Santa Fe to Taos

Today we leave Hacienda Las Barrancas and head to Santa Fe to go to the Spanish Market. It is one of the biggest street art festivals. The Market is held in the Plaza and surrounding streets. Most of the art is "folk" and lots of the same...saints painted on wood (retablas), leather or pounded into tin. We did find a cross with a bear totem that we bought. Vicki found a nice glass piece for her necklace.

Around noon it started to rain, so we had lunch at the Cafe on the Plaza and then headed up to Taos where we will be staying at the Little Tree Bed & Breakfast where we stayed in 2006.

It rained most of the way up to Taos. Our first stop was at the Gearing Up bike shop where I got some ride suggestions.

Arrived at Little Tree. They have hummingbird feeders all around the property and there are many, many, hummingbirds buzzing around. We have never seen so many hummingbirds in one place! There is a feeder outside our window and the hummingbirds can be watched from the bed. Very cool.

Had dinner at El Meze. The restaurant is a fusion of New Mexican and Moroccan food. We dined on appetizers - fries, blue cheese stuffed olives and hummus, downed with some good wine. All very good. For dessert we shared a lemon mousse neopolitan with raspberry sauce. The wait staff was great. The evening was most enjoyable.

Leisurely

Started the day with a terrific breakfast prepared by Emily and Tim, the Hacienda Las Barrancas owners. For starters we had nectarine scones and fresh fruit. Vicki had an avocado and green chile omelette. I had lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes.

For the day's activity we decided to hike Tsankawi, the ancestral home of the Tewa Pueblo people in the 1400s. The hike consisted of a two mile loop that went up to the top of a mesa where a village once stood. On the way down, in the face of the mesa, were a number of "cavates", caves, carved into the side for shelter and food storage. Lots of petroglyphs are carved in the stones as well.

It is interesting to note that a decision has been made to not dig up the archeology in these areas out of respect for the native people. These ancestral grounds are sacred and it is important that the ancestors not be disturbed.

Had dinner at Gabriel's Restaurant. They have a lot of outdoor seating, but it was raining. The wait would have been more than 40 minutes, but we found a table at the bar. We ordered guacamole prepared at the table. It was good, but a bit bland. We waited for our food for awhile and I was wondering if our order had been forgotten...and it had. The waiter came by and apologized for losing our order. The food did arrive quickly once it was reordered. No big deal, we were not in a hurry.

The tortilla soup Vicki ordered was some of the best she's had. It was loaded with fresh vegetables and avocado slices. The handmade corn tortillas were thick and very good. Since I am always on the hunt for the best chile rellenos...I ordered the Santa Fe version. The poblano peppers were stuffed with chicken and cheese. They were good, but won't make my top three.

New Mexico 2010

Vicki and I left for New Mexico yesterday after work. We made it as far as Childress and stayed overnight at the Hampton Inn. Nice bed.

We arrived in Santa Fe around 3 p.m. Dropped off Vicki's wedding ring to get a stone repaired at Santa Fe Goldworks. Found a couple of things for family Christmas gifts.

Drove north about 15 miles to the Hacienda Las Barrancas bed & breakfast. We have not stayed here before. It's a peaceful quiet place. We are staying in the "El Pajarito" room.

We had dinner at the Sopaipilla Factory in Pojoaque. We ordered "chile de arbol" salsa with our chips, but it was so spicy hot we couldn't eat it. And, we are "used" to hot salsa! We had the waitress bring us the regular tomato salsa which was spicy as well, but good a edible.

The menu consisted of the Mexican food usual suspects. Vicki had tacos and I had a combination plate with a chile relleno and a cheese enchilada. Both dishes had a "kick" to them provided by the area red chiles. Great flavor!

Photo gallery and videos

Check out the links in the sidebar. I added a photo gallery and links to a couple of videos.

Winter in Yellowstone National Park

This is a really long post! My intent was to post entries while we were on our trip, but there isn't any Internet access in Yellowstone National Park. So, I made my entries in a document and am adding them to the blog.

Our trip began on January 6 and we returned on January 14. This is probably one of our best trips! It ranks up there with our treks to Colorado, Oregon and New Mexico.

1/6/10 – Got up at 4 AM to catch our 6:30 AM Frontier Airlines flight from DFW to Denver and connecting to Bozeman, Montana. The Denver layover was a scant 30 minutes and of course our gate was at the other end of the terminal. Fortunately the flight to Denver was on time, so we raced down to the Bozeman flight gate.  This flight was on a prop plane…so no jetway…temperature was 20 degrees and windy…our first taste of cold. Sat on the tarmack for 45 minutes while they de-iced the plane.

Made it to Bozeman – 6 degrees. Upgraded car rental from a Toyota Corrolla to a RAV 4. Stopped in Bozeman and had lunch at the Walmart McDonald’s…yum. Stocked up on some food for lunches…especially if we hike, snowshoe…headed for Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel which is inside Yellowstone National Park. It took about two hours. It had snowed recently so the roads were a bit slick, but not bad.

Unpacked our stuff. The hotel is older and still heated with radiators. The room was cold.

Took a walk up to the nearby hot springs. With the cold steam billowing all over. The sun was down…temperature now below 0. We didn’t have all our winter layers on, so we cut the walk short…getting cold.

Went to the visitors center. We were the only ones there. Saw photographs (Jim Bridger) from early expeditions to the park, stuffed animal exhibit (elk, wolves, coyote, fox, mountain lion).

Headed back to the hotel where we had hot drinks in the lobby and warmed ourselves next to the gas fireplace. Also visited the gift shop to use our $30 worth of coupons. Vicki got some jewelry.

Went to dinner in the dining room which is across the street from the hotel. Read some negative reviews of the dining experience at Mammoth, but we had good service and the food was good…not great. Perhaps a bit pricey, but our experience was not as reported by some visitors in TripAdvisor.

Back at the hotel we attended a slide show of Yellowstone’s history accompanied by a live pianist. Sounds a bit hokey, but it was well done. Although, I did miss a few of the slides as I began to fade…getting a bit sleepy…it’s about 9:15…10:15 our time…past my bedtime.

