I'm in El Paso, Texas at the moment, in a very nice suite (a complimentary upgrade possibly because it was what was ready when I appeared and asked to check in early) at the Wyndham Hotel across the short-term parking lot from the terminal at the El Paso International Airport. I fly home tomorrow, leaving at the somewhat ungodly hour of 6:48 a.m. That's why I'm at the Wyndham, a class above the hotel at which I would normally stay.
I've been in New Mexico, visiting with some friends I met in an online quilting group to which I belong. Some of them, I had met before, and others I was meeting in person for the first time. I've met up with Diane, from Vancouver, Canada, several times. I first met MJ, from Dallas, Texas, two years ago, the same time I met Sarah, the superwoman in whose beloved hometown, Las Cruces, we were meeting. I also met Carla two years ago. The newly met friends, Terri and Gilly, are from Western Australia, and were on a whirlwind three-and-a-half week tour of the US, starting in San Francisco and ending in Los Angeles, with stops in Seattle, Chicago, Rhode Island (where Terri's brother lives), Boston, New York, and New Mexico in between.
And now it's later, after a dinner of free munchies at the bar's happy hour, and I'm thinking that it would be better to shower and get ready for tomorrow's 4:30 wakeup call. I'll try to post more about the trip--with photos even!--in the next few days in between a couple of retirement functions, a gallery show I really want to see before it end on Friday, and heading to Abingdon, VA, for the Sunday black belt test of a dear friend. Yeah, it's a busy time of year here.
