09 January 2012
Cholla and the Start of Germany
My apologies for missing the second half of the New Mexico-Arizona visit. I've been getting ready for the latest German trip and celebrating the new year with the family. That trip was as fast and furious as it was tedious and boring. The drive from Grants to Holbrook seems longer than the 2.5 hours that passes on the dashboard clock. At least the scenery is pretty.
I am taken aback by the beauty that we (most of the time I travel with a colleague) see nearly every morning when arriving at a power plant. The thought of having to work for 10+ hours a day in a filty-hot environment makes it difficult to get out of bed in the morning; however the natural beauty of a sunrise makes one forget the unpleasantness of the place. Those brief interludes, if we're lucky enough to see a sunset, and talking with my wife are the only positives during a day while on the road. I suppose that this is a way of "stopping to smell the roses." Working at Jake's Pizza in Montevideo, MN (BTW: Mmmmmmmm!!!) is where I gained an appreciation of the natural beauty of a sunset. No one working in that kitchen even noticed that the sun was setting, until we caught a real beauty not long after a thunderstorm. From that time onwards, the kitchen crew made an effort to pause and take notice. It made the chaos of the pizza kitchen a little easier to handle.
The border between Arizona and New Mexico, on I-40, is really scenic. The following picture doesn't really do it justice, as the vivid colors from the sunrise were remarkable:
And now I am writing to you from a nice Best Western in Oberhausen, Germany. Jet lag is still kicking my butt and is being abetted by one Mr. Jim Beam. The cloud cover and way-north latitude (parallel to the Aleutian Islands, for crying out loud) disable the viewing of sunrises and sun-settings. The only non-family related sense of joy is not Glen's beaming face (sorry), but the daily experience of another 5-series on Das Autobahn.Yup, a wagon that moves like a silky, raped ape (weird analogy, but it gets up and moves quickly/smoothly). Running it in "Sport," mode sure brings a smile to our faces, except when we travel through construction. Then things get nerve-racking with the narrow lanes and friggin' semis. The high-speed jaunts between the hotel and the Chemiepark in Marl and few and far between. Heck, even the normally pulse-pounding drive from Frankfurt on the A3 was tempered due to all the rain. Oh well, sounds like we get Sundays off. Maybe we'll explore The Netherlands. More pix to come for sure...
For Brett:
Descent legroom for a change:
That's it for now. Interesting learning from the Chemipark that I'll share tomorrow.
Thank you for reading,
Kevin
Labels:
Arizona,
Germany. Holbrook,
Marl
Location:
Oberhausen, Germany
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