Autumn Check-In

When last we left our intrepid heroine, she was just setting up housekeeping in the high desert, accompanied by her faithful albeit neurotic companion, Charleston the wonder dog.

It was a beautiful summer, filled with music, adventures and celestial wonders. 

I am surrounded by views that take my breath away on a daily basis, and Santa Fe fills me with awe and inspiration, so you would think I have had plenty to write about over the summer.  I did start many a blog, wrote a brilliant paragraph here or a couple of heart wrenching lines there, but I never quite finished any of them.  There was the one about the dust storm that blew itself right on into my house…the one documenting the insane irony of Santa Fe drivers…the tale of meeting the people who are instantly familiar and friends…the story of finally letting go of the past and moving on…

Now here we are in October…already.  I just got back from visiting my parents in SC for a few days, leaving Santa Fe in the early stages of fall-ishness.  I returned to full blown Autumn bordering on Winter:  the aspens have abandoned green and gone full-on gold; the vine wrapped all around my front fence has turned bright crimson.  And this morning….it was 28 degrees.  Yes, 28.  And yes…I was cold.  And no…I really don’t have a winter wardrobe…yet.

But the day has been so BEAUTIFUL that no cold could keep me inside.  Walking up Canyon Road to visit my favorite gallery and shops, the sun was so bright and warm, the colors so vivid, that pretty much everyone out and about had a smile.  And while I was bundled in my leather jacket, stylish pink silk scarf and my Fryes (and looking fabulous I might add), there was the requisite long-time local in shorts, flip flops and a sweatshirt.  I guess there's one in every town.

Well, I just wanted to pop back and say hello again, and let you know that Charleston and I are alive and well and loving Santa Fe (well...I am anyway.  But that's another story).  I am going to leave you with my love and gratitude, and some pictures of the beauty that is fall in New Mexico.   My little camera does not do it justice.   The first 4 are in my neighborhood; the others are just up the road from me.

 

An Attitude of Gratitude

I’m ba-ack!  Back in Santa Fe!  Living in my teeny tiny casita with my less than teeny tiny dog.  And I am oh so grateful to be here!  As I type this, I am drinking my morning coffee with the windows open and the cool breeze wafting the sounds…and the dust…of the neighborhood in.  I have ever so slowly begun to furnish my new home…and have none of the household staples that we tend to rely on (spices, tools, a broom) and really no storage…and there is not a level surface to be found…but I must say, I feel wonderfully right at home.

In this gratitude stream I am basking in, not only am I grateful to be here, I am also grateful for the journey and for all those who helped me along the way.    

I am so thankful for all my family and friends who did not say “have you lost your mind??” when I said I was moving to Santa Fe, even though they may have thought it.  My fabulous sons came back with “go Mom (actually Ma or Momma, depending on the son)!!”; Gail the Magnificent said, “You know, I’ve never been to Santa Fe” with the unsaid but understood first of many trips to be planned and soon; Susan the Sensational, who foresaw my move west a year ago, said (albeit through tears), “you let me know as soon as you get a place ‘cause I’m coming to visit!”;  my Primo Parents were I think a bit disappointed, but immediately began thinking of what resources they could provide (“Do you have enough towels?  You’re going to need towels.  Here, take some towels”).

That was the reaction, then came the journey. 

Gail was witness to and compassionate toward the initial Great Dane Freak-out.  She helped me focus, reminding me of the limited capacity of my car-with-dog (No Debi, you have no room for your Cuisinart!).  She was wonderful and fun as she always is, and I am so grateful she is my friend.

On to Charleston (the city) with Charleston (the dog)…his first trip out of Florida, by the way.  My parents are not used to having a giant dog who can go nose-to-nose with my Mom pacing around.  They were lovely and generous, and I believe they may have even (briefly) missed the dog when we left!

Next stop was Cary, NC, and the introduction of the old dog to the new puppy, giving them and us plenty of excitement and exercise.  My sister and her family are always welcoming and wonderful, and they made us at home in a house filled with laughter and love.

