By the Time I Get to Tucson

For the winter I think I'll live in Tucson. Why not? My only goal for the Winter of 2007 is to skip it. I want to stay warm. Tucson almost never gets cold, so I'm here to stay for a while.


I left Texas in a funk back in August and have not looked back. I spent 74 wonderful days in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe area of north central New Mexico, but when the night time temps began to fall into the sub-comfortable range I decided to head south.


My blog "1100 Miles to Vegas" has daily (or almost daily) updates of my trip across the Southwest.


While in Santa Fe I attended the Filmmakers Intensive open house at the College of Santa Fe. It's a new program for anyone interested in the film business, offering three tracks of study in screenwriting, directing, and producing. I'm looking at 2009 as a possible time frame to apply for the screenwriting track. Students spend nine months to a year learning from professional filmmakers on the College of Santa Fe campus.


The College of Santa Fe is evidently the only college in America that has a professional film studio attached to its campus, providing film students the opportunity to observe films being produced and shot in the Santa Fe area. Internships on various productions are possible as well.


The film industry in New Mexico has exploded, with numerous films and TV shows being filmed all around the state. New Mexico began in 2001 providing financial incentives to lure Hollywood film producers, and it's working.


Among the films being shot in New Mexico recently is Kevin Costner's Swing Vote. A new professional studio in Albuquerque, plus one being planned for Santa Fe, will see plenty of Hollywood business in the future. Russell Crowe's 3:10 to Yuma was filmed in New Mexico last year and the new Indiana Jones movie is coming to the state next year. In October, there were 19 movies being filmed around the state, and numerous commitments being made for 2008 and beyond.

"Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top.

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At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles--a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other--that kept me going."

"The Rum Diary", Hunter S. Thompson, 1959.

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I saw this sign yesterday and had to take a shot of it.

Husband to his wife: "Honey, breakfast in bed is so cliche'. How about breakfast in the pool?"

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The Borders Bookstore on Wyoming is next door to the Whole Foods Market, and I've spent plenty of days at both places. The photo below is taken from my favorite chair near the front windows.



Here I am trying to look like I'm working. See the Dallas Cowboys decal on my laptop? I won the decal at the Sandia Resort in a drawing. A local radio station was giving away prizes during a Cowboys football game. That decal, retail $19.95, is about the only thing I've won at the Sandia Casino!

Where will I go next? I'm thinking seriously about heading south to Socorro, then take the scenic Hwy. 60 through the Tularosa Mountains on my way to Silver City in the southwestern part of New Mexico. From there it's a short drive to Tucson, Arizona. I can make the drive in one day, unless I decide to stop and visit some tourist attractions along the way. The Gila Cliff Dwellings might be a nice place to see, located in the Gila Wilderness Area north of Silver City.

I've made my decision to head south and west in a few days. I'll give my notice to my boss today, and will work through next week. I'll target Sunday, October 28, as the launch date for the next leg of my Fall Adventure (the Fall Adventure is quickly becoming a Winter Adventure!).

I've been receiving emails regularly from investors both in Dallas and Las Vegas, making me anxious to get to Nevada. However, I'm in no hurry. We'll see where The Road takes me. It may be early Spring before I arrive in Henderson, Nevada. I'm enjoying traveling my way across the Southwest. I'm looking to spend the Winter in the warmest climate I can find. It appears that southern Arizona and California are nice during the Winter months.

The dapper looking fellow on the right is Edward S. Curtis. I became reacquainted with him while I was researching the Pueblo culture in New Mexico. Having touched on his work while studying photography in college, I had forgotten about him.

I'm traveling across the Southwest on my way to Las Vegas, stopping to study and write about what I find along the way. My curiosity has always been peaked by the Old West and Southwestern life. Indians and the Puebloans are at the center of history here.

So when I stumbled upon Curtis I had to get to know him. His writings and photography were controversial when he published his work The American Indian, 1907 to 1930, as a limited edition. Curtis said his goal was to document "the old time Indian, his dress, his ceremonies, his life and manners." Some of his contemporaries questioned his methods, however, and many on the reservation doubted his sincerity.

