In Albuquerque

 This past stretch seemed long.  Albuquerque is a city of over half million residents. I did not know how to spell it until now.  I learned something new today. 

The Rio Grande is here and I did not know that until now.  The river starts in Colorado and extends about 1900 miles.  It is the 4th or 5th longest river in North America. 

In 1945 Ernie was in the Pacific covering the fighting when he was killed by a sniper.

This was Ernie's last home and Albuquerque used it as a library to honor his memory. I heard of Ernie as a kid in Bloomington. He went to Indiana University and they named the Journalism Building for him.

Ernie was a well known journalist and columnist  through World War I- World War II. His style appealed to many readers and he was followed by hundreds of newspapers.  His stories told of common people in a style that  connected to his readers. He won the Pulitzer prize.

I went through here on the Southwest Chief from LA to Chicago. We had about a half hour stop and all I could do was buy some nice blankets on sale on the platform. There were several tables set up.

I love train travel. It was a great way to see the region. I thought that it would follow Route 66, but you can see that it does not.