El Paso, Texas, November 7, 2018

WHEN I ARRIVED IN EL PASO, my Garmin GPS accurately directed me to my brother Robert's high rise condo on Stanton Street. I docked the car and trailer along a convenient curb, relaxed inside the trailer, snacked and texted my brother that the eagle had landed. Robert arrived shortly thereafter. I spent the afternoon/evening in Pleasantville visiting with my ridiculously overachieving kid brother (head of the department of architecture at Texas Tech, El Paso, and wildly popular man-about-town. Great guy, too! and generous as hell). That evening he had a tennis date at "the club" and he invited me to come along, which I gladly did:) That's Juarez Mexico in the background, by the way, photo snapped from Robert's balcony.

While eating on dollar tacos (it was dollar taco night!) and drinking some vino (sadly, the regular price), I watched Robert play outside through a big window while I relaxed inside while visiting with a friend of his, Chris (Robert was playing Chris's wife, Patricia). They played for a long time, and I ate and drank for a long time. Next day was spent largely in a nearby Starbucks, writing this ramble and updating various websites (I can be found at Starbucks whenever I travel, btw. Why? Better than average coffee, solid wi-fi, and lots and lots of locations!). Later that evening, I was invited, and attended, a talk given by Sarah Whiting, distinguished dean of the Rice school of architecture. She had been invited by my brother as part of his lecture series. She gave a rather excellent talk (Robert and Sarah were at MIT together as grad students, old pals). Robert's introduction was also most excellent. Afterwards a group of us waltzed over to a fancy restaurant where I only partook in 2 modest glasses of wine. The bill for two Pinot's I slugged down, you may ask? $35! Glad I skipped the appetizer and Porterhouse steak! Everyone made merry, including me (the new guy), the pricey wine was worth an excellent time and splendid company. By the time I reclined on Robert's couch for the second evening in a row and called it a night, I was experiencing a mild buzz-on. I had supplemented my fancy (terribly expensive restaurant) wine with 2 glasses of my THREE DOLLAR bottle of wine for good measure (yes, I travel with cheap wine as a backup). Wish I had taken 2 aspirin and drank a big glass of water before Mr. Sandman came around. Mild hangover the next morn, but Starbucks coffee chased the cob webs away. Next day Robert and I were going to Santa Fe for the weekend where he and his husband Stephen own a house.

- Max

(distance, time covered:576 miles, 9hrs.)