May 28, 2007
After a layover in Denver, got to Phoenix at 9:30 on Saturday night. By the time I got my bags and got on the right bus (Sky Harbor now has two buses, The Roadrunner and the Gecko that run to the East Economy Lot and of course I was on the Gecko, but should have been on the Roadrunner). Paid for three days covered parking ($30 biz account), drove up 44th St. Got photo radar flashed near the Praying Monk. Shouted obscenities all the way to Lincoln: it's a $125 fine, plus an all-day prison sentence in "Traffic School". Got home at 11, too tired to go to sleep. Read all the newspapers I missed, finally went down at about 12:30.

Tried hard not to do anything on Sunday. Almost succeeded. Had to do my six drawings, of course, and feed the chickens and go for a bike ride. Watched The Sopranos (the one where Tony's worthless son tried to off himself, we are two weeks behind), read, took two naps, crashed at about nine. Exhausted, but fulfilled. One of the fans who came up to me in Winterset said, "One of the things you get to do is go all over." He's right. I have to remind myself that it is very cool to have experienced what I did this weekend.

Washed the '49 Ford today and fed the chickens. Had lunch with Kathy at El Encanto and we both had Sonoran enchiladas and iced tea ($24.43 Sue account, includes tip), then came up to the office to load my photos from the trip. Read on the plane about the latest in blogging, which is called Lifeblogging. Guys with cameras on their heads (the pioneer in this is a guy named Gordon Bell, no relation) recording everything they see, and it goes right up to the web. I'm not there yet. Ha.

Here's a series of panorama shots at the unveiling of the John Wayne statue in Winterset on Saturday at noon. We're looking north towards the town square. I think you can see why I got nervous.



Before I went onstage, I handed my camera to a guy standing next to me and he shot off two shots of me doing my speech (afterwards I thanked him profusely and promised I'd mention him here, but I forgot his name). The MC is at right (you can make him out in the closeup) and you can see he's smiling, so that's a good thing. However, the guy to my right, and below me, with his arms folded doesn't seem that impressed with what I'm saying, does he?



More pics tomorrow. Wanted to get these up.

"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
—Sir Edmund Hillary