Back at the room it was cold. Cranked up the heat on the radiator, but it did not any difference. Vicki, put some of our food and water on the windowsill so it would stay cool and closed the curtain.  The next morning the stuff was frozen…the temperature outside had dropped to more than 20 degrees below zero.

1/7/10 – Got up at 6 AM in order to eat breakfast and prepare to catch the 7:30 snow coach shuttle to Old Faithful Snow Lodge where we will stay until Sunday, Jan. 10.

The Park Service closes the roads to private vehicles in the winter, so travel within the park is primarily snow coach shuttles.

Our luggage went on a cargo snow coach, while we and a family of 6 got into Jim’s snow coach. Jim is a driver/naturalist/tour guide. The trip took about 4 hours and was very interesting. His commentary covered many aspects of the park including, geology, history and spotting animal life. Much of the wildlife is able to live throughout the winter because of the higher temperatures of the streams and rivers resulting from the geysers and heat vets that are all over the park. It was so cool to see them steaming everywhere. The steam was so heavy…fog often covered the road…a result of a thermal inversion.

Anyway…the higher temperature of the streams and rivers results in plant growth that feeds many of the birds. Also, areas near the hot springs are warmer, so bison, elk, coyotes hang out to stay warm…and not necessarily together.

We saw elk, bison, swans, Canadian geese, mallard ducks, two bald eagles and a small bird called a diver. It was feeding off of insect larvae found under water on the downstream side of rocks. Very cool to watch.
We saw many different tracks…snowshoe hare, coyote, weasel, squirrel.

The scenery along the way was spectacular. Frozen waterfalls, geysers, ice formations…all amazing stuff.

Saw a number of snowmobile groups. By law they are guided and not be more than 10 in a group. Their continued operation in the park is controversial…primarily because of their polluting the environment with exahaust and noise. We considered going on a tour, but decided against it…not wanting to contribute to the pollution.

 Made it to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge around noon. The room is much better than Mammoth…heated…which is nice since the temperatures at the park are the coldest they have been for awhile.

Lunched, rented snowshoes and headed up to Observation Point to see Old Faithful do her geyser thing. This was our first time on showshoes…just walk with your legs a bit more apart than usual and they work fine. Just don’t try to walk backwards.

While renting the snowshoes we made reservations for a cross-country ski lesson at 9:30 AM the next morning.

We got up to the point a few minutes before 3 PM…in time to see the geyser spew. Very amazing!
Headed back down the trail. Vicki fell on her butt once…just a minor bruise.

As we turned in our snowshoes we were told that the morning ski lesson would probably be cancelled because it would be too cold, more than 20 degrees below zero. The ski instructors are not to give lessons if it is colder than 10 degrees below zero. So, we will check with them in the morning, but will probably take the 1:30 PM lesson instead, it if warms up.

1/08/10 – Breakfasted on some heavy duty pancakes…the size of a plate that tasted like cake batter. Headed to the ski rental shop, but it was too cold for our lesson, 17 below.

Went back to the room. Spent 30 minutes putting on all the layers to take a walk around Old Faithful. As we got to her it was at the end of its cycle, so we walked around the many geysers in the area. It is like walking through a war zone with all the sulphur infused fog drifting around, ghostly frosted trees. We were out there long enough to see Old Faithful erupt again. In the cold it looks amazing with the water freezing as it begins to come down from its apex.

Yesterday while snowshoeing Vicki’s left boot rubbed above her ankle leaving an irritating bruise. It became increasingly painful during our hike around Old Faithful today. She had tried to cushion it by stuffing a sock in the top of the boot, but it did not help. Given that walking is essential to completing this trip the boot problem needed to be resolved. So, I suggested cutting off the upper section of the boot causing the bruise. On our way back to the room we stopped at the ski shop. They did not want to cut the boot, so I did it. Put the boot in a vise and used a box cutter to remove a section of the boot. The “surgery” went well and when Vicki put the boot back on it felt much better. Yeah!

Had lunch in our room with the stuff we bought at Walmart. Took a short nap. Went down to the ski shop for our 1:30 PM lesson. Practiced clipping in and out of the ski before going outside. Temperature now about 0…geez, it’s a heat wave!

Vicki and I were the only ones in the class…so, Danielle, the instructor, gave us a private lesson. We went around a flat, groomed, oval track four times (3 times is a mile) fine tuning our technique which included falling without injuring oneself. One aspect of correct technique is keeping the skis parallel to each other. My right ski had a mind of its own and kept wandering off to the right at a 20-30 degree angle. The challenge was coaxing it back into position. My other challenge was keeping my balance while shifting my weight from one ski to the other…falling  twice.  Vicki fell a few times and as a result mastered getting up out of the snow.

After going around the oval track, Daneille took us to the “bunny” hill to practice going down and learning how to stop. The stopping technique is the wedge…similar to snow-plowing on downhill skis. The incline was slight and we were able to walk back up.

Next was a steeper hill. We did well going down. Getting back up was more of a challenge. We had to “walk” up by angling our skis parallel to the hill and dig the edges of ski into the snow.

After completing the steep hill exercise, that was about it for us first-timers. Over all we probably covered two miles.

While skiing we did see our first coyote. Apparently he/she is one of two who wanders through the lodge complex.

Got back to the room and shed all the layers. Most of them wet from working up a sweat while skiing. It was a good workout.

1/9/10 – Got out later this morning. Tried the cross-country skiis for about a half mile and decided that we could get around faster on foot. Went back to the ski rental shop and turned in the equipment. We need more practice on the skiis before going a long distance…say more than five miles.

While on our short ski trip we saw the coyote again. He/she wandered very close to Old Faithful spectators. I got some pictures I’ll put up on the blog.

Went back up to the room for lunch. Began eating and the fire alarm system went off. We were told to evacuate the building. As we were going out no one seemed to be in a particular hurry or concerned. So, we went and sat in the fast food restaurant for a few minutes before returning to our room. We never found out the cause for the alarm.

