Of course, these sentiments fell deaf on the ears of an ignorant, indulged middle-class white American girl. I honestly thought quite the opposite was true; I had to be one of the most unfortunate people in the world, didn’t I? I mean, my parents were strict and at times physically abusive, we didn’t have a lot of spare change lying around and I had to wear non-name-brand clothing a lot (gasp!). How could anyone have possibly had it worse than me? Okay. Maybe a few people could have possibly had it worse than me. But, not many – trust me!

My, how times and perspectives have changed. Today I count my blessings on a regular basis, and I still don’t think I’m grateful enough. I do frequently question the good fortune of my life, though. How is it that I was not only lucky enough to be born in America – arguably one of the greatest nations in the world – but also, born to parents who loved me unconditionally (albeit in their twisted way at times), born in modern times where I don’t have to worry about when my next bath will be, being persecuted for being a woman, or dying from the whooping cough? I’ve also never experienced racism or bigotry directed at me to a large extent because the color of my skin is white. About the only way I could have been more blessed is if I was born a male to an affluent family. Not that I consider the opposite sex better than my own, but being a female does mean I’m a minority and there are some drawbacks associated with it.

I think about the people in other nations – the women especially – who are suffering atrocities every single day: female genital mutilation, repeated rape, forced prostitution, arranged marriage, starvation – the list goes on. I could have very easily been born to a lifetime of such horror. But I wasn’t. And I need to recognize that fact on a regular basis, lest I find myself reverting to the thought processes I had as a child.

Yesterday we were given some startling and troubling news at work. The company is looking at cutting costs in a number of ways, some of which could have a negative financial impact on some employees. I understand this sucks. The whole damn economy in the US sucks right now. We’re living in precarious and unsettling times. Yet, we still remain fortunate, in my opinion.

The news yesterday was an announcement of some upcoming changes that will definitely be happening, as well as some changes they are only thinking about implementing. The company has a policy of being open with their employees, and I appreciate that, probably more than most given my history. You see, I worked for another company for 8 years whose policies resembled nothing of openness and candor. Everything was clandestine and hush-hush. If there were going to be layoffs, you heard about them as you were being escorted out the door, and those left behind were given shoddy explanations. This is why, even though the news yesterday wasn’t great, I’m still grateful. I appreciate the advance notice and the respect given to the employees here. As an employee, it increases my loyalty and faith in the company itself.

Not everyone has the benefit of walking in each others’ shoes, though, and I’m seeing evidence of that today. There’s a lot of bitterness and complaining going around. My viewpoint seems to be in the minority. I want to preach to certain people the same way my mom did to me as a young child. “You don’t know how good you have it. Count your blessings.” I won’t do that. But, it’s a good thing I have a blog. ;-)

Now go count your blessings. (And thank a veteran!)

The past couple of days have been interesting, especially compared to my otherwise pretty simple and uncomplicated existence. I hesitate to describe my life as “boring” because that sounds so drab and I don’t feel like my life is boring at all, even though it probably isn’t terribly exciting to the casual observer. Still, though, I go to bed with a feeling of fullness and satisfaction for the events that transpired the previous 16 hours more often that not.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to perform in a video shoot for work. I had a non-speaking role of a “stylish soccer mom” who demonstrated some features inside of a minivan and of a cellphone. Calling this acting might be a bit of a stretch, however, I believe I was bitten by the bug. I am now (with extreme encouragement from my sponsor and other key people in my life) looking to pursue this further. At this point, I’d be happy to just do commercials or videos similar to yesterdays – I am just not sure how to get started. If I’m honest with you (and myself), I’ve wanted to do something like this my entire life. I’ve just always dismissed the thought immediately after thinking, “I’d love to be an actress or model or something like that.” What followed was usually something like this: “Yeah, right. You’re not good enough to do that. Who would want you? You’re too tall. You’re uncoordinated. Your nose is too big. You’re too fat. You don’t have the talent. You don’t have the ‘it’ factor. You don’t have the sheer chutzpah and stage presence required. Everyone will laugh at you. Wanting to do this is conceited and ego-centric.” The voice goes on and on. I never really stopped to reflect on any of it, always choosing instead to listen to the negative self-talk and pushing these “crazy” thoughts out of my head. Being in front of that camera and working with a director yesterday, however, made me stop in my tracks because of how natural it felt and how much I enjoyed it. So stay tuned. I’m sure the path will be filled with sputtering starts and screeching stops, but I’m going to walk on it anyway. Who knows, maybe I’ll even run.