A resurgence of interest in Curtis took place in the 1970s, and one can find a lot online about his life and work. I recently noticed an Edward S. Curtis 2007 Calendar at a bookstore, available with wonderful photographs of Indian life in the early years of the last century.

For more information and links visit my blog at Photographium.

A Visit to the Route 66 Casino and Winrock Center

The drive to the Route 66 Casino is nice enough, with the looming mesas and distant mountains keeping you company. After visiting the Flying J Truck Center going west, I saw almost nothing of a civilized world. Once I climbed a huge incline and navigated the crest of a nice sized hill, I began driving down the other side expecting more hillside.

I was immediately struck by a view to the west that seemed to go on forever. “My gosh, what a fantastic view,” I said to no one. I was looking down into a wide, expansive, beautiful valley below me as I began my descent. I felt like I was on the rim of a humungous cereal bowl looking down at my breakfast, in this case a valley that stretched for miles below me in delicious splendor.

The entire panorama would have been breathtaking but for the site of the Route 66 Casino complex 4 miles away in the distance, dotting the landscape like some space ship that took a wrong turn and crash landed in the New Mexican desert. Still minutes away, I could see the casino complex surrounded by the desert landscape in the valley and thought, “What a way to ruin a majestic view and damage God’s handiwork.”

My thoughts of the landscape soon vanished however, as I was eager to check out the poker room. Beautiful landscapes are certainly nice, but so are well-run poker rooms.

The road construction at the casino was horrible. The section of highway directly in front of the complex was being repaved, in addition it looked as if a new ramp, service road, and bridge were under construction. A motel is also being built next door and looked like a mess.

I finally made it to the parking lot and looked for the entrance. My first impressions? Old, worn out, musty, the “old school”, not glitzy at all but rather a cheap imitation of nicer places—these were my thoughts as I walked inside. I’m not sure when the casino was built, but it must have been years ago. The smell inside was musty, carpets well worn, and I couldn’t help but think that I was going back in time to an era of gambling before the glitz mongers of Vegas began to add glitter and shine to casino properties. (I’m no expert on casino history, just giving you an idea of what I was thinking). Everything in the place seemed to speak of the old days, including the huge WSOP slots with Doyle Brunson’s face and Stetson cowboy hat staring at you as you walked by. I liked the place.

The poker room, however was a little disappointing because of its size. I had no idea it would be so small. I only saw 8 tables with no action. The room itself was old-style, with deep wood grains and comfortable chairs and a feeling of comfort and nostalgia. However, only one table was open, and even it was short-handed with only seven players. The game they were playing was $2/$6 limit with a 1/2 kill. I'm sure activity picks up at night and on weekends, but where will players sit?

“We got an open seat,” the lady at the registration desk said. “There’s plenty of room if you want to play.”

I looked a little dejected and replied, “Doesn’t look like much is going on around here.” The lady ignored my comment and went back to the crossword puzzle she was working on.

I walked out a little sad. I drove 18 miles to get here and found one game open with a small group of local players, probably waiting for a stranger like me to come in so they could empty his wallet. There’s no doubt I’d be broke had I sat down in that game.

I drove back to Albuquerque having wasted some time, but now looking for a shopping mall. While getting gas I asked the clerk for directions to a mall and she told me to head toward the mountains on I-40 and take the Louisiana exit. In a few minutes I was standing in front of a mall that was all but dead.

Ironically, the dying mall with just a few living renters left is called “Winrock Center”. I saw a Dillard’s, a Bed Bath and Beyond with a few other small retailers hanging on—and that was it. I walked inside the mall and it was a ghost town. Most of the store fronts had been boarded up or covered up with black curtains. This would make a great movie set for a horror film. “Bloodsucking Zombies of Sandia Peak” or “The Invasion of the Winrock BodySnatchers”. The Winrock Center was actually built in 1961 and was New Mexico’s first fully enclosed shopping mall. So I guess her time is up.