Mid-afternoon we “layered-up” and began hiking the geyser basin. It was warmer today in the 20s and little wind, so it was comfortable. This place is beautiful in the winter. Blue sky and the fog of geyser eruptions drifting all around. Most impressive is the Castle geyser that we caught erupting on our way back to the lodge. The late afternoon light was great, so I got some good images and video.

Got cleaned up and had dinner in the bar…appetizers and drinks. At 7:30 PM we attended a wolf presentation by Ranger Rita. She provided some interesting information about humans and wolves, and the 1995 re-introduction of wolves in Yellowstone (the last Yellowstone wolf was killed in 1930). It is a controversial issue. Wolves do kill livestock, but less than 1% a year. Coyotes actually kill much more, but don’t get the publicity. To me they are an integral part of the ecosystem. Their presence has strengthened the existing elk population, resulted in an increase in red foxes (by hunting coyotes, the foxes enemy) and beavers because the wolves hunt the elk that eat the new/smaller trees required by the beavers…we will learn much more as we begin the wolf expedition tomorrow, this being our last day at Old Faithful.

1/10/10 --  Breakfasted and headed out for a quick hike in the geyser basin before checkout. Went to the Castle geyser we saw erupting yesterday in the late afternoon. Continued north towards Daisy geyser, but were running out of time. Decided to turn back a coyote came walking toward the road ahead of us. It came between us and two women who were ahead of us. It proceeded to poop near them…I don’t know what that means for them. When it finished its business it turned and headed straight towards me on the road. I just stood still taking pictures as it came toward me. About forty feet from me it turned and headed into the woods to my left…a very cool experience. I could not have planned it better.

We checked out of the lodge, grabbed some lunch and talked to some folks from New Mexico in the lobby while waiting for the snow coach to Mammoth. Our coach driver was Tom, from New York. He was not nearly as talkative as Jim, the coach driver from Mammoth to Old Faithful.

On the way we stopped to photograph a herd of bison near the road, did a 30 minute tour of Fountain Paintpots. Spotted a bald eagle along the river that flew ahead of us for awhile.

Checked in at Mammoth. After dinner went to the Winter Wolf Discovery orientation where we met Shauna, the trainer/guide, and the other ten people in our group.

Went to bed to be awakened about 11:30 PM by some loud clanging. Thought it might be an elk ramming the building…because we heard stories of elk #10 and 6…the bulls who wrecked havoc at Mammoth. Saw a picture of one with a car taillight assembly stuck in his rack.  I digress…the clanging is actually the ancient radiator heating system at the hotel. It clanged several times during the night. Needless to say we did not rest well.

1/11/10 – On the way to breakfast asked the front desk about fixing the radiator clanging. I was told the clanging is throughout the hotel, so even changing rooms would probably not help. Maintenance will “bleed” the heating pipes while we are out today…perhaps that will help.

Met Shauna at the Yellowstone Association’s bus at 8 AM. Headed towards the Lamar Valley. Spotted bison and elk at first. At the first bathroom break we saw a coyote and heard howling wolves.

Continued down the road and Shauna noticed the wolf biologist parked at a turn out. We stopped and heard howling again. Got the scopes out and Shauna spotted the Druid pack (we saw 5 of 8) and the Lava pack consisting of two females and male, but we only saw the females.

We stayed there quite awhile and also spotted big horn sheep and a coyote hunting mice.

Later on down the road we met a herd of bison coming toward us. Also, spotted two golden eagles and two big horn sheep rams.

Had lunch at the Yellowstone Association’s Buffalo Ranch facility. Shauna gave us a history lesson on the evolution/origin of the wolf…apparently they have been around more than 6,000 years which presents a problem for Creationists.

Took a hike through some deep snow to a wolf den that Shauna observed several years ago as part of a field study when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone. Her stories are quite entertaining.

On our way back to Mammoth got some good photos of a bull elk at the side of the road. Vicki also spotted a lone wolf that we watched until he vanished into the forest.

It was an extraordinary day. Beautiful weather. Learned a lot. Tomorrow we begin at 7 AM.

1/12/10 – Today was carcass day, three of them. The first was a winter kill (maybe wolf) in the mid-Lamar valley area. It was an elk cow. The carcass had been there about two days and the elk biologist found it by following birds. It had been somewhat picked over by the ravens, coyotes and wolves. Some of the group snowshoed up to the location. I got some photos.

Further west in the Lamar valley were two bison carcasses relatively near each other. They had been there more than three days…probably winter kill (the result of night time -44 degree temperatures). We were about a mile from them. Both were being picked over by coyotes, ravens and a bald eagle.

At lunch time Shauna gave a presentation about wolf pups using life-sized cut-outs. One of the more interesting things she said was about the relationship between wolf pups and ravens. If the pups mother allows it, ravens will play with the pups. Play takes the form of tail pulling, tug-of-war with sticks, wrestling including rolling on their backs (the ravens). As the pups are growing up they clean-up the milk poop around the den. The ravens befriend the pups so that the wolves will be tolerant of them at their kills…allowing them to eat.
Also, when the pack starts taking the pups for longer treks, crossing rivers is an adventure. It sometimes takes hours. Sometimes the mother wolf will make a game of it, pick up a stick and show it to each pup, then take it across the river and drop it. The pups want what mama had so they head across the river.

We went for a short snowshoe hike and heard the story of Truman Everts. A fifty-four year old unemployed accountant who signed up for a government Yellowstone expedition, the Washburn Expedition in 1870. He wandered off from the group he was with and was lost for 37 days during the late Fall early winter. When he was found he was down to 57 pounds and had been living on elk thistle which had “bound” him up pretty seriously until they gave him a glass of bear fat which flushed him out. It is nice to know we have progressed beyond bear fat for such a condition.

