Travel With Me Tuesday: On to Las Cruces

An easy start to the day and then retracing my steps somewhat as I headed south.  It was more of a keep driving trip but I had hoped to find the one place we had visited in Socorro. It was like an old general store, lost in time, but no such luck.  I also had to pass on the VLA which is a trip in itself.

There is really not much of anything in Socorro except the university which seemed to be fairly deserted except for a few motley looking students. The town doesn't lend itself to J. Crew to put it mildly.

These two signs caught my eye and then it was time to get out of Dodge....er Socorro. I had already gone round the University twice to find the Plaza with no luck. 

When I am by myself I can stop at any and all the roadside stands I want! I was glad to not be one of the 'dead' on this drive but even gladder when I rolled into Las Cruces and met up with my on-line friend Catherine and her husband Aaron. The next day Catherine and I would head off to Mexico, well just across the border to The Pink Store,  so evening was spent getting to know each other 'on the flesh' so to speak! I've never been disappointed in a face to face meetup with an on-line friend and this was no exception.

Travel With Me Tuesday: Days in Bernalillo

Once I arrived in Bernalillo, I attended a spiritual conference held up on the Santa Ana Pueblo land. The funny part was that it was actually in a Hyatt hotel which was quite posh but still felt respectful to the land it was on. I met a lot of people I really liked and fortunately found the conference not too 'church oriented' but with a strong message of what it meant to be connected to God and doing God's work whoever you found your god to be. Be inclusive just as God is inclusive. Don't make your faith a list of should not's and cannot's.

Sunday we - my new friends and I- mostly sat at one of the back tables amidst the rest of the thousand people. We could still see the various presenters as well as both of the large screens.

At lunch time, the Sandias were gorgeous...well they were gorgeous all the time and I could imagine looking at the ever changing light and cloud patterns over a lifetime up on the pueblo. I went out to get a green chile fix but decided on another Christmas style meal. Green chile is wonderful but sometimes it's nice to have the red also.  Delicious!

That evening, there was a film at 20:00 and the friend who chose the same table at the back said she would be going outside to take photos of the rising full moon. I said I'd join her as I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay for the whole film. It was about ecological crises of the earth and it was preaching to the choir for me. I also didn't want to go to bed on 90 minutes of those images.

We saw the moon rise through the mountains and I'm sure my friend's images were gorgeous. She had a big girl camera & lenses and I had my iPhone. But what I saw as the moon rose was good enough for me. This was Mother Nature at her spectacular best and driving home in that moonlight was amazing.

Monday was more of the conference starting with a meditation session. That was very good and got the hundreds of people settled into a centered mode.

That evening we had our only meal included with the conference.  It was very nice and there were many vegetarian options. However,  I've been spoiled by the food my son cooks at the Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach CA. The Hyatt didn't quite meet that standard but a buffet for a thousand is not the easiest to do with the space available.

Tuesday was both the farewell and a free day for me back in Bernalillo. My one friend from Dublin was going on to Los Angeles (she is a screenwriter) and we ended up having lunch with a couple from Kansas. We learned a lot about them over lunch and as with most people, you see the things you have in common when you take the time to listen. We really are all the same.

I'll leave you with the many views I was blessed to see on this trip while at this conference from the little clumps of flowers blooming in the desert climate to the fabulous clouds and mountain views.

On my last drive down into town from the Hyatt Tamaya, I stopped to take a photo of the chopper I passed at least twice a day. I hope I didn't worry the police inside the building but they stayed in and I left as soon as I took the picture. Phew! My next day would be my birthday and a drive south to Las Cruces.

Travel With Me Tuesday: Chimayo But No Green Chile Powder

After leaving Taos and getting going on the road to Santa Fe, well Bernalillo actually, the land became hilly and not highly inhabited. Gorgeous though. I planned my stop along the way in Chimayo where I hoped to get some green chile powder. Dick and I had been there about 10-15 years ago so I had seen the actual shrine and it was fall on that trip so we had no crowds. This day was turning out to be pretty warm though so it was great to be inside an air conditioned car.

When driving on my own I got to stop for anything including scenery and even grasses.

Yes, once again there was the Rio Grande. It's always a surprise to me how often you see the river and at one point it might be a stream and at another point it's wide enough and deep enough for white water rafting as it is in the photo above.

Then as I entered the Chimayo area there were these warning signs. No flooding today but it must be an issue at times here.

I ended up having to park at a more distant lot in Chimayo and saw areas we had not seen before and sights that were new to me but spoke of the desire for healing and more.

