Now, I don’t want to complain too much for fear of losing my audience — but my god, what a miserable day it was.  Started out lousy & grey in Alpine.  This fun sign just ends up looking like a nice shirt that’s been washed about 8,000 times:

 

What could I do but move on to Marfa.  Which was no better.  But at least there was this modern sign which looks like it was built on an old sign “can”.  Note the neon tumbleweeds at the top are lit sequentially:

 

And a neat hearse with long horns.  Really nice artwork — it would take at least a half dozen photos to show you what I mean — but I’ll just give you a couple:

 

And then somewhere in the vast nothingness west of Valentine — there was this bit of sun!  And this mirage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prada_Marfa

 

On to Van Horn where the sun was also shining:

 

But then… I was all optimistic and eager to arrive in El Paso at noon — plenty of time to shoot in the sun and maybe even finish in time to move into New Mexico.  Then half an hour away — bam — here came the dark clouds and the rain.  I decided to just take it slow, maybe it would get better.  Right at my first stop — the check engine light came on.  Insert your favorite curse word here.  I used my handy dandy code reader for the first time — codes indicated “fuel too rich” or something like that.  Not that helpful really.  So off to the Chevy dealer I went.  Took two hours til it went in the bay with the mechanic.  Then another hour and a half for the repair.  A solenoid evaporator purge something or other.  $330.  Supposedly will cure the little about-to-stall at lights thing.   Anyhow, since it was raining, although expensive, I didn’t mind so much hanging out and being stuck.  Once I was out of there, it was hard to get motivated — but I figured it good to do some heavy driving and test to make sure no more engine light or other symptoms (nope, all was good).  And maybe it would clear up (nope never did).

I think I took more than 100 photos — and hated just about all of them.  So I’m being very skimpy at Flickr and the blog.  Hoping for the best for tomorrow — but it looks like rain and clouds all day.  The forecast is rain for two more days yet.  Not something I can wait out really.  But if Las Cruces’ weather is supposed to be about the same, maybe I should just stick around.  Too late to make rationale decisions — will have to wait til morning.

Here’s a couple photos just to give you some entertainment.  A neat mid-century church that I stumbled upon.  Yes, parabolic roof & super skinny windows on the sides:

and fun religious shapes in the rocky area in front of it:

 

And something to smile about — a cheerful little recycled sign — now a bakery, originally, who knows…

 

I did end the day on a fun note.  Took the doggies to the Westside Community Center dog park for some good running.  Everybody had a blast even though we all got soaked in the rain.

If you’re still starved for photos, I should mention that I got all caught up before this trip.   All the photos from last year’s spring & summer trips are inserted at the website — so there’s plenty to entertain you there:
http://agilitynut.com/whatsnew.html

Better luck tomorrow — or maybe I’ll teach the kids to play cards.