Kansas City

For what it's worth, this is what the 21st century skyline of Kansas City looks like from the train.

the other Las Vegas

I captured this gem out the window as we were pulling out of Las Vegas, NM. Built in 1898, the Castaneda Hotel was the original Harvey House. In the early days of the western railroad, the Harvey Houses were a hospitality chain that provided travelers with food, lodging and entertainment. Plans are underway to renovate the landmark.

north of Albuquerque

After Albuquerque the train heads north, paralleling the Sandia Mountains (above) and then going deeper into the Rockies where I saw this very interesting building (below), about which I know nothing.

prairies of New Mexico

Some nice views of the New Mexico prairie from the train. These pictures were taken prior to arriving in Albuquerque. Needless to say we covered many miles of this kind of landscape.

Albuquerque station

Albuquerque, NM has a decent, midsize train station. A unique feature are the vendors on the platform selling Indian blankets, jewelry and other gifts. In the winter having a blanket on the train makes sense, so I bought one at a very reasonable price.

grass tree

A grass tree (Xanthorrhoea) - native to Australia - is not something I see every day, so when I saw this one at Lotusland, it got my attention. I intended to post this earlier, but didn't have the name.

Halloween 2016

Halloween 2016 was characterized by a certain amount of curry and candy and curry-colored shirts and masks and napkins and candy wrappers. Guess you had to be there.