New Mexico

Hector had a little conference in Albuquerque but really it was an excuse to get our needed Marriott points for the year and to visit Santa Fe. I couldn’t tell you what the conference was even about. We stayed at the Marriott Pyramid North. That name may sound promising but really it’s just one of those 1970’s hotels that have an indoor atrium that goes up ten floors and some tacky fountains and things. It’s in dire need of a remodel. We had a cave-like suite with battered furniture.

Albuquerque has a nice little historic district, with a plaza and some cool old buildings around it. Nothing like Santa Fe, of course. We drove up and had a few meals there, took a hike in the Santa Fe National Forest and drove around looking at gorgeous houses we can’t afford. We still haven’t given up on our fantasy to live there some day.

We saw Kent and Bob last night. They are well, fit and slim (bastards). And busy as usual. We all had dinner at a restaurant named Trattoria Nostrani and just as we were lamenting that we hadn’t seen any celebrities this trip, as we normally do, in walked Jeremy Irons. He sat alone, dressed like a homeless person, and had dinner reading a magazine. Nobody knew what he was doing in Santa Fe but clearly he wasn't hiding.

Hector and I, in our shallow way, collect our celebrity sightings. The best are at restaurants because it's something a bit more than just passing them in the street. My all time fave is dinner with Paul McCartney and Heather Mills at Kampa Park in Prague.

Home from Puerto Rico

We left Rincon on Saturday and not a moment too soon! By Friday the place was filling up with--of all things-- tourists! At least we had a couple of days of solitude. I barely got out of the water the entire time and by Friday afternoon was feeling a little waterlogged and parboiled.

We drove back to San Juan on a different route, through Ponce on the Southern Coast. The landscape was very different. A lot like California with green rolling hills instead of the lush jungle of the Northern Coast. Checked back into our Marriott for one night and believe it or not we went to the local mall to see a movie-- Lions for Lambs. It was good. But the Spanish subtitles were a bit distracting, and the other viewers were a rowdy bunch. Lots of cell phone talking, bags rustling, people coming and going. I didn't do my usual huffing, puffing and throwing dirty looks because we were most definitely in the minority.

Now on the way home, business class San Juan to LA (7 1/2 hours) but we're in an old American Airlines 757 bucket so there's no glamour. Except that sitting in the seat behind me is a pop star named Nick Lachey and he and his girlfriend are both very pretty, in that overdone Hollywood way.

We're home for one day then we leave again for Albuquerque on Tuesday. This is one of my favorite things to to do: take a long trip, then come home for a day or so then take off again. It's like a little vacation from vacationing. I can do laundry, sleep in my bed, check the mail, but I don't really have to let anyone know I'm here.

Here's Where I Am, Where Are You?

In lovely Puerto Rico now. We're basically recreating the trip we made here at Christmas of 2005 (?) but this time with Mark and Arturo in tow. We spent 4 days in San Juan, lots of walking, eating, gambling at the hotel casinos, splashing in the surf. We took a hike one day in the Bosque National Forest, known as El Junque. It's a rainforest and very beautiful. And wet. Lots of waterfalls, huge dripping ferns, noisy animal life.

Now they have gone home and Hector and I have come to Rincon, on the western Caribbean coast, to a nice little beach hotel (see foto) with spectacular views and a gorgeous warm surf to play in. We came at the right time of year because the place is pretty quiet and we got a better deal this time than before at Christmas. Maybe 25 people here at most. The poor employees are bored to distraction.

We just took a drive into "town" to buy some water and alcohol and, God, is it poor. The grocery store looked like something in Communist Russia, with empty shelves and a few sickly vegetables. No shortage of alcohol, naturally.

One more day then back to San Juan for a night and home again.