Comments on: The Whole Thing Rated Pretty High on the Cactus Scale

By: (un)relaxeddad

(un)relaxeddad — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:01:36 +0000

OK – I want to visit each of those places with the exception of the Holiday Inn and the Hotel without any water. Especially love the white sands pic whcih brings back memories of a particular white beach in Florida we saw. Hmm really is time to go visit Mom-in-Florida again.

Also intrigued by Gila cliff dwellings (must look it up) and by the fact that you read GQ (I suppose you could have read it on a poster outside the restaurant but that has a low snigge value).

I just bought a black hoodie from UNIQLO that I’m wearing to work most days when I don’t have to show up in a suit.

By: Polaris

Polaris — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 03:40:26 +0000

It was fun to read this. It is always amazing to me how remarkably the terrain and vegetation changes when one moves from place to place in the US.

I rate the pictures “10 cacti” .

By: openpalm

openpalm — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:43:31 +0000

i love “cactus scale”. And I think it must have been a pretty good trip, since nothing rated just 1, or 2 cacti (cactii?)

By: gloria, writer reading

gloria, writer reading — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:56:57 +0000

I drove my kids cross country one summer when I had a month between jobs. It had always been my dream. We found the southwest especially magical, but also Yellowstone and the badlands of South Dakota.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:41:12 +0000

Post on trip to the Southwest: 10 cacti. Welcome back, and thanks for sharing! Those white sand cliffs look like great fun.

By: bloglily

bloglily — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:20:09 +0000

Hello Deborah — No Georgia O’Keefe Museum. Next time. I can so relate to the need to open it up on the straight stretch!

Welcome Natalie! It’s so lovely to know you come by. I just realized there are a ton of Bay Area writers on my blogroll — Gail Ford, you, Susan Ito, Bora, Tai (of aerophant), Ms. LitKit, Jade Park, Marymom, Ombudsben…. It’s fun knowing we’re all sharing the same weather!

Dear Ingrid — Yes, I hope a holiday is soon to come for you. xo

Bookfraud — White Sands was the apex, at least until the skateboard store. A very cool place.

3 months without water! Man, Marie, that’s very off the grid. I can’t imagine. Well, actually, I can. There were a lot of nice public bathrooms in Santa Fe. And the hotel was half off as a result of the water issue, which was good.

Cam, It took us a while to find the southwest. I am amazed at how much ugliness (courtesy of the many gas stations and strip malls thought necessary to sustain life) there is in such a subtly beautiful place.

Hello Edwin — That is exactly the noise coming out of that boy’s mouth — a huge shout of happiness.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:03:46 +0000

Yippee!! Good to have a post from you, Lily! …and such great photos!

New Mexico is not high on my list of favorite places—could be because I got my one and only speeding ticket there (in 35 years of driving)–something about going 15 mph in the mountains near Taos for way too long just makes a girl want to open it up on the first straight stretch.

Did you visit the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe?

So good to hear from you! Continued safe travel.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:32:53 +0000

Lily,

Bora introduced me to your blog and I check in frequently. Always a pleasure to read. I love this post. There’s nothing better than hitting the road with the family and seeing what unfolds.

By: bookfraud

bookfraud — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:53:51 +0000

wonderful pictures and it sounds like a hoot. the sands picture is a stunner. i’m jealous, which is the best response you can have when someone looks at your (real-time) vacation pictures.

By: mariegauthier

mariegauthier — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:28:27 +0000

Having lived 3months once w/o running water, no water at a hotel for an entire day would have cost them a BUNCH of cacti! B

I’m just sayin’.

But wow, whatta trip. Those white sands make me thirsty.

By: Cam

Cam — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:40:05 +0000

I’ve never thought about going to White Sands, before. In fact, after one miserable trip to NM years ago, I thought I’d never want to go back there. But wow! those sands! That seems so totally cool. New Mexico may be back on my list of places I might go someday.

By: thegirlinthecafe

thegirlinthecafe — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:05:43 +0000

Wow Lily! That looks like a great trip to me! I so want to go on holiday now! Enjoy!

By: Edwinek

Edwinek — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:35:29 +0000

Looks like a great trip. I love that white sands jump picture, it just seems to say “yippeeeee!” Much better that insane skateboarding.