Clayton: Awesome pictures. In late November, John Stokes or I will probably come to resemble some of them. (See hi-jacked thread below.)
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Johnnio:
The one-way ticket is bought. I arrive in Albuquerque on Tuesday, November 22, at 6:17 on United 6416. We'll then spend the next couple of days together in Socorro near the VERY Large Array -- and make ourselves available to all the (YOW-WOW!) Astro-Physics babes (at least, those whom Matthew McConaughey hasn't managed to ruin already). Then we'll indulge in Thanksgiving dinner (it IS time for the Stokes-family recipe of egg-nog by then, ain't it?), tumble our tryptophan-besotted selves into the Challenger (Reincarnation Number 4, by now, I expect), and stagger ourselves to San Francisco (at a reasonably leisurely pace).
By "stagger," I mean: help me plan out the perfect route. I'm thinking Death Valley, Sequoia National Forest, Kings Canyon, some airplane boneyard (like the Mojave Air and Space Port), Joshua Tree, whatever Arizona and New Mexico have to offer -- it's a damn fine Euler's Shortest Route problem, ain't it. Pick two or three or so. At the least it will keep us on the the US Highways and off those eff-ing interstates (damn you, Dwight D. Eisenhower!). We have a few days to spare. I await your suggestions. Let's make this trip count.
Love you!
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Whoops, I accidentally CC-ed the whole Winedale list -- ON PURPOSE! Can you imagine how much fun we will have -- trolling (trawling?) across the whole Southwest and California together -- with Die Miestersinger blaring (occasional Steve Reich interludes) on John's tape deck? (please Please PLEASE, John, upgrade it to a CD-player or even iPod enabled [?!?!] before I get there). I speak for myself: I ain't got many more road-trips in me -- none, if the 1% have their way and deprive me of Social Security and Medicare in my waning days -- and this is one I NEED to have before the gout sets in and I can't sit up for long. John is having is own medical problems, but he assures me that driving long distances isn't one of them. By popular acclaim we'll try to take pictures and broadcast them for as long as ATT and the iPhone allow.
Love and miss you all (even the ones I don't know), and you're welcome be very jealous of the fun we'll be having!
Yours,
David Ziegler