Spice of life

I've taken some complicated trips in my time, but I'm not sure anything can rival the variety of venues, activities, and scenery that I've been lucky enough to experience during the last month.

This hectic period will soon be over and when I'm back home and able to relax a bit, I'll start telling you more about all these adventures. But for now, here's just a taste...

inside the Cloud Gate, looking up

sunset from Ghost Ranch

gorgeous fungi in a canyon grotto

the famous "L"...great for transport unless they close your station!

rocks along the Rio Chama

great buildings and great sky

model train steams thru the mountains at the Museum of Science & Industry

scouting Aragon Rapid on the Rio Chama

a stand of lovely pines near our campsite

I wonder what caught my eye in this Adler Planetarium display?

huge Mayan stele in the Field Museum

Rio Chama transport

one of my favorites...out of MANY at the Art Institute

adorable great-nieces and -nephews watching ants at work

And finally, this lovely inscription on the walls of the former Chicago Public Library (which is now the Chicago Cultural Center) pretty much sums up my feelings about this wonderful city as well as the other places I've visited during this whirlwind month. My approximate translation: "O sweet voice! The welcome sound of one's mother tongue in a strange land!"

How sweet it is to feel welcome wherever one travels!