I'm an adult- once again

My nieces, who for close to two weeks entertained themselves by utilizing me as a honorary playmate, have left. My time with them was great. Having time away from them is, great. As special as the two are and, as much as I enjoyed our days together, I am quite happy to have a little free time. My sister, nieces and my brother-in-law all left New Mexico yesterday afternoon. They are on their way home, to Los Angeles.

It does feel a little weird. It's currently 9:00am. I sit here in preparation that at any moment, they will come bouncing into the room, greet me with a few back slaps and pressing their hands against my cheeks. Then, after a lively "Good morning, what are you up to!" They'd grab my hand say "I'm bored", "let's play", "entertain me", or "play with me". Instead of this, I sit. The morning, 180 degrees different then previous ones. I've already taken care of several pending things, and as is apparent by this blog, have found sometime to write.

As I'd mentioned in my previous entry, the last month or so had found me in Montana, Washington (Seattle), and California (Los Angeles)... and then, a road trip to New Mexico. This set of travel has been a little different then others I've taken. For one thing, I was in the developed world. Another is that instead of environmental experiences dominating the travel, it was dominated by human experiences. Though I'd never been to Seattle or Washington, the overwhelming impressions that we left within my head were of the fascinating people I'd met. In Montana, I accompanied my sister on a Sky Dive boogie. She was part of a group attempting 40 way formations in the air. The formations, were to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the particular boogie. Every person on the team, had jumped at least 4000 sky dives, if not more; were from many different walks of life (one worked for NASA and was an engineer on the new Phoenix Lander to Mars. Another, did all the sky dive stunts for the James Bond movies, and another... well, he owned two houses, had two kids by two separate wives and seemed to always be drunk- this guy was actually a sub in the last day if the event.)

Seattle was also quite enjoyable and found me reconnecting with a friend who'd I'd not seen in 9 years.

I am now back in New Mexico and back to working on several projects. I think I'll probably be in the State for 2 months, if not more. During which time, I'll be taking a few side travels (one or two will might be related to one of the projects I'm working on).

Well, it's now a little after 9:00. Since my nieces aren't here to coax me, I could continue to write. Though, I'm a little hungry and, am going to go fix some breakfast.

Their Dog "Jak" getting muddy while searching for a rock.

Mushroom hunting in the mountains

Nature

My Nieces being attacked by deer hungry for food- at a petting farm outside of Flagstaff.

Seattle, Los Angeles, New Mexico

I arrived in Los Angeles close to a week ago. My sister, not having visited my parents in some time, asked if I'd join her on a road trip. A quick yes, and 4 days later, and she, my two nieces and I found ourselves crossing Arizona on our way to New Mexico. We arrived into Albuquerque yesterday evening and my parents place late this evening. It's quite late now and I'm off to bed.

Reunions, strrangers and, new friends

The past couple weeks have found me on a new chapter in my travels. For the most part completed with the purely exploratory aspect, I've been spending time settling and setting myself up to once again, become monetarily productive. This process has found me working on several projects in New Mexico. Though, over the course of the last 2 -3 weeks, I've found myself meeting and participating in a completely different crowd and environment. I believe I alluded to this in my previous message, the last couple weeks, I've been attending in a Skydive boogie (my sister was a participant) and camping an hiking in glacier national monument. Departing Montana, I am now in Seattle, where I attended an great performance by a musician named Makana and have met some new and old friends. At the moment, I'm sitting at a computer terminal at some random cafe.

Seattle has been quite pleasant. Daily, it's been sunny and the weather is a cool and comfortable 70's... Hmm, I've been awaiting a call from a friend whom I'm supposed to meet, and just noticed the cell I'm currently using doesn't get reception in this cafe. I gotta go.