Our trip this past Friday to Kansas City for Arts on the Hill IV went really well. We had planned to leave at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, and ended up getting off at 8:15, which for us is pretty good. After stopping in Tyler to get ice for the cooler and gas, and to drop off some paperwork at Crown Motors, we were off! We took US 271 up to Oklahoma, eventually getting on the Indian Nation Turnpike. From there to the Creek Turnpike and then the Will Rogers Turnpike. Suffice it to say, we gave our share of financial support to Oklahoma's turnpike system! Thankfully when we hit Missouri, that ended! We picked up US 71 outside of Joplin, which rode much like an interstate--not having to go through all kinds of little towns. From there it was a straight shot up to KC. We had a little trouble when we got into Kansas City finding the Liberty Memorial, which was where the show was being held. We had very good directions, but a few blocks of one of the streets we had to take were totally blocked off by road construction. We did take the posted detour, but apparently the turn we were to take off of that street was within that construction zone. Oy! So we went around part of downtown Kansas City for a while (in the dark) before finally finding the Memorial, more by luck than skill!

When we got there, the drive in front of the Memorial was blocked by more road construction, and there were a few cars stopped. There was a guy who seemed to be talking to the driver of the first car. After a few minutes all the cars there pulled away and turned around. What was this?! So we pulled up to the guy, who turned out to be an attendant of some sort, and asked him how to get to the Liberty Memorial parking. He gave us directions, and we found the parking lot. It really helped that we had been there last year, as I kind of knew the lay of the land around the Memorial. So we found a parking place and walked a short distance to the Memorial.

We got inside and I gave our names to the "check-in" girl at the door. Then I got my badge/ribbon identifying me as one of the exhibiting artists. As we hadn't eaten anything except crackers since lunch, the first order of the evening was getting food! Luckily they had what I would call "heavy hors d'oeuvres." Mama had some Asian salmon and some pasta salad and I had some(gourmet) bologna, cheese, and crackers. We also had some miniature cupcakes, then went around to find my painting. We walked all around the display room, FINALLY finding my painting. It had been professionally framed by a Kansas City-area framer, as had all the paintings there, and this was the first time I'd seen it in this frame. It looked really good! Mama took a couple of pictures of me standing next to it, and then we walked around looking at the rest of the artwork.

All the art was created by people with various disabilities. As last year, it was phenomenal! As Mama said, it's amazing what people with disabilities can do with artwork. There were a few pieces that could be termed "outsider art," but most of it would be at home at any high-end gallery anywhere. One of the artists who really stood out to me was a visually-impaired guy who does black-and-white photography. Amazing! I mean, how does someone who is visually impaired take such wonderful photos? He even develops his own photographs--a skill he taught himself. He had some there from his "Twin Towers" series, of the World Trade Center towers in New York. Pre-9/11, of course. They were absolutely breath-taking! This was his first year to exhibit at Arts on the Hill. There were a number of artists there for the first time. I think the longest any of this year's exhibiting artists had been there was four years.

The format of the sale was a little different this year. In the past, the artworks have just been bought outright. This year they did a silent auction. Each artwork had a clipboard next to it where people could write their bids, with the minimum starting bid being the sale price the artist had specified. 70% of the original sales price will go to the artist, with the rest going to benefit the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City, which sponsors the show. So it's a win/win situation. Unless, of course, the artwork doesn't sell! The main show was Friday and Saturday, but after that any remaining artwork will be moved to the Institute for an extended show, where it will still be on sale. This is also new. So hopefully my painting, "Blue Awnings," will sell at some point. Not that I don't like the painting, but I've had a good run with it and I would like it to have a nice home--elsewhere. The sales check would be a big help!

Around 9:00 p.m., after we walked around and saw all the art, we left to go to the motel. We had directions on how to get from the Memorial to the motel in Lenexa, KS. But, as you might know, we got lost again! This time it was because the first street we had to turn off on did not have a street sign on it. Then, after we FINALLY went back to start over and found it, we missed the first exit we needed. AAAAARRRRRGH!!!!! After a lot of driving around, we finally found I-35 and got on that, taking that to the motel. It took us almost an hour to drive the "14 minutes" to the motel! After we checked in and deposited our stuff in the room, we went to a nearby Applebee's for supper. Thankfully they were still open AND serving. We got back to the motel well after 11:00.

