sand dunes, aliens and baseball

yesterday, dad, uncle eric, dylan and i went to the great sand dunes national park & preserve.

we hiked up the dunes.

 

some people snowboard down

 

but we ran instead.

we went to the san luis valley's ufo watchtower, which was every bit as amazing as it sounds.

the proprietor encourages visitors to leave a personal item in her garden so that they will benefit from the unique powers of the two vortexes on which the garden is situated (or something).

this morning, we said goodbye to eric, who was a fantastic host and is also a pretty stellar uncle.

back in denver, dad, dylan and i went to a rockies game.

tomorrow, it's back to california!

en route to crestone

i left from the l.a. train station tuesday night on the southwest chief.

 

the train went through arizona

 

and new mexico.

 

i taught some boy scouts to play hearts.

wednesday night i arrived in denver and met up with dad and dylan.

we left denver on thursday morning to drive to uncle eric's hermitage in crestone.

on the way, we hiked loveland pass.

it was very windy

but the view was beautiful.

when we got to eric's place, which, i learned, is located in the world's largest alpine desert, i settled into my very own beautiful hermitage.


then we climbed this lovely ziggurat:

and got home just in time to see this rainbow:

which quickly turned into a double rainbow.

l.a.

on sunday, evan and i went to the getty center.

we saw an exhibition of medieval manuscript illustrations of the old testament.

here's job on the dung heap:

yesterday, i had lunch with my friend maia and explored west hollywood.

i went to the west holywood farmers market and drank iced coffee while writing postcards.

today, i walked down abbot kinney and had crispy poached eggs with creamed spinach for brunch at 3 square cafe.

then i walked to venice beach

and said goodbye to evan, who was a wonderful host (thanks, evan!)

tonight, it's off to denver on the southwest chief.

on the sunset limited

on friday evening, i boarded the westbound sunset limited in austin.  

the train hugged the border through the deserts of west texas 

and stopped in el paso.

 

 (these mountains are mexico)

back on the train, i met molly, a fellow passenger. through a series of events that seemed designed to remind me how small the world can be, we discovered that we have a good friend in common (hi, briallen!).  molly and her friend leah are also taking a month-long trip around the country, and we shared stories about our respective adventures. 

we watched the sunset in the observatory (a fitting pastime for passengers on the sunset limited).

when we arrived in los angeles this morning, i had breakfast with molly and leah at philippes.  

then we explored the "railroading museum" in the back room of the restaurant, which consists entirely of this window display: 

 

then i made my way to my friend evan's house in venice beach and took a much-needed shower.