Old Santa Fe Trail

Song - Along the Navajo Trail by Roy Rogers

Friday - April 11

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Slept in this morning and then ran some errands including picking up an extra duffel bag at REI for our trip home.  Went back to Pantry Rio for lunch and sat outside enjoying our delicious food and beautiful weather. It’s 77 here today but you still get a bit of cool breeze.  This afternoon we planned tomorrow’s journey up to Taos. There are two cliff dwelling sites we want to see and I have two chapels along the way. Usually I do most of the planning at home but this was a bit of a spontaneous trip so other than hotel reservations not much else was planned. 

Tonight we have 8:30 reservations back at Cafe Pasquel’s for dinner. In the afternoon we took a drive along the Old Santa Fe Trail to the SF Botanical Gardens. It was 4:30 and they closed at 5 so we thought that would be perfect but unfortunately it was 4:31 and they don’t let anyone in after 4:30. Ugh.

 So we drove around the outskirts of town and headed to the Canyon Galleries. Not that I need to purchase anything but it was nice to window shop. Then we headed back to our hotel for a glass of wine in the Bistro and out for dinner. 

Our reservation was at 8:30 and about 7pm we decided that was going to be a little too late for us. 

So I found us a restaurant, Luminaries next to the Loretto Chapel.  It was very quiet with only 4 other couples dining there. Great waiter & good food but 3 of the 4 couples around us were arguing and one of those were breaking up. The woman couldn’t stop sobbing and saying how important he was to her. Another were arguing about not having healthy boundaries and the 3rd couple were just plain unhappy. So….Mr. B and I had a great meal but the atmosphere could have been better. I told Mr. B that “We gotta get outta this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do”!

We had a beautiful walk home with an almost full moon. 

And Mr. B matched our hotel door!

Left at Albuquerque

 Song - South of Santa Fe by Brooks & Dunn

Thursday - April 10

Santa Fe

Enjoyed brunch less than a block from our hotel at Pantry Rio and we sat outside in the cool morning sunshine. We then walked to the Loretto Chapel which claims to have a “miraculous staircase “ with no support.

I lit a candle for a safe journey home

 Next we headed to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which was closed for a performance but the father let us peek in and take some photos.

Then onto the plaza square with lots of window shopping along the way - (well I may have ducked into a few shops!).

We then walked over to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum which alternates over three thousand of her pieces. 

They even had her famous black dress & hat on display as well as some of her brushes. & pigments. 

After all of that, Mr. B found a bookstore and while he was shopping, I sat at a table and worked on a community puzzle at the bookstore’s coffee shop. What fun. Time to head back to our room so I could download some photos and Mr. B could read his new book. 

For dinner that evening we walked past the square to the La Fonda Hotel and within it our restaurant, La Plazuela. Oh my. 

As soon as I walked in I knew it would be great. 

They had table side guacamole service to your liking, more waiters than customers and a wonderful array of dishes. Every detail was perfect.

 I ordered the PAN-SEARED CHILEAN SEABASS Green Chile Risotto | Sugar Snap Peas | Citrus Beurre Blanc & Asparagus and Mr. B had the Short Ribs with Brie polenta & seasonal vegetables. Both were excellent. We headed home with happy memories and full belly’s. 

Santa Fe

 Song - Tumbling Tumbleweeds by Sons of the Pioneers

Wednesday - April 9

Gallup to Santa Fe

 Mr. B discovered a great cozy cafe in downtown Gallup for breakfast. Jerry’s Mexican Food & they served the most delicious Sopas. 

Everyone in the cafe was  Diné which means - Native American Navajo. At times there was a line out of the door so we were happy to get a booth and enjoy some great food. 

Heading East we crossed the Continental Divide in NM. There were plenty of Mesas along Hwy. 40 with snow topped mountains in the distance and black lava rock along the highway. 

We drove past Milan & Casa Blanca and if I had known they were that close to California, I would have visited long ago!

Checked into hotel Pinõn in Old Town Santa Fe and we finally have a normal size bathroom! Yay!

Walked over to Cafe Pasquel, a restaurant Mr. B found several blocks from our hotel. Small place but great, creative food and service. As we were seated we were served this amazing savory Asiago-Parmesan Seed Crisp. I’m going to try that one at home!  

Walking home we saw a guy parking a very, very old truck. He ended up being a very fastinating guy, dressed in cowboy leathers & hat. Looked like he just got off the set of an Old Western movie. 

Truth was his name is RJ Gibson and he is both an actor and a photographer, but not your regular photographer with a high end portrait camera but an old fashioned 1903 Graflex camera and he does a wet-plate process that dates back to the 1850’s!