1/13/10 – Today was carcasses with wolves, yesterday was not. First, we spotted the Miller Creek boys…two males dining on one of the carcasses in the Lamar valley we saw yesterday. One was an older male with a younger one in tow. They started moving east and we followed them for 4-5 miles, stopping a number of times trying to drive ahead of them to catch views of them coming towards us. The closest we got to them was about half a mile. It appeared that they wanted to cross the road and head north, but were skittish about crossing the road because of traffic. This was the best sighting of all! We ended our “watch” and went to the Buffalo Ranch to eat breakfast.

After breakfast we headed for Tower-Roosevelt where Rick McIntyre, the wolf biologist, was watching the Blacktail pack near a bull elk carcass. The two wolves we spotted were about 3-4 miles out making them difficult to see with the spotting scope. They looked like rocks until they moved and then we could pick them out. We watched them for quite awhile, but they were not active.

Some high school kids were at the same spot on a field trip. Rick was speaking to them, so we got to listen in on his stories about the packs. One interesting thing he said was that a pack can have multiple litters. We had always thought that it was only the alpha male and female that could breed and have pups. Sometimes that is the case, but depending on environmental conditions there can be more than one litter. And, the alpha male breeds with multiple females.

After the Tower-Roosevelt stop, we headed to Buffalo Ranch for lunch. On the way we spotted the Silver wolf pack alpha male at the same carcass on which the Miller boys dined earlier. He is a beautiful silver wolf. We watched him tugging on the carcass hide and eating alongside the ravens. Shauna was looking for the rest of the pack without success…it was odd that he was alone.

After lunch we stopped for an educational activity where Shauna demonstrated how a more than 600 pound elk is devoured…feeding the masses. Typically a pack of ten wolves will eat 20 lbs. each, coyotes 8 lbs. each, 20+ ravens at 2-3 lbs., golden/bald eagles 3 lbs., magpies, foxes, wolverines, bears can also get in the mix. Within a day, the kill is reduced to about 100 lbs.

The ravens don’t eat 2-3 lbs., they cache a lot of it.

Ravens have a special relationship with wolves. As mentioned earlier, they befriend wolf pups at an early age, so most wolves are tolerant of them. Because they can fly, they can spot winter kill, which they cannot eat until the flesh is torn, so they will fly up and down over the kill making all kinds of noise to get the wolves attention. The wolves look for the birds and can tear up the carcass for all to enjoy.

Also, ravens are known to lead wolf packs on a hunt. It appears that some ravens “attach” themselves to a pack. When the pack gets ready for the hunt, the ravens pick up on it and will fly ahead to find prey. When prey is found they will fly back and forth from prey to pack, harassing the wolves to get their attention, so the wolves begin to follow the ravens. Then, the hunt is on.

Shauna has heard that some people believe the ravens even pick out the prey (i.e. a weakened elk cow) the wolves should bring down. That has yet to be proven, but is interesting.

 At last count we have seen members of the following packs/wolves: Druid, Lava, Blacktail, Silver, Miller Creek (boys) and 480 (male). It has been a successful “wolf discovery”.

Tonight is the group dinner, the conclusion of our wolf discovery adventure.


1/14/10 Today we return to Fort Worth. It's snowing.


Ate breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Headed out for a short drive.

First, we drove to the top of the geyser terraces near the hotel. We were the only ones out there. Quiet, beautiful, foggy, snowy.

Next, we drove out to the Lamar Valley where we spent our time searching for wolves earlier in the week.

Visibility was poor because of the snow, so we were lucky the skies were clear earlier.

The volunteer wolf watchers were out as well as Rick, the wolf biologist. They had their scopes out, but we decided not to stop because of the poor visibility.

Vicki thinks she spotted a wolf while we were headed out of the valley. It was on a ridge running parallel to the road.

Watched some sparring bison...fighting over a patch of grass.

We did see four or five whitetail deer for the first time. They were crossing the road.

Got to Bozeman. Checked bag was 52 lbs. - removed 2 lbs. of books to get down to 50 to avoid paying $75 for an overweight bag.

Spent our 30 minute layover in Denver running to the other end of the terminal to catch the plane to DFW.

10 PM, arrived at DFW. Got home after 11.

The Everglades

Yesterday we visited the Everglades. We thought we had good directions, but had to stop in Homestead to ask for more. We did not see any signs going north from Key Largo, but once we got turned around, south, there were the signs!

Our first stop was a park ranger guided tour of the Ahinga Trail. If you visit the Everglades, don't miss this trail. You will see more wildlife here than in other sections of the park. Here we saw quite a few birds, soft-shelled turtles, gars, tilapia, bass and alligators. We saw an ahinga, which is a bird that hunts fish underwater.

After the Ahinga we continued southwest to Flamingo City for a guided pontoon boat tour. We wanted to get on the 12:30 PM boat, but when we got there, at 12:20, we were told the tour started at 12. The next one was at 2. So, we bought some lunch at the Marina Shop. Not much of a lunch selection. It would be better to bring along some food.

We ate on a marina picnic table. Ventured off to nearby Echo Pond to kill some time. Got some photos of a fishing spoonbill along with several mosquito bites...the mosquito season is supposedly over by this time of year.

Went back to the marina and got on the Pelican pontoon boat. Saw lots of mangroves...after this trip I don't need to see anymore! Spotted a few birds, herons, osprey, cormorants. Did not see as much as I thought we would.

Overall it was on okay day. I am disappointed that there was not more wildlife. If there is a richness here, we missed it.

Got back to Azul del Mar, our boutique hotel, about 5 PM. Dinner was salads we bought at the supermarket. Watched Dreamgirls, read a little and then lights out!

More driving

I vowed not to drive so much yesterday, but that is what we did. First we went to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Paid $9 to enter. It was not worth it. Mostly a park to rent kayaks and boats. The reef is actually offshore.

Continued heading south towards Key West. Stopped at the bird sanctuary/nature center. It is privately owned. Donations must be low. It is a sad place. Not worth a visit. Something dead was near the parking area...the smell was very strong. The most interesting bird was a cockatoo near the entrance. All the cages were in dark areas and heavily enclosed making photography virtually impossible.

Drove to Robbie's, a landing where you can call tour guides to pick you up for a trip to the bay area of the Everglades. You have to call in advance, so we didn't go. Plus the tour prices are based on four passengers at $40 a head. A private tour is $300. We haven't decided to spring for that yet.

