Example. The old junk store Doofnac Xemi (think about that for a second) is no more. As seen in November, 2008:

Fast forward to 2010, it’s now a parking lot between the warehouse and white fence. The photo location is the vacant and falling down Westerner Drive-In.

Tucumcari has certainly seen some better days. (?)

No trip there would be complete without a stop at Allsup’s for their tasty Famous Beef & Bean Burritos.

Don’t be a fool and eat one without Allsup’s equally famous Taco Sauce. Simply tear off a corner and slather some yummy sauce on the top before each bite.

It’s to die for. (Except for Lisa, I’m not sure why she doesn’t share my passion!)

Albuquerque seems to be losing all of its Allsup’s, and I really miss that distinctive Allsup’s smell. If you’ve frequented the store, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Mmm, ahh! Don’t tease the panther.

We did some heavy work in the back yard and ended up with a bunch of bags full of trimmings that we needed to unload. The Convenience Center is certainly convenient. You pay your $3.60, back your vehicle up to a concrete trough, and dump whatever garbage you need to get rid of. A tractor pushes all the trash to the west end of the center where it drops into waiting tractor-trailers, which then haul it all away to the real dump, where I guess is somewhere west of Albuquerque. Not sure.

Anyhow, it’s all quite exciting, and run in a very professional manner. I’m impressed.

We weren’t able to get all the trimmings hauled away today, Scratchy can only carry so much. We’ll dump the rest next weekend along with a pile of carpet we’ll be removing from the sun room later this week, as we decided to strip down to bare concrete and acid stain it. YES!

We had a great time, but found ourselves out way, way too late, until around 4am, and we had to drive back to Albuquerque that day! We’re too old to be doing that. We made it back though, and still had time to tour Hoover Dam and drive over it one last time before all traffic is diverted to the bridge being built just south of the dam.

We haven’t been back for a few years, so there was a lot of new stuff to see. CityCenter is simply amazing, we’ll certainly have to stay there next time.

Robin came back with money, but the rest of us didn’t. I claimed the booby prize and brought back a nasty cold. Yuck.

Granny, Lisa, and Robin enjoying cocktails with Donny & Marie

Lisa terrified but Robin excited?

This was a trip of a lifetime, with so many memories. A number of things stand out for me:

1. How cold San Francisco was.
2. The booze cruise around San Francisco bay.
3. Breaking my finger climbing down to Sutro Baths ruins.
4. The NYC subway system.
5. 9/11 in NYC.
6. Accidentally encountering Barack Obama in Wall Street.
7. My unexpected Miami Beach sunburn.
8. 3 baseball games in 3 different cities.
9. The columbarium in San Francisco and the gothic churches in NYC.
10. The Italian influence in South Beach.
11. Hookers in the subway. Cranky ones at that.

Oh, the list could go on. But most memorable was hearing Lisa scream in delight when I told her finally where we’d be going, and of course watching the amazement and joy in her face those 2+ weeks we spent on both coasts.

Thanks for sharing this special time with me Lisa, can’t wait for next year!

Excellent trip, one we’ll never forget. Have about 1200 pics to download, should have them posted in coming days.

Good night.