Out in the Badlands of New Mexico…

States Visited: Indiana Illinois Texas New Mexico

After a week at home in New Jersey, we saddled up and headed out to Illinois. On our way through, we spent the night in Indiana with the long lost sister.

We taught in Spoon River, Illinois at a school that seemed to have two programs; fiber optics and medical marijuana. Then we drove to Texas for a class at Lee College in Bayton. They are one of my favorite campuses because they have everything on my checklist (table w/power outlet, microwave, bottle fill station) PLUS a jigsaw puzzle and a piano that I can play.

Then we left our verdant, shady campus in the semi-tropics and headed out for 3 weeks in New Mexico. We started off with one week in Santa Fe, then a week in Artesia, then back up to Taos.

After our time in the high desert, we set off back up the Santa Fe trail towards Wichita, KS. We stayed the night in Dodge City, and arrived on the scene while the firetruck, ambulance, and police officer were all still on site. We walked inside to check in, and the police officer was inspecting a lone baseball cap sitting on the floor. He asked the front desk “Did he say what he got shot with?”

We looked at the front desk guy and said “Wow. Some excitment, huh?” and he goes “Yeah, it happens.”

When we left the next morning, we discovered we were staying one block back from the Boot Hill Museum and the statue of Doc Holiday. The spirit of the Wild West lives on in Dodge city!