Day 27: Joshua Tree to Santa Barbara

Woke up before sunrise to whipping winds and faux-stained glass glow in my slightly-rocking trailer on my final morning of roadtrip.

I had the space heater on and curtains drawn for the front bed part of the trailer, so was nice and warm in bed.  Ended up dozing a bit before finally getting up and outside a bit little after 9am.

With it being daylight outside was finally able to get a good view of what it was I was staying in for the night.

It was said that my trailer was the original trailer used in the movie Big Top Pee-Wee.

Also got to take in the rest of the property during daylight, including for area on deck above the main vending machine/shower/bathroom/ping pong table area.  There was also a hot tub on said deck.

From the deck looking out to innkeeper's digs and out to entrance:

We got ourselves checked out by dropping keys in box (along with postcards) and the Forester packed up.  Headed out on the dirt roads back into town and to drive up to the Joshua Tree National Park entrance.

Turned out that the park entrance was stationed with park rangers.  And while they were not accepting entrance fees due to being closed on account of the gov't shutdown, they were giving out maps and allowing visitors in.  We were encouraged if we wanted to make a donation to do so at the visitor's center, also noted as being open.

We set out into the park and made a few different stops.  First stop was probably the most adventurous -- we ended up climbing up some of the piled-up boulders strewn across the landscape not to far from the roadside.

Managed to get a yoga tree pose atop a Joshua Tree boulder:

Drove through the park some more and turned to go up to Keys View, which was the highest viewpoint in the park.  From Keys View you could see down to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area on the other side of the mountain range, as well as over to the wind farm outside of the city of Palm Springs.

Friend and I also took the opportunity to break into the Peanut Patty from Roswell, NM that had been sitting the Forester since purchase.

Peanut patty was underwhelming -- was like eating peanut brittle, but instead of toffee brittle flavor it was chewy sugar flavor to accompany the peanuts.

We took a few more pics before getting back into the Forester to head down and out of the park through the Twentynine Palms entrance, planning to go to that visitor's center.  Turned out it was closed though, so drove back towards Joshua Tree (we had to go that direction anyway) to go to that visitor center.

Donations were made and some souvenirs purchased at the visitor's center, then back in the Forester for quick lunch, gas-up and trek down into the Inland Empire.  We were short on time given Friend's flight leaving Ontario was scheduled to depart at 3:30pm.

Ended up having Del Taco for lunch, which I had spotted the day before in Twentynine Palms when getting into town.  Along with Wendy's, Del Taco is my go-to fast food place -- so was nice to have as first real meal back in Cali after being gone so long.

Ate inside Del Taco but ate quickly, then on to quick gas-up and on the road to get to Ontario.  It was to take over an hour and a half to get to Ontario airport.  And as I feared, time estimate continued to increase as we made our way and the afternoon commuter traffic set in the IE.

Made to the airport and dropped Friend of with a grand total of 29 minutes until her flight departed.  Helped her get her carry-on out of the trunk, backpack on and she was on her way to try and make her flight (she had already checked in on her phone).  And... she made her flight!  Gotta love small airports -- I admit to pushing things close for departing out of Santa Barbara airport, but always aim to get to the airport 50 minutes before my flight leaves.

And it was back on the road for me for the final push back to Santa Barbara.  A two hour drive w/o traffic became a three and a half hour drive in aggravating LA traffic.  I stopped once in Pasadena to get coffee and pit stop, and otherwise tried not to lose my mind in all of the stop and go trudging along.  Finally opened up in the San Fernando Valley heading through Calabasas and onward.

It was after 6:30 that I got back into Santa Barbara and drove up to my house.  Unpacked the Forester and thankfully already had cold beer in the fridge.

I unpacked my laptop and before long had pizza ordered online for delivery, and was set to ease into a good night's sleep in my own bed, and back into post-firstevercrosscountryroadtrip life.

Day 26: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride and Tucson, AZ to Joshua Tree, CA

It was a very, very early wakeup for the sunrise hot air balloon ride.  We had to be miles way on the edge of town by 6:15am for transport to the launch site.  We made it right on time.  I didn't get a shower in beforehand but planned to take one after.  Did get a cup of coffee in before departure as a needed caffeine jolt.

It ended up being the 3 of us plus a family of 4 for the morning's basket full of hot air balloon ride.  Met at an IHOP parking lot and then trekked in a van to outside of town to the launch site.  Balloon pilot drove and was conversational for the drive.  Most of us were still half asleep.

