Day 10

Woke up in a more timely fashion today and got breakfast at the hotel. The called Danlo to see how his leg was doing. He said it was doing OK, and to drop by in an hour to go up to Santa Fe.

I am so glad he felt up to going, because you could not ask for a better or more knowledgable person to have with you. (Besides the fact that it is great to spend time with him, period. ) He knew just where to go to find street parking near the very congested historic area. He led us through the warren of narrow streets right to the Plaza and the Palace of the Governors (seat of New Mexican government for hundreds of years, beginning in Spanish colonial times). He knew the history behind the lovely, historic buildings, and took us to one of the oldest churches in America. He knew just where to go to get a reasonably priced lunch in that rather expensive place. And he took us to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.

Previously, I had only seen pictures of her work in magazines and books, and always of those huge flowers. The museum had an exhibition of her New Mexico landscapes, painted in the most vivid colors you could ever imagine. Believe me, those books and magazines do not even begin to do justice to her artwork. One painting was The One Tree, complete with the stars...Danlo and I stood there with our mouths hanging open. I need to try to find that painting somewhere on the internet and post a link...

We also drove around Santa Fe for a bit, looking at all of the mansions (some with their own private heliports ), and Danlo pointed out the turn to go up the mountain to what had been Roger Zelazny's house.

On the way back to Albuquerque instead of taking the freeway, we took a surface road called the Turquoise Trail. It led through charming old mining towns that have been taken over by artists and turned into art colonies. We stopped off at a lovely place called Madrid, where we stopped for ice cream and cold drinks at an old fashioned soda fountain. I have never had anyone mix up my root beer from scratch before. I just stood there on the front porch for a long time, soaking in the sunshine, the beauty of the mountains, the pretty town and its art galleries. (sigh)

We came back into Albuquerque from the east (a stunning way to come into town, through a gap in the Sandia Mountains, as John pointed out. ) I had mentioned that I would like to buy some New Mexican goodies to take home with me as gifts, so Danlo directed us to this great store, called the Chili Addict. That is where, besdies goodies for my friends, I found the Fist and Faith Memorial Socks.

www.chiliaddictstore.com

www.nmpinoncoffee.com

When we were finished Danlo and his Lady came to the hotel for a little while to soak in the hot tub. His poor leg definately needed that, and she had had a tough day at work and needed the relaxation, too. I stayed behind and printed out some pics for them in the room, as my ankle was still bleeding. Then it was time to say goodbye. That one just crushed me.


Day Eleven

Got up, ate breakfast, packed the Jeep, and got ready to go. There was a lost toddler at the front desk of the hotel. They had found him wandering the hallways, and had called every guest room, but no one would admit to having lost him. He was obviously terrified, and his diaper was soaked through with urine. Poor baby. I can't imagine how afraid I would have been if one of my sons had gotten lost, even for a moment or two, as a baby...

We drove through the desert on a main highway up to Colorado. It was beautiful, as nearly every part of New Mexico we had seen was.

We stopped off at Aztec Castle National Monument to visit the ruins there. People had lived at that site for about 2000 years, though the Pueblo ruins dated back to Chacoan times. The people who live there must have been tiny, as even Mr. Sunshine, age 11, had to duck to get through the doors (I had to crawl to get through some of them, and I am 5'6"). They had a reconstructed great kiva there, and that was really interesting to visit.

We then drove up to Durango, Colorado. This is my second visit to Durango, and both times I have had the same weird and overwhelming feeling I have never had any place else I have ever been -- that I have come home, that this is the place I was born to live in. We are only a couple of blocks from the train station and downtown, with a room that faces the river and its pretty biking/hiking trail. We walked downtown and ate at a good Mexican restaurant. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and the fireworks will be over the river, right outside of our room. And we will get to ride the train through the lovely, snow crowned mountains.

A bit more about Old Town Albuquerque:
It is sort of centered around the old Spanish town square/plaza. While we were there, in fact, a wedding was taking place on the grassy plaza. The oldest church in Albuquerque is there, as well as what appear to be some very nice museums. The area is filled with all sorts of alleys and courtyards filled with pretty little gift stores and restaurants. One of the restaurants had this wonderful smell of roasting, spicy meat...I thought we would have physically restrain Fist from going in there, as tea time was rapidly approaching...