In other news, I discovered a painful lump in my left breast yesterday. In hindsight, there’s been something wrong for a couple of months. I remember I mentioned to Rob that my breasts looked fuller – at least one did. DUH! More recently, that boob has been spilling out of my bra cup. I just thought it was my new bras and almost bought new ones yesterday! Also, for a while now, whenever Rob has “copped a feel”, I’ve hollered in pain. I didn’t realize it was just the one boob, YK? And I didn’t think much about it, choosing to think he was being too rough on my gentle self. Poor Rob. Anyway, I went to my GYN today and she confirmed the lump, but also confirmed what my friend Google told me: most painful lumps are just benign cysts. She ordered a bilateral diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound on the left breast and I’m waiting for a call back now to confirm that appointment. I’ll keep you all updated. I was hoping to get in tomorrow since we leave for vacation on Saturday, but I’m not sure that will happen.

Speaking of vacation – we’re headed back to Virginia Beach! I’m thrilled and can’t wait to spend a week at one of my favorite places in the entire world. Sun, fun, and relaxation here we come.

Although he was enlightened in ways a lot of people aren’t, I think George was a tortured soul while he walked this earth. I hope he’s resting in peace now. And I hope Jesus brought him some pork chops.

As I walked into the nave, the music grew louder and a full band on stage greeted me with sounds of contemporary Christian music. I loved seeing 2 guitar players, a bassist, a keyboardist, a drummer, and 4 singers up there really getting into their stuff. I couldn’t help smiling as I found my way to a seat among the dancing and swaying parishioners as I looked for my friend and her babies. The dedication ceremony itself was relatively brief, but very precious. How could it not be with three smiling babies facing the congregation? At the end, a soloist sang, “Yes, Jesus loves me” in the sweetest voice ever. Loved it.

But the thing I loved the most was the message the pastor preached to us that day. He started out with a mention of all the veterans who have served us and we applauded them all. This led into two very moving stories of servicemen in the past. One was an 18 year old in either World War 2 or Vietnam (I forget the specifics) who picked up a live grenade the enemy had just tossed into their camp and tucked it into his stomach so that he would die instead of his four buddies serving next to him. The other story was similar but more recent. An equally young man was driving a tanker when a grenade landed on it. He could have jumped out and the tank with the four soldiers inside would have exploded. Instead, he chose to take the grenade to his mid-section – killing himself, but saving the others.

As the pastor told these stories, I wondered if I would have made the same choice those two men did. I honestly don’t know that I would. Maybe it’s different in war time and you’re right there in the moment. Maybe I would in those circumstances. I hope my character is stronger than I think it is, anyway.

The pastor then went on to tie the message of the sacrifice the men and women who have served and lost their lives for our country to the small, every day sacrifices we can make in our relationships. He joked that most people would take a grenade to the stomach, but not give up doing their favorite activity for their loved ones. That got a laugh, but it really hit a nerve. He asked how much do we truly sacrifice our wants and needs in a loving, filled with humility way – in order to deepen and strengthen our relationships. I know I have a lot of work to do in that regard. So much work. The promise of self-sacrifice is deeply rewarding relationships beyond imagination, though, and I want that.

Of course, he ended the sermon with the parallel of the sacrifice Christ made for us – and I just loved how he tied it all together. It was a great way to start my day and a great reminder of the sacrifices the men and women of our great United States of America have made for our country. I’m grateful for every one of them and will take time today to reflect on those who have lost their lives so that we may live a better one.

