October 15, 2010. Arrived home last night from the Land of Entrapment! MANY more posts to come, when I get some photos back.

Albuquerque, Madrid, Cerillos, Pilar, Ojo Caliente, Taos, Ghost Ranch, Pagosa Springs , Durango, Mancos, Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Albuquerque, and a million places missed along the way.

Jody, the place of your land is beautiful!!

On landing in ABQ, first stop was a natural foods store to pick up vitamins and dried fruit. Why vitamins? Well, some years ago, before surveillance was as stringent as it is now, I tried to take my vitamins with me on a trip to Europe. I packed multiple bottles in my luggage, and as you may suppose, they did indeed rattle a bit. On arrival in Amsterdam, my girlfriend’s bag was there, but mine was missing! I wonder why? Curiously enough, there just happened to be an official standing nearby to help when I didn’t find my bag. No, not a porter, an official who courteously conducted us to an office where he took all my information. The bag did eventually get delivered to me in Edam, but the ty-wraps I had put on the zippers to protect against casual theft had all been cut. I wonder why?

No repeats, thank you. I’ll buy what I need when I arrive!

From the Albuquerque shopping district, on to Madrid, where I had a room reserved for two nights. I had also thought ahead to arrange a massage to dispel NJ, and hopefully to get me into a vacation frame of mind. Even a little Reiki thrown in! Between the altitude (about 6500 feet) and the massage, I felt pretty bad that evening, dizzy, headachey, disoriented. Could have had something to do with the airline food, or more exactly the lack of it. Thinking that I might not get fed, I had purchased a box of sushi rolls (protein, carbohydrates) the night before. They tasted good at 5:00 AM while waiting to board the first plane (to Chicago). But, the next food I had was a burrito at about 6:00 PM EDT. However, the next morning I woke early, got some excellent coffee and started a clear minded, ready-for-anything-that-NM-might-offer day!

The massage therapist, a delightful woman who had emigrated from NY to NM, had advised me to hydrate plentifully to assist with the altitude adaption. Separately, its very easy to ignore the dehydration following from the sun and dry air, because nobody sweats like in NJ. But, copious water is NECESSARY.

To all you bottled water decriers, bottled water is a necessity in the Southwest. As in Italy, a lot of water is not potable, and a lot of that which is potable still tastes terrible. Bottled water is as important in the Southwest as I found it to be in central Italy. And no, carrying a stainless steel bottle doesn’t work as it still depends on readily available refills in a place where many, perhaps most, people depend on bottled water for drinking.