"Oh, God!"

Raton, NM

...

I don't know why anyone wants to live there. There is NOTHING in the town. 2 ATMS, a Movie Theatre that shows one movie, a BIG K mart, and a group of fast food restaurants that does not include Taco Bell.

It was wonderful to see friends, and the price of the room we were in (zero dollars and zero cents) was well worth the week, but Casey and I found ourselves staggeringly bored, completely out of our minds. More power to the folks who enjoy living in Raton(from what I could see, average age was about 65). There is alot of talk there about this "RACINO" contaption, which I think is something like a state-funded casino...and putting one in Raton. One piece of literature I read mentioned the fact that young people are leaving the area in droves as quickly as possible. It shows. What young people there were working at fast food restaurants and such seemed very unhappy. Not for me.

Their fireworks show though, was quite satisfactory...especially their finale. So that was nice. I would've been very upset to have seen mediocre fireworks on my week off.

Speaking of a week off...I wish it would've come later in the summer. Casey and I had just gotten rolling. We both missed doing our job this week, maybe it was because we were so bored in Raton, but I really think it was more because we really are enjoying our work. It'll be nice to get back tomorrow.

A story: As we were driving from Loveland on Sunday, we came abouts a Renaissance Fair in Larkspur, CO. I can have fun doing just about anything as long as its spontaneous, and going to my first renaissance fair on a whim was excellently spontaneous. Casey and I walked up to the gate, lamenting our lack of costumes...when it dawned on us that we have a giant stock of costumes in the back of the truck...(that are, as it turned out, slightly earlier than Renaissance style) So, I donned the minstrel costume and Casey put on a villager dress...and we locked my pants in the truck...with the keys in the pocket...and my wallet...and my phone...so we had to call a tow driver to come unlock our door, us dressed like medieval folk. It was a fun little trip. Becasue we couldn't use our Ford roadside assistance, normally we wouldn't have to pay, but our Fleet Manager thought our story so "unusual" that we deserve to be reimbursed. I love Guido.

Anyways, we're here in Taos now which seems a little more popping than Raton was. The drive from Raton to Taos was absolutely, without a doubt the most beautiful 90 miles I've ever experienced. Its tough to describe the beautiful Mesas, rocky cliffsides, evergreen slopes...it was wondrous. I'll have some pictures up on my picasa site soon.

I sincerely hope you're all doing well, and hope your world wasn't crushed without an update this past week.(:-/) Internet was also quite scarce in Raton.