UPDATE: I went to my doctor today and found out I did not have Strep Throat (good) and I can stop taking the antibiotics the Urgent Care gave me (also good). Still sick (not so good) but getting better (good).
As I mentioned in the last post, I headed to Santa Fe NM from T or C, making a stop at the Very Large Array. My throat was feeling a little scratchy, but, having done a lot of spiritual and emotional work that seemed to swirl about communicating, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that my throat would be sore.
I arrived at Brian and Stacey’s house, and Kenn got to meet them!
Got a tour of the property – that’s my ‘casita’ in the background – what a lovely, comfy, cozy space for me to stay!
And this is Finn and Gabe. Great, very polite dogs!
Veggie garden, with a different view of the casita
Friendly chickens
My first full day at the Jacona Hacienda was relaxing. My throat was a little bit more sore so we went to the Co-op to get me some herbal tonics to help kick the bug, but otherwise we relaxed in the tranquil space.
Unfortunately, my throat felt worse the next day, so a trip to an Urgent Care Facility was warranted. The verdict was Strep Throat. I got some antibiotics and was instructed to also take Allegra D. I started to feel better but really had to take a lot of Advil to overcome the throat pain.
And today, 4 days later, my throat is still sore, I’m very hoarse, I get these crazy coughing jags, and I don’t feel a ton better. (Granted I flew on 2 planes yesterday and am dealing with a two hour time change, but still). So, I called my doc here. Have an appointment for early tomorrow afternoon to get checked out.
But I digress.
So, the next day, Brian and I ventured into Santa Fe. We hit the Santa Fe Folk Art Museum, the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, and visited the Loretto Chapel.
Here are some photos:
Kenn is wondering what his friend is doing inside a display – at the Folk Art Museum
Georgia O’Keeffe
A stop at the Five & Dime to get some Advil
The Loretto Chapel.
The chapel was built by French and Spanish artisans who modeled the chapel after Sainte Chapelle in Paris. The story is that the sisters prayed for a carpenter to build them a stairway to the choir loft. An unknown carpenter came along and built the spiral stairway without the use of hammer or nails. He left before he could be paid and no one is quite sure who he was or how he completed the masterpiece. According to info I saw in the Gift Shop, the wood was analysed and did not match any other wood in the world (although it is a genus of Spruce). Engineers still marvel at this carpenter’s accomplishment. The banisters (which most consider to be gaudy) were added later per a request from the sisters.
After all the site seeing, Brian and I had a beer and then moseyed on back home.
The next day Brian and I went for a walk on the riverbed. It had rained a lot the night before (it is monsoon season after all), and part of the road was washed out. Here are some photos:
A friendly little garter snake
And then it was time for a Grand Tour in the Vanagon!
First stop – Los Alamos!
The museum had replicas of Little Boy and Fat Man, geiger counters, and other atomic (or otherwise) scientific info, all based around work done at the Los Alamos lab. Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Fat Man was 10 times ‘more efficient’ than Little Boy. Here’s a link for more info: https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man
Then time for the grand tour. Brian drove the Vanagon and mentioned many names while we were going along, but now, today, looking at a map, I understand where we went (for the most part)!
So, if I remember correctly, we took Rt 84 north, then west on 502 to Los Alamos, where we went to the aforementioned museum. Then we went into the Valles Caldera National Preserve after skirting Bandelier National Monument. We drove on some unnumbered roads during a nice rain storm, and then ended up on Rt 126 to Cuba. Then we looped around, maybe on another unnumbered road – I can’t remember – and went thru Coyote, Abiquiu and down thru Española and back. It was so beautiful!
Here’s more photos:
So, after a nice drive, back to the house where we met up and then went for a delicious meal at El Nido in Tesuque. This elephant was in the yard next to the restaurant.
Then, next day, it was time for me to leave.
One last morning of coffee on the patio. Beautiful day!
Here’s the tiny plane I boarded in Santa Fe. That is the smallest airport I’ve ever been to! I have TSA Precheck so I didn’t have to take my shoes off, but I did have to pull all of my electronics out. And on top of that, after I got home I realized TSA in Santa Fe also checked inside my suitcase. Been a long time since that has happened.
And here is my next plane at DFW.
I got on the plane and was getting settled when I heard a cat meowing. Turns out I was ‘lucky’ enough to have the lady with the kitten sitting next to me. ‘Gracie’ is the kitten’s name. She meowed pretty much the entire trip.
But anyway, both flights were early and there were no weather issues so it was a good day of travelling.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I neglected to mention previously that after the second plane landed, I had to get my backpack down from the overhead bin, so I offered to help the lady next to me to get her bag, and there was a guy a few rows back who also needed his bag, so I got them. There was one last suitcase in the bin. A guy was starting to get it down and I asked him if he needed help, because it looked like it was an awkward angle. Turns out, he didn’t need help because he was a Ninja Warrior! OK Dude! Just trying to help!
Today I’m doing laundry and just laying low.
For the plane ride, I downloaded ‘The Phantom Thread.’ It was way different than I expected, but I liked it a lot. It’s slow, and complex, so if you like films that aren’t quite so languid then this one is probably not for you. The performances were amazing though!
So, according to my receipt from the rental car place, I drove 1,359 miles. I’ll do a Trip Summary in my next post.
Til then – stay healthy my friends!