At Robbie's you can buy food to feed the tarpon by the dock. The tarpon are very large and hungry. There was a teenage kid feeding them by holding the food up above their heads to make them jump to get it. They did and one of them got his hand in the process and he was bitten. He continued feeding them with blood running down his hand. Crazy!

A highlight on the way back was a stop at DQ for an ice cream cone. Then a stop at the grocery store to pickup dinner, salads and some California rolls.

Took a short nap in the afternoon. Enjoyed the evening sunset. Watched one of the Bourne movies on TV. Read some more of "Best Friends Forever." and then to sleep.

Overall kind of a disappointing day. Perhaps we needed such a day to get a feel for the place. We did decide not to vacation in Florida again. We like the mountains and the West.

We will make the best of it! Off to the Everglades today.

Today...Salvador Dali Museum; Yesterday...Driving, and more driving, finally...the Florida Aquarium

On our way to Key Largo, we went to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. We begin touring on our own only to find that his early work is "boring" in the respect that it was very traditional...still lifes...stuff he was learning in art school. Before going too far we joined a tour with a docent. As we went along the exhibit was chronological. It did not take long before the images became much more abstract and interesting. Dali was strongly influenced by Freud and his images are a clear reflection of his dreams. We thought he might have been on drugs or some substance that brought out these themes, but his biographical information does not indicate any substance abuse. A strong influence was his wife, Gala. He signed many of his works with her name first and then his.

From childhood, Dali sought attention. His art is a reflection of this search. He did manage to get a lot of attention during his lifetime. Here are some facts about his work/life we found interesting:

• First gallery show at 17
• Something red in each painting
• Symbol of the lion is his father (a love/hate relationship)
• Gala in many of his works. Met her at 25. She was married at the time. Pope annulled her marriage much later. Married Dali when he was 52.
  

We enjoyed the museum very much. This is a trip highlight!

Yesterday Vicki and I drove Dave to the Tampa airport. He is returning to South Korea for his second "deployment." The first time he taught English in a public junior high school. This time in a private school where he will teach kindergartners and junior/senior high students. It will be interesting to hear his stories.

Anyway there was just a lot of driving yesterday. Early morning to the airport. Back to the hotel for a little while, back to pick up Mom and Dad and head for the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Tampa is about an hour from Bradenton, so two round trips and the adventure finding the Aquarium.

We asked the hotel front desk guy to get us directions to the Aquarium. He did a Google search and said there were two results...one to the Tampa Bay Aquarium and another to the Florida Aquarium. We asked him which one was THE Aquarium. He picked Tampa Bay Aquarium and printed the directions. Anyway...he was wrong! He had picked a place that sold aquarium supplies...which we never found. I stopped to ask for directions to the Florida Aquarium and discovered we were way off course.

The Florida Aquarium was worth the effort. Highlights were the river otter and penguin programs. Amazing were some sea dragons that are fish, but seem to be sea horses that look like weeds. Very strange.

Drove back to Bradenton. Stopped for Chinese food. Said our goodbyes to Mom and Dad. Back to the hotel to crash. I was tired.

Today...vacation begins. We are headed for Key Largo. The plan is to visit the Everglades and time permitting visit Key West (Dad warned us not to walk the streets and night because he heard there are a lot of weirdos.). Such a warning makes us curious about seeing "weirdos."

St. Petersburg and the Roaring 20s

Yesterday we went to The Pier in St. Petersburg. Mom and Vicki had a lot of fun feeding the pelicans. We also visited the aquarium that had a hands on exhibit...we could touch sea urchins, star fish and other critters.

At a hat shop we tried on a few that had hairpieces attached. Pretty funny! I should have bought the cap with the ponytail!

In the evening we went to The Roaring 20s pizza parlor. The featured attraction is a pipe organ that is connected to many different instruments...drum kits, trumpets, marimbas and more. The organist plays mostly show tunes and 20s music. He takes requests, but never got to mine, "Stairway to Heaven."

Florida Trip/Vacation

From the coolness of Fort Worth to the muggy 80s in Tampa, Florida, we made our trek to visit my Mom and Dad yesterday. We burned up our AAdvantage miles and came first class. The trip was the smoothest ever with the exception of Vicki "hiding" a can of Diet Dr. Pepper in the backpack I was carrying through security. Well, it was discovered! The inspector asked if I wanted to drink it outside the security area...like I really had the time to just get out of line and have a soda. Anyway, another item "confiscated."

Got the rent car from Alamo. After completing all the paper work they sent us to the car lot with instructions to just "pick out a car." The keys are in the cars, so we just picked one from about a five or six different models. We ended up with a Dodge Charger...big enough to carry everyone (Mom, Dad, Dave, Vicki and myself).

Headed for the Holiday Inn @ River Ranch in Sarasota. Checked in, took a short nap and headed for "Il Villaggio", formerly known as Bradenton Missionary Village in Bradenton where Mom and Dad live. Village owners changed the name to attract rent paying residents. The primarily missionary residents do not pay rent, only utilities, hence making it affordable.

Visited with Mom, Dad and (brother) Dave for awhile. We had not seen Mom and Dad for more than two years. Both are doing well. Dad is two months into knee replacement surgery recovery.

Took everyone to dinner at The Outback. Celebrated Dad's 82nd birthday. After dinner went back to their place and watched some of the first game of the World Series - Phillies vs. Yankees.

Back to the Holiday Inn. While getting ready for bed Vicki managed to drop her ring (not wedding ring) in the toilet. Just know that it was not worth fishing out. Use your imagination to fill in the details or ask her about it. :)

June Vacation: The Path and San Antonio

Well, not too much rest and relaxation on this one. The vacation began last week, Friday, June 5, when Vicki and I began "prepping" the large flower bed/garden for the path. We finished up putting in the weed preventer cloth. Oliverio and three of his guys came over on Sunday morning to put in the decomposed granite that makes up most of the path. About 200 feet of 300 feet of path is complete. We are hoping to get the rest of it installed on Sunday, June 21.

