GABRIEL'S FIRST AIRPLANE TRIP

I'm only now getting around to posting photos and information. But Gabriel had a very good experience travelling to Las Vegas/Pahrump and then to Albuquerque, Farmington and then back home, all on his first airplane rides back in March. Once he got settled in, he definitely enjoyed looking out the window.



OVER THE HUMP TO PAHRUMP

After a great crab buffet at Green Valley Ranch, we headed to Pahrump, about an hour west of Vegas through the mountains.

The town itself is small, surrounded by a ring of dramatic mountains - more impressive than Las Vegas in my opinion. The town is definitely Red State. I saw nothing smaller than an SUV while there, and certainly nothing made in Japan. A Wal-Mart marked the end of town.

Local color was everywhere. In fact, while walking into the Smith's (which carried Tillamook Cheese, by the way) a sixty-year-old fella sitting outside, face carved by too much smoke and too little sleep, was bragging to his friend about how he had "kicked her a$$ out last night." Lively neighborhood he lives in, I'm sure.

Sue and George have a nice, big house with great views of the mountains from their back patio. George was gone at work much of the time, but Aunt Suebee and Me-Ma got to spend a lot of time with him. We had a good visit, even though Gabriel decided to not sleep so well our second night there. Following are a couple of pictures.



We didn't have a lot of time there, so we didn't get to make a day trip to Death Valley and see the 100-Year bloom. They had much rain earlier in the spring, even while we were there. The result is that Death Valley has been in full bloom, a rare sight indeed. Below is a photo taken by an amateur photographer I found by Googling.



But as this website attests, Pahrump is about much more than the gateway to/from Las Vegas and Death Valley. (Note: This is actually a well-done website by a resident of Southern Nevada, with details of the ins, outs, and hidden bits of Vegas in great detail. This particular page I linked is her description of actually touring a brothel in Pahrump out of curiosity. Funny stuff...)

The town has carved out a market niche for sin that Vegas doesn't seem willing to serve: prostitution and fireworks. Brothels are well-known and common in Pahrump, with the subtlety of a belch. Billboards advertise the establishments, as well as where to get your hands on bottle rockets, roman candles and other incendiary devices.

In fact, Pahrump even has a brothel museum that is apparently quite good, though we I didn't get to go. There's a winery, too, but we'll be saving that for another trip as well.

ONWARD TO FARMINGTON

The trip to Farmington via Alburquerque was good. Gabriel got to ride with his grandmother on the plane, though slept much of the way. Waiting for us were Dad, Tom and Kate. We all loaded up into the Blazer and headed northwest for Farmington. Not far along, a Good Samaratin did his level best to run us off the road trying to warn us that our tail lights were out. Nice fella, though blocking us off right in front of the I-25 onramp was probably less safe than the aforementioned tail light problem.

After stopping and fussing with the fuses - not the problem it turned out - we headed for Farmington, anyway, though much later than planned. After a stop at El Bruno's in Cuba - great New Mexican cuisine, but don't be afraid of capsicum if you go there - we arrived in Farmington rather late. On the plus side, we were able to visit with Casey, Pony, her husband, son and newborn daughter before they headed off for Austin. I hadn't seen them in over ten years, so that was a nice visit.

The next morning we headed over to La Plata Drive - Did you know you have a spruce tree in your front yard? - to visit Gramma and Grampa. Below is a photo of everyone there but Dad, who's taking the photo.


Gabriel's Farmington Trip 

We had a fun visit and Gabriel clearly enjoyed visiting his Great Grandparents and Gus, who was nice enough to cook us a fried turkey dinner without overboiling the bird and firing it in the air like a cannonball. It was quite good and he's 2-0 in the times I've been there. Below are photos of Gabriel with his Great Grampa George and Great Gramma Betty.



We headed back to Albuquerque that night and left for Portland the next, very windy day. Gabriel did quite well on the three-hour direct flight, sleeping most of the time. So much for fears of a screaming baby! ...this time

Postlogue: Gramma went into the hospital for a brief visit due to complaints of heart palpitations recently. But after examination, it turned out her oxygen unit was not functioning properly and all was remedied. She's reportedly doing well now, just as she was in good spirits during our visit.