Santa Fe Highlights - Day 1

It was a whirlwind trip to Santa Fe that left me recharged, reinspired, and ready to dive back into my life.


I drove from Phoenix to Santa Fe with a stop in Albuquerque for dinner at the Duran Central Pharmacy lunch counter. They are famous for their chicken enchiladas with green chili sauce. It was very good. There were two bug-a-boos on that first day. My camera battery died just outside of Phoenix, which meant I couldn't take any more picture en route. (I had the charger in my luggage and remedied the situation that night.) Second, my air conditioner stopped working just outside Albuquerque. The entire day I chased thunderstorms, so the temperature ranged from about 68 to 98 depending on the storms around me. I had the air off and on throughout the day. I rode the rest of the evening in the humid heat without any relief. It still wasn't as bad as driving any summer day in Phoenix without air, so I am not complaining. I got myself checked at the hotel and located the local Toyota dealership for a visit the next morning.


The first day started early with a trip to the Toyota dealership. I didn't have an appointment, but the service adviser was great and someone assessed my problem right away. It was an easy fix, and I was off sightseeing within an hour. (By the way, the Frommer's guide didn't mention the service waiting room but it was quite comfortable!)


The Plaza was only about 2 miles from the Toyota dealer, so I was there quickly. I found the public parking lot on Water street, and hit a few shops as I walked around the block to the Plaza. I arrived just before a tour started, so I impulsively decided to join the tour.


The tour covered the visitor highlights of town and we spent considerable time on Canyon Road viewing the galleries (at a distance) and seeing public sculptures. We also learned some of the history, got recommendations for restaurants and shops, and saw a great deal of the town's charm. I sat on the outside and snapped pictures as we drove. They didn't all turn out, as you might imagine, but I did capture a lot of the highlights this way.


After the tour, I grabbed lunch from a street vendor on the Plaza and copped a squat under the trees and did some serious people watching while I ate. After lunch, I sat with my travel journal, my GPS, and my web-enabled cell phone to plot out which shops I had to visit. I used my cell phone to post pictures on Flickr and messages about my activities on Twitter so my friends and family could follow my adventure. I must say, I felt like a total geek using all of that technology sitting on a grassy plaza in front of the oldest building in the United States.


The afternoon went by quickly. I found a great stamp store and not only had a great conversation there, but bought two fab stamps. I visited about 20 shops in a very short time and by the end of the afternoon, I was ready for a great dinner. I selected The Shed because it was highly recommended and was in walking distance.


I spent the rest of the daylight exploring Canyon Road on my own. Most of the galleries were closed, but since I was only looking, that didn't bother me. The buildings and landscaping were inspiring on their own, and I took many pictures of doorways and courtyards without seeing any of the art inside.


Don't miss the rest of my journey on day 2, day 3 and day 4.

Santa Fe Highlights - Day 2

The second day, my goal was to visit Bandelier National Monument and the science museums of Los Alamos. They are about 40 miles north of Santa Fe, but because of the rolling hills and winding roads, it's about an hour drive.


I love Bandelier. It is my favorite of the national parks and monuments. My goal was to visit Alcove House, a ceremonial cave 140 feet up the side of a cliff. In the cave is a kiva, an underground ceremony chamber. I've been there before, and the place is magical. The day was hot, about 88 and humid. Between the weather, the hot sun, and being at 6,000 feet, the walk was more tiring than I expected. I shorten my visit by excluding the walk through the cliff dwellings and went straight for the climb.


This section of the park has some shady areas with Ponderosa pines, but is mostly open spaces next to the cliff. This is typical of the scenery along the path. Eventually, I reached the base of the cliff and braced for the climb ahead of me. This is the first of three ladders and a series of steep steps to the top. (This is the shortest ladder, also.)


The climb was hard, and at one point, I asked myself if my plan was smart. But I was determined, and I felt tired but not overly strained, so I kept climbing up and up and up. When I reached the top, I admit that I flopped down in the shade on my back to rest for about 15 minutes. It was cool, and there was a great breeze. When I arrived, there were a few other people up there, but they soon left and I had the space to myself. I only wished I could have taken better advantage of the silence because it didn't last.


