Thursday, December 06, 2007

"Wanna get away?"

As one commenter said here after Bush's press conference..."right now it is just too stressful for me.....I think I am just tired of worrying day and night what the fuckheads will do next..."

I thought the summed up the feelings of many of us. I'm pretty sure the president's extremely disturbed. Tuesday he tried to show us with one of his rare nationally televised meetings with the media. Very confusing, it left much of the nation very unsettled. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that soon but yesterday Editor Sam and I decided to take a 'mental health' day away from the 'office.' We would get away.

Inviting our excellent traveling companion Mrs. Dada to join us, we headed towards New Mexico with no particular destination in mind. Sam's been after me to show him some of the places I'm always telling him about. He wanted to see 'em before they totally disappear from the American landscape.

It was a gorgeous day, temperatures in the low 70's and below are but a few of photos from our trip. I hope to expand upon these in the near future.


Once we hit the mighty Rio Grande, we shadowed its path northward, but not until we walked its banks for a ways here. Across the river is a golf course/country club. So beautiful on the opposite banks, we would have liked to have walked the river from that side, but there was a sign telling us to stay out.


After a brief stop in the picturesque village of San Miguel, NM (which I hope to devote an entire blog to eventually), we ended up here in the even quainter village of Mesilla. I love the authentic adobes like those shown here lining the streets of the original village.

Now experiencing the encroachment of civilization's "progress" all about it, new growth is overwhelming little Mesilla. The flavor of the original community is being attempted with structures now made of faux adobe (plywood covered over with plaster).


The plaza is a great place to sit and sun oneself after a great meal of New Mexican style cuisine. Sadly, dogs aren't allowed in the restaurants or on the plaza and I was sorry that Sam had to learn this. (Confidentially, I think he was pretty miffed.)

But it had been a great day and Sam got to meet some nice people. One woman (a true dog lover) took Sam's picture. Asking what kind of dog he was, I told her, "Part dalmation, part editor." Out of the blue she said (like so many others just meeting Sam have been apt to say), "He looks part greyhound." No response could have pleased me more, all three of Sam's predecessors having been greyhounds.


Then it was time to return home. Knowing Sam was tired, we took the 45 mile drive back on the freeway. Sam fell asleep between Mrs. Dada and I on the way.

11 comments:

a ball of Light said...

Dada: it is always great to see your posts and pics from NM... even tho it greatly increases the feelings of homesickness... i spent a number of years hanging at El Patio, right up the street from where that picture of the authentic adobes is that you posted... my first ever taste of salsa was at La Posta, and it hurt so good i just kept eating it, calling for more chips and more salsa when it ran low... Have you ever eaten at Nellies? it's a little restaurant on West Hadley, about 10 minutes from La Mesilla off N. valley Drive.

Cartledge said...

We have been seeing the odd image of POTUS here in the past few days. Pathetic has been the key word used, the NM pics were far more engaging. Thank you.

eProf2 said...

Great post for political relief.

Fran said...

Awwwwww the editor is so cute.
The scenery is nice too...
Here's to sanity breaks!

enigma4ever said...

ahhhhh so all I did was whine and mention the Fuckheads and wow...bingo.... A roadtrip.....yahoooo....and sooooo needed...badly....see Sam...we did good....sigh...good for you all....thanks for shaing it...

D.K. Raed said...

Sam doesn't look asleep here with his head on the console/padded armrest. He looks like he's navigating. My previous car was a little Mazda, which allowed the lab-girl-dog to ride in that very same position.

This sounds like a wonderful trip for the Dada clan. I enjoyed the pics. That golf course with its keep out signs doesn't realize the great service they missed. Sam could've rounded up all their missing balls!

Dada said...

ball of light: Thanks for commenting! I think I owe you big time for the not-so-subtle hint about Nellie's. No, NO, I've never heard of it, but after reading the reviews, I must definitely return to 'Cruces very, very soon.

And you know the funny part of this is - it looks to be just across the street from the High Desert Brewing Co., a place we've been to many, many times and I've never noticed Nellie's. Now we'll be able to have a great beer of two at the High Desert, then wander (stagger? ~ grin) across the street for some great Mexican afterwards!

Thank you very much. Oh, and while I hate the ever invasive advance of civilization upon Mesilla, it's still a place I dearly love.

Dada said...

cartledge: Glad you liked the NM pics. Going there was a great diversion. A pleasant escape from those disturbing images of our beloved president (any/all depictions of said individual).

To all others - you seem to enjoy an occasional break from the bad news (these little jaunts into NM) as much as I. Yes, Fran, a sanity break indeed is what these are.

And enigma, your remarks helped push me toward this first jaunt with editor Sam, a trip I'd been intending to do for many, many weeks. (Well, it wasn't just YOU now, was it? It was you AND our president, wasn't it? - Isn't it ironic the one most detached from reality has US banging OUR heads against hard walls of brick and mortar anywhere we can find 'em across America? How screwed up is that??)

And, yes, the pic of Sam was taken just shortly before he dozed off. My one regret was there wasn't enough road shoulder to pull over, get out, and show Sam the biggest dogs he'll ever see -- the horses grazing. (I think it'd be his first time.)

D.K. Raed said...

oh dada, you simply MUST show Sam some horses soon. It'll be the most exciting thing he's seen on 4 legs! Our dogs always got the biggest thrill of the day chasing horse riders along our fenceline. They would listen intently for the cloppety-clop sound & then all scramble out their dog door, barking their heads off & running along the fence to keep the horses at bay. If one dog happened to be outside when a horse came by, he would first run back in the house & give out the horse-warning bark, so that no one would miss out on the fun! The horses always seemed quite amused. Afterwards, the dogs would come back into the house all worn out, huffing & puffing, but extremely proud of themselves for successfully defending their territory from those scary horses. Great times!

WeezieLou said...

new mex has always held it's charm for me, kitty (human) and Roscoe (shetland sheepdog). we would head for ruidoso, rent a cabin in the woods and just enjoy. it's been awhile, gotta get back!

Dada said...

weezie: I haven't been to Ruidoso in a few years now myself. But my early years in NM are littered with many, many memories of that fair town. And, yes, I must get back there again. (Although I'm more of a warmer season type person.)