I'm beginning my last week in ABQ, with plans to head for Tucson on Monday, October 29. The photos below show the year's first real cold front moving into the Sandia Mountain area today, so I'm leaving at just the right time. While beautiful, the mountains today look ominous and very cold. Some elevations will get their first snow this week.

Later in the week, warmer weather will return. Tonight it will dip below freezing sometime after midnight, but by Tuesday night the evening temps will return to the mid 40s.

In Tucson, Arizona, the temperatures will be much milder during the next few weeks. I'm seeking the warmth of the sun this Winter, so it's time to move on west and south. Once in Tucson, I'll see how things go. The Casino del Sol looks nice. I'll check it out first and go from there.

I've enjoyed my time in ABQ, but it's time to hit the road once again.






______________________________________________

I’m guessing the best place to taste the real flavor of a community is the coin-operated Laundromat. One of life’s necessary duties is washing clothes. Almost everyone must do it. I say “almost everyone” because I doubt Paris Hilton has ever put a cup of Tide into a washer, unless of course it was done on some goofy reality TV show. Without the local coin-operated machines where would a person go to wash their smelly socks?

The American Laundromat provides a snapshot of the community in which it is located. Visit any of these places and you’ll find a cross section of locals: college students, senior adults, single mothers with kids in tow, middle-aged couples, and travelers like me. And it’s amazing how quiet the place is.

For whatever reason, the Laundromat is the one gathering place in the community where very little talking takes place. I suppose it is the nature of cleaning clothes in public—exposing of your dirty laundry before a gawking crowd tends to make you tight-lipped. When you walk in with your duffle bag full of soiled underwear, the last thing you want to do is have a deep conversation with a stranger about the war in Iraq. So, the result is often silence.

I wonder if the Laundromat is uniquely American. Do other countries have such places? For some reason, I just cannot picture a Laundromat in Paris, or Stockholm, or even London for that matter. Obviously, foreigners must wash their clothes somewhere. Unless your in Germany, that is. And I know in many places around the world the local river serves as the place to clean your pants, so I guess we are lucky to have these places.
.
I know I’m fortunate to have found some wonderful Laundromats since I’ve been on the road. The nicest one I’ve seen is located near the University of Oklahoma in Norman. It was clean, had an attendant ready to help you with a big smile on her face, and there was a color TV so you could watch “Oprah” while waiting for the rinse cycle to finish. Of course, the day I was there Paris Hilton was Oprah’s guest.