**And the adventure continues...**

I am sitting here at work... at 1 AM... waiting for a video project to render so I can then print it to digital tape (30 minutes) and then dub the digital tape to VHS tape (another 30 minutes). I am almost to the point where I am wondering whether, if I just stay here overnight, my students will notice I am wearing the same clothes. Probably will have to go home in the end. I am running out of M&Ms.

The posting on the trip report ended with all the yucky stuff. Now I get to talk about heading to New Mexico and romping around the Santa Fe area. And yes there are pictures...

... for almost everything.

I think some background is in order here. Best to be upfront about my obsession with New Mexico in general and the Santa Fe-Taos area (high road only), in particular.

I first started wandering to Santa Fe over 20 years ago. During the years, when my kids were very young and I was somewhat stuck at home alone with little help with their care, I was "permitted," yes, I said "permitted" one trip - totaling 36 hours - once a year somewhere without having to ... (and kids you know I love you dearly)... take the kids or my husband. My itinerary always led me to Santa Fe because it was 1) wonderful, 2) one of the few places on this planet where I feel completely at home, and 3) close enough to actually have some time there with only a 36 hour window.

I would usually take my friend Chris, another stay at home mom of two boys of similar age to my kids. It was even harder for Chris to break away, albeit for completely different reasons. It wasn't because her spouse didn't want to do full-time child care so much as he was a surgeon in residence and worked insane hours. Carrying the full load of child rearing was the sacrifice she was willing to make and it paid off for her. Within a few years, she was trying to decide which half million dollar home to buy on the shores of Lake Michigan while I was trying to make rent in a two bedroom apartment.

Anyway, our trip would start early. Really early. I insisted. Because the MOST IMPORTANT part of the trip, for me, was getting to Tia Sophia's before they closed at 2 pm. This entailed leaving Denver by 6:30 am or so and driving.... FAST... to Santa Fe. The old Volvo 240 cruised quite smoothly at 90 miles an hour down Interstate 25 thank you very much. I don't want to underestimate for my readers the importance of being at the front door of this restaurant at least 45 minutes before it closed. It is all about the blue corn enchilada plate. I had to have it. It was nothing short of an obsession. And, of course, the first thing I did upon stepping out into the streets of Santa Fe this time, was walk right down to Tia Sophia's. Sure I gazed at the storefronts along the way, commenting on the loss of the Woolworths and other shops I remember from twenty years ago. But be certain of this, not at the break of my stride.

I don't have a picture of Tia Sophia's. I guess I was just a little pre-occupied after not having been there for 14 years. It was a glorious meal. Blue corn enchilada plate smothered with green chili, all as good as I remember it. And across the table I was looking at my best friend. Did I mention that I did not make this foray alone? Tia Sophia's was perfect.

With full stomachs and a Starbucks in hand, the best thing to do in Santa Fe anymore, unless you have money you want to throw at incredibly expensive art, is to look at the architecture. The city is so pretty. I love adobe architecture. And I live in exactly the wrong part of the country for it. Some of the best modern examples include the inns and hotels in the old part of town. This is a small inn that I would love to stay at. I can only imagine the price.

We stayed at Garrett's Desert Inn. It is a motor inn. And it looks like one. But it is a block off the square and easily half the price of anything else so close, before you account for the fact that you get free parking, otherwise non existent in the old part of Santa Fe.




This next building is part of the Hilton complex I believe. There used to be a great restaurant nearby call Maria Isabel's. But it is long gone.








The most famous hotel on the square is LaFonda on the Plaza. My travel companion, told me stories about how this was the only place his mother would stay. We wandered around inside quite a bit. This is a picture of one of the dining rooms.






Between the famous LaFonda and the motor inn was the Inn at Loretto. It is nothing short of exquisite. For me this was the most beautiful hotel to photograph.






On the other side of Garrett's Desert Inn was the oldest church in North America, the San Miguel Chapel. We walked around quite a bit, and I began to realize that as old as this is, the adobe bricks, mud coating, architectural features and the like, were far more modern than what I saw in Peru the year before. After all these trips to Santa Fe, being filled with a sense that I was seeing things so very old, the ruins on the Inka Trail go back so much farther in time.































This area for me has wonderful mystical qualities. I always try to drive the high road from Santa Fe to Taos, and this trip was no different. We drove to my favorite haunt, before Chimayo: El Santuario de Chimayó – Originally a private chapel, constructed from 1814 to 1816. It was turned over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929. This is a nondescript church from the outside, but it attracts A LOT of visitors. In fact in the 16 years since my visit, they have added a large parking area and little shops have sprung up around the church. But the draw of this church is inside. It is a little room in the back. Enter and in the center of the dirt floor you see... a hole. This is no ordinary hole. Many have traveled to Santuario to gather dirt from this hole and have benefitted from its miraculous healing powers of the "Tierra Bendita" (sacred earth).

The altar of the church is beautiful as is its murals and candles.






















I liked the candles in particular. I love picking up these candles at the grocery store They burn forever and they bring back fond memories of New Mexico.

My favorite part of the church is no longer there. In the back room, next to the Tierra Bendita, was a collection of crutches, and other artifacts that were left as evidence of miracles. Most are still there, but the room has been cleaned up and my favorite image left as evidence of a miracle - a polaroid of a tortilla with the image of Christ's face on it - is no longer on display. So I have tried to do some research on this tortilla. I think I found the origin of it thanks to the Internet. From an Aug. 14, 1978 Newsweek: "Mario Rubio is rolling a burrito when she notices skillet burns on the tortilla resembling the mournful face of Jesus Christ. Shortly thereafter, 8,000 curious pilgrims trek to the Rubios' small stucco house in rural New Mexico to view the sacred icon. Mrs. Rubio leaves her house unlocked so that visitors may freely enter and examine the tortilla."

