. Had lunch on the Riverwalk at Casa Rio. It was fun but I’d suggest another place……to many ducks and pigeons. People were feeding them …yuk. The Riverwalk is loaded with other places to eat. Not knowing, we took the advise from the people at the information center. We didn’t do the River tour by boat. We walked instead....missed the history but needed the exercise. Went back to Annie’s and Billy’s for a great dinner. Had a great opportunity to meet their children and grandchildren. Billy will be sending me a photo he took of the gang. Here are some photos of San Antonio. We liked the city but was touristy.

Here is a link to a few pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/byrne15017/SanAntonio?authkey=Gv1sRgCN38-ovKoP7QeA&feat=directlink

March 3

This morning we went on a short on road bike ride. We were going down on the way out and Ashley and I thought it was going to be a bit hard on the way back. But turned out it we were mis-judging the road. No problems on the way back. We got back, packed, had a great lunch and had an opportunity to visit with Adam. We then jumped in the car for San Antonio. It is a 7 hour drive to San Antonio (Billy and Annie’s). Arrived later in the evening. Talked a bit with them then hit the bed. The interstate going through Houston is unbelievable……6 lanes of freaking traffic. Took 45 min. from one end of the city to the other . The city is huge. The structures that support the roads have a design and the star of Texas on them. It is amazing seeing all the road work. Ashley is one hell of a driver and navigator. I’m totally useless :). The TomTom even gets confused and lost :).

March 1

Arrived at Cindy's today. She took us on a car trip to a new type of development they have in the area. Combination shopping district, business district, homes of all sizes. Some of the homes were twice to three times as large as the ones in Nevillewood. Cory and Jess joined us for dinner. Cory made a TERRIFIC crawfish etouffee which was served over a spicy crabcake. Yummmmm. We also did a margarita run. They have a drive up margarita store.......no kidding .....it's like driving up to Starbucks except you order your favorite drink.

Feb 28

Arrived in New Orleans around 1:00PM. We located the hotel we booked and didn't even stop the car......the area was a little to sketchie for us. So we did a quick search on line and found a great hotel (International Hotel at 221 Camp Street), for only $100 a night and it was in the French Quarter. After checking in, we went and had lunch at K. Pauls (Chef Pauls) restaraunt. Food was good. The bloody mary's weren't as good as in Charleston. We then walked around a good bit and went on a bar crawl in the French Quarter. That was great fun. Tasted all kinds of new drinks.....specialities of the area....absinthe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe) is one of them. Take a minute to read the info about the drink in the link above. Pretty interesting. Here is a link to two short films of them being made. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KUukL1HssZnMhkwL9XzJqQ?authkey=Gv1sRgCLKDy6GMtefSrgE&feat=directlink We didn't have one because it sounded to scarry. Sazerac was another........very strong ...made with just a bit of absinthe. Another which I liked was Pimm's

Ingredients:
2 oz Pimm's No. 1
3 oz lemonade
lemon twist for garnish
cucumber slice or peel for garnish
Preparation:
Pour the Pimm's into a collins glass with ice cubes.
Add the lemonade.
Garnish with the lemon twist and cucumber.