First, on Thursday night, Courtney came down to my hotel to pick me up and take me out to dinner. It was easy to spot her car because she has the bike racks on top, which is no surprise if you know her even a little tiny bit. We went to the Elephant Bar Restaurant and had some of the best service I’ve encountered while dining out in a long time. The waiter was very accommodating and even put two and two together that since I asked for no sugar in my main course, that the dessert menu wouldn’t interest me. I’m often surprised at how many servers don’t even come close to picking up on that. Anyway, Courtney and I had a lovely dinner where we chatted about a little bit of everything, starting with PayPerPost/Izea and ending with a decision to take a stroll though the cool shopping plaza (Winrock) the restaurant was located in.

I found the best tool in Williams Sonoma – a stainless steel pineapple corer! This thing rocks. I eat a lot of pineapple and it’s always such a pain to cut the whole thing up. This corer turns all that work into child’s play. Of course the store was out of fresh pineapples on my last visit, so I’ve only used it once. I’m looking forward to getting much more use out of this thing. And now I’m wondering what kind of cool crafts I can make out of the pineapple shells.

Here’s Courtney and I in the Elephant Bar. Our lovely waiter took our picture. Aren’t we cute? I just adored her. She was very easy to talk to and cute as a damn button.

The following night, I had a very interesting experience. I got to meet an aunt and a cousin that, until 3 years ago, no one in my family knew existed. You see, my paternal grandmother left her husband when my dad was just four years old. He was not a nice man – being a violent, active alcoholic and a raging gambler, so my Nanny (as we called her) was smart to get out when she did. My dad grew up without a father and without a desire to know his father or what happened to him once he was out of his life. Turns out, my grandfather kept up his sick ways, but still ended up marrying someone else and fathering two more children. Three years ago, my dad got a phone call from a woman claiming to be his half-sister who also informed him he had another half-sister besides herself. My dad knew he had an older half-sister from another of his father’s marriages prior to the one with his mom. He thought the woman on the phone was the half-sister he knew about (but lost track of), but she informed him otherwise. So my father has 3 half-sisters all told.

When I was making plans for my trip to Albuquerque, my mom reminded me about my dad’s sister. I told my dad to give her a call and I’d go meet her. And that’s exactly what we did. It was a great meeting. My aunt Pam is a very nice woman – so down to earth and sweet – and she brought along her daughter, Thea, who is just one of thirteen of my newfound cousins. Thea treated us both to dinner at the Texas Land & Cattle and we had some great conversations about the family history. Pam is really into genealogy and she’s done research on our family that goes all the way back to the Jamestown settlement! Very interesting stuff.

After dinner, they both came back with me to my hotel room so I could show them pictures of my family on my laptop. They loved seeing the rest of the family and it sounds like we’re all anxious to meet each other and have a family union, rather than a reunion, since the latter would really be a misnomer. The three of us spent about 4 hours that night just chatting and looking at pictures. Pam had a photo album with her filled with pictures of my grandfather. That was neat to see. My brother resembles him a bit. Pam definitely resembles my dad; I knew she was my aunt the second she walked into the hotel. Here’s the three of us inside my hotel:

Two days after we met, I was on a plane headed back to Philadelphia and life as I knew it. Spending 10 days in New Mexico, getting closer to my uncle, meeting new family, and experiencing many joys of recovery during my conference have slightly altered life as I knew it, though – in great, meaningful, and profound ways. I’m definitely the better for this trip and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to take it.

Although I was sad to be leaving New Mexico and the wonderful experiences I had there, I was ready to come home, too. I missed my husband and kids… and my own bed, my own refrigerator and my own cooking tools! It’s always funny how much I enjoy a home-cooked meal after traveling for some time and eating out so many meals in a row. My body begins begging for some truly clean and familiar food.

So now I’m home – I’ve been back a week today which is hard to believe – and I get to process all of the events that happened there. I think it will definitely take some time, and hopefully I’ll have plenty of it!

All was well, obviously, as I lived to tell the tale and I have the pictures to prove it. Standing on that ledge getting my picture taken was just as nerve wrecking as going up in the car, by the way. We were high up there, man! And it was windy! Well, just a little windy. But, still.