Saturday Mama and I left the motel around 9:00 a.m. We had decided, especially since US 69 (yes, the same that runs right to Jacksonville) ran right near the motel, to take that back home, rather than going the turnpike route. So we got on 69 and headed south. It took us about the same amount of time to get home that it had for us to get to Kansas City. No changing routes multiple times. And no paying toll fees! We had to stop in Bullard to get some hot dogs and stuff for supper, and so it was about 8:30 before we got home. The house was still standing and not in a state of chaos, which was a good thing. The animals were happy to see us back. Ian was, too, when he got home from his weekend job just past 10:00. It was a nice trip overall, but I am glad to be back.

After we looked at the rest of the paintings and some other exhibits, we went to lunch at a local deli, then drove to Athens to see the Henderson County Art Club show there, in which I had 3 paintings. The first painting of mine that I saw when we got there was "Church Steeple, Trinidad, CO," which had an honorable mention on it! Not bad! "Old First National Bank, Mineola, TX" also got an honorable mention. "Davies Bridge" didn't get any, but I figure 2 out of three ain't bad! The vice-president of the club was there and we were looking at "Church Steeple." She said, "This isn't for sale, is it?" I told her no, it was a sample painting for my painting demo Monday night in Mineola. She said there had been a lot of interest in it. I couldn't tell from that if the interest had been in buying it, or just interest. Anyway, after looking at the rest of the paintings, we left to visit a pen-friend of Mama's, Don, who recently moved back to Athens. We visited with him for about an hour, then had to get back to the show to pick up my paintings. Don came with us so he could see my paintings, since he had not gotten to see the show. When we walked in, the club president was coming out and she said, "You won People's Choice." I was SO bowled over!!! Frankly, I had forgotten about People's Choice after Mama and I had put our ballots in the box. I turned to Don and Mama and squealed, "I got People's Choice!!!!!" We went in and there it was--"Church Steeple, Trinidad, CO." I haven't won a People's Choice award since the first art show I entered when I was a junior in high school. I just would like to know, for curiosity's sake, what is so special about this painting. I mean, is it something artistic, something metaphysical, or is it just the fact it's a church steeple I'm displaying here in the buckle of the Bible Belt? In any case, I'm entering it in the Palette of Roses Art League show next month--and it will be for sale there, since my demo will have been past by then. Who knows, maybe I'll get some money out of it!

Like I said, I know Art is not about the ribbons, the money, or the public acceptance. For me at least, it's about creating because I feel driven to and because it's a big part of my way of communicating. But it's still always exciting, I think, when one gets outside "validation" or support or approval of what one is doing, no matter what that something is.

Mama and I got home just after 12:00 a.m. this morning. We drove 718 miles in about 15 hours (including stops) yesterday, straight through from Raton to J'ville. It was a LOOOOONG day, but we made it without major incident. Though there was that RV in New Mexico that almost ran us off the road and the person from Maryland who blasted their horn at us, presumably for our not going fast enough for them. But I veered away from the RV (luckily we had enough shoulder to drive on!) and kind of ignored the horn blast. Oh well.

We had a GREAT trip! We finally left last Sunday around 9:30 a.m. and got to the motel in Amarillo around 9:00 that night. After supper at a nearby Chili's, we went back to the motel, showered, and went to bed.

Monday we arrived at Sugarite Canyon State Park in the early afternoon. We decided to camp at the Soda Pocket campground, where I'd camped when I was there. It's almost on top of a mountain, about 7000 feet above sea level. Except for the camp host, there was no one there when we set up, though we got a couple of neighbors later that afternoon. We got a prime spot. Not under any trees, but with room to spare and a great view (plus it was close to the chemical toilets!). We got the tent set up OK, then tried to inflate the extra-high air mattress. After about 20 minutes or so with the "electric" pump working its heart out, it was still only about 3/4 full and not seeming to inflate any more. The problem, as I saw it, was the weird valve that had a kind of shield over it that wouldn't let the pump in well. So we decided to make a run to the nearest Wal Mart in Trinidad, CO (about 22 miles away) and get a new mattress. We wound up getting 2, because the first (which we really wanted since it was a little thicker) appeared to have the same kind of valve system. Sure enough, it too was still soft after a while of pumping after we got back to camp! We slept on it anyway, but it was not a great experience. That night, due to clouds moving in, we decided to leave the rain cover on the tent. Good thing, because just after we'd gotten inside, it started to rain! We survived, though, and managed to stay dry.