It took a bit of time, but not that long, to unpack the balloon, basket and accessories from the utility trailer for blowing up the balloon, but it was all out and the crew was at work blowing up the balloon soon enough.

They got it to the point where they were ready to upright the basket as well as feed it hot air to get the balloon ready to launch.  Once they were ready we got into the basket one by one.  Originally I was on the end/edge corner of balloon, but ended up switching to be in the middle before we took flight.

Some pics from the crew of us in flight, some of my own pics from the flight.

It was as everyone had said -- entire ride was smooth and peaceful.  We learned afterwards we had hit just over 30 mph at one point in flight.  Pilot took us up over Tucson city area, then around a mountain ridge into a valley area.  Overall the ride was 60 minutes or so.  Got to see some desert wildlife (deer, jackrabbits), as well as a perfectly timed hiker reaching a peak on the side of a mountain as we were passing by, who waved hello and shouted to us to be a part of his selfie (as he turned his back to us and activated front facing camera for his cell phone).  We waved for the picture.

The landing was said to be the only potentially rough part -- thankfully for us it was not.  Two further bounces after basket hit the ground initially (we were all in position holding ropes on side of basket, legs bent), and balloon crew had us grounded fully.

Climbed out of basket and milled about in open area while balloon was deflated.  Then back in van to head to park back in town for light bkfst and mimosa toast.  Then into van again and dropoff at IHOP where we had parked.

Back to Friend's friend's house for shower (for me) and final packup.  Stopped at Starbucks on the way for more caffeine.

Got onto road after 11am for drive back into California and to Joshua Tree for the final night of the trip.  Stopped for lunch and gas in a suburb town heading out west after Phoenix.  Unmemorable burger and fries consumed for trying to be somewhat local but quick (fast food place called Culver's ButterBurgers).

After lunch and gas-up, back on interstate for the final push back into California, then cutting north and then west on a highway before Palm Springs to bypass mountain range and get into Joshua Tree area.  Stopped for pics one time but otherwise made it into Twentynine Palms (city right next to Joshua Tree) right as sun was setting.  Stress moments for me a bit since had read that the trailer park digs we were staying at for our Joshua Tree night were a mile and half out on dirt roads.  As well as that checkin cutoff was to at 6pm.

Stopped at a Stater Bros for provisions for the night -- place had said to bring your own food and/or equipment to BBQ with.  We grabbed stuff for breakfast as well, and Friend said she was getting a sandwich from the deli for dinner.  After thinking maybe stopping along the way for something better for myself, decided didn't have time and also went with a deli sandwich.

We called the place as we were leaving 29 Palms (as instructed) with it then after sunset and approaching 6pm.  Got to the place within the next 30 minutes -- was a few miles between the towns, and then it did end up being a few miles on dirt roads once in Joshua Tree.  However not as bad as I expected -- with the Forester having AWD and the roads themselves being pretty wide and flattened out, wasn't too bad getting to the Trailer Palace.  And/or maybe I have been getting more comfortable with offroading during this trip...

There was assigned parking spaces in front of the low single story purple house that was based on trailer reservation -- I had the Pee-Wee and Friend was staying in The Pioneer.  Since the parking spot for The Pee-Wee was right outside the front door of the purple house, I parked there.

We knocked on door of the house and manager/innkeeper brought us inside for firming up credit card transactions, then gave keys and brought us back outside and through the main gate for a tour of the Trailer Palace.

Didn't get good pics with it being nighttime, but it was quite the place.  Only things not in operation were the pool, and the outdoor shower (innkeeper noted as functional, but that it doesn't get much use outside of the summer months since it is solar powered for hot water).  There was an archery and bb gun range, a mini gold course and a small library.  And a quite a few different outdoor seating areas.

Probably my 2nd favorite thing for the accomodations was that they had postcards in each room that guests were encouraged to write out and they would send out, with postage, for free.  Guests were to just drop in box near gate along with keys when checking out.

Ended up having dinner at one of the picnic tables in the main area.  It was nice to have found Union Jack IPA at the Stater Bros, so enjoyed one of those with sandwich and a few more over the evening.

Ended up hanging out outside some into the night, since it turned out that our night's stay also happened to be the night of a lunar eclipse as well as a Blood Moon.  Played some pinball & classic video games in one of the trailers for a bit, and got some ping pong time in at the open-to-outside rec room of sorts area.

