31MAR2012 – From Lubbock I went to Santa Fe to see Lizbeth Wolf and Kelly Callan.  I had not seen either of them for 40 years.

Liz and Kelly and I were housemates for a while during my college days.  Here is what they looked like then:

Liz is a professional artist. You can see her work at http://www.manitougalleries.com/artists.

Unfortunately, Kelly was occupied much of the time I was there tending to her very ill doggy.  We were able to to spend some time together but I spent most of the time with Liz.

Liz and Kelly are both dog lovers.  It seems like everyone they know is also.  I got lots of attention from dogs there.  Liz’s brother had a wolf-like dog that I called “Call of the Wild”.  Call of the Wild let herself into Liz’s house (through the dog door) every day at dawn, stole some stuff, stashed it, and then came over to my bed and licked my face.  About an hour later, Emma, Liz’s dog, got up, came over to my bed and licked my face.  Shortly after, Peter, Liz’s cousin, would bring his dog that Liz cared for every day.  Peter’s dog looked like an Ewok.  He also licked my face.

Here is Liz with Emma in the park where it’s a law your dog has to be on a leash.

Liz and Emma Ignoring the Leash Law VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Ewok and Me at Lizbeth Wolf’s House – Santa Fe, NM – April 2012

I learned about milagros in Santa Fe and this became very important as we shall see in future posts.  According to Pachamama Gallery: “In Latin America, the devout often petition a saint for a favor or thank him for answering a prayer by hanging a small representation of the petition on his/her image. These devotional miniatures, generally made of silver or silvery-colored metal today, are called milagros (miracles), or milagritos (little miracles). In some cases, people refer to these tiny effigies–of a person, a house, an animal, crop or vehicle, etc.—as ex-votos, Latin for “from a vow.” Oftentimes, a person makes a vow or promise (a promesa or a manda) to the saint to give her a little present when she answers the petitioner’s prayer. The quantity of milagros on a saint testifies to the saint’s effectiveness in answering prayers.

Santa Fe was a great time with wonderful people.

28MAR2012 – I saw pictures of Jessica and Brad Houghtby in Austin while I was there visiting their parents.  They are both wonderful!  Its not that Brad is unimportant, but I was primarily driven to go to Lubbock to meet Jessica when I saw the picture of her in a bikini.  However, I sincerely did think it was fortuitous that Brad lived in Lubbock also and would be able to join us.  So I asked Opie and Carolyn if it would be OK for me to take them out to dinner in Lubbock and they said no.  So here is the after dinner pic I took.  Does anybody look like their dad?  Is Jessica smokin’ hot or what?!

I have Brad art to post at a later date.

Brad and Jessica Houghtby March 2012

So after I left Davis I headed back to Phoenix to take care of some motorcycle business and visit Adrienne.  Then I went to Tucson for more motorcycle business and to spend more time with Robert.

And from Tucson,  I left for Austin, TX on 19MAR2012.  I was on my way to see my dear old friend Robert Houghtby (a.k.a. Opie), for the first time in about 39 years, and to meet his family.

In Austin,  I met Carolyn, Opie’s spouse, and two dogs and four cats.  Opie and Carolyn actually live in Pflugerville, a small town in the Austin metropolitan area.  Opie and Carolyn have a really nice home on 5 acres.  Opie’s son Brad and his daughter Jessica both live in Lubbock.  I will do a separate post about my visit there.

We had some great times on this visit and I will follow with additional posts.

Robert (Opie) and Carolyn Houghtby – March 2012