On Monday and Tuesday we bought and installed a variety of plants based on a plan a landscape architect (Steve) put together for us. We are sticking to Texas natives to reduce irrigation needs. We also put down more than 100 bags of mulch.

Needless to say it was five days of hot, hard work!

We left Wednesday morning, June 10, for San Antonio, Texas. Our hotel, La Mansion (Omini), was on the Riverwalk. The room had a balcony overlooking the Riverwalk...on the first floor. Fortunately the hotel is on a quiet end of the Riverwalk, so noise was not an issue. We would have preferred a room that was higher up, but this one worked well. We kept it dark and cool...got some good sleep...better than at home. I guess that is one of the reasons for going on vacation.

Wednesday evening we walked around. Had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk, Rita's. Mediocre food, good margaritas.

Thursday we walked around downtown San Antonio. Looked at a lot of touristy shops...did not buy anything. It was mostly junk. It was really hot and muggy. Not comfortable weather.

In the late afternoon we went to the Watermark hotel spa across the canal from La Mansion. Lounged in the relaxation room reading and then had massages. Dinner was at Las Canarias, in the hotel. It came highly recommended and deservedly so. The spa and dinner were the highlight of the trip.

Friday, we went to Seaworld. The shows were good, the heat oppressive...over 100 degrees. Shamu remains my favorite. We did feed dolphins, which was fun.

Dinner was at Rosario's, a restaurant south of downtown. The food and service was great. We learned to stay away from the Mexican restaurants near the Riverwalk...this was worth the short trip.

The "trip" was a short taxi ride ($7 including tip). The driver suggested another place, Los Barrios, and was a bit disgruntled when I reiterated Rosario's. He made some kind of crack about you can't "lead horses to water" --- some kind of hint that we were not making a smart choice. So, how much was Los Barrios paying him to bring visitors? Also, a much further cab ride?? Geez.

Headed home Saturday. Toured a couple of the missions. Stopped in Austin to lunch with Justin and his roommate Donald. Got home in the evening.

Yerba Canyon Hike

This is the toughest hike Vicki and I have done. Even tougher than the hike to Williams Lake we did on our last trip to Taos. The elevation change was 3900 feet in 4 miles. The "difficult" rating of this trail is well deserved.

The trail head is near the 10 mile marker on Hwy. 150 going up towards the Taos Ski Valley. At the beginning the climb is not too bad. The trail crisscrosses a stream 17 times (our innkeeper said 22). It's very scenic. The vegetation near the stream is very lush, like a jungle. A characteristic of a deciduous forest.

After the seventeenth stream crossing, the trail begins to get steeper. Some of the inclines are very steep.

One thing missing in our New Mexico hikes is wildlife. We rarely see any. This time we saw two hawks chasing each through the trees above us. We startled a grouse, which in turn startled us by suddenly flying out of the brush. Chipmunks were running around and we saw more birds.

We met a couple of hikers at the beginning. Later we met Gax Stone and his 6 month old son, Spiro. He actually caught up with us...Spiro was in his backpack. He was from Taos and teaches Photoshop at the local college.

He gave us some tips on the hike...to look for a meadow/coniferous forest of pines at the top of the hike. So, that was our goal. By around 2:30 PM (we started at 10 AM) Vicki was getting tired, she was feeling the "burn" in her legs, plus the air was getting thinner. We kept going and made it to the pine forest.

Coming down was much easier. I felt it in my knees. Vicki was pretty much fatigued and fell a couple of times...no serious injuries. We got back to the trail head at 5:15 PM.

Dinner was at Relleno's. A very small Mexican restaurant a block from the Plaza. The food was better than Orlando's, so we will definitely be back.

I had a pork relleno chimichanga and Vicki had spinach enchiladas. I tried a green chili brewed beer which was interesting.

After dinner it was back to the B&B to pack for tomorrow's trip home.

Francesca's Clothing and Jewelry Boutique...where Vicki finds style

The Francesca's "adventure" actually began in November, 2007. We were vacationing in Taos for our wedding anniversary and "stumbled" upon Francesca's when we got lost in Arroyo Seco looking for Taos Pueblo...we never made it to the Pueblo.

We stopped in to get directions and some of the outfits hanging on the front porch caught Vicki's eye. We went in and met Francesca. She is a woman in her 6o's that has a great sense of style and is a skilled salesperson. She is formerly from New York City, the daughter of a socialite.

Now let's be clear about one thing, Vicki does not like clothes shopping. One of the reasons being, not finding suggestions on what looks good. Well, Francesca took care of all that...with my encouragement. I sat there while Vicki modeled and tried on many outfits and jewelry combinations. About four hours later, Vicki leaves with a new stylish wardrobe. Consequently, any visit to Taos requires a trip to Francesca's.

So, we paid Francesca a visit this afternoon, but not as long as the first. A couple of hours this time.

Vicki requested that I put the "brakes" on excessive purchases...whatever that might be. I considered establishing limits, but Vicki does not spend much on herself, and she and Francesca put some great outfits together. So...just go for it.

My role is to sit on the stool next to the counter and critique the clothing combinations modeled by Vicki. And, to listen to Francesca's running commentary as she continually pulls items from the clothing racks. Vicki insists that I be involved in the selections...I guess because I have to look at what she wears. I don't mind, but I do wonder at times if other husbands do the same thing with their wives. I've never seen one so far.

Well, she added to her wardrobe and we will need to add to the luggage...but it's all good!

I made it to the top!

This morning I picked up a road bike at Gearing Up. I headed to Hwy. 518 to ride on a marked bike route that follows part of the Taos Scenic Byway. We had driven this route on yesterday's journey to Nambe Falls and I decided I'd at least ride to where the marked bike route ended...about 7-8 miles from the start intersection of Hwy. 68 and Hwy. 518. It seemed hilly enough to get to that point, given that I am a low-lander in high-lander country...only getting one third the air I am used to in Fort Worth.

