YOU WILL COME TO A PLACE...

..."Where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?"...

Old Town Albuquerque was next, down our road of travels...the morning started with Mom taking a tumble on the cobblestone walk, directly in front of where the Indians were setting up shop that morning.  Very thankfully, her ego took the biggest hit - a few bumps and bruises later (and she went ALL the way down), she was up on her feet, dusting herself off and back to her chipper self - though embarrassed enough to stay away from "that side" of the street.

The sign in the park with the gazebo (each and every little town we hit had a gazebo in the park in the middle of town) gave information on what was and was not allowed for your amusement.  Seems that this one may have had a bit of a previous problem with javelin throwers...I don't know why it tickled me so, but it did.

San Felipe de Neri - the oldest church in Albuquerque.  Sits right across from the little park with the javelin throwing - probably a good thing it is there.

By lunchtime, Mom (Barb) had worked up quite an appetite from the fall, so we stopped to have more Mexican food (I doubt that you could ever get too much!)...no margaritas this time, as we wanted to make sure one of us could catch her if she fell, again...since we did such a bang-up job of helping her out with that the first time around (if she had fallen in front of this shop, we might have owned it by now)!  Food was delicious - The Church Street Cafe (actually it's not on the street, but in the alley, around the corner from the park).  No javelins in sight.  No javelinas, either!

Just some very beautiful sights - and if you stand still, just a split second long enough, it changes that quick!  We headed on down the highway to Gallup, later that afternoon, where we spent the remainder of the day traipsing through the local trading posts, having a non-Mexican food dinner (the only one of the trip), and spending the night.  Sedona was ahead of us the following day...

YOU'LL BE SEEING GREAT SIGHTS!

"You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights."

My vacation continued on with visits with my brother and his family, plus a dear cousin I had not seen in years - along with encounters with some of my parent's "entertaining" neighbors.  We travelled to the Leanin' Tree Museum and Sculpture Garden of Western Art in Boulder, CO (yes, the same Leanin' Tree that makes the cards), where I convinced my dad to pose atop the donkey bronze, since it said that he could - he did.  We also spent a few days antiquing before hitting the road.  The weather turned threatening (lots of rain and more of those tornadoes I have only heard about - yes, I do admit I would actually like to see one sometime...off in the distance would be fine, if nothing else) and we headed out of town.

This is probably as close to a tornado as I will get, living in the desert...not a tornado, but a hell of a thunderstorm on our way through New Mexico, heading towards our first stop in Las Vegas. 

Stops in the little town of Las Vegas, NM and then Pecos National Monument, made for a pretty wonderful first day out...OK, so I sort of forced my Dad to stop at the Indian ruins and old Spanish Mission of Pecos - I told you it was like being a kid again ('cept I didn't throw up in their car this time)!  Actually, my Mom and I got a map at the one and only place in Las Vegas that they were going to stop at, that directed us up, into old town (which they had never explored), and made him take us up there, too - great little town!  After travelling on down the road and exploring Pecos on foot (ever mindful of rattlesnakes), it was on to Santa Fe.

The sights of Santa Fe amaze me, each and every time I make it through there.  From the art and architecture; the Native American artisans that still sell their wares in front of the Governors Palace; to the occasional, requisite blue door - there is something wonderful each and every place your eyes land.  I believe we ate Mexican food every night but one, on this trip...two of those were spent at Maria's in Santa Fe, where we barely made if out the door after the killer margaritas (we didn't believe they were that a**-kicking the first night, so went back to "make sure" a second...thank God, Mom doesn't imbibe and was trained in the art of "designated driving"!  The food was pretty wonderful, too - there was food?!).  Another night was spent at Tomasita's, where we were entertained by an all-girl mariachi band (one of which I swear was my friend Susan Silva, who lives in VA?!  Yes, tequila will do that to you!) with the most incredible voices.

My folks - I guess you could say they both wear many hats...from chauffeur to tour guide to two pretty wonderful parents...they have always known how to show me a good time - both growing up and these past few weeks...next up, Albuquerque...

