Arizona to Arkansas

April 30

We're off as of 9 days ago. We left Ryan and Carmina's in Chandler amidst horn honking and tear letting for our big adventure. Our first stop was the San Carlos Apache Reservation where we "camped" in the parking lot of their Apache Gold casino. Oh well, it was free. We did our share of gambling, spending $1 each, but felt it paid for the camping. The golf course, Apache Stronghold, was absolutely beauiful, carved out of the desert hills, arroyos and desert plants. We almost had the course to ourselves and had a great first time golfing.

We headed over the White Mountains with a stop at our old (and now very rundown) house in Whiteriver. The hospital where Jamie was born has been torn down and is now a day care center. We arrived at about 11 PM in New Mexico, had a super time birding the next morning at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, then played golf at the New Mexico Tech course, community owned. The head of the chamber of commerce, Terry Tadano, joined us on the back nine and we had lots of fun kidding each other along with his golfing buddy Larry Blackwell. They then treated us to dinner at a local hamburger joint, complete with green chilis which they pile on their burgers, but we started sweating with a tiny taste.

Then we were off over the New Mexico desert with a stop in Albuquerque to get our stereo back on track (at Circuit City) after Gloria fudged it up trying to set the clock. An hour delay on the freeway due to a truck wreck saw us getting in late to the Cimarron National Grasslands in southwest Kansas, so we pulled into a field and spent the night by our lonesome. The wind really kicked up and Gloria was sure a tornado was heading our way, but by morning all was peaceful. We got up at 4:30 to see Lesser Prairie Chickens on their lek, but after 1 1/2 hours in the freezing dark little hide we learned they weren't there. A nice guy drove us to the real lek and we were excited to see them prancing and preening around, looking for a female which never showed. Reminded us of high school. We visited Dorothy and Toto in Liberal, Kansas, then saw Carry Nation's house in Medicine Lodge before making it to Winfield for next golf. The course there was very nice, green, but rather windy. We stayed at a B&B to see the Greater Prairie Chickens and had a delightful breakfast with the folks who told us stories of the area.

We are now in Branson, Missouri, a midwestern Ozark idea of Las Vegas with lots of schlock and hucksterism with bluegrass, Bibles and boosterism thrown in. We attended the Dixie Stampede which was fun watching horses race around the arena, some in blue representing the north and the others in gray. We sat on the southern side, but our neighbors were from Illinois and Minnesota, so it didn't really matter which side you cheered for. We especially liked the porker races and little kids chasing the chickens. We enjoyed lots of jokes, including the clown who had written t.g.i.f. on his shoe. What does it mean? Toes go in first.

Golf here was wonderful. Although expensive, they comped us the greens fees and we only paid for the cart, though Gloria was designated driver rather than player. I absolutely loved the beautiful course, again with hardly anyone on it (we played early -- found more balls that way). We leave for Arkansas today after a visit to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum and the Ozark College for more history. Went for our first run in a long time and were rewarded by seeing our first red-headed woodpecker of the trip.

Life is grand, the weather super, we still love each other and look forward to seeing lots of friends and family in future days.

Glenn