Of course there also is this more humorous retelling of the event. I wonder if having a polaroid of this tortilla in the church undermined her own tourist/pilgrim business - apparently numbering in the 100s of thousands. I have not been to her house, but I remember seeing this tortilla at Sanctuario.

How can you not love this part of the country?

Part Three coming soon.

**Trip Report: Part one of trip 1**

So for the past month or so, I have been travelling a bit. One trip was to Kansas City for a conference. No worthwhile pictures from that. I was in a hotel complex for two days venturing outside only at night to search for BBQ. It was an opportunity to network with other media advisors to take some comfort in the collective hell that can be our jobs sometimes. I roomed with an amazingly energetic newspaper advisor from an Ohio community college. I got tired just listening to all the stuff she is up to. Am I getting lazy or something? Maybe bitten by the tenured bug. Who knows. In all fairness I always have get a special place in my heart for sleep and mindless television. Why change now.

But I took two other trips in that brief time window. The first was to Colorado. It was a week long excursion packaged around a court appearance to respond to a petition from the ex as he is asking the court to relieve him of his legal responsibility to help the kids with college. I will get into that delightful experience in a later post. Outside of the court hearing and the prep time with the law firm, I managed to actually eek out some leisure time.

Right after arriving in Colorado and heading for Boulder, I took a detour into Denver and tripped down memory lane. Ironically, this memory was from a time I was married. Not happily, mind you, as I was raising two young'uns (no problem there) and caring for one 30 year old child. Doing everything in the house while waiting tables at night, caring for toddlers during the day, reading 800 pages a week of neo-marxist theory, post-structuralism, auteur theory and british cultural studies, cooking cleaning, chauferring to preschool, entertaining kids, driving an hour to class a couple times a week... made me a little cranky.

But, I have fond memories of the house I lived in. My daughter and son do too. They are the best memories of that time. It was the first house we ever owned. We made the downpayment with money my father wanted me to have when he passed away. At least, that is what my mother said at the time. It could be that she was just being nice about helping us, knowing we had very little money. I won't get into the whole common property law that divided the equity in the house (including that down payment from my father) between the two of use when we separated. But I was accustomed to the pattern of my ex benefitting from the efforts, generosity and good will of others. It is how he survives.

Ah, but the house.... We lived in this house for 6-7 years. I had to sell it after the split because the mortgage payment was only 100.00 a month less than my paycheck. And no help was forthcoming from you know who. It was a special place though.

So, I drove by the house. The fence in front is gone. The house needs paint. Ivy is growing everywhere. The rope from the old airplane swing still hangs from the maple tree. The greenhouse in back - a massive 20 x 40 foot monstrosity with an old hot tub enclosed in it - is long gone and replaced with a deck.

The top end of the block has several homes with the "tops popped." These were old ranchs that have been rebuilt into a two story homes. Sign of growth, I guess. But the neighborhood overall still has a mixed income feeling about it.


One of my favorite places to go with the kids was a little cafe by the hospital. This was the kids' restaurant training ground. My son went there when he visited Denver with his girlfriend this summer. I had to stop in and check it out. It hasn't changed a bit. The round table in the corner is still there. The kids would order pancakes. The waitress, who is STILL THERE, used to tease them and bring out cucumber shapes and place them on top of the pancakes in a smiley face, while commenting on them needing their veggies.
While waiting for the food, the kids were allowed one spoonful each of the peanut butter on the table. It was a favorite ritual, getting as much peanut butter as possible on the spoon. Annie's still has the BEST green chili in the world. It is the only green chili that is unequivocably better then mine. Apparently I am not alone in my absolute resolve about the quality of Annie's green chili. Our waitress mentioned that the owner has, on occasion shipped out orders of green chili on dry ice. It is that good.


The second day of my trip was spent working with my attorney preparing for trial. It was a Sunday. Fortunately the 300/hour rate was not compounded to time and a half. Not surprisingly, I took no pictures. I was too keenly aware of the billable hours racking up to think about marking the moment.

Monday I accept the gracious offer of my alma mater in Boulder and established a guest account so I could work on-line, on campus, all day. Dangerous having an office in the engineering building with the coffee cart one floor below. That means easy access to lattes and with a web cam mounted on the cart, one has the luxury of waiting until there is no line before running downstairs. I had three lattes that day.

Tuesday was trial day. It sucked. It was expensive. That is all I have to say about that for now. I will return to the topic. Believe me.

The rest of the trip report is coming. Stay tuned for roadtrip to New Mexico and the search for green chilis.

**Birthday Astrology**

Your Birthdate: December 15

You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things. You tend to be close to family and friends. But it's hard to get into your inner circle. Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home. You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak. Your strength: Your intense optimism Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents Your power color: Jade Your power symbol: Flower Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

**Up for Air**

Just caught the end of The Apprentice as I turned on the TV for ER. I notice the "fired" people were getting in the taxi and there was a brightly lit "Yahoo jobs" ad on top of the taxi. Nice little, yet ironic, product placement.

But that is not why I am blogging. I am blogging to whine.

Man, this is a brutal semester. Constant piles of news copy to grade. Video projects keeping ending up on my desk. My video job is nearing a deadline. LSATs are just a couple weeks away. I have traveled the past three weekends. I can't seem to clear off my desk, make any progress or even clear my head.

Generally when things pile up this bad, I have to add structure and organization to my life. And get more exercise. And not get behind on this darn blog.

OK done whining. Time for a trip report. Coming up.