I was surprised at how cold it was on top of the mountain, too – there was about a 20 degree temperature difference. Once we started walking around a bit, it warmed up. We had a really nice walk – it was absolutely gorgeous. The air was crisp but headed to the warm side and the earth was just coming alive for Spring. My uncle and I had some pretty deep, meaningful conversations up there, too. We got to talk about all sorts of stuff from the past that we’ve never touched on before. I felt such a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to get closer to my uncle during this trip as we hiked along the mountain trails. I really am a blessed woman, ya know? And being in New Mexico at 10,000 feet, looking out onto the Albuquerque valley while spending time getting close to my only uncle made that fact very clear to me.

The time came when we decided we’d had enough of the mountain top and were ready to take the tram back down. I started getting nervous again thinking about the ride. I mean, enlarge that picture and see if your stomach doesn’t feel a little funny when you look at it. As it happened, the ride down was easier than the ride up for some reason. The entire ride takes less than 15 minutes – it’s just the right amount of time – not too short and not too long.

We bought some items in the gift shop at the foot of the mountain and were on our way to find a place for lunch. I was talking on the phone with Rob when a roadrunner ran right in front of our car! I was so excited! That sucker was indeed fast, though, and I didn’t get a picture of him. Still, a very cool experience.

Once we finished lunch, we headed into Old Town to visit some of the galleries there. My uncle wanted to buy a pot before he left New Mexico – and he found the perfect one for him. We also went into a gallery of a friend of his and talked for a little while. She invited us to dinner at her house and we gladly accepted. She told us she lived near Sandia Peak and we saw some glorious homes in that area, so we were super excited thinking we’d get to see one of the million dollar homes. Alas, she lived in a nice house, but not one of the mansions we we had seen earlier in the day. Still, though, we had an interesting evening. Her husband is a geologist and her best friend is a hydrologist and all three are extremely educated and well-versed in modern events. The conversation at dinner was quite stimulating. And I felt completely out of my league, but that’s okay – it was great to be exposed to more culture than I’m used to in my sheltered life.

I was sad to go to bed that night because I was moving to a new hotel the next morning and my uncle was headed back to Virginia. The vacation part of my trip was coming to an abrupt end. I still had a great time the rest of my days there, though, and I’ll tell you all about that in my forthcoming posts.

Here’s the rest of my Sanda Peak pictures.

As we headed out on I-40, we realized our gas was getting a little low, so we had to stop to fill up – the highlight of which was riding along historic Route 66. I was so excited to actually be on the road. I thought I took a picture of a sign proving my presence there, but I guess I didn’t since there wasn’t one on my camera. You’ll just have to take my word for it, I guess. :-)

Another highlight of the trip out to the pueblo was seeing the freight trains in the distance. We could see the entire length of the train from engine to caboose – all laid out in one straight line. Out here on the east coast, we’re lucky if we see 5 cars without being broken by the landscape. I wasn’t able to capture it on film because we were driving and I don’t have a wide-angle lens, so again, you’ll have to take my word for it. Seeing entire trains like that was amazing. The big open skies of the west really get to me and make me wish we lived there in the worst way.

Getting to the pueblo was like unwrapping a gift inside a group of beautiful boxes, each one more beautiful than the last. The landscape kept getting prettier the farther we drove – the mountains and mesas appeared seemingly out of nowhere as we happened upon them. Just when the vistas really started taking my breath away, I reached for my camera – but then we happened upon a sign that stated a camera permit was needed to take any photos. What the heck? There was a guy in a security car right where the sign was posted, too, so I adhered to the rules.

All was not lost, though, we purchased a camera permit once we got to the visitor center and I was able to get a lot of great shots. We arrived just in time for the next tour bus up to the pueblo – the village sits atop a high mesa where the only allowed access is via their tour buses. While we waited for the bus to depart, we visited some of the Native’s stands where they were displaying their pottery – very nice stuff.

I learned so much about pottery while I was there. I can spot the difference between traditional and modern methods of pottery making. The traditional method of making a pot is to form it all by hand, but some potters are now using pre-made forms to speed up the time to make their pots. The traditional pots are much more interesting in appearance and they’re also worth more. There is also importance placed on the potter and their family line. The matriarchs of the family pass on their knowledge and methods to their daughters (traditionally) and there are books available that outline the family line of potters. This piece is one my uncle bought on his last day – it’s from the Acoma tribe and is 50 years old – it’s a traditional.