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!"...Dr. Seuss

I have been "off and away"...for quite some time now, it would seem.  On a wonderful, and much appreciated, "time-out" back home in CO...a little cooler weather - and TREES!  What started out as a week back for my mother-in-law's wedding, ended as a road trip, for me, through the desert SW with my parents...I felt just like a kid again!  Too many photos for one post, this will be spread out over a few days - the easiest way for my friends to see without looking at the tiny little screen on the back of my digital camera.

My mountains in Glenwood Canyon (actually not mine); my Mother in Law, Phyllis, and her new husband, Hans; Phyl and all her grand kids (my Louie, Allix, Phyl, Matt, my Jaci, and Jessi - blowing kisses at the camera, silly girls that they are); Coors Field (we rode the bus into downtown Denver for a night game, where the Rockies won one for the home crowd).  I got a chance to reconnect with the sisters-in-law and spent a few wonderful evenings at dinner (though I would not recommend the Grilled Bison Caesar Salad at Ted's Montana Grill, which turned out to actually be a Grilled Bison HAMBURGER Caesar Salad...how odd!  And yes, I wrote a Dear Ted Turner note yesterday about changing the wording on his menu) and just sitting around.

Denver and the suburbs had VERY few tornadoes when I was a kid, growing up (actually, I can recount one day when I was in grade school that there were warning sirens and a tornado watch - of course, what did I know.  There may have been more - I was little!).  Over the past few years, they have been seeing more and more in town (Leadville actually reported a tornado while I was there this time, which is TOTALLY unheard of at that altitude) - this sign was hung on a fence in front of the house pictured - a house of some historical importance that they were fixing up when the tree was deposited inside of it - it's gonna' take a lot more work now! 

One of the most exciting things I got to do was to meet, face to face, with a dear gal that I have become fast friends with on eBay and the Internet, over the past few years.  We belong to an eBay "primitives" group (TLOFA - The Ladies of Folk Art) and have always had that "Colorado connection" between us - Joleen is from Sterling, CO, which is out on the north-eastern plains.  We had spoken via email and phone over the past three years, but never actually met.  I made it a priority this trip, and was so glad I did!  I don't know that I have ever met someone for the first time that I felt more comfortable with than I did with Joleen...it was like we had known each other for years.  And I hope she remains a close friend for many, many more to come.  We spent the day antiquing (oh, the knowledge in her head), and then had lunch at my favorite Mexican spot in town, before she headed back to her family.  I'm hoping she might want to make a trip out West some day!  The door is always open here, girl!

And from a flowering friendship to the flowers in my parent's beautiful garden in Englewood, CO, I leave this post tonight...my husband and kids headed back home to Vegas after a week, and left me in the care of my folks, so I could accompany them on a "road trip" - definitely the best way to travel if you want to see anything...and see things we did!  But, that's for tomorrow's post.

FOR THE BIRDS, PART DEUX...

As our weather gets hotter (we should hit 107 degrees next week) I think, more and more, about those cool, afternoon rain storms back home...and the precious Columbines that grow in the shade of my mountains that I miss in the summer (I do love my desert, though - and notice I said I miss them in the summer...this CO girl doesn't miss the snow!).

Have had this beautiful, large brass stamping squirreled away for a "project unknown", until last evening (and thanks to Heather French and Suzan, at oldgreymare, for some creative inspiration on just how to utilize it, FINALLY....and this one's for me, while I'm still into the whole "bird thing").  Creamy pearls and clear crystals from an old Vegas chandelier (oh yes, they are abundant in this town, when old fixtures are replaced with new ones in the casinos), plus three pearl "eggs", sitting in a nest of brass wire - all perched atop my newest little acquisition from an afternoon of antiquing...a bone china souvenir saucer, handpainted with my beautiful state flowers.

Not quite an ALL white post, but creamy enough to play along on White Wednesday...shout out to Kathleen at Faded Charm for hosting the fun.  There is some really incredible inspiration to be found on those pages...make sure to check it out!