I am convinced that part of a city’s magic lies in your first visit there. Scott and I met best friends here six years ago. We fell in love with the city and the terrain. So we were very excited to visit again. Overall we had a nice visit but like so many things in life – the visit didn’t quite live up to our repeat expectations.
We stayed in a great house in Santa Fe that we found on VRBO. One of the greatest treats from our stay there was having space – real space- to stretch out, relax, cook and rest. We didn’t have that sense of urgency to “go, go go.” We allowed ourselves slow starts to each day and a continued, relaxed pace as the day progressed. The boys said it was great to just “chill out!”
The house was convenient to travel and was decorated with an abundance of folk art from the area. We did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. It was great to eat breakfast in our house each day. We also ate lunch or dinner there, too. Scott was once again “master of the grill” and we had several good meals.
I didn’t realize how much I was missing my morning “quiet time” (with coffee in hand) until I discovered it again in Santa Fe. I woke up first each day and slipped downstairs to get lost in caffeine and a good book. The owner had a bookshelf with many titles. I stumbled upon a book entitled The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. For so many reasons – in so many ways-it was meant to find me. I look forward to sharing lessons learned and inspirations with others.
Our place was near the Railyard District so we went exploring. I found several worthy consignment stores. There are so many stores that sell consignment cowboy boots. For all of you that know me well – you KNOW that I looked at every pair in every store. I’m sad to say there wasn’t a pair that had to leave with me – not the right color, size and/or price. The boys did get vintage cowboy-style shirts and they look great in them!
Of course we visited the Historic Plaza in Santa Fe. We hope you enjoy the art as we did.
One evening we went in search of a neighborhood park. We found an empty baseball field and a spontaneous game of kickball broke out. The Angry Elves (a.k.a. Scott & Beck) beat Hozho Hamsteads (a.k.a. Angie & Griffin) 12-11. It was so much fun. Those unplanned, unexpected true family times TOGETHER are what this trip is all about!
Another fun adventure was riding a train from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. It was called The Rail Runner. It was very comfortable and reasonably priced. I was glad for Scott to have the 1.5 hours each way to enjoy the scenery because he has driven all 7,00o miles thus far on the trip. Once we arrived in Albuquerque we were without a car and basically tooled around downtown. We did stumble across a very neat non-profit called One Million Bones. Check it out at www.onemillionbones.org. We are hoping to contribute to the project once we are home by organizing a “bone party” for friends and/or at Nature’s Way.
It wouldn’t be vintage Hamstead if we didn’t visit museums and flea markets while in town – so we did both. We visited the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. We enjoyed the journeys inside and gathered many insights and inspirations. One of my favorite posted quotes was ” We are made of prayers. Wrapped in blankets of love and wisdom.” Lucia Tapahonso (Navajo) Another tidbit of wisdom was that some native peoples believe that headbands carry your burdens. Good to know.
Know that you are blessed!