The action was taking place across the street at ABQ Uptown. A new retail center with street front entrances, franchise restaurants, and walking trails, the ABQ is sleek, inviting, and just plain fun. Now this is more like it. I parked in front of the Border’s Bookstore and strolled through the ABQ thinking about Southlake, Texas, and it’s Southlake Town Center. These kinds of developments are springing up around the country. Some say the indoor mall of my youth is dying, being replaced by outdoor venues that provide fresh air and sunshine for shoppers who crave such things. The evidence seems to be unavoidable here. Shopping is becoming natural, environmentally safe, healthy, sexy, and for the most part, outdoors.

I'm enjoying my stay so far in this "land of enchantment". I might hang out here for a while. Henderson and Vegas will still be there when I'm ready.

First Impressions: the Sandia Casino and Resort

The Sandia Casino and Resort is located off Interstate 25 just north of downtown Albuquerque at the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. The resort offers an 18-hole golf course, 228 guest rooms with flat panel television screens, banquet rooms and convention space, a spa, an exercise facility, and an outdoor amphitheater to hosts concerts under the New Mexican sky. As Tony Soprano might say, "This is one classy joint."

If you visit, the casino is to the north side of the complex and the best parking is underground. Follow the signs around to the left of the main entrance and you won't get lost. The hotel is to the right and there is plenty of above-ground parking in that direction. I like the underground parking because the elevators take you directly to the main floor of the casino. It's a very easy walk from the car to the poker room.

The resort has adopted the rich pueblo history of Albuquerque and is adorned in Southwestern styles and artwork. The Pueblo of Sandia is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in central New Mexico and adjacent to Albuquerque. They own the resort along with other businesses. Their reservation covers 22,877 acres on the east side of the Rio Grande Valley.

The Sandia people are members of the pre-Columbian Tiwa language group who once dominated the Albuquerque area. Their lineage can be traced back to the Aztec civilization. The present site has been their home since at least 1300 AD. Once the largest pueblo in the area with over 3000 people, the tribe currently has just under 500 members. They are one of nineteen pueblo tribes recognized by the federal government in New Mexico. I wish I were one of those 500 tribe members!

"Thur Pa" is the name of the casino lounge, reflecting this heritage. The other dining areas are the "Bien Shur" Restaurant, "Thur Shan" Buffet, "Pa Shur" Deli, and the "Ba Shie" Minibar. I've attempted to figure out a translation of these names. So far, I have discovered that "pa" means "one" in the Tiwa dialect. I'll keep at it. Hopefully I'll find more information at the resort itself. Googling "Tiwa" and "pueblo indians" helped, but not much.

The Sandia is a very nice resort, as you might expect. I checked the place out thoroughly yesterday. I’m starting to get a feel for the place. As for the poker room, it is smaller than expected. I wish it were not open to the slot area (I like peace and quiet when I'm losing money.) It’s not walled off or in it’s own separate side room or building. Thus you get the noise from the slots and other casino events. They cover a nice list of games, however. It looks like I’ll be playing the $2/$4 limit with 1/2 kill to $3/$6. They also have a $4/$8 with a 1/2 kill to $6/$12 which would be a great game. They also have the assorted no limit games, plus weekly tournaments.

They don’t have an Ultimate Texas Hold’em game. Instead they have a World Poker Tour with Bonus game that is similar to the UTH. The main difference between UTH and the WPT game is the bonus payouts. With UTH you have a "Trips" option, paying you a bonus for high hands like a straight or full house. The WPT instead has a "Bonus" option, paying you a bonus for high hands you get in the hole like pocket pairs and suited connectors. There is no bonus for high hands against the dealer in the WPT game.

The pool area sits in view of the Sandia Mountain range. I sat at the pool last night and waited for the sun to slowly sink behind the resort and cast me in its shadow. In front of me I watched the mountains fade away into the rich and vibrant colors of the evening sky, a cool breeze beginning to blow away the heat of the day. I read the New York Times as the sun began to leave me in darkness, and read about the worst bombing attack in Iraq since the war began. I was aware of the juxtaposition of these two worlds: a resort in the foothills of a beautiful mountain range in central New Mexico, the savagery of a northern Iraqi desert littered with the wounded and dead. I was happy to see I had made it through another day and was thankful.