The skies while originally fully cloudy at nightfall thankfully cleared some as we got into the night, so we were able to see the lunar eclipse for the most part as it was happening -- and half the sky full of stars like we don't see in the cities.  It wasn't until after eclipse was mostly complete the moon turned red.

With it being such a long day, Friend and I signed off for the night about around 10pm or so for the night of trailer camping, and I retired to The Pee-Wee.

Day 25: Deming, NM to Tucson, AZ, w/ Visit to Shakespeare

We were out of the Deming Best Western by 9:30 -- me taking longer as I was due for some electric clippers head/beard action and the motel bathroom sink area was well lighted and mirrored.

Air replenished in Forester tires before leaving. Friend had bkfst from hotel and I skipped since time was spent grooming, as well as ironing clothes for last leg of trip. Had a stale leftover Dunkin Donut and leftover bottled Frappuccino for bkfst in the room as I got ready.

Hit the road and exited and drove across the Continental Divide on the I-10 (nothing notable other than the sign itself), and further west and on/out to the ghost town of Shakespeare.

Ended up being another opportunity to put the Forester into offroad use -- Shakespeare was off of a dirt road that went out a few miles and over some hills away from the main highway.  Didn't know what to expect but ended up finding that "town" itself was private property and not accessible without advance coordination (per signage).  However, our timing was perfect for getting to the place -- there were 3 people right on the other side of gate, which turned out to be the owner with two guests who were being toured around the property.  After some quick discussion back and forth we paid $5 each for access and to listen in to tour to the extent we wanted, and otherwise to wander around and take pictures.  Was the same $5 each would have paid for the full town tour said to be two hours long, but for which we didnt have the two hours to spare.

For the map we were giving was kind of crazy to see how many buildings were full structures in the late 1800s but were completed wiped out for what was in front of our eyes.  Including for the sightline from the last pic, which was the main street but originally had buildings flanked next to each other on both sides for the stretch on down to where buildings still remain.  Between the narrative from the guide/owner (who had said he and his wife moved out from Ohio to take care of property and preserve after wife's father, prior owner, had passed away recently) and the information on the map, I got enough history to conclude Shakespeare was a rough town (presumably like most all towns in that time and day in the area) for the lawlessness and amount of killings that took place.  Was shown the lynching room in one of the remaining buildings (front room in 2nd picture), which had two nooses hanging from rafters above.  Also read on map about how another citizen was decided to be hung/killed because he had been believed to be too nosy from his yard looking at neighbors' property -- it said he was saved from being "the guest of honor at the necktie party" (their words) by being whisked away to nearby train station by good samaritan and sent away w/ a one way ticket.

Spent maybe 30 minutes total at Shakespeare before letting ourselves out of the gated town and getting back on our way.

Next up was The Thing in Arizona. Much, much billboard signage a 100+ miles out each direction on I-10 had been advertising The Thing.  Unfortunately when we got there we found other than The Thing's building and gift shop, the only food option was a Dairy Queen.  When we pulled up, since it was getting later into the day, had asked friend if she wanted to have lunch at Dairy Queen -- Friend declared that she would be grabbing something since she was hungry. So that took care of that — Dairy Queen for lunch. I was pretty hungry at that point at myself.  Edible and unmemorable chicken basket and fries consumed.

Then to The Thing.  Paid $5 each to get in (everything has been $5 around here, ha), and it was 10-15 minutes of journey into alien exhibit displays actually executed much better than in Roswell.

It was an odd mix in storyline with dinosaurs intermingled with alien discussions, and after some random US history exhibits and narrative, it ultimately led to.. the Thing.

And the secret that is The Thing shall stay with me (no pics).

After The Thing headed on in to Tucson for fry bread, sightseeing of downtown area, checking out a few breweries, then dinner with Friend's friend's family and overnight stay at Friend's friend's sister's place, and very early rise for hot air balloon ride over Tucson.

Had been looking at possibility of visiting the Biosphere II in nearby Tucson area (something I had forgotten about but remembered having curiosity from childhood).  Ended up not being enough time to get to Biosphere by the time we were going to get to Tucson.  So, plan to get fry bread upon Tucson arrival activated.

Recommendation to go to Catholic mission on edge of town proved sound for getting fresh made on the spot fry bread.  With all the DQ carbs in my system honestly wasn't hungry for much, so Friend and I got a cinnamon & sugar frybread to share.  Wandered around mission and nearby hill a bit before heading on into Tucson.