Anyway, at 10:30 AM I got on the bike, a carbon-fiber Specialized, and was pleased to find out that it had a third chain ring. So, I was rolling along and got to the end of the marked bike route in 30 minutes. I figured, geez, I am not going back this soon. So, I started up to the pass (aka U.S. Hill). I decided I would go as far as I could.

This is where the third chain ring came in handy. I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath, but I made it to the top! Yea! I was at the top about 11:50 AM. I had gone about 10 miles, mostly up...probably a 2000 ft. elevation gain. I think it was a great accomplishment for a low-lander.

Coming down was fun and fast. I put it in high gear and pedaled to get more speed. I probably was going over 50 mph. The posted limit is 55.

So, climbing the hills (mountains) is not as intimidating as I imagined!

Nambe Falls...another time

Yesterday we left the B&B around 3 PM to begin a journey along the Taos Scenic Byway down to Nambe Falls. We left late to get better lighting for photos. The sky turned stormy and rain burst clouds were scattered across the horizon. I stopped to take photos on a number of occasions...taking images across the horizon so I can experiment with creating some panoramas.

We went through towns such as Trampas and Truchas. We made our way down to Chimayo, but the lighting was too poor for photos. We got a bit confused trying to find some of the highways/roads to Nambe. Not until later did we determine that our map was old and some of the roads had been renamed. Our confusion resulted in delaying the journey.

We got to the Nambe Falls entrance at 6:22 PM. They close the Falls to new visitors at 6 PM. So, we were turned away by the Nambe Pueblo Reservation security who control entry. Bummer.

We discovered you have to pay to enter, $8 per vehicle, and...$5/camera. The camera fee is the same deal at Taos Pueblo. I know they want to make money, but a camera fee? Why not just include it in the entry fee?

At this point we are near Espanola. We've got about an hour drive to Taos and it's now about 7 PM. Vicki is "hungry" now, but we decide to dine in Taos. The sunset was spectacular on the way back.

We stopped at 5 Star Burgers, which is a couple of miles south of the Plaza. The burgers were great. We were two of 4 or 5 customers. We watched the only football game they could get on the TV, the Chicago Bears vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

Wild Rivers Hike

Wild Rivers Recreation Area has one of our favorite hikes. It is very scenic. One of the most beautiful spots in New Mexico. The area is sometimes referred to as "New Mexico's Grand Canyon."

We recommended the hike to Bill and Marianne, who were also staying at Adobe and Stars. Unknowingly they followed our recommendation and we met on the trail. They are from Minneapolis, MN. She is a 1st and 2nd grade teacher on sabbatical and he works for the State's health department.

Our route begins at the La Junta Campground, down the 800 ft. to where the Red River and Rio Grande River meet. Then we hike along the Rio Grande to the Big Arsenic rim and up 680 ft.. At the top of Big Arsenic take the Rinconada Loop back to La Junta. Total mileage is about 7-8 miles. This time we left around 10:30 AM and got back to the car by 4:30 PM. That includes all of our stops.

The hardest part of the hike is coming back to La Junta along Rinconada Loop. It's an easy hike on a gravel trail, but for some reason it hurts my back and Vicki's feet.

Next time we plan to park the car at Big Arsenic, hike to La Junta along Rinconada and go down. That way we can end the hike at the car.

We headed back on Hwy. 522 to 143, a narrow road that winds its way to Arroyo Seco. There is a small Catholic church on the way that has a beautiful door. I stopped and took some pictures.

Dinner was at Pizanos, an Italian restaurant. The Caesar salad was probably the worst we have ever had...no flavor, but Vicki's veggie lasagna and my chicken parmesan were very good. The portions were large and could easily be shared.

Dessert was Bailey's on ice as we sat on our balcony looking at the stars.

Taos Pueblo

Yesterday's activity consisted primarily of visiting Taos Pueblo. It was our first visit despite our traveling to Taos several times in the past.

The Pueblo is a mix of authentic Native American culture and commercialism. Many of the homes are open as shops where handmade jewelry, furniture, drums and other items are sold. You have to cut through all the "distractions" to get a feel for the spiritual nature of the place.

I recall from stories told us by Gordon (@ Little Tree B&B), from our last Taos visit, that this pueblo is one of the last that is inhabited. It's a living pueblo of a few hundred people. There is no plumbing or electricity. A stream flowing through the center of the pueblo provides drinking water.

Of most interest are the stories and people we met while visiting the shops...

We met Patrick Maribal brother of Robert, the popular Native American flutist. He volunteered to give Vicki some flute playing pointers since she is trying to learn how to play. So, he played a short song for her to demonstrate the fingering. He also described his role as "giant" in Robert's video...a PBS created show (we bought the DVD).

At another shop we visited with an owner who was a healer. His principal tools are smudge sticks and feathered prayer fans. His grandfather negotiated for 60 years the return of Pueblo lands from the Federal government. There were a number of framed photos of the signing in Washington D.C. with President Richard Nixon.

He told us that his grandfather's advice to him was..."the best form of engagement is diplomacy." I immediately thought how much that advice was needed by the Bush administration.

There was a framed picture of his daughter behind the counter in a military uniform. She joined the Army out of high school in 2003. He is very proud of her.

Finally, on our way out, a five foot dreamcatcher caught my eye. There were also some beautiful benches inlaid with turquoise. The shopkeeper was unloading his truck and took some time to speak to us. He handed me a diamond back rattlesnake skin as we walked into his shop.

In his shop was a six foot long wooden snake with inlays like the benches. He met the snake when he and his wife went to retrieve some hay bales that were drying. One bale was stuck, so he reached underneath it to get leverage and grabbed onto the body of a rattler. Both were surprised. He told the snake in his native language to go, the snake bowed to him and left.

On the next hay bale he uncovered a mouse, that frightened him more than the snake, resulting him yelling his surprise and dropping the bale. Apparently, the mouse had been the snake's prey.

A few moments later the shopkeeper picked up a small drum and sang us a song of welcome in his native language, Tiwa. Very cool.

So, there are some special moments, nuggets in the sea of commercialism.

