Road

We're off in a few minutes for a religious pilgrimage to Retama racetrack for observance of the Kentucky Derby. I'm kinda liking Pyro, a horse Jerry Bailey is high on, but we'll have to examine the sacred texts of the Racing Form before I get committed to a bet. It's an always entertaining day, though I seldom get the winner, maybe twice in 20 years. Sunday we're off for the north and west, to see an old and dear in eastern New Mexico and then onward to Trinidad, Colo., to visit with my wife's Uncle Charles, a rancher and writer. An old Aggie, Charles was captured by the Germans in Italy during WWII. He has some stories to write. We'll come back home through some alleged scenic country in the Okie Panhandle. Given the price of gasoline, it's hard to see a lot of road trips in our future. And lodging has got dear, even though we did get a Radisson in Lubbock for $45 on Priceline. My economical coup for the trip. Plus, we're too old to enjoy long drives these days. No more tucking a six pack under the legs on the floorboards and taking off for 700-mile days of driving. Actually, I guess that's been gone for quite some time ...