Oh, BTW the truck is a spectacular-looking 1934 Dodge Humpback panel truck which he uses for travel, lodging, darkroom and advertising. It has a 1960’s Chevy Camero engine and a 1966 Ford Mustang rear axel. 

After our visit and Mr. B being offered a seat behind the driving wheel, we stopped at our hotel’s bistro/bar to have a glass of wine before bed. We saw a guy eating dinner with a red accordion at his table and I asked him if we missed his gig.  I told him that my dad had played accordion and he said when he finished eating he would be happy to play some more music for us. We had a blast with him. What an incredible guy. He was from Northern Mexico so Mr. B began speaking Spanish with him. They told story after story. He told us not to worry about what was happening in our country right now. The truth was that people like us and him that cared about other cultures and gave other people a hand would take care of this country and its people. And you know what?  I believe him and it’s the first time since the election that I have had a moment of peace……

30 Paintings in 30 Days

Day 1 - The Garden Door

There is an online challenge that I participated in last January and I have decided to do it again.  Leslie Saeta has on online challenge called 30 Paintings in 30 Days in which you try to paint one painting each day.  Then you have the opportunity of displaying it on her website.

Day 2 - Saint Cirq Lapopie, FR

So far we are at Day 4 and  I am feeling like I may have bit off more than I can chew.  I am trying to finish a large commission, getting several pieces done for a show next month and get ready for some upcoming travel. 

Day 3 - Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume

 

 

Day 4 - Santa Fe, NM

If you would like to follow me on this journey/challenge, you can find my paintings here:


http://jeanettebaird.com/

Cultivating Courage

Song - Save Me by K.D. Lang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1jm3tTDrfM&sns=tw via @youtube

Actually I am no longer in Santa Fe but I am many miles up in the air heading home!!! Yipes!

For me, just getting onto an airplane is "cultivating courage"! We just crossed over the Grand Canyon but of course all of the people on the right side of the plane got to see it....guess which side I'm on?

Not the right!





After an incredible week of painting in Santa Fe, I still had not spent much time in the little town. So this morning after packing my car and trying to balance the weight between my two suitcases, I took a drive into the town plaza. I parked next to the mission which is the oldest church structure in the US (1600's) and I walked by the oldest house in the West....below..




.....then onto the Loretto church, which was very impressive. Especially because the bells were going off at a nearby church and it was so exciting.





The staircase there is considered to be a miracle and if you look up the story, a carpenter arrived after hearing the nuns prayers.

http://www.lorettochapel.com/history.html









He arrived with only a saw & his donkey. After 6 months he disappeared without being paid and he left behind a beautiful spiral staircase without any support that carpenters today do not totally understand how he did it.....some believe it was Joseph.







I however happened to feel a pull to Mary, I lit a candle, said a heartfelt prayer and sat in wonderful spiritual silence...at least until the bus tour showed up!





Then I headed to the plaza and the galleries.




It was the balloon festival week beginning today in Albuquerque so I was advised to leave for the airport very early as cars tend to park on the freeways to watch thousands of hot air balloons ascend.

But...


It didn't happen because the winds were too high.

So I had a few hours at The Petroglyphs Park before returning my rental car.











"Santa Fe is the artiest, sculpturest, weaviest and potteryest town on earth?"
-- Journeys
Jan Morris

Location:Santa Fe, New Mexico

50 Shades of White

Carol Marine's workshop (www.carolmarine.com/) focused on white today. We painted a white bowl, cup or vase on a white cloth. White reflects so many amazing colors but they are subtle shifts.

Here is Carol's demo. Isn't it simply beautiful?




It was a long day of learning and standing and being exhausted since I hadn't slept well the night before.




The coyotes were howling and the church bells rang at midnight, 3 am & 6 am for the Carmelite sisters to go to prayer. They have all taken a vow of silence and some have been here for over 60 years! An amazing commitment......definitely something to ponder in today's world.



When I was unable to sleep last night - I was overly tired, I was cold, the bed was too hard, I missed Mr. B, I was anxious about painting with this group of experienced artists........


and

I thought about

the Sisters

and their sequestered life

and I opened a book

that I had brought from home.





"We are so achievement-oriented that we often surge right by the true value of relating to what's before us, because we think that accomplishing things will complete us, when it is experiencing life that will.
Yet, if we can outlast the urge to judge everything we encounter, a miracle starts to surround us in which painting, music, poetry, running water, flowers, wind through trees, open vistas--all touch and draw out their counterpart that lives quietly within us."

The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo

Location:Santa Fe, New Mexico