Seeing how the Acoma Indians live high atop their mesa with no running water was simply awe-inspiring. Acoma is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States with its inception dating back to around 1150 AD. Here’s a great site that gives more information about the city, its history, and its inhabitants. Through the majority of the tour, most people were silent; there really were no words that could have been spoken.

Walking through the outsets of their cemetery into the San Esteban del Rey Mission (their church) was a moment I’ll never forget. I felt so close to God and to everything spiritual. The feeling that we’re all connected – those who were standing in the ancient church with me on that day, those who stood there and everywhere in the past, and those who have yet to come – was overwhelming. It was very cool inside the mission and our tour guide told us that it’s always that temperature, even in the midst of their extremely hot summers. We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the cemetery or inside the mission, so I made sure to really stand there in peace and take it all in. I vowed to commit it all to memory since I knew I wouldn’t have physical evidence of how it looked or felt once I left. There were brightly painted parrots on both sides of the altar that really spoke to me. The parrot has significant meaning to the Acomas – as it symbolizes rain and rainbows. I spent several quiet moments in meditation inside the mission and felt a peace descend upon me that remained through out my entire stay in New Mexico.

As we walked around the city for the rest of our tour, the people who live there – and God bless them all, they have no running water and have to bring the water up via trucks – set up little tables outside their homes to sell their wares. I loved being able to meet and connect with the various artists and potters and even see where it was all made. We were shown their outdoor kiln where all the pottery is fired. Directly across from the kiln is their water reservoir – a large, shallow ditch they carved out of the clay to capture rain water. The reservoir was bone dry – and this is their rainy season – so I could understand why our tour guide said they pray for rain every single day. I ended up buying a beautiful double-sided cross from one of the residents. I still need to take pictures of it to show you all. On one side it’s got turquoise stones and on the other it has 5 different colored stones – it’s just gorgeous and is very meaningful because it was made by an Acoma Indian right in Acoma. I’ll treasure it forever. I also bought two pottery quails that I need to take pictures of as well.

We had the option of walking back down to the visitor’s center or taking the tour bus back down. Initially we planned to walk, but by the time we were done the walking tour, it was awfully close to lunch and I was hungry. We took the bus and ate our packed lunch in the car. Afterwards we went through the museum. It was small, but very interesting. I’m in complete love with the Acomas now and can’t get enough of their stories.

Our drive back to Albuquerque was just as beautiful as our drive in – only this time we were able to take photos. This picture is of a monolith they call the Enchanted Mesa. What’s funny is that the formation is actually a butte and not a mesa, but I guess the Acomas don’t care about being all that technical – and there probably wasn’t a distinction between the two when it was named hundreds of years ago. It’s definitely enchanting, though – as you can see – it’s reminiscent of Devils Tower in Wyoming, which is neat because there’s been reports of UFOs over top the Enchanted Mesa over the years. ::Cue Closed Encounters of the Third Kind music::

I was sad to say goodbye to Acoma, but all good things must come to an end (and all bad things, too, thankfully!). The entire Acoma valley is truly a special, sacred place and I’ll hold it dear to my heart always. Once we got back to our hotel room, we crashed for a bit and then made dinner in, if I remember correctly. That evening we drove around some – going to see more of Route 66 and the Route 66 Diner. On our way back to the room, we stopped to take photos of an amazing sunset.

Here are the rest of my Acoma Pueblo pictures.

However, she wasn’t much help in finding a place to eat. My uncle didn’t want Mexican because he had it the day before and his stomach was still bothering him. Woopsie! I wanted to make sure we found a place that had everything I needed, so we couldn’t stop at just any old place. We finally came into an area with shopping malls and restaurants and decided on Furr’s Cafeteria. When we walked in, I glanced at the lineup of food to see if they had something for me and I thought it looked okay. It wasn’t until we were halfway through the line, though, did I realize there was no chicken or seafood that wasn’t fried or coated in some sort of sauce. I had to settle on a hamburger steak. It had been about 6 months since I ate any meat, so I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty afterwards, and I was right. Pepto Bismol tablets were my friend the rest of the day.

