 |
| Amtrak's La Junta, Colorado, fresh air stop |
It's that time of year. Another winter, another trip outta here. And, with it, an excuse to return to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I am now staying for a month in a rented casita, a small but comfortable abode fashioned from a 100-year-old adobe with foot-thick walls and one of those kiva fireplaces built in the southwestern pueblo style that some people call "beehive." They're small, intimate, charming, distinctive, and aromatic, especially when burning the incense-like wood of this northern New Mexico region. Heaven, in other words.
My 3-day, 2-night trip from the East Coast via Chicago to New Mexico involved day and night tooting at each and every level-crossing, bouncing and rattling over tracks that could probably use some repair, and the realization that the dining car now features paper and plastic where it once took pride in using china coffee cups, freshly-ironed white tablecloths (and napkins) and metal cutlery. (Ever try to cut up your chicken with a plastic knife?) Everything is now dispensable except the glass salt and pepper shakers. Everything is also in little packets--honey, mustard, salad dressings, butter, jam, "cream." As well: no toast, no fried eggs, no ice cream.
I spent my hours looking out the window and taking "snaps" (as we used to call them), jiggly focus and all. Here are a few.
 |
| Massachusestts |
 |
| Indiana |
 |
| Iowa |
 |
| Next morning, Kansas |
 |
| Colorado: range-style water tank and windmill |
 |
| Colorado |
 |
| New Mexico. This stretch of highway follows the old Santa Fe Trail. |
 |
| Raton, New Mexico |
 |
| Five minutes away from my arrival point |
No comments:
Post a Comment