Dennis' friend George came to visit Tuesday afternoon.  Spent the night and headed off to Texas to see his grandchildren.  He grew up next door to Dennis in Ivesdale IL.  George still lives there.George said I had to ID him as the "thin one" on the right.  He's lost quite a bit of weight since I last saw him.  

Last night the K's invited a group of us (officially known as the First Wednesday Club) out to their "property"...just north of St. James proper. They bought it 30+ years ago when they were working/living in St. Louis.  They built a pond and log cabin so it was their "get-away" place until they retired and built a "proper house".  They made pizza's in their wood burning outdoor oven.  We ended up eating inside due to rain, but that dampened no one's spirits.  We all had a wonderful time. 

Yesterday afternoon I took our house numbers off the mailbox on our porch and scrubbed it.  It still looks sad.I was going to paint it to resemble the ceramic house numbers we got in Taos, but I think I want to start with a new mailbox.  Dennis built this one years ago, out of left-over particle board. (with no supervision from me about where it was hung or size)  It's weather-worn and areas have soaked up some moisture and are "swollen".   I like the size (magazines and large manilla envelopes fit without being bent or folded) & design of this one, but better materials for the new one and hanging it not quite so close to the door frame seem to be in order.  

On the news I saw that Duncan Donut is now serving a breakfast sandwich--which consists of a donut split in half, with bacon & eggs in the middle.  DD claims it is only 360 calories.   They didn't mention how many carbs or grams of fat.

Our robins appear to have flown the nest while we were gone.  I see a lot of juvenile robins hopping around our yard anyway.  And the nest is empty.  I suppose we need to tear it down.  I don't think robins re-use nests. 

5/29/13   We got up early and hit the road to Santa Fe.  There were just a few of the Native American vendors set up on the north side of the plaza when we arrived.  That was nice.  It wasn't crowded and we could take our time looking at the jewelry and other crafts for sale.  We had a fun conversation with one man, about the different Indian symbols...we bought a sand painting magnet from him. It's a bowl with cobs of different colors of corn in it.  I also got a pair of silver earrings from a woman who had designed the way they hang and dangle out of a single piece of silver.  I also fell in love with a bracelet because of the stone.  I was told it came from the area around Denver.  Most of the turquoise we saw was the typical blue or greenish.  There was also some white turquoise that my dad was quite taken with.

We ate at "The Shed".  It was good but a bit hotter than I am accustomed to.  The menu had a disclaimer about how hot their salsa was.  If we ever go back, I'll ask for the salsa on the side.  They use blue corn for their tortillas.  I had the burritos, and they were good.  Just a tad too much heat.

We also visited the St. Francis Chapel which is just off the plaza. It has the oldest Madonna statue anywhere in the United States.  It was carried with the Spanish army when they were driving the Moors out of Spain back in the 15th century. The original chapel was built centuries ago, by a wealthy Spanish family.  It's been destroyed several times and rebuilt, each time larger and more elaborate. 

We also visited the Loretto Chapel and saw the "miracle staircase".  A carpenter appeared and built the staircase out of wood, and left without telling anyone his name or charging for his work. Some say it was St. Joseph who appeared and built it. It is a steep spiral and has no visible supports.  Originally it didn't have a handrail, but the nuns found it too scary to climb and the rails were added later.

Our final stop was the state capitol building. They had a display of quilts...but quilts that are paintings.  It was absolutely amazing.  Some were nature landscapes and 2 were of vehicles...one was an old truck out in a field and the other of a 50's chevy cruising down the street. No photography allowed, unfortunately.  These quilts were amazing.  It was a temporary exhibition, so it was lucky we got to see it.  The 2nd floor rotunda has incredible artwork as well.  

5/30/13

Taos.  

My mom found a turqoise bracelet she liked and bought it.  It's a bit heavier than mine, with a more traditional blue turquoise stone. Very pretty, but I like mine better.  We had the best meal of the trip at Graham's Grille.  I had their Southwest Chicken Wrap with a green salad. As we were leaving Taos, we stopped at an "import" place (probably all of it came from Mexico) that had everything from from A-Z.  We found some painted ceramic numbers to put on our house.  Which created another project for me...to put a B on our mailbox and paint some similar flowers to those on the numbers that will hang  above the mailbox.  I'm looking forward to it.

It was a cool day for June.  I definitely noticed the humidity.  Got a lot accomplished.  Cats "furminated".  Photos printed.  Mail picked up at post office...bills paid.  Spaghetti, salad & garlic bread for supper.  Garden still too wet to do much.  Ran out of energy before I reached the bottom of the list, so a few things transfer over to tomorrow's list.  

Meanwhile, back when we were in Colorado...

On Memorial Day we went to Mesa Verde.   The museum and movie helped put the history in perspective.  I had no clue that the Indians in the Southwest grew and wove cotton back in the earliest centuries.  They domesticated dogs and turkeys.  An interesting combination.  It was quite a civilization that traded with other tribes to the north and the south.  Dennis and I hiked down to the Spruce Tree Pueblo.   We drove around to all the different Pueblos in the park, but just looked down at them, rather than hike down.  Many of them required guided tours and only limited numbers of people could go down to them.

We had Navajo Tacos at the restaurant at Mesa Verde.  Then we headed to Four Corners.  On the way back from Four Corners to Pagosa Springs, we stopped at this Denny's. 