Some driving around and ultimately parking to check out a brewery belonging to Friend's friend's cousin.  Flight of beers for us each, and some interesting options, including a gruit beer.

After brewery #1 (Thunder Canyon) headed to brewery #2 (Pueblo Vida) for a pint before leaving downtown for dinner and rest of evening.

Dinner meet-up was at a Mexican restaurant, which had on their menu my request for Tucson dinner: mole.  Chicken mole w/ rice and tortillas was consumed, along w/ a Negra Modelo, for the single Tucson night meal.

I enjoyed the restaurant's placemats with definitions, especially for the taco definition.  Mmm, vitamins.

After dinner headed back to Friend's friend's sister's house for the early night (she was joining us for the hot air balloon ride in the morning too).  And while it was a moment of worry for Friend's friend' sister having a dog that was noted for not usually taking well to strangers -- and especially men, the dog ended up being comfortable w/ me and pretty friendly overall.  And gave great smiles for taking pics.

Called it a night later than probably should have, given pre-5:30am planned wakeup for sunrise hot air balloon ride.  Retired to guest bedroom for short but good sleep.

Day 24: Roswell to Deming, w/ Visit to Lincoln

Roswell morning trajectory was quick -- each showered up and we were out of Bible Scriptures/Live-Laugh-Love -themed Roswell AirBnB by 8:30am.  I slept poorly in the 7 ft. high windowless box bedroom.  Had left the bedside lamp on all night since the room went absolutely pitch black without it on.

The otherwordly cat was there again waiting for us as we loaded the Forester, again fairly vocal and this time managing to get inside the house.  Cat was agreeble enough though when I scooped it up from the kitchen area and took it back outside again.

First stop was Dunkin Donuts, for donuts, coffee, and pics.

Had to walk down to check out the spaceship-themed McDonald's for a few pics there also.

Then back in car and on to Roswell Art Museum, which would be Museum 1 of 2 for the morning in Roswell.  It was also the free one.  And arguably the better of the two, both for having information dedicated to extraterrestrials as well as different sections devoted to art, as well as Native American history and artifacts of the area.  It also had a special exhibit on quilting which was highly impressive -- had never seen quiltwork as intricately executed as for some in the exhibit.

Spent some time in the museum of art gift shop before heading out and trekking down to the UFO Museum, which was going to focus specifically on extraterrestrials (what Roswell is known for).

It was maybe a mile down the main road through town and we were parked, paid for the $5 pp entry and inside.

Have to say UFO Museum was a bit of a let-down.  In concept was interesting that they had what were shared as classified docs about the UFO crash outside of Roswell in 1947.

Or, just a weather balloon that had crashed -- depending on what source you believe.

Other than for the somewhat chronological set of readings there were a few very un-realistic alien exhibits, as well as a section focusing on movies about aliens.  Also, part of the back area was taped off due to the floors & baseboards being painted.

Spent maybe 30 minutes total in the UFO Museum, and the gift shop.  After UFO Museum walked around immediate few blocks for other gift shop finds.  Although, at that point the winds had kicked up and made it hard to walk into, or even look in the direction of, the winds.

Did manage to snap a pic of an alien lampost on the way back to the car.

Had lunch at Cowboy Cafe afterward, a Yelp find for local eats.  I ordered their Alien Omelette.  It had a Hatch Chile green sauce that was presumably what made it "alien" when you cut into it.  Have to say it was pretty tasty.

After lunch we got in the Forester and headed south and west through the southwest.  Post-Roswell plans for the day were to drive by/into White Sands National Monument (even though we already knew from website that it wasn't open b/c of gov't shutdown), drive out to and see the historic town of Lincoln, NM, have dinner in Las Cruces, NM, then drive an hour further west to the town of Deming, where we had booked motel rooms at a Best Western there.

The town of Lincoln was some miles off of the main highway we were taking to get from Roswell to Las Cruces. The draw was that it was a city preserved overall from the period of the 1870's and 1880's. Paid $5 for entry into the main buildings, as well as for a map of the town.  Learned through some of the exhibits this was where Billy the Kid became infamous (had heard the name B the K but didn't know anything else). Also notable that a former president had dubbed Lincoln’s main street “the most dangerous street in America."

For some of the buildings, like the general store, they were preserved in a state that presumaby was how they operated the 130+ years ago.  I noted through the windows for the general store there was a whole back wall with shelves containing what I believed were glass shades for oil lamps.

