New Mexico

We just call it "the mountain"

There's a place in the sun
and before my life is done
Gotta find me a place in the sun.

Stevie Wonder

I wrote my last post last week, but I forgot to post it until yesterday, so here comes another one.

Jackie and I are thinking about moving to New Mexico, and when we start thinking about something like that, we tend to do it sooner rather than later. The reasons for moving are mostly financial. Houses are about $250,000 dollars cheaper in the Albuquerque area than they are here, with lower property taxes and lower homeowner's dues. Our plan was to wait more than two years, until Jackie retires, but she can work from anywhere, and the financial incentives are just as valid now as they will be in two years.

Why New Mexico? Well, it will be nice to move somewhere dryer, warmer. Arizona is too hot, Nevada is too hot and is mostly either Las Vegas or desolation, Texas is out, California is too expensive, the East Coast is far from family. Much of New Mexico is cooler than Arizona, because the Rocky Mountains extend into New Mexico. Albuquerque is at over 5,000 feet elevation.

The truth is, we really don't know much about the place. We do know it will be sunnier.

Jackie and I moved here thirty years ago, in 1995, me in February, Jackie following in either June or July, not sure which. Lucas was born in early August. In October, Edgar hit The Double, and Junior scored from first to beat the Yankees, still probably the highlight of the Mariners franchise.

In December, we bought a house in Marysville. We had a five-year plan to buy a house in California before we moved north, for about $300,000. By the time the five years passed, we would not have been able to afford the house. California real estate always grew in value faster than our incomes grew. But the house in Marysville cost $142,000, and we bought it in our first year here.

Jarrod has lived around the country on long-term work assignments, but this is the only place the boys have ever called home. Thirty years is a long time.

That said, Jackie and I have never felt tied too closely to any one area, and we are looking forward to something different. New Mexico would be a good base for travelling around the Southwest, an area we do not know well.

Most likely, nothing will happen before June, because we have local commitments in May and June. After that, I expect we will move.

As of now, I have walked over 314,000 steps in March, and by the time tomorrow ends, that number will be about 328,000, more than any month since December 2023. The weather is getting better, and we are getting back into a groove.

Last fall on my street.

It rains here, and we have rainbows. My house is on the right, with a pot of gold inside.

A wild sunset from our neighborhood.

Jarrod bought six dog toys for Arlo, whose eyes bugged out.

Lincoln, Nebraska

 

We have completed the 104-mile hike from Omaha, Nebraska's biggest town, to Lincoln, the second biggest and the capital. Thirty-three of the American Discovery Trail segments are behind us, with thirty-five still to go.

Twenty-two days into March, and with a few thousand steps still to go this evening, I have already walked farther this month than I did all of last month, or December, or November, and by the 31st, this projects to be my third best month of this walk, and the best since December 2023. Weather has mostly been good, with no bridge tournaments, and I have dedicated myself to making up some time.

My total steps away from the Atlantic Ocean are approaching 4.9 million. Total distance is over 2,200 miles.

The Sunken Gardens in Lincoln. Most of the pictures of this garden that I found include this little dome, so if you go there, look for the dome.

Wabash, Nebraska

A windmill and tree near Wabash, Nebraska

Wabash, Nebraska is a named place, but it would be an exaggeration to call it a town. It is a place where two roads cross - Alvo Rd. and 322nd St. It looks like there are between 10 and 15 houses there. Agricultural fields surround the small area of lawns and houses.

These are some other street names at Wabash:

Olive St.
Pearl St.
North St.
Pauline St.

In fact, those are all of the streets at Wabash. It's a small place. The name Wabash, by the way, was bestowed on the area by settlers from Indiana, home of the Wabash River.

I find it is not so easy to average 10,000 steps a day when I count every day, if on some of those days I am driving to a bridge tournament or playing in one. Here is why: when I play bridge, I sit a lot, so I walk less than 10,000 steps. Trouble is, it can be a lot less, like I take maybe 4,000 steps some days. Do that for a few days, and suddenly I am 20,000 steps behind, and while it is easy to walk far fewer than 10,000 steps in a day, it is not so easy to walk a lot more. Some days I walk about 12,000 steps, but not often much more. It is difficult to catch up.

All of that is an explanation why, in March, when I have no tournaments all month, I am suddenly having a much easier time getting my steps in. Through 14 days, I am about 10,000 steps ahead of the 10,000 per day pace, on pace to walk farther than any month last year. (Best month last year was March, probably because there were no tournaments then, either.)

The weather is a bit nicer too. Still, could be better.

We are about two-thirds along the first Nebraska trail segment, walking between Omaha and Lincoln, the two largest towns in Nebraska. By this time next week, I should make it to Lincoln.

 

Nebraska, and A Familiar Crossing

Before I started this walk across the United States from East Coast to West Coast, I did a similar walk from Northwest Washington to Miami. As I walk now from Delaware to California, it is inevitable that my current path will cross the path of that previous trip, and it turns out that the crossing is not in someplace hard to pin down, like five miles south of a small town in Nebraska, but rather at a significant landmark. Today, I crossed the 3,000-foot Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge over the Missouri River, crossing from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska, and I also crossed this bridge on my previous trip, heading the opposite direction.

The halfway point of my trip will be in Nebraska, as it was in my previous walk, but for this trip it is still 330 miles ahead, more than halfway across the state. Total distance across the state is 523 miles, of which I have already covered 3, so only 520 to go.

After Nebraska, I will pass through only 4 more states, although the total distance across those four states is over 2,200 miles (this path is really not straight.) Every state from here forward, including Nebraska, will take a few months to cross.

We will talk more about Nebraska, but for now let's remember that Nebraska is the home of Runza, a fast-food place that serves Runza sandwiches and, with a couple of exceptions, only exists in Nebraska.

A Runza

That looks pretty good. I want one.