I borrowed Ian's van and 8 of us loaded up for the drive to Phoenix: Paul, James, Blake, Doug, Frank, Kristen, and me. We stopped for dinner in Holbrook, Arizona and when we tried to set off again, the van wouldn't start. We called Triple-A and the guy couldn't fix it, so Blake called Missy, who drove over to his house and got his van, and she drove it to Holbrook. Meanwhile, the rest of us hung out at a seedy bar where a drunk woman kept telling us "this is Holbrook! Respect it!" James danced with her. Eventually the bar closed and they kicked us out and we walked up and down the street until Missy (with Paul & Kristen's dog Lucy) showed up and we piled in and headed through the mountains. We decided that we were a sitcom titled "And Lucy Makes 10."

Somewhere outside of Phoenix, while still just in the foothills, i pulled off onto a dirt road and we all slept for a few hours. I was on rocky, uneven ground, but fell right asleep.

New Year Fest 13. We were in the TEAL pool.

1. Mothra Returns - Bay Area, CA
2. Anarchy - Albuquerque, nm
3. Cutthroat - Salt Lake City, UT
4. SLACKS - Chicago, IL
5. LA Smog - Los Angeles, CA

New Year Fest, day 2. After showers, we all piled into Blake's van and headed home. They dropped me off at a motel in Holbrook and continued on while i spent the night there.

Spent the day in Holbrook, waiting for Ian's van to get fixed. Walked all over the town taking pictures. The Navajo guys saw me with my camera and told me to take a picture of them. At one point i was talking to a guy who was working on his yard and he offered me some petrified wood that he'd dug up. At the end of the day, when the van was finally ready, i swung by his house and got three hefty chunks of it. Then i drove home.

Daddy was in town for a couple weeks and had rented a plane from Belen Airport. Daddy, Ian, and i drove down there one morning and took off for Carlsbad. For some reason, although i usually don't get airsick, i wasn't feeling so hot. We made it to Carlsbad uneventfully and landed in such a strong headwind that we came to a stop in what seemed like about 100 feet. In any case, we turned off the runway at the very first turnout.

Daddy visited some people in Carlsbad and Ian and i walked around the town for a while.

On the trip back i felt even worse, so we made a few stops. We touched down at the Ruidoso airport and were met on the tarmac by a couple airport employees wanting to know if something was wrong. Apparently daddy had radioed his landing in on the wrong frequency so the tower didn't hear it. I bought a ginger ale in the terminal building and that made me feel a little better. Next stop was Socorro for a brief visit, then off to the Bursom Ranch.

Mr. Bursom was a rich old rancher who had recently died. Daddy wanted to stop in and see his widow. Their ranch was east of Belen surrounded by pretty much nothing. A long straight driveway from the road to their compound of buildings served as a runway as well. We flew over, checked the windsock, landed on the dirt strip, and taxied up to the front door. In the garage were a Cadillac, a pickup truck, and a Cessna airplane. Daddy visted while Ian and i toured the place, then we took off again and headed back to Belen Airport.

Rainy day.