ONCE UPON A TIME...

There I was taking low-light, blurry pictures of the Lazy Daze Caravan Club's Past Tents comrades enjoying themselves and a fabulous feast at the annual holiday Live Oak Caravan in Santa Barbara. As you can see: perfectly normal people delighting in good friends, good food and good wine in a lovely Central Coast woodsy setting....

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I must have blinked. SUDDENLY! There I was, surrounded by kinky coneheads, tunelessly blowing on kazoos! What tha???...

Did they stop with the kazoos? OH no! Dressed me in finery, they did -- flashy jewelry, a rainbow boa, and a sparkling, jewel-encrusted wand.

Then this tattling mistress of mayhem regaled the kazoo symphony band with some enhanced versions of my exploits on the road!!!

Do you think these two pixies might have been part of the Party Posse? No doubt about it!

These two movers and shakers rounded out the Magnificent Seven, all orchestrated by...

...the bearer of flowers. Quick! Bookmark this page -- you may NEVER again see Joan in a party hat!!!!!!!!

A serenade sung by Barbara the POET, Miss Past Tents herself, a hilarious original composition sung to Beverly Hillbillies theme music...

...followed by testimonials and roasts...

...champagne, more songs and presents too, that made for...

Eyeball incontinence and ...

... non stop guffaws!

The Ultimate Party Planner, no stone left unturned, no detail too small...

...Joan obviously had as much fun in the planning as in the execution! YES, I WAS SURPRISED. VERY surprised!

"Let them cake," I said as I waved my glamorous wand. And they did. And we all lived VERY happily ever after!

Thank you dear Past Tents friends, for the most enchanting and memorable evening! You make me smile, and you made me feel incredibly beauteous! When the rest of you catch up with me, I sure hope you'll have a Party Posse to conjure up as much fun for you as I had on my 70th birthday!

P.S. Birthday Party pix by Larry Wade. Not bad for someone who claimed not to know how to work my camera! My guess? Larry was probably just as content behind the camera so's not to be remembered in perpetuity as the birthday photographer with a pointy head!

NEW MEXICO GEMS - WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

This was my second visit to breathtaking White Sands National Monument. For a different photographic experience from that of my original visit, I arrived in late afternoon to take advantage of the soft light and long afternoon shadows.

This national treasure is located at the Northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert in the Tularosa Basin. It is ringed by White Sands Missile Range on the North, East and South, and the San Andres Mountains on the West.

The glistening, brilliant-white dunes in White Sands NM are made of gypsum, not silica, have a powdered sugar texture, and the monument is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes move constantly and form four distinct types, more easily discernible from the air: Dome (low mounds), Barchan (crescent-shaped), Transverse (long ridges formed by joined Barchan dunes), and Parabolic (inverted Barchans, anchored by plants).

At the end of Dunes Drive is the Heart of the Dunes that includes a nature center, boardwalk, picnic shelters with sails (!) and an amphitheater.

Self-portrait. I like this picture -- makes me look skinny!!!!

TRACKS!

Yes, the roads need to be plowed occasionally -- these dunes creep, grow, and advance constantly. They appear soft and gentle, but the environment is harsh, and plants and animals struggle to survive. And adapt.

Soaptree Yucca has adapted by keeping its leaves above the sand with an elongated stem. Some plants anchor parts of a dune with their roots and keep growing on a sand pedestal even after the dune has moved on.

Can you tell I love this place?

NEW MEXICO GEMS - CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK

Carlsbad Caverns turned out to be my most challenging experience this trip, even more so than swimming with sharks!

Visitors can select a self-guided tour or ranger-led tours. With self-guided tours, one can elect to take the elevator down to the Great Room, 750 feet below the earth's surface; or one can enter the caverns through the "Natural Entrance" and then walk the 1.5 miles to the Great Room. I chose the self-guided tour so I could go at my own pace. And I chose the "Natural Entrance" because it was all "downhill," and I didn't want to miss anything. Hellsfire, I may be out of shape, but I can handle "downhill." Riiiiiight!

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This is the topside of the caverns, on the edge of Chihuahuan Desert in the Guadalupe Mountains, and a portion of administrative buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

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The "Natural Entrance" is through the amphitheater where bat fans observe the daily fly-out spectacle of the famous Mexican Free-Tailed Bats -- if they happen to be in residence. But they weren't when I visited; they had already left for warmer climes in October. Drat!

What a a precious, unique gem these caverns are. The other-worldliness here is mesmerizing at every turn. So hang fast to the hand rails and join me along the trunk passage called the Main Corridor, and wonder at the mind-blowing formations of draperies, columns and soda straws, of domes, ponds and grottoes.

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Snivel Alert: I stopped counting at 47 hairpins on the trail (there were probably three HUNDRED forty-seven hairpins by the time I finished! And no one said anything about 20% grades in the descent -- until it was all behind me! With all the warnings about the fitness of one's knees, there being no bathrooms along the way and all the usual "No's (eating, smoking, strollers, throwing coins into water features, pets, defacing, etc), there was no signage whatsoever that flashlights or water should be included in your day pack. ("Yes, the trail is lit." Nothing about how dim and occasional that lighting is, or how humid it is deep in the center of the earth!) But yours truly, not at all reticent about certain omissions, especially where "old people" are involved, cheerfully filled out the Suggestion/Comment Sheet and recommended that adding a few "DO's" to the signage might improve one's experience!