Tuesday morning dawned bright and beautiful. We had decided to drive New Mexico's Enchanted Circle loop, which runs from Eagle's Nest through Red River and Questa, to Taos, and back east along US-64 to Eagle's Nest. It was a GORGEOUS drive. At Questa, we got off the main road and went to Cabresto Lake. I'd been there when I was camping at Sugarite 8 years ago, and it was quite spectacular. To get to it, you drive down a forest service road (unpaved), and then go 2 miles UP a very rocky, steep mountain road. The drive up was kind of hairy, but we made it, with accompanying grunts and "Oh!"s from Mama as the van lurched along. The lake was as nice as I'd remembered. Even Mama was impressed! We took pictures, then decided to sit awhile. Right after we'd sat down, though, we started hearing thunder from an afternoon thunderstorm that had popped up. So we decided to start down before we got washed down. So I didn't get to do any sketching like I'd done last time. The drive down was not QUITE as bad, though it did take me 17 minutes to drive the 2 miles. (Mama had decided to time me.) We went back out to the main highway just as the rain started. It rained on us all the way in to Taos. We stopped at a grocery store there to get some stuff, by which time the rain had stopped, then drove back to camp. That night was the worst time. Around 9:00, we started getting STRONG winds! I don't know how fast they were, but I'd estimate at least 25-30 miles per hour. Two of the tent stakes pulled up and the side section next to me collapsed inward, so I had to go out and fix that. I finally got it, then weighted down that section on the inside with my suitcase. We ended up opening the side and back windows and front door to try and lessen the wind resistance. FINALLY around 11:00 the winds calmed down, and I closed the front door, though we left the windows open just because. The rest of the night was uneventful.

Wednesday morning was again superb. Since thunderstorms had been forecast at the last we'd heard, we'd decided already to go to Taos, figuring we could step inside somewhere if it started to rain. We went first to the San Francisco d'Assissi church, but unfortunately they were remudding the adobe, so we didn't get to go in. We did see the back, though! Then we decided to go to a parking lot near the plaza and have lunch. Afterwards, taking the umbrella with us, we went to a few galleries (just looking around), then went to the plaza. We sat in the gazebo there for a few minutes, then went shopping in a few shops for souvenirs and gifts for some friends. We also had ice cream cones. After getting our souvenir T-shirts at the I Love Taos shop, we drove down to a local art-supply store and looked around, though I didn't find anything I wanted to buy. Then we decided to go back to camp. Along the way, I took a detour from Angel Fire to Coyote Creek State Park to show Mama where I'd camped there 8 years ago. It was kind of late when we got back, but since it stayed light until about 9:00 p.m. local time up where we were, it wasn't too bad. While we had wind and rain that night, the wind wasn't NEARLY as bad as Tuesday night, and the rain was light, too.

Thursday we drove the Highway of Legends in southern Colorado. We started in Walsenburg and headed west. We did take a detour to Zapata Falls, near the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve. My brother Ian had been there some years ago, and highly recommended it. We hiked 1/2 mile uphill to the falls, which is not as bad as it sounds, since they had benches along the way to rest. We didn't get to see the actual falls, since you had to walk up the creek. Since the water was pretty plentiful in the creek, we didn't feel like risking falling. We did hear the falls, though, and took pictures of the area. It was SO cool-- like standing over an air-conditioning vent! After a little bit there, we headed back down to the parking area. Then we went to the Sand Dunes Preserve, mostly to find a good place to have our picnic lunch. Luckily it wasn't too much farther down the road, and Mama has a Golden Age Passport from the National Parks Service that lets her and anyone in her party in national parks for free, so we didn't have to pay admission. After lunch, we went across to the dunes and Mama got some pictures. They are really impressive--the deepest is (I think) something like 1750 feet! After that we left there and went back to the main highway, driving back to US-160 and picking up where we'd left off. We did stop a few times to get pictures of volcanic dikes that we saw on the way. Unfortunately, another afternoon thunderstorm came up, so I didn't get to do any sketching once again. We wound up in Trinidad, where we parked downtown and walked around some. Other than being an old town, there wasn't much to see, which left me kind of disappointed. We left there, stopping at the Wal Mart and a Wendy's to get lemonade (for me) and iced tea (for Mama), then went back to camp.

Friday we went to Pecos (Pueblo) National Historic Park, near Pecos, NM. It was about 170 miles one way from our campsite, but well worth the drive. Once again, we got in for free because of Mama's Golden Age Passport. We had lunch at their picnic facilities, then walked the trail that wound around the ruins of the pueblo and the second church that had been built there. Fascinating! I did get to do a couple of sketches of the church ruins. We also saw a short video on the history of the pueblo and bought some souvenirs. After that, we headed back to camp.