An area to sit and rest or have lunch and I'm sure there were services or gathering in this area. I didn't see anyone to ask so I just had to guess.

Finally getting to the Santuario where Dick and I had actually entered, I was tired and thirsty and wanted a bathroom besides! I found a toilet, sat and rested a bit but was not ready for $2.50 water.  Sometimes I can be very cheap.

I did visit the Sanctuary and went all the way in but found that my old knee and my new knee did not allow me to get my hand to the base of the hole where the 'holy dirt' was so I had to leave that experience alone. I still have a little jar of the dirt from my prior trip so I suspect I'm ok!

Back to the car along the river path and no 2015 green chile powder was available. I did buy one bag of the 2014 crop which went to my friends. I knew I'd be in Hatch so not all was lost and a bit was better than none.

By sunset I was at my motel with the Sandias out my window. My orange Mustang was out there too and so all I needed was the rest of my tamale meal for dinner, a dip in the indoor pool and my bed! A very good day indeed.

Wordless Wednesday: The Photo I Wasn't Allowed To Take int Taose

retablo San Francisco Church Taos, found on line

Travel With Me Tuesday: Taos Farewell

Saying goodbye to my adobe in Taos, I finally took a photo of the omnipresent sunflowers, small ones but colorful. Behind them is the house on the adjacent property. Modern and well taken care of in contrast to my adobe stay which was a glimpse into the earlier days and a different way of life.

As I was going to a conference on Pope Francis and Saint Francis I decided to stop and visit this church, just at the end of my road into Ranchos de Taos.

I was the only one around on this early Saturday morning, but saw the cleaning woman arrive and she opened the church doors for me to have a look. The rest of the plaza was very quiet and empty. A nice feeling.

I never was sure of what these structures were but suspected they were there to contain water coming down from the roof.

Closer to town I spotted the Post Office where I had a postcard to mail to my young granddaughter. The woman on the left had the kind of outfit you don't see round Annapolis!

Again, another thing we don't have anymore in Maryland - outdoor pay phones. You see all sorts of things when you travel.

I had planned to eat at Leonel's Tamales for dinner but since I stayed in my adobe earlier in the week, I was thrilled they were open for breakfast.  I got my two tamales Christmas style, one green one red. I ate all my eggs and half the tamales and then got back to my car and the road south.

I love reading road signs and when I'm driving I stop at every one I can. Especially these which tell the stories of the land I was crossing.

I stopped and looked at the jerky for sale as well as the other dried items. The young blond made me laugh when she said "I never expected to see YOU get out of that orange Mustang!" No and I hadn't planned to be driving one either but it was often a fun source of conversation with people.While I didn't buy anything, I wished her well and silently hoped she'd get a handsome young man stopping later in the day to make up for the disappointment she must have felt when she saw Nana!

Travel With Me Tuesday: A Day in Taos

After the crowds as I drove into Taos, I decided I really didn't want to do much of anything on this day and definitely not 'go shopping in Taos. Even window shopping.  I wasn't very hungry so I just sat outside a lot while the neighbor was on his computer in the kitchen. He was becoming quite an unwelcome presence  However, for one day I could cope.

There were no signs of raccoons and a shut door did not keep 'computer guy' out.  

I did have some computer time at the kitchen table too but finally decided it was better to be in another room and not hear his swearing.

With such a nice day I took myself outside in the afternoon, to sit and read and then listen to my landlady's radio broadcast on astrology. Only in Taos!

Above, you see the outer door of the adobe which had no lock and led into a little vestibule, courtyard area. Below, I lazed out and enjoyed the quiet and the dappled light.

After I sent 'computer guy' home, a finally met my landlady after he radio broadcast. I asked her to tell me what some of her drying herbs were. Others I knew, as I had once worked in a herb shop and had also taken a course through the Smithsonian on healing herbs.

Then in the early evening, I decided to finally take a walk in the fields behind the adobe, and while the landlady had said I could just lay down in them, I am not that much of a nature lover.

Yes, the river is the Rio Grande, one of the many many wanderings it does in New Mexico on it's way south to become truly the rio GRANDE.

These flowers looked familiar to me, mostly because they seemed to be ones that give off a lot of pollen. However, I've not had hay fever for many a year and planned to keep it that way.

Looking along the property edge, I could see the distant distant mountains. I don't know their name but what wonderful views to see all the time. But really Taos is not the place for me. It must have been something back in it's earlier, quieter days, days when drugs did seem to be the answer.

I wondered what this was, took the photo but forgot to ask. It remains something to wonder about.