This is my nephew. He is everything I will never be - cute, charming, perpetually tan and curly of hair. As I have previously mentioned, we recently returned from a week-long road trip. My sister drove the whole time and I tended to the baby for the many, many hours we spent on the road. At some point in time Cheerios lost their powerful effect, toys became uninteresting and bottles and pacifiers were useless. Have you ever turned a fuzzy, purple blanket into a hand puppet with a French accent? Well, I have - all in an attempt to curtail the squeals and cries of this nearly-perfect little boy. To capture his many moods, I was inspired to take his picture in the reflection of the vanity mirror on the visor. This is what I saw.
Neutral
Bored
Fussy
Pensive
Defiant
Drowsy
Defeated
Hysterical
Crowded
Interested
Sneaky
Dreamy
When toys failed, everyday objects fascinated.
Inspired
Confused
Round 2 with the Kleenex box.
Proud
Just plain exhausted
Towards the end of our journey, when every bottle had been lost, I handed him a "sippy" cup with water. When I was watching him he was drinking contentedly. A few minutes later, after turning my back to him, he was laughing hysterically; here's why (no, that is not me laughing like a lady in the background.....okay, maybe it is.....).
The American landscape is both beautiful and unpredictable. My sister, my 13-month-old nephew and I found this out after we planned a two-week adventure across country to visit my brother-in-law; he is engaged in Military Police training before his unit is deployed to Guantanamo Bay. We set out just as Missouri, our ultimate destination, was being ravaged by tornadoes. Moreover, our itinerary had us driving directly through the threatened areas of Oklahoma.
Astute problem solvers that we are, we decided not to continue the trip as planned, but instead explore the American Southwest - namely Arizona and New Mexico.
We had already decided to travel along as much of the old Route 66 as was practical. Our adventure along Route 66 began in the Barstow area and I immediately began snapping photos of the cool wacky tacky signs that had starting cropping up along the roadside. The major stops along our route included Oatman, Kingman, Seligman, Williams, The Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona, Holbrook, The Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, Tucson, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Quartzite (all in AZ) and Gallup, Albuquerque, Truth or Consequences and Las Cruces (NM).
The Painted Desert
Sedona, AZ
The Grand Canyon
Instead of boring you with an endless travelogue or countless photos of geological formations, I thought I'd share a compilation of the Southwest's best roadside signs and dinosaurs (that we encountered). Forgive my proto-novice camera abilities; it may seem impossible to take a bad picture of The Grand Canyon, but I managed...
"Dead Chicken" is actually the best item on the menu.
Burma-Shave signs are alive and well along Route 66.
I captured Fred at The Flinstone Campground - just barely...
A taste of the Southwest.
I'm pretty sure this dinosaur is on the cover of a vintage roadside book that I have
Dinosaurs were EVERYWHERE!!
Who knew the Indians were so kinky?
The El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM was built by D.W. Griffith's brother
and hosted just about every Hollywood star of the 1930's and 40's.
A cigar store-style Indian covered in turquoise.
Is that a skateboarding, pink dinosaur in a helmet?
Hotel Congress was built in 1919 in the "Pueblo Deco" style and was the
last hideout for John Dillinger and his gang before they were captured.
Easter Island in the middle of Tucson
This camel was a wheeler-dealer
Thanks, Petula.
The biggest surprise of the trip - the Southwest is more than giant, metal-lizard wall art, retirees and turquoise jewelry; active Route 66, unfortunately, is trading on little more than life-size cut outs of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elvis and Betty Boop...