Taos Continued

I am two days behind in chronicling our journey.

Wednesday we spent the morning walking Taos Plaza. I found a hat I liked that is "crushable" making it easy to pack and still keep its shape.

We checked on our bike rental at Gearing Up which is just off the Plaza. We reserved two mountain bikes for Thursday. We got great service from the staff.

Lunch was at a burger place about a mile south of the Plaza. Then nap time and afterwards dinner at Graham's Grille. We both had salads which were very good. We plan to go back again, just to try the corn chowder a guy at the next table was raving about.

After dinner we went to the Spirit Runner Gallery to hear storytelling by Roberta Courtney Meyers. She is an artist/dramatist/historian that is originally from Taos, although she spent some time away working in opera and theater.

The Gallery is a small venue. There were six of us in attendance. Roberta took on the roles of Kit Carson's Cheyenne wife, Mabel Dodge Lujan, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Sakajawea (sp?). It was a special evening...a great way to learn history.

Thursday morning we picked up the mountain bikes and headed for Forest Service Road 438 which is a few miles south of Taos on Hwy. 518. It was a good road for beginner mountain bikers. It's a steady scenic climb. About a 1500 ft. elevation change. The challenge for us was the thin air. Coming from 600 ft. in Fort Worth to 6-8000 in Taos is a big change.

Vicki did very well for not biking much. She made it up some pretty steep hills. Yea! She took a break while I went on to the end of the road.

Coming down is fun! Especially when the shadows cast from the roadside trees obscure holes and rocks in the road when we were "flying" down. I guess we could remove our sunglasses to see better...but hey, it was an adventure.

On the way down a large bug flew just under the edge of my sunglasses on my right eye. It got stuck there and was flapping away. Needless to say, I slam on the brakes and just lift my sunglasses to let it go. Weird.

It was a good ride. We probably did about 10 miles.

Lunch was Subway, then nap time. A short walking tour of Arroyo Seco and Francesca's Boutique. Dinner at Orlando's Mexican Restaurant.

After dinner we went to the Plaza. An outdoor concert was underway. It was one of a series they have in the Plaza during the summer. Afterwards we called it a day.

Today, we are finally going to make it to the Taos Pueblo, on this our fifth trip.

On to Taos

Yesterday we left Santa Fe for Taos. We decided to take the long way and visit Abiquiu to see if we could get reservations to tour Georgia O'Keeffe's home. The tours are usually booked months in advance, but when we checked they had two cancellations. Tours are limited to 12 people and cost is $30/person. The tours originate from a building near the Abiquiu Inn and you need to "know" to find the place because there are no prominent signs. There is no signage on O'Keeffe's home...it's well protected from commercialism. Also, you can't take any pictures.

At noon we boarded the tour bus for a one mile ride to O'Keeffe's hilltop home. She was a remarkable woman. It took her 10 years to purchase the home from the Catholic diocese to whom it had been deeded by a Spanish general. When she got it the place was a ruin. It took about 4-5 years to repair. She bought it when she was in her 40's and lived there until she was 96.

There are about five acres of land. The house is 5,000 sq. ft. and is surrounded by an adobe wall. Inside there are trees and a garden watered once a week by an aqueduct system fed from a spring in the mountains behind the house. She grew all the food she would need to live. The current gardener is the grandson of the original.

The view from the hilltop is amazing. Even if you are not an artist, it's inspiring. The tour guide showed us some images of her work and then indicated from the view what O'Keeffe had painted. For example two cottonwoods by the side of the road in front of the house...

After the tour we went to Bode's general store, bought some lunch to go and stopped at a picnic table by Abiquiu Lake to eat. Continued on from there to Ghost Ranch where O'Keeffe owned another home. She did much of her painting there.

The name Ghost Ranch originated from the Spanish that referred to it as "brujas" or witches. It evolved into "ghost" when the house was occupied by horse rustlers who kept their "acquisitions" in the box canyon behind the house. They spread the rumor that the place was haunted so people would stay away. But, apparently it did not work that well. One of the rustlers was hung in front of the house and another met his demise nearby.

Upon entering Ghost Ranch there is a "rough" looking log cabin. It is actually part of the City Slickers movie set that remains. It looks pretty authentic...I've got pictures.

From Ghost Ranch we headed north to Tierra Amarilla. From there we took Hwy. 64 east to Taos...about a 60 mile drive through the mountains. A very scenic drive. The Fall must be fantastic because the mountains are covered with aspens.

We arrived at the Adobe and Stars B&B just before 6 PM. Visited with the owner and some other visitors that had just come from the Telluride Film Festival. They recommend a movie with Jeff Goldblum, Adam Resurrected, that is about to be released, another with Greg Kinnear. Also, a foreign film, Everlasting Moments.

Around 7:30 PM we caught the sunset. The views are great from here. I plan on experimenting with some panoramas.

We had a "white" pizza and Greek salad at the Taos Mountain....and finally got to bed around 11 PM.

Today we are planning to get acclimated and visit town.

Farewell Santa Fe

Today we leave for Taos. We will be there until Wednesday, Sept. 10. I am trying to find some places to check out on our trip up there.

Yesterday we took in the Santa Fe Arts Festival that was in the Plaza. Chatted with a photographer whose work is a combination of digital and acrylic painting. I bought one of his images and a package of post cards...it will give me some ideas for some of my own images.

Vicki got some jewelry and I got a choker and leather bracelet. I haven't worn that kind of stuff since college, but now it's back in "fashion." The choker has a silver bear talisman...the bear symbolizes "seeker of answers" and "The Shaman." Seeker of answers is a good fit for me.

Dinner was at a restaurant called "Dinner for Two" off of Guadalupe Street near our B&B. They offered a "prix fix" dinner for $24 that was a very good value. My soup was cold cherry and ginger. The biggest surprise to both of us was the calamari that was part of the presentation on which Vicki's crab cakes were placed and my shrimp appetizer. They had been marinated in rice wine vinegar and ginger...sort of like a ceviche. The meal was very good and we will go back.