For the next 45 minutes or so, the place filled up with people. At one point, there were more than 30 people in the very small space. I ended up taking lots of group pictures for people, which I always enjoy. The most amazing sight of the day was a young man who emerged from the top of the last ladder wearing clubbing clothes: a print shirt, a black tie, tight black jeans, and black dress boots. He was my hero! He not only made the climb, but he did it in style. After resting for a bit, I realized that I should be leaving while I was feeling strong again instead of waiting for the crowd to thin out. The climb down was much easier than up because gravity was on my side. It's a bit scarier to step backwards onto a ladder, but I was up for that challenge, too.


By the time I reached terra firma again, I was nearly out of water and the rubber bands I call my legs were grateful that the walk back was downhill. I stopped to rest a few times in the shade, feeling a sunburn starting on my face and shoulders. When I reached the edge of the picnic grounds, I stopped at the well and drank a lot of water. I also soaked my head in the cold water to cool off. I was a sight, I'm sure, but I was so glad I made the trip and proud that I had made it.


The day was slipping away from me, so I edited my itinerary and had to leave out the trip to the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos. I didn't want to miss The Black Hole, a surplus shop filled with items from Los Alamos National Labs, including items from the Manhattan Project and other top secret projects conducted at that facility. Fortunately, a storm was rolling in and I could avoid any further sunburn. Armed with my GPS and travel journal, I found my way to the shop even through road construction in town.


The shop did not disappoint me. Inside, I found the most amazing collection of useful and useless electronic and other waste I could imagine. Used motherboards, capacitors, transistor, relays, typewriters, pressure gauges, door hinges, broken office equipment, power cords -- aisle after aisle of more crap than you can imagine. If you don't believe me, here is one view I encountered.


I bought a few items I plan to use in my art. I grabbed a quick sandwich at a local grocery store deli and ate it in a city park outside the town's library. Then, I headed back to Santa Fe, dodging more thunderstorms through the amazing desert scenery.


Don't miss the rest of my journey on day 3 and day 4.

Santa Fe Destination Forms

I've finished the Santa Fe Travel Journal and it is ready to hit the road with me. Yesterday, I printed out the destination forms, one each for places to eat, museums/parks, and shopping spots. I spent some quality time pouring over my new travel guide to select the possible destinations, filled out the appropriate form, and add the location to my GPS favorites. From that standpoint, I'm ready to leave!


One thing that surprised me was the number of forms I needed. To start out, I printed 10 of each form. I'm only going to have three days in Santa Fe, so I thought that would be more than enough. I ended up printing more of each form! I realized that I was filling out forms for all of the possibilities, the places I would like to see, and not just the ones I've decided to see. That rather fits my personality. I like the idea of having a pool of places to choose from, and will make my choices depending on my mood, the distance to the place, and how my trip is going. For example, on the third day, if I have eaten nothing but excellent Mexican/southwestern cuisine, I might be more in the mood for the cute French bistro.

As a result, I ended up using all of the envelopes that make up the honeycomb for the forms. I have one for each type of destination, and one with the remaining blank forms that I can use for places I discover en route. I'm taking my red Sharpie along. The red stands out nicely from the paper and matches the journal. I might even pick up another one to stash in the glove box, just in case.

I had planned to distress the edges and bind them with a book ring. But once I saw the quantity of forms, I decided not to distress and realized that having so many book rings would add bulk. The forms fit perfectly into the envelopes. They are filed away safely, and they will be easy to go through, also.

I found a few tweaks to make to the forms as I started filling them out. I didn't take the time to make them now, but will make all of my improvements when I get back. I'm sure I will have more ideas after I've filled them out completely.

I'm very excited. Not only do I have this cute travel journal for the trip, but the forms help me to feel very prepared to cherry pick the best destinations while I wander. And I'll have a record of the shop names and addresses, the meals I ate, and the sights to use on my next trip or to share with people who ask me for a recommendation.

Shopping for Pretties

Today, I took my new GPS for a test drive over a very long lunch. I wanted to pull up in front of all of my art places and set the GPS that way. It was way fun! I didn't get through as many as I wanted, but I got most of Tempe covered and even found a new place (Jerry's Artarama).

While I was out, I just HAD to stop in a couple of the places, the ones I hadn't been in for a while. As a result, I came home with a handful of pretties and a blender marker to try some image transfers.

I'm also taking notes on several more projects, including a project for my nephew who is a high school band director, and one for his brother who is a huge sports fan. These might be Christmas presents, depending on when I get them finished. I've been collecting public domain images I can use for both projects, which has been a blast by itself. I love the research part of my art!