Darryl's band on stage at The Airliner

Darryl had two of his bands playing tonight: Sonic Wave Society (9-10 PM), and Melic Sub Rosa (10-11 PM), at the The Airliner, on North Broadway in Lincoln Heights.

Darryl is a superb musician, arranger, and producer, but his music is "challenging" to his parents and their cohorts. We love to see him perform - the live performance, with all the body language, brings the music to life - but the be-bop stuff of late Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, fused with rock, is difficult for this baby-boomer to wrap his head around. But intellectually, if not emotionally, I "get it", and am as proud of Darryl as can be, sensing that his Redline Park Lable has a chance to take off big time!

Finished reading The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed. It was repetitive and overly speculative, but very good over all, well worth reading. The Jefferson-Hemings saga is a fascinating story, this is well researched and documented.

Deming, NM to Fort Stockton, TX

Morning in Deming, New Mexico. Enjoyed an hour around the pool, reading, then checked out and continued east on Interstate 10.

Eherenberg, AZ to Deming, NM

Morning in Ehrenberg, Arizona, breakfast across the parking lot at The Cookery, a coffee-shop. It was mediocre food in a chain-restaurant setting, and we vowed not to do it again during the trip.

continuing east on Interstate 10, we stopped for gas at a TA Travel Center in Eloy, and again at a rest stop (exit 318) in Cochise County, at the southeast corner of the state. We crossed into New Mexico just before 6 PM, crossed the Continental Divide by 7:30, and stopped for the night in the Luna County town of Deming, at the Grand Motor Inn. Ate dinner at a local steak and ribs joint.

Leaving on a 4-Week Grand Road Trip

Had the Hybrid serviced in the morning. R & I finished packing and taking care of last minute business, and were able to pull out on our trip by 4 PM. I t was a bad time of day to leave, but we didn't hit traffic on the 118 or 210 until we hit Pasadena. From there it was slow going through to the 57 in San Dimas, and out the 10 through Pomona and Claremont. Traffic was behind us by the time we reached the wind mills in the Coachella Valley, at Sunset. We stopped in Indio for gas, and dinner at a fairly good mom and pop greasy spoon frequented by locals.

Back on the road, we listened to the Angel game (Jered Weaver pitching his first complete game!) and XM radio music of the 50s on our way east to Arizona. We crossed the Colorado River near midnight, and stopped to spend the first night of our journey at the Best Western Desert Oasis in Ehrenberg, Arizona. It occurred to us that we'd stayed at this same motel once before, on a trip to Sedona (12/26/2000). Not much to say about it - it's one of those two-story jobs with interior halls and elevators, but it's a perfect place for a quick overnight stop.

We're on our way!