And then, one long rainy day later, Charleston and I arrived in Nashville, to the 2nd story apartment of my awesome son Daniel.  Daniel…Gabriel…FootLoose…he is a man of many names and has long been my hero.  He had signed on to drive his eager Mom and her reluctant dog across country over the next 2 days…through Nashville traffic and the rainy green of Tennessee, on to awful Arkansas – the land of giant churches, endless road construction and only 2 open rest areas in the entire state (hence, the awful designation), then through OHHHklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain (and yes, I burst into song and he tolerated), through the wee spit of Texas on I-40, which actually has some pretty vistas complete with giant windmills, then finally…FINALLY!  New Mexico!  After 2 days in the car with his Mom and a Great Dane who preferred to have his heavy head resting on the driver’s arm, I think Daniel was happier to see the state line than I was!  

Daniel stayed on for the rest of the week, helping Charleston and me settle in and patiently driving me all over town looking for household essentials.  We walked around town and played tourist, explored the hills and their amazing views and spent a day up around Taos.  We saw beautiful and funky things, ate really good food and had long talks with much laughter.  We have not had this amount of quality time to spend with each other…just us…in a long, long time, and for this I am most grateful.

Each morning I wake up to birds chirping and light streaming through my window.  I look around my little home and it makes me smile.  Each day is a new adventure for me in Santa Fe.  It feels magical and grace-filled, with the sense that something wonderful is around every corner.  I am happy and relaxed, and filled with an attitude of gratitude.

 

The Greatest of Danes

Have you ever taken a road trip with a Great Dane?  A really LONG road trip?
If you ever met my sweet dog Charleston you know he is a bit neurotic.  He gets kind of freaked out when something in his little world changes.  He likes his yard and his crate and his fairly regular meal times....
Then Mom goes off on a wild hair and travels for 2 months...leaving him in the very loving and capable hands of the fabulous folks at Stuart Sound Animal Hospital.  He had a luxury suite with a view, complete with his own tempur-pedic bed, gourmet food, regular baths, treats and check ups.  But after a while, he'd had enough and went on a hunger strike, demanding the return of his errant Mother.  And it worked!  She came back!  Mom!!  Where have you been?!!  I missed you so much!!  OK, I forgive you...take me back to my yard now. 
Whaddya mean we aren't going back?
Where the heck are you taking me??
After about 48 hours of total freak-out, Charleston transformed into Super Trooper.  He hit the road with me and made himself at home in 5 new and different stop-overs on our way to our new home, the teeny tiny casita in Santa Fe.  He has rallied through laundry rooms, backyard snakes (actually, I'm the one who freaked out about that), grandfather clocks that chime every 15 minutes, stairs, enthusiastic Aussie puppy herding practice, bloody paws and still more stairs.  He has spent countless hours in the back seat of my car, endured paparazzi at every rest area, and is now snoozing in his very first hotel room (ok, it's not the Ritz, but he doesn't know that). 
Charleston has been an awesome if reluctant traveler through 7 states so far.  As long as he is close to his peeps and can rest his head on a shoulder from time to time, he travels much better than I ever expected.  We have one more long day ahead of us and then we can get off the road and start making our home in New Mexico.  Charleston may not realize it yet, but he is as ready for it as I am.

A Reluctant Start

Cousins - a rare quiet moment

Are we there yet?

What Happened Next....

OK, so it has been a while.  Did you think I had forgotten you?  Fallen off the face of the earth?  Lost interest?  Not a chance. 

Writing about my adventures became…well…complicated in NM.  Nothing bad, just overwhelming, confusing…life changing.

Up until Santa Fe, I had known when my time was drawing to a close in each place and where to go next.  I lost that “knowing” in Santa Fe.  I kept postponing my departure and kind of lost interest in visiting whatever the next place was going to be.  I was thinking insane things like “I could live out here”, but each time the thought came up I was overcome with doubt and guilt and insecurity.  I felt like I probably ought to leave, but as I said before, I was going to go reluctantly.  I decided I would after all go to Taos, because, well…I was so close…might as well…

On what I thought was my last night there, I met a new friend who felt like an old friend, who told me about a woman I wanted to meet in Crestone, CO, who led me to an B & B up there…

I did go to Taos first, where I had some wonderful food and saw some amazing sights, but felt overall uncomfortable there.  I think now it was because I knew I needed to keep going up to Crestone.  It was a couple of hours drive from Taos, across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, past the Earthship Biotecture development (imagine Dr. Seuss meets Lost in Space kind of houses) and ‘cow crossing’ signs with UFO stickers hovering above the cow silhouettes, then north through miles of oh my God this is so beautiful!  I saw tumbleweeds tumbling, starting with small wispy ones gradually increasing in size until one about 5 feet across came barreling into my path!  There were dust devils spinning in the distance, looking like smoke from camp fires, and the Great Sand Dunes National Park…sand dunes…in Colorado!  There were rolling hills of tan and gold and deepest green, leading to amazing mountains.