Saturday, since Mama had to go to Mass at 5:30 that afternoon in Raton, we'd decided to stick close to "home" and just go to Cimarron Canyon so I could sketch. I did get 2 oil sketches, a watercolor sketch, and a pencil sketch done--more than I'd done this whole "painting" trip! Fortunately the weather wasn't rainy; unfortunately it was VERY windy in the canyon, so I had to do my oil sketches with my pochade box in my lap sitting in the driver's seat of the van. The watercolor and pencil sketches I did do outside the van, but my supplies for those activities were not in as much danger of blowing away. Speaking of blowing away, as I tried to take my first oil sketch out of the pochade box and transfer it into my wet- panel carrier, it blew away! I chased after it, yelling at it not to blow into the river! Luckily I caught it, and except for some dirt stuck in the paint (texture, as Mama said), it was fine. Whew! The perils of plein-air painting! With the second one I was much more careful putting it into my panel carrier. We stopped in Cimarron (town) on the way back and went into the historic St. James Hotel. We walked around and looked at the old pictures and saw the old bullet holes in the dining room ceiling. Then we had to leave and get back to Raton so Mama could go to church. While she was doing that, I got some stuff at the store on the other side of town, then went back and wrote in my journal until she got out. After Mass, we went to the local Dairy Queen, since we had gotten a couple of coupons for $1.00 off their blizzards. We each got a medium blizzard treat and ate them. Then we drove back to camp, stopping at the bathhouse on the way to take our showers. On the way back to camp, a black bear crossed the road in front of us on its way down the mountain! I'd been thinking we weren't going to get to see one, but we did. I just wish I'd been able to get a picture. Oh well. After supper, we unpacked, organized, and repacked the stuff in the van, as well as packing anything we didn't need that night, so we wouldn't have to do that Sunday morning. That night was absolutely beautiful, so we left the rain cover off the tent so we could see the stars.

Sunday morning we arose at 6:00 local (Mountain) time; dressed; and took down the tent, deflated the air mattress, and finished packing the van. We were done by 7:00, and drove down the mountain for the last time, stopped at the bathhouse to brush our teeth, and were on our way. Like I said, overall it was a great trip. We saw lots of antelope, some deer and wild turkey, a few chipmunks, and the bear. The weather co-operated pretty well; at least we didn't get struck by lightning or anything like that. I would have liked to have been able to paint more, but at least it was a good, relaxing trip. We did a LOT of driving (close to 3000 miles total), but saw all we went to see and then some, so I guess it was a success, even if I didn't do as much painting as I'd planned. At least I got LOTS of reference photos!

I won a prize! Mama and I went up to the art show in Linden (Texas) yesterday. "Blue Awnings" had a red ribbon (2nd place) on it!!!!! That really made my day. I also get a cash prize. I don't know how much--they have to mail the check to me because they didn't get them cut in time to give them out yesterday. They had some really neat artwork there. And my painting got 2nd prize in its division! He-he!!!!

We left yesterday around 9:30 a.m. After gassing up, we were on our way. The latest weather report I'd heard was that the rainstorms we'd been having would be moving out by the afternoon, so we decided to go ahead and make a day of it as we'd originally planned. We went first to Caddo Lake State Park. We ate lunch, then drove around a little. We hadn't been to the park itself in over 20 years when we had camped there. It's changed a little since then! Not the natural beauty--just the layout. They used to have a swimming area, which is no longer there. The boat ramp is different as well. Those are the two things that really stuck out to me. (Keeping in mind I was only maybe 6 or 7 years old the last time we were there!) I finally settled on the fishing pier to set up to paint. I had my new pochade box (a studio in a box) and tripod. This set-up is SO much better than either my paintbox or my french easel! Easier to use than the former, more compact than the latter. Unfortunately, having better equipment by itself hasn't improved my plein-air painting ability. The sketch I did wasn't bad in and of itself, but I still haven't mastered the process. Oh well. After I did as much on the sketch as I could, I took some photos with my digital camera. Then we left and went to Jefferson. We parked next to The Bakery and first bought a loaf of bread there. After depositing it in the van, we walked around some and went into a (very high-end) antiques store and the General Store. Then we decided to go on to Linden and see the show, hoping I'd maybe find someplace else to paint. When we got to Linden, we had no trouble finding a parking place and went in to see the art show. As I said, they had some really neat artwork, including paintings, drawings, photos, and sculptures. When we had seen all there was to see there and at their downtown festival, there was still about an hour before the art show was over and I could pick up my paintings. (Actually I could have taken them home right then, but I didn't think that would be fair to the show organizers.) So we decided to drive around the area a little. It was a really nice drive, especially since we were on a back- road and so didn't have any 18-wheelers bearing down on us. We ended up in Atlanta. I had never been in the downtown area there, so we stopped and I took some more pictures of some of the older buildings. I don't know if any of them will end up as paintings, but we'll see.