2/9/10 I’m sitting next to the pool in Wickenburg, AZ (with three layers of clothing) catching up on e-mail. The pool is the first area that hasn’t kept bumping me off the Internet since I left Santa Fe.

Wickenburg has got a really cool engine and caboose display right in the middle of town at the Chamber of Commerce. Actually the COC is using the old depot for their information office. Someday in Santa Fe I’ll get all the photos posted.

We didn’t know it before arriving, but this is the town’s biggest celebration of the year. Gold Rush. Everything is sold out. We stayed in the driveway of an RV park last night and moved today to a better spot today, but have to move to a parking lot on the 11th for what they call “dry camping.” We’ve been caught up in the local hype of carnival, rodeo, and parade, so we plan on hanging out until the shine wears off.

Nights are cool here, around 50, at least no snow and now pipes freezing.

Tomorrow I fly to Albuquerque just for the day. I should be back tomorrow night. Unavoidable business….


2/7/10
Tonight we are in Deming, New Mexico. We checked into an RV park that promised cable TV and high speed Internet. Cable Yes, Internet No. Again, I’ll post it later when I can get connected.

Saturday we left San Antonio and ad headed for San Angelo. San Angelo turned out to be a delight. We passed through the Texas hill country in total awe. It was beautiful and the small towns were something that would have stopped Norman Rockwell in his tracks. Frozen in time from times past, the little towns left us longing to come back to hang out and capture a bit of Americana.

Our meandering drive caused us to arrive in San Angelo a littler later than we had planned, but once in town we found the San Angelo Train Museum to be well worth the drive. If you read “The Red Candy Caboose” and remember Fast Freddie, then you can appreciate Harold who works at the San Angelo Museum. Harold is a perfect “Fast Freddie.” Harold informed us he was born in 1926 and started railroading in 1947 with a career that lasted 39 years. Harold was proud of the fact he was the only man on the roster that was able to spend his career with no demerits. Harold teamed up with another museum docent Dave Wood. Between the two of them I don’t think there is any question one could ask that couldn’t be answered. Dave has spent countless hours creating beautiful miniature train displays that replicate actual Texas towns. This wonderful duo was complimented by a beautiful lady by the name of Jimmie who was in charge of the gift shop. It should be noted that Jimmie is married to Harold. With a team like this it is no wonder the San Angelo Museum has been so successful in persevering Texas train history.

Next we made brief stops at Fort Stockton, Van Horn and Sierra Blanca where we were able to get additional caboose shots even though no one was around. Sunday seems to be a sleepy day for train museums.