Tuesday was the balloon ride!  That was the most fun thing we did (in my opinion).  Riding in a hot air balloon was on my bucket list.  I try to get one thing crossed off every year.  I'm usually successful.  

The balloon ride took most of the morning.  That afternoon we hiked up to chimney rock to see the "pit" houses of a group of Indians that pre-dated the Pueblo Indians...if I understood the history of the movie and what the guide told us.  It was a rugged hike (my mom opted out of going) and you had to be accompanied by a guide...wear sturdy shoes, a hat, and bring water.  There was a long list of the dangers we might encounter on the hike up to chimney rock.  Fortunately no snakes or wild animals were on the path.  No one fell off the side of the mountain or into cactus.  This is the "kiva" or ceremonial "pit" near chimney rock. This is the view from near the top.  Photos just cannot capture the beauty of the landscape.

This is the name of the place we ate the first night in Pagosa Springs.  It was originally a Putt Putt golf course.  Then they added a garden area with a band/music & beer (blues of course)  and served BBQ.  It was good food.  It was a bit cool & windy, so we ate inside, but could still enjoy the music.  Our 2nd evening we played a round of "golf".  We also enjoyed the band while "golfing". After our round of "golf", the owner took our photo.   Notice the beautiful mountains in the background.

On Sunday we rode the narrow gage train from Durango to Silverton. It was an amazing ride.  The views were spectacular and not for those who have a fear of heights.  I took this photo of the engine from the window in our passenger car.  Did I mention hairpin curves and switchbacks?  Unfortunately we had a bit of engine trouble and our 3 1/2 hour ride was almost 5 hours.  So we didn't get to do as much in Silverton as we expected.  I'd like to go back to Silverton and have more time to walk around and get a better history of the area.  Our guide did not impress me.  She made executive decisions to cut things short and exclude parts of the tour.  :/  

Today we went to Aldi's and stocked up on food.  We also picked up Lucas.  It was good to see him...he got kind of shaggy and dirty hanging out with Mike & Berdie.  That was what I expected--not a complaint.  Living outside in a kennel and running with other dogs.  We'll get him a bath and a trim ASAP.  It's good to have him home.  The cats weren't quite as happy to see him as we were.

Laundry is caught up.  I think I have everything put away.  Lists of things to do have been made and prioritized.  Talked almost 2 hours with Hannah.  We talked about her plans for finding an apartment (instead of sharing an attic room)...and the dream of finding one big enough she could have a sewing area.  She's designing a paisley print pattern for work right now.  Fortunately she got a little experience doing this in college. It's more of a graphic design project than fashion design; she's on a fast learning curve right now.  It's a lot of pressure but she loves it.  

Tomorrow I'll still be following a "must do" list.  Being out west and seeing new sights has inspired me.  I have ideas for a few projects this summer.  Details soon.

It has been an adventure.  Installments to follow.  We came home to 3.5" in the rain gage and a swampy yard & garden.  I gave friends permission to pick the garden...saw that lettuce and some broccoli were picked while we were gone.  We still have enough lettuce for at least another week if it doesn't get bitter.  I was surprised to find that we had strawberries!  

The power was off for an unknown amount of time while we were gone.  The popsicles in the freezer hadn't melted, so I'm assuming it was not out long enough to cause any food spoilage.

Our route home went thru Springfield so we stopped by to see Jax & his parents for a few minutes.  He was tired and ready for a nap, so we didn't stay long.  It was wonderful to see all 3 of them.

We left Pagosa Springs before 7 AM on Friday morning.  We made it to Weatherford OK before we stopped.  That was at least 12 hours of driving, even taking the time change into consideration.  Originally we hoped to make it to El Reno OK...about 40 more miles down the road.  When we checked into the hotel, there were tornado warnings and tales of tornados around Oklahoma City.  We went upstairs to our room, did a bit of unpacking and settling in.  As we were walking out the door in search of food, the power went out.  Fortunately, areas of the city still had electricity and we ate at a Carl's Jr.  The power was back on at the hotel when we got back.  This morning, we discovered a tornado hit El Reno Friday night.  We drove thru and saw some of the damage.  It was awful. There were semi's tossed around and ripped apart at the weigh station.  We saw cars upside down on the sides of the road.  Part of the interstate was flooded...but still had 1 lane going east (our direction) open.  

Since we had very little food in the house and were low on energy, we ate at Pizza Hut tonight.  We ordered a medium hand tossed crust...Dennis had his half "supreme" and I hand the Veggie Special on my half.  I have a piece in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow.  Dennis ate all of his.

We sat out at the picnic table and tried to plan/prioritize what we need to do tomorrow.  The birds were singing. It was humid but not hot, and there was a nice breeze.  Everything was wonderful, until the mosquitoes showed up.  

We spent our first day in Pagosa Springs just looking around and seeing all the sights.  I bought a pair of earrings...brass instead of silver, so they were considerably less.  There is a lot more silver, but a few of the Indian jewelry designers are using brass or copper, as well as silver.  I got this at the Lantern Dancer, which had to nicest and most expensive jewelry. They have several different kinds of stone inlayed in the lizard.  Later I found this pinkie ring at the Rainbow Gift Store.  The Zuni tend to do more of the inlayed jewelry. Even in the small amount of time we were there, I learned to recognize different styles of jewelry.  

Now I am just looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.  Sweet dreams, everyone.