Day Nine
We all slept in late. In fact, we slept in so late, we missed the free breakfast the hotel supplies. But that was OK, because we headed over to the Copper Canyon Cafe, the place where we had to say goodbye to Fist and Birdy and her hub...the food is good there...

We then visited the University of New Mexico campus. My older son will be heading to college in a couple of years, and is interested in studying either architecture or engineering, so he wanted to check things out...

Afterwards, we visited Old Town Albuquerque. Dan and the boys had not visited it on Saturday with the group (they had headed out to the waterpark, which turned out to be rented by a huge private party that day, but that is all a whole different story). We went to the restaurant where John and I had gotten our lemonaid and got some of the hot sauces with the naughtiest names to send to some people in Dan's family. And we went to the cat store and bought catnip goodies for Danlo and Tam's cats, and to bring home for our own.

Then we retuned to the hotel. Dan and the kids went swimming, and I slept for most of the afternoon. When I woke up we went over to Danlo and Tam's house, and he led us to a beautiful, shady park where he and the kids, and some kids from the neighborhood, all played soccer. Sweet, sweet Jam came with us, and didn't want to be separated from her Daddy. She kept coming on to the field so she could sit next to Danlo. Unfortunately, Danlo appeared to step in a hole, and hurt his leg. He was in so much pain that I wanted to cry. It was still a beautiful night, with a huge, full moon shining on the horizon, the mountains purple in the distance, all of the happy dogs running free through the huge trees, and the cicadas calling out into the twilight.

Went through all of the mail that accumulated while were away, began to sort out and pay the bills...worked on laundry (and must do more momentarily). Took in the Jeep and had its 9000 mile checkup and oil change done (of course, we put over 5000 miles on it during the trip, so it was actually the 10700 miles checkup and oil change). Met Dan for lunch, pretty much the first time I have seen him or talked to him since we got back...(business as usual, eh?)

Day Eight

It is great being able to travel with Danlo, that soft-spoken, gentle, sensitive, and intelligent man. He is so knowledgeable, and has done so many very different things and had so many experiences in his life.

The sun woke us up a bit on the early side today. I opened up the sliding door of our room so we could experience, the cool, clean desert air. The door opened up on a lovely courtyard with a swimming pool. In wandered a darling little black kitten with green eyes. We took turns cuddling with him and making him purr his little head off. Danlo dropped in after awhile and he and Dan went off for some coffee and a bite to eat. The kids and I weren't quite ready to get moving yet (and besides, there was the kitty to pet...)

When the men came back, we all moved out to the pool area. It was a pure joy being able to watch Danlo and Dan and the kids swim and have so much fun. I wasn't able to go in, as the worst of my scrapes from the SRD dinner night (on my left ankle) was still bleeding, and I did not want to stick it in the chlorinated water (I was really paranoid it would sting like crazy). So I sat in the morning sun, breathed the clean, crisp air, and watched the guys have all of that fun in the pool and cuddled the little black kitten.

We then all ate breakfast (or second breakfast as the case might be ) and headed out to Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The Grand Canyon is an infinity of rock and light and shadow...hence its alternate name of the House of Stone and Light. Canyon de Chelly is very different, with mazes of side canyons, and with the bottom filled with farms of Navajo families. You cannot see the bottom or the Colorado River in most places from the rim of the Grand Canyon. You can see the bottom and the green farms, beneath the towering red rock cliffs at Canyon de Chelly. de Chelly is filled with ruins of the Anaasazi people, hundreds of years old, which you can see from the overlooks. The overlooks are also places where artists come to sell their wares. I bought a little black ceramic bear, with red geometric designs on him. Dan bought jewelry for his mother, and more surprisingly, for me as well.

And at the end of the South Rim Scenic Drive we found Kevin's Watch!!!!!!!!!!!! It is called Spider Rock, and is a sacred place to the Navajo, home of Spider Woman, the benevolent spirit who taught them how to weave...what an awesome sight it was!

We returned to Albuquerque via Window Rock, capital of the Navajo Nation. We stopped to see the rock formations there, including the lovely one that gives the town its name. We dropped Danlo off at his home, then checked into our hotel (we got the room right next door to the one we had had previously. ) And then we ate dinner, at Danlo's recommendation, at a great steak place called the Cooperage.