So after our frightening experience on the mountain, we arrived in Grand Junction at my brother Bill's home.
It has been a nice, relaxing time here with Bill, his wife Sheila and 11 yr old twins Shannon and Patrick.
I really haven't done anything here except read, watch tv and hang. Shannon and I have become fast friends. It is nice to have a girl to do girly things with. We will be glued to the tv Friday for the Royal Wedding.
Billy would rather watch paint dry. We have had a fun this week discussing the merits of watching this wedding. He thinks more people watch the super bowl. Ha. The number of people expected to watch is 2 billion, 200 TIMES more than Super Bowl 2011.
It has been unseasonably cold and I seem to be a bit of a bad weather jinx. When I left Md they had a snow storm. After we left NC they had a freak tornado that hit the same area. Then we came thru Texas, and it had terrible wildfires. So my bro thinks when I leave here the nice weather will set in. You hope!!
I went to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church for the Easter week services, and felt the Peace that I was seeking for 2 years. The whole focus was forgiveness, and I am working on that.
This weekend I leave for Mexican Hat Utah, and I am looking forward to the photography there.
This area is right in the heart of Monument Valley, some of the most beautiful and most photographed places in the United States.
I will be leaving Dylan here as I will be house sitting in Calif and he is bonding with Bill's dog Dusty.
Around the bend is the future
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Santa Fe rocks
Arriving in Santa Fe [by way of El Paso and thru White Sands] my first impression was…WOW.
It is a beautiful, clean, colorful town. Great food, interesting architecture, wonderful parks, nice people.
In the morning it is 30 degree's and by early afternoon it changes to the 70's.
Dylan and I spent the first few days wandering around looking and taking photographs of old Churches and windows.
One day I saw an ad for a spa with thermal baths, that you could go and spend the day for $20.
When I got there it turned out that it was "clothing optional" and all of the people there went sans clothes.
So ok, I can handle this. I started in the community pool [with bathing suit on], but that was too much for a good catholic girl. So I moved on to the women's pool. It turned out to be a wonderful spot, outside in the beautiful warm New Mexico weather, the pool was hot and they had a cold pool, then sauna. Very relaxing, after driving for a week.
The next day, we went to http://www.archdiocesesantafe.org/AboutASF/Chimayo.html the "Lourdes of America" a very tiny old Catholic church up in the mountains. Many people have experienced miracles here.
After the mass, I met a man who was blowing a Shofar in the parking lot. Arthur Lowlow and his wife Janet are committed christians, who make their living making and selling art, jewelry and spice's.
Their 7 yr old daughter played frisbee with Dylan, and thankfully tired him out for the ride.
They introduced me to David, who is in advertising and he gave me a brand new, beautiful aztec blanket.
Santa Fe is definitely on my list of places I might like to live!
It is a beautiful, clean, colorful town. Great food, interesting architecture, wonderful parks, nice people.
In the morning it is 30 degree's and by early afternoon it changes to the 70's.
Dylan and I spent the first few days wandering around looking and taking photographs of old Churches and windows.
One day I saw an ad for a spa with thermal baths, that you could go and spend the day for $20.
When I got there it turned out that it was "clothing optional" and all of the people there went sans clothes.
So ok, I can handle this. I started in the community pool [with bathing suit on], but that was too much for a good catholic girl. So I moved on to the women's pool. It turned out to be a wonderful spot, outside in the beautiful warm New Mexico weather, the pool was hot and they had a cold pool, then sauna. Very relaxing, after driving for a week.
The next day, we went to http://www.archdiocesesantafe.org/AboutASF/Chimayo.html the "Lourdes of America" a very tiny old Catholic church up in the mountains. Many people have experienced miracles here.
After the mass, I met a man who was blowing a Shofar in the parking lot. Arthur Lowlow and his wife Janet are committed christians, who make their living making and selling art, jewelry and spice's.
Their 7 yr old daughter played frisbee with Dylan, and thankfully tired him out for the ride.
They introduced me to David, who is in advertising and he gave me a brand new, beautiful aztec blanket.
Santa Fe is definitely on my list of places I might like to live!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
beat death again
I was almost killed a couple of days ago.
I was driving up to see my brother Billy in Grand Junction from Santa Fe and my GPS took me over the Red Mountain Pass..
That is 11000 ft. small skinny road, shear drop on both sides. Well I got 1/2 way up and was hit by a blizzard. Iced up wind shield wipers, no chains on my tires, and the road was covered in ice. I couldn't see the road as there was a white out. I came around a switch back and there was a cop in the road. Someone had gone off the road around the bend and all you could see was the tires sticking out of the trees. It was a red SUV.
Then if that wasn't bad enough, my car started to slide towards the edge.
I had Bobby on the phone, as I was so scared that if I died I wanted someone to know where I was at. I screamed so loud that I know he lost a couple of years in fright.
Took me 2 hours to get off that mountain. The only other time I have been that scared was when I put the plane down with no gas in that guys yard. Plus I had a bout of IBS and my stomach was all cramped up. Took me 2 days to recover.
- Show quoted text -
Friday, April 15, 2011
the end...or just the beginning
April 1, 2011
It felt like the end.
Life seemed so good. Promising. Happy. And then... what do you do when you work hard all of your life and the unthinkable happens. When your husband, who you thought was your soul mate walks out. Leaving you with massive debt, and shattered dreams. Then your dog dies, and you lose your house and business. And the future you thought you would have is gone.
Well, I decided to MAKE my future better. And travel to all the places that I wanted to see, and find a new beginning. Life is worth living and exploring new places is just part of the fun. And renewing my faith in God as well as mankind. I have always believed that there is a true purpose for all things that happen
So I closed my beautiful salon, sold everything I could and took to the road with my best friend Dylan[who happens to be a Border Collie].