The road turning into Crestone looks like it will run you right smack into the side of a mountain, big and beautiful and capped with snow.  I drove up to the B & B, on a gravel road named Moonlight Way….mountains on your left, a sweeping view of the valley to your right, leading to more mountains further out….and deer, deer and more deer on the side of the road.  It was snowing as I arrived, light and pretty, but ever so cold.  I saw shooting stars from my room that night.

Breakfast the next morning was amazing.  Delicious and organic, with plentiful food and happy conversation.  I was thinking to myself, this was a great little place to stay, when suddenly…….!!

Marcia, the owner of the B & B, said to me, Please forgive me for being so forward, but I have to tell you…you have found it.  You have found what you have been looking for.  St. Francis has been with you on your journey and he wants you to know you have found where you belong.

When I picked my jaw up off the ground…and stopped shivering from the goose bumps that suddenly covered me…and remembered how to speak again…I burst out “This is the best breakfast I have ever had!”

St. Francis, as some of you know, is special to my sister and me.  We know he is with us and guides us, he brings peace and knowing, and he pops up in the most unexpected circumstances.  Like breakfast!   

I felt expansive and liberated and happy…and taller for some reason.  A friend told me later that day that I looked like every cell in my body was smiling.   

In my last post I said I finally left New Mexico, reluctantly.  Reluctantly, but on a mission.  I began my trek back east to tell my family that yes indeed, this wacky gal is really moving out west…Santa Fe is calling me!  I knew it!  I knew it!!

As I type this I am once again back in my favorite little inn in Santa Fe, with rental properties lined up for viewing over the next few days.  Then it is back to Florida to pick up my beloved puppy dog and bring him out here to start a new adventure with me in the wild, Wild West.



Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo





Crestone, CO, just before breakfast!
 

No wonder St Francis hangs out here!

 

Another Crestone view



Santa Fe

I have been in New Mexico, Santa Fe mostly, for more than a week now.  I keep meaning to leave.  I keep making plans to leave.  But I'm still here.  And New Mexico, Santa Fe mostly, has been so unexpectedly wonderful that I am having a very hard time condensing it into a single, coherent blog post.  So for this entry, I am going to highlight just one part...one really great part...the little inn where I became the guest who wouldn't leave.

I was so fortunate to land at the Inn on the Paseo.  It is a lovely and comfortable place, with cozy beds, Belgian waffles for breakfast, and cookies in the afternoon.  It is relaxing and friendly, conducive to meeting people and forming new friendships.  I shared the breakfast table with people from all over and all stages of life:  the (very) young newlyweds from Utah, a woman from Switzerland whose heart was in the Opera House, a couple who were celebrating 50 years together, an art lover from Tucson who comes to Santa Fe to shop every year, a Pennsylvania Mom whose daughter is an artist in Taos.  Innkeeper Jess was warm and welcoming to all, and I was blessed to meet a very fun and colorful assortment of his friends (I mean that in the VERY best way possible!).  I was invited on an Easter morning "brunch crawl", given great sight-seeing and shopping advice and offered the best drinking and dining options.  I was even invited to a "Save the Chickens" rally (really) in Eldorado, where the coyotes howl as the sun goes down.

I was scheduled to leave after 3 nights, and because of the people I met at and through the Inn, I decided (begged) to stay on another.  I couldn't imagine anywhere else I wanted to be!  I ventured back into town, inspired by the stories I had heard at the Inn.  A series of more fabulous people and events fell into my path, offering me fun and intriguing possibilities to the north.  I left the inn for 2 nights to pursue those adventures, thinking I would keep going...somewhere... afterward, but Santa Fe called me back.  I came back to the inn for 1 more night...which became 2 more nights...

As a result of my comings and goings, I got to stay in 4 different rooms at the inn, each wonderful in its own way.  Only 14 more to experience on my return trips!  I know there are other nice hotels and inns in town, but Inn on the Paseo is as unique and special as Santa Fe is.