Anyway, after lunch, we headed into Santa Fe proper and found a parking lot to park for the day. And then we walked. And walked some more. After that, we walked. Did I mention we walked? So much walking. It probably wouldn’t have bothered me if I had on better shoes. I bought two pairs of shoes before the trip – both Skechers. One was a more traditional sneaker and the other was a sneaker, too, but the flat slip on ballet type. They were just a bit too narrow, and I had blisters on my toes by days’ end. It was also very apparent that I’m entirely too sedentary – my uncle is 13 years older than me and he was walking circles around me. My legs were sore at the end of every day on this trip. It’s convinced me that I absolutely need to get more active. I felt so good getting that exercise in every day while I was there. I want to continue doing it.

So yeah, Santa Fe. Santa Fe is adorable. It is such a pretty town filled with art and great architecture and picturesque scenery at every turn. I didn’t take enough pictures of Santa Fe, I’m realizing now. Our first stop was at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi where we encountered the bride and bridesmaids from a wedding party getting their pictures taken.

Afterwards we headed down one of the main roads in the center of town to visit some art stores and touristy shops. My stomach was really killing me at this point, so I was mostly nursing an Americano coffee and Pepto while my uncle browsed inside the stores. Once we headed towards the older section of town and stopped at the visitor’s center, I started feeling better. I was loving all the luminaries on the tops of buildings everywhere I looked, not to mention the shapes and colors of the adobe buildings themselves. We had some gorgeous weather for walking – clear skies, about 65-70 degrees with a light wind. I still would have preferred it to be warmer, but that’s just because I’m a heat ho.

Besides all the beautiful architecture and visible history of the town, one of the highlights of my visit was finding an artist in one of the high end galleries that I just fell in love with. I wanted to buy every single piece she had on display. Of course now I can’t remember her name, but I have a card of hers at home – I’ll try to remember to update this post with her information. She painted mostly landscapes – in a style similar to my uncle’s work.

Even though my feet and stomach were killing me, I still had an enjoyable visit to Santa Fe, but I was definitely ready to call it a day by 4 PM. We had been in at least 30 art galleries by that time, and it had all started to run together for me. My uncle was on a high, as he was getting really inspired by a lot of the artwork he was seeing, as well as being amongst the New Mexico landscape. I loved seeing him getting all worked up – and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he creates as a result of this trip.

We decided to eat in once we got back to our room that night, I think. I was so grateful we had a full kitchen to do so, since I definitely wanted to have my own safe food after the stomach ache from earlier that day. We stayed in and bought a movie On Demand – Vantage Point. I hadn’t ever heard of it, which is surprising because it was extremely good. We both enjoyed it and were ready for bed soon after it was over. My first full day in New Mexico had come to an end. I was satisfied, peaceful, and oh-so-tired.

Here’s a link to the rest of my Santa Fe pictures.

The drive up the Sandia Mountains was incredible, although I expected it to be a bit more grand. Because it’s early spring, the landscape wasn’t as gorgeous as I’ve seen it on TV and in movies. Don’t get me wrong, parts of it were still breathtaking, I just thought the whole thing would be. I was also unprepared for how small the town of Madrid is. I don’t think the main road that goes the length of the town is more than half a mile long. There’s a lot packed into that half mile, though.

We parked towards the end of town (headed north) near a guy with an old-fashioned smoke pit going full force. The chill of the morning air combined with the smell of the smoke pit and look of the small town nestled in the mountains really made me feel like we’d stepped back in time. It reminded me somewhat of visiting my elderly great-grandmother in the mountains of southwest Virginia when I was a young girl. There’s something about a sleepy mountain town that remains universal no matter where you are I think.

Our trip through Madrid lasted a few hours. There are a lot of small art galleries here, as the town is now a sleepy community of artists who revived the place in the 70s and never left. I was just beginning to get a taste of how prevalent art is in New Mexico. I’m not in the art circle at all, so it took me some time to get acclimated. I do believe I have an eye for good art, though, and it was interesting to see so many eclectic styles as we passed through each store.

