I’m back!

We’re finally back from New Mexico, after more driving than I think you can possibly imagine. How long? Including meal stops, the drive took 23 hours. No kidding. I think we took full advantage of the “unlimited mileage” offer on the rental car. We did get to travel through some states I’ve never visited before, including Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

Leon didn’t want us to leave. And I am aware that my constant stream of “I wonder what Leon is doing now” comments makes me an official crazy cat lady. I’m ok with that.

New Mexico wins the straightest road award.

It was beautiful though, and the driving overall wasn’t so terrible, although I’m not so certain that we looked well by the time we arrived. We stayed at the “Pueblo Bonito” B&B, which was perfectly nice, with a comfortable bed, tiny old kitchen, and a stocked kiva fireplace. We took advantage of the fireplace, due to it being 40 degrees the entire time we were there.

On Thursday we went sightseeing around the plaza in Santa fe. Santa Fe is a much smaller town than you might imagine, and probably more touristy than you think. It was lovely, and the air was very clear, but overall I don’t think I’d like living there – I don’t like the feeling of being isolated in a relatively small place. The dryness also bothered my eyes and skin a great deal.

We (ok, I) like to visit churches, so we visited the Cathedral. The cathedral was pretty unexceptional, but had this insane statue of St. Francis in front.

I don’t know what’s up with his foot either. We also visited the Loretto Chapel, which is known for its “miraculous” staircase, supposedly built with no nails by a mysterious carpenter.

There were a lot of wedding type activities, so we didn’t really do a ton of traveling, but that was ok. Marc was really happy to see his friend for the first time in years, and the wedding was lovely.

The ceremony itself took place outdoors on a mountain… a really lovely location. The reception was inside a shelter, with lovely beams and a huge fireplace in the middle.

Yes, that black and white button is hard to avoid…

Overall it was an excellent trip, if a bit exhausting. I loved the beautiful artwork everywhere in Santa fe

And I really felt that I made friends with the bride, so hopefully someday they will get to visit us.

And the food… so wonderful. I thought I didn’t like mexican, but apparently I just don’t like bad mexican. Plus we ate at this one restaurant that had crazy rodeo clown photos everywhere

and Marc is crazy. This photo sums up the insantiy of an entire day lost to travel.

That’s right… this is Kansas. We didn’t have to go to Kansas – we actually drove there so that Marc could add another state to his list. Of course, all of Kanas that we saw was this crazy trucker’s strip club in the middle of nowhere, but whatever floats your boat, right? I love the crazy.