After Lincoln milling about (maybe 45 minutes total) back on the road to head down to Las Cruces.  On the way we passed by the White Sands Nat'l Monument, which had signage noting was closed.  Was interesting to see for the desert landscape the clear distinction between White Sands lands, which were higher and really dunes at their periphery butting up to the roadside at least, and the otherwise flat, brown-ish scrubby desert landscape.  As we continued driving we passed a small area where the dunes butted up to the highway.  Maybe 8 cars parked right there -- expecting it was people getting their White Sands experience in in spite of the closure.  We were not so adventurous.  Long day and it was getting dark.

Made it to Las Cruces and had dinner and each a flight of beer at High Desert Brewing Company.  And a chips and salsa & queso for the table.  My green chile stew with jalapeno cornbread was pretty good.

After dinner it was another hour's drive west to the town of Deming, where we had booked the overnight stay at the highway-side Best Western to get a jump on getting into Tucson the next day.  Checked in to hotel rooms for the night and for early wakeup Saturday.

Day 23: El Paso, TX to Roswell, NM

Woke up just after 8am on the single El Paso morning for the trek back west (although the day's route would take us hours east as well as north).  Plan was to get out of AirBnB early, check out El Paso Museum of Art, grab coffee from shipping container building coffee spot near the museum we had spottted the day before, then hit the road for the 4 hour drive east and north up to Roswell, NM.

Had the leftover pizza from Grimaldi's from the night before for breakfast, along with fresh brewed coffee.  Ended up getting out of the AirBnB by about 10am.

Made it to the downtown area and parked in a city lot about two blocks from art museum.  Made our way down there (the downtown El Paso area is partially on a hillside) and entered the free museum.

Some pics from museum:

Was fun to see that they had one piece of Michael Chihuly glass there.  Museum was small and downstairs was very much about rotating contemporary art exhibits.  Floor 2 of 2 had a permanent collection with a lot of still lifes and Christian/devotional paintings.  Also a contemporary exhibit with:

At first I thought it was all neon art, but up close came to realize it was all done with cardboard and LED lights.  A timely commentary and exhibit for the current state of political affairs in January 2019.

After art museum walked around just a bit, grabbed coffee at the shipping container place, sat upstairs on 2nd floor deck of container and wrote out postcards.  Then walk a few blocks to mail at post office then back to parking lot to hit the road for Roswell.  Also walked the immediate streets around to get a few pics in.

The drive from El Paso up (and mainly over, eastward), to Carlsbad, NM was a little over 2 hours.  Friend #5 drove which was nice to be able to take in the sights as a passenger.  Very isolated stretch of highway with only the occasional 18-wheeler or other auto on the road.

We stopped along the way on a long stretch of open highway for some pics.  Friend was amused by my sort of mascot that had accompanied me on the entire trip, and wanted to do a few pics with said mascot (a plastic toy dinosaur I found on the ground right as I was leaving for my trip).

We trekked on and to the turnoff for the road to Carlsbad Caverns.  As expected, signage was up showing that the park was closed due to the gov't shutdown.

We decided to trek up to the actual entrance anyway and see how far we could get.  Turned out we were able to wind around and up the 7 miles or so into the park and to the main buildings that we believe provided access to the caverns.  The buildings were entirely closed and only a few other travelers who had made it up to the extensive parking lot area to check things out.  Good sightlines looking out over the desert looking eastward.  Turns out we were in a different part of the same Permian Basin that I was in when driving through Odessa, TX.

On our way out we made it a point to stop at some of the vista points ("Exhibits" as they were noted per signage).  For one particular one we ended up getting to see a herd of sheep milling about right next to the road, eating grasses and such.

As it turned out, after looking for closely at the mountainside on opposite side of the road, there were many more such sheep up on the mountainside, including little sheep children (dont know the word for kid sheep).  

The roadside sheep were regarding us warily I ended up realizing, given that we were effectively in the middle of their split pack.

We got back in the car soon enough and were on our way again.  Plan was to find late lunch in the town of Carlsbad, which was just 15 minutes up the road.

We got to the town without clear plans and ended up driving through it without anything jumping out at us.  Quick discussion led us back to the Wendy's for 4 for 4 late lunches (Friend hadn't had Wendy's in years and was not familiar with the value and quality that is the 4 for 4 meal).  

4 for 4s were purchased and consumed, and after pit stops we were on the road again to Roswell.

Didn't end up getting into Roswell itself until after nightfall.  Ended up driving through the downtown area on the way to the AirBnB and catching all of the alien-themed sights en route, including for alien head street lampposts I had read about.