Towards lunch time, the bikers came roaring through town. They were loud, plentiful, and black. My uncle said they reminded him of a colony of ants swarming – I thought that was a perfect optical analogy. I stood in awe with a huge smile on my face as they noisily made their way into the parking lots of the Mineshaft Tavern and Engine House Theater. My uncle wasn’t nearly as enchanted as I – when I turned around after a few moments, he was gone. It didn’t take me long to find him inside one of the small shops nearby, though.

I loved being able to see all of the stuff from the movie Wild Hogs through out the town. I didn’t realize the diner Marisa Tomei worked in was made for the movie. It’s still standing, but it’s a prop and wasn’t open for us to go inside. I thought that was pretty wild. I also got a good picture of one of the shops that was featured as a house in the movie. The big fight scene was shot outside this store and the diner next door to it. I don’t think all of those mailboxes were in the movie – I’ll have to look again. In this picture, the diner is to the left and the fight scene was filmed in between that building and the yellow & blue one that is in the forefront.

We encountered a Native American medicine woman in one shop. The funny thing was, when we first walked into the place, we both smelled pot. I was like, “Wow, the hippies sure are blatant here. Guess it’s cool to just smoke one out in the open here in Madrid.” We noticed the shopkeeper in the back of the store talking to some customers. I glanced at him and thought – more power to you, dude. After the customers left, he approached us to let us know the smell we were smelling was a mixture of sage and some other herbs. And it was then that we both realized he was a she. Ha! After going farther into the store and talking to her, we also noticed she was a medicine woman. How funny that this lady who looked like a dude dressed in faded denim biker’s garb turned out to be a holy woman of sorts. She told us how the herbs she was burning warded off negativity and a bunch of other stuff. My uncle bought a baggie of it – it truly looked like he had copped about a quarter ounce of weed. We got a big kick out of that.

Shortly after we got our faux contact high, we decided to head up the road to Santa Fe. I was getting hungry for lunch and my uncle didn’t want to eat in Madrid, so off we went.

Here’s a link to all of my Madrid pictures.

My flight from Philly to Chicago went off without a hitch, but there were nasty storms in the Chicago area when I arrived that extended my layover there. I wish I would have known about the delay before I ate such an early lunch at Harry Caray’s, but whatever, it all turned out fine in the end. I was on the plane and landing in New Mexico before I knew it.

My uncle was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived. He got there the day before and rented a car for our use – we spent our trip riding around in a sporty little Ford Fusion. I would have never suspected the Fusion was such a great car. It was really comfortable and roomy, and got great gas mileage to boot.

Our first order of business was hitting the grocery store to stock up on food for the week. We stayed at a Residence Inn in the Penthouse Suite which was pretty much an apartment. We had two floors, two bedrooms, two baths, a living room, fully-equipped kitchen with bar seating, and a dining area. Very nice accommodations that completely spoiled me when I moved to the next place a few days later in my trip. I went a little crazy with the food shopping at Whole Foods. My uncle asked me how long did I plan on staying exactly – I think I was worried about not having enough of my good foods and I was hungry, too. Not a great combination for me.

After buying enough groceries for two weeks, we went out to dinner at the Black Angus Steakhouse and had a wonderful meal along with superb service. If you’re in Albuquerque, I highly recommend this place! The seating was spacious and spread out, so we weren’t right on top of other diners and they offer a free appetizer coupon for people who haven’t been there before. We had a nice talk here that really set the tone for the rest of our trip. I knew right away that we were going to have a very memorable experience.

I got my first taste of Old Town Albuquerque that night, too. We headed down there for a brief look around – not many stores were open by 8 PM, but a few were and I got a little feel for what the rest of the trip had in store. I loved the architecture of the buildings and all the tacky tourist crap in some of the gift shops we went into. It reminded me of the stores in Virginia Beach on the boardwalk – filled with souvenirs and local kitsch.

By now I was approaching about 18 hours of being up and I was pretty wiped out. We headed back to our hotel room where I had my snack for the night and crashed. I was extremely excited for the next day – we were headed to Madrid and Santa Fe!