Man's best friend. Hah. He is every single woman's true best friend. Loyal, protective, smart. No whining from the back seat. Happy to just have you throw him a frisbee from time to time.
So I packed up my Honda Element and we left Maryland on a cold march morning.
I saw on a web site how you could build a bed in the back and have plenty of storage underneath, like a mini rv. And with a roof bag on top of the car to carry all of my essentials[mainly my AVEDA hair color
and products] I could still find a way to make some money on the road. Being a color specialist I thought that could come in handy.
First stop, Clayton North Carolina. My brother Bob and his wife Shirley live there, and kindly put us up for a week. I was trying to escape the cold in Maryland. But unfortunately it was just as cold there, and it rained the entire time we were there. But it was great any way as they have 4 wonderful grandkids that
were very happy to see us.
North Carolina is a beautiful State. And Clayton is a sleepy little town near Raleigh that has rolling hills and lots of trees.
And lots of new development. Homes, stores, malls, parks, restaurants.
Next we drove to Gulf Shores Alabama. I needed to get out of the cold and get some sun.
I had researched dog friendly hotels, and found a Microtel that was close to the beach and was reasonably priced at $50 a night. We spent 4 nights there and I got a tan.
It was a good beginning and helped me unwind my fragile self esteem.
I bought a new bathing suit [always stressful for a woman past 50] and really felt good about how I looked.
I have been an avid photographer for the past 10 years, and always felt that travel was all about the photographs. This trip was different. I was slow to pull out the camera, and just couldn't find the passion that I have felt in the past trips to Africa, Italy, Bosnia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Canary Islands and other parts of the World as well as the US.
Next was the Hill Country in Texas. For many years now I have wanted to photograph the wildflowers in the spring. It is a famous place that is a photographers dream. So we stayed in Beaumont Texas, and started the search.
Unfortunately there was a drought this year, and there were no flowers to be seen.
And I mean NO FLOWERS! I spent 2 days driving through the back roads and found...dry dusty fields.
With gas prices at $3.69 it was very disappointing.
On to New Mexico. I didn't realize that Texas was such a LONG drive. But with my Itunes, and xm radio it was bearable.
We stopped in El Paso overnight, and stayed in an EconoLodge. I accidentally made the reservation online for the day before. Too many hours on the road will make you loopy.
So when I got there and realized my mistake they charged me for the night before anyway.
I had made the reservation at 4pm and explained that to the front desk. But they were not very nice about it, and basically said too bad for you.
I understand their position. But good customer service go's a long way. Needless to say I wont be staying at EconoLodge again.
It felt like the end.
Life seemed so good. Promising. Happy. And then... what do you do when you work hard all of your life and the unthinkable happens. When your husband, who you thought was your soul mate walks out. Leaving you with massive debt, and shattered dreams. Then your dog dies, and you lose your house and business. And the future you thought you would have is gone.
Well, I decided to MAKE my future better. And travel to all the places that I wanted to see, and find a new beginning. Life is worth living and exploring new places is just part of the fun. And renewing my faith in God as well as mankind. I have always believed that there is a true purpose for all things that happen
So I closed my beautiful salon, sold everything I could and took to the road with my best friend Dylan[who happens to be a Border Collie].
Man's best friend. Hah. He is every single woman's true best friend. Loyal, protective, smart. No whining from the back seat. Happy to just have you throw him a frisbee from time to time.
So I packed up my Honda Element and we left Maryland on a cold march morning.
I saw on a web site how you could build a bed in the back and have plenty of storage underneath, like a mini rv. And with a roof bag on top of the car to carry all of my essentials[mainly my AVEDA hair color
and products] I could still find a way to make some money on the road. Being a color specialist I thought that could come in handy.
First stop, Clayton North Carolina. My brother Bob and his wife Shirley live there, and kindly put us up for a week. I was trying to escape the cold in Maryland. But unfortunately it was just as cold there, and it rained the entire time we were there. But it was great any way as they have 4 wonderful grandkids that
were very happy to see us.
North Carolina is a beautiful State. And Clayton is a sleepy little town near Raleigh that has rolling hills and lots of trees.
And lots of new development. Homes, stores, malls, parks, restaurants.
Next we drove to Gulf Shores Alabama. I needed to get out of the cold and get some sun.
I had researched dog friendly hotels, and found a Microtel that was close to the beach and was reasonably priced at $50 a night. We spent 4 nights there and I got a tan.
It was a good beginning and helped me unwind my fragile self esteem.
I bought a new bathing suit [always stressful for a woman past 50] and really felt good about how I looked.
I have been an avid photographer for the past 10 years, and always felt that travel was all about the photographs. This trip was different. I was slow to pull out the camera, and just couldn't find the passion that I have felt in the past trips to Africa, Italy, Bosnia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Canary Islands and other parts of the World as well as the US.
Next was the Hill Country in Texas. For many years now I have wanted to photograph the wildflowers in the spring. It is a famous place that is a photographers dream. So we stayed in Beaumont Texas, and started the search.
Unfortunately there was a drought this year, and there were no flowers to be seen.
And I mean NO FLOWERS! I spent 2 days driving through the back roads and found...dry dusty fields.
With gas prices at $3.69 it was very disappointing.
On to New Mexico. I didn't realize that Texas was such a LONG drive. But with my Itunes, and xm radio it was bearable.
We stopped in El Paso overnight, and stayed in an EconoLodge. I accidentally made the reservation online for the day before. Too many hours on the road will make you loopy.
So when I got there and realized my mistake they charged me for the night before anyway.
I had made the reservation at 4pm and explained that to the front desk. But they were not very nice about it, and basically said too bad for you.
I understand their position. But good customer service go's a long way. Needless to say I wont be staying at EconoLodge again.
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