Got to the AirBnB and there was a very friendly cat right outside ready to greet us.  I am still partially convinced the cat may have been otherwordly.  Including for its alien-head-shaped eyes.

The AirBnB itself for Roswell was -- interesting.  There weren't many options at all and this one was the only one that came in inexpensively.  Size-wise had the space of a two-bedroom house, but height-wise was a different story.

Notes elsewhere in the house stated that if you are over 5'11" to be prepared to have to duck to get into the 2nd bedroom.  I took the first bedroom this Roswell night.  The first bedroom, despite having adequate head clearance in doorway, was windowless and had 7 foot ceilings in entire room.

After getting settled in we headed out to drive around the rest of the town, get dinner, and get some coffee shop time in (I had seen a Starbucks less than a mile from our place).

Dinner was found thanks to Yelp, a place specializing in burgers and named something like Downtown D's Diner Burger Dive.  Very much Guy Fieri vibes for the place.  Got some specialty burger and fries, and a cream soda.  It was one of those places where the wooden tables were sticky due to misuse/overuse of cleaning agents on varnished wood, compromising the finish.  Burger was pretty good but fries not -- ended up eating only half of burger and taking the rest since was still pretty full from late lunch.

After dinner then Starbucks for maybe 45 minutes of laptop time (including for this blog) over a chai tea latte.  Then up to a supermarket to buy a few things for consumption, including beer.  Found some alien-themed beer options and bought two (6 pack bottles, 4-pack pint size cans).  Also ended up purchasing a "Peanut Patty" after each Friend and I had independently picked one up at the checkstand, sort of looked at, then put down again, and cashier asking us if we had ever had one and telling us how good they were.  She gave the sage advice to make sure for the one we buy does not have bleached out white residue on the back.  I ended up buying one for us.  Funny that I had asked why it was red and the cashier really couldn't answer (said could be due to peanut casings being red) -- later looked at label and confirmed one of first ingredients listed was red dye #40.

Back to AirBnB for an intended early night, given long day ahead next day.  Managed to take advantage of washer and dryer in place and get a load of laundry done over a few alien beers.

Day 22: Odessa to El Paso

Woke up before my alarm this morning and happened to look out my hotel window and get a pretty sweet view of an Odessa sunrise.

Got showered and ready and all things packed up, and was on the road at 9:30am.  Stopped for gas once but otherwise powered through over and down to El Paso to pick up Friend #5 from airport.

Made it to El Paso airport just before friend's flight landed.  Got to airport, parked and went inside with agenda of using restroom and seeing if a gift ship may have El Paso postcards.  Turned out I was in luck for postcards -- and as I had just paid I saw friend walking by shop and was able to call out and catch in time.

We headed straight from airport to have lunch -- return visit for me to Ode Brewing.

After flight of beers, lunch, and a beermosa (don't recommend the beermosa), headed to the one night AirBnB.  Ended up being a pretty sweet place -- Spanish adobe style 2/1 w/ good layout and lots of original character.  Spent a little time getting situated but wanted to get back out soon to catch the scenic drive around/above El Paso before the sun set.

A few shots from the scenic drive around El Paso:

It took me a minute to be able to make out the letters on the mountains off in the distance in Juarez (the area on the other side of the freeway is Ciudad Juarez).  It says "La biblia es la verdad.  Leela."  Translated: The bible is the truth.  Read it.

Great sightlines for the area from where we stopped and parked. Eventually got back in car and then drove around the downtown.  And then on out to east ELP area to check out newer part of the city and mall.

Ended up having dinner at the Grimaldi's in outdoor mall area.  I hadn't eaten at one outside of NYC before.  We weren't that hungry so ended up with half of the pizza as leftovers to take home.




Then back to house to relax and to plan out next day for drive up to Roswell.  I had booked the Roswell AirBnB at Grimaldi's over dinner.

Ended up putting on Netflix since there was no cable TV at the house.  Not long after initial searching came upon the Tidying Up with Marie Kondo Netflix show, on what's being called the KonMari method.  Was funny that each Friend and I had heard about the show but neither had watched it.  We put it on and found ourselves varying degrees of being annoyed with the first episode, showing the family of 4 with a 4 year old and a 2 year old.  Made it through the first episode though, and went ahead with the 2nd one.  Friend #5 called it a night halfway through 2nd episode.  I stayed up and watched a full 3rd before shutting off tv for the night.