I did leave Santa Fe today...reluctantly...very reluctantly.  As anyone who lives there will tell you, Santa Fe is a magical place.  Something about it called together the group of very special people I met there, and it welcomed me as one of the Tribe.

The Inn and its Keeper

Room 2









Room 3, my fave
 

Don't forget the chickens!

Arizona...part 2

Wanted:  a small cabin in Northern Arizona.  Must come with electricity, Internet and indoor plumbing and must be pet friendly.  A home base for an artist(wanna-be)/explorer, so that she may spend her days roaming, photographing and painting the scenery.
Sigh.

I really only saw a small section...from Flagstaff west to Williams, then north to the Grand Canyon, then the scenic route back to Flagstaff.  And there was so much more to see!  There are Indian Reservations and meteor craters and a petrified forest.  (And then in Winslow, AZ, there is a mural of a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford....)

What I saw, I loved.  I loved every inch of it.  I need a thesaurus to describe the area, because the only words I am coming up with are spectacular, beautiful, amazing, breathtaking...you get the idea.  And those words don't do it justice. 
Well, first of all, there is the Grand Canyon.  I think all the people who were in Sedona followed me up there, but as you might imagine, it is Grand enough for everyone.

 

Pretty darn amazing. 
Even the drives coming and going were beautiful.  Dark mountains, golden grassy fields, BIG skies with swirling clouds.  A train running parallel to the interstate at an elevation of 8000 feet!  A bright blue sign in the middle of nowhere that read " Free to Be Me!".   

I visited Wupakti and Sunset Crater National Monuments.  Driving down the road between them, looking to one side I saw the San Francisco Peaks (which, by the way, are a volcanic mountain range) covered in snow; the other side of the road had the painted desert off in the distance.  There were beautiful trees and golden grasses and views, views and more views.
In Sunset Crater, I hiked up the Lenox Crater Trail (oh yes I did), which was almost vertical, I might add...I was huffing and puffing, but I passed some teenagers!  And the view was totally worth it. 

 

The landscape here was magnificent.  I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty and the diversity, and I know I only saw a small portion of it.  I would seriously love to find that cabin and become the Artist/Explorer in Residence.  Who'd a-thunk it?

 

 

 

Arizona...part 1

I flew out to Arizona, heading for Sedona.  I had been there a while back with my sister and loved it, but I had been in a whole "other place" in my life then and wanted to re-experience it now.
I will admit, my first day in the state was less than stellar...
I spent more time waiting in line at the rental car counter (there is no advantage to renting with Advantage!) than I did on my flight from San Diego!  Finally on the road.  After getting out of the Phoenix traffic, the Arizona scenery starts to work its magic.  It is beautiful...green and brown...hilly and craggy, cactus and bushes.  Then up the road a bit, the red rocks of Sedona first come into view!  They are breath-taking....THIS is what I came for.

Suddenly, my awe and wonder come to a screeching halt....along with the Sedona traffic!  Oh good lord, where did all these cars come from! And these people!  Someone said "spring break" to me...spring break??  I thought all the spring break-ers went to Florida!  HellOOO...Fort Lauderdale?  Disney?  Why are you in Arizona??  OY!

Dinner was less than stellar (the kitchen and wait staff were mad at each other and took it out on lucky diners such as myself), but at least it came with a view, and a lovely one at that:

 





OK, I'm better now....
And my hotel, marginal as it was, also offered its own perspective at breakfast:

The remainder of my time was better, mostly because I decided it WOULD be.  Some casual shopping and vortex visiting...all done early before the masses had awakened...some hiking, lunch dining alfresco... 
My stay in Sedona was not what I had hoped...the views, of course, were spectacular, and most of the people were great - I met a woman in an art gallery who pretty much did the same thing I am doing now and is happier than ever living in Sedona...I met 2 others in particular who loved my story and offered me inspiring stories of their own.
The town was very touristy this time, BUT...it was good to revisit and remember...
No matter what, being surrounded by those red rocks ain't half bad.  And next time, I'll visit OFF season (whenever that is) WITH my fabulous Seester once again!
AND...it was a great jumping off place for more northern points, as yet unexplored by this intrepid adventurer...