We chose a great time to be away from Colorado; it was cold here but warm in Sedona, where we spent the largest chunk of our time...except for our first day there, when they had a rare blizzard. I sat in the spa of our resort in a terrycloth robe, sipping tea and watching a swirling tornado of snowflakes outside the window.
On our way to Arizona we drove down to Carlsbad Caverns, fulfilling my husband's longtime desire. We walked down the natural entrance and spent the next four hours deep underground. It was fascinating. Husband noted that when he visited at our son's age the official explanation for the cavern was an underground river and now, 35 years later, they know it was carved by sulfuric acid. Also, the world is round, not flat as previously thought.
We stopped in Roswell, went to the UFO Museum and International Alien Research Center, and gawked. Spookily, on the way out of town we purchased a bag of M&Ms with peanuts which was found to contain a green, alien-head shaped candy:
As we headed back from CC we overnighted in Albuquerque in an absolutely lovely hotel called Nativo that I recommend to anyone and everyone who's heading that way. The lobby is filled with native art, and you can lounge on canopy-covered chaises or huge leather round chairs. Our suite had leather sofas and feather beds, and room service dinner was delivered on ornate iron trays.
The Grand Canyon was, as always, awe-inspiring. We were there 5-1/2 hours; did you know that the typical park stay is 40 minutes? The little guy was appropriately amazed at the canyon, and we all decided to come back and do the harrowing mule ride when he's tall enough (4 ft. 7 in.) We ran around in shorts, though there was still snow on the ground. We stayed for the sunset, which was VERY worthwhile.
I loved Sedona. We got so accustomed to gazing up at Cathedral Rock and the rest of the Red Rocks that it was actually painful to leave -- especially since we knew we'd be trading our shorts for thermals and a frosty Pikes Peak when we got back home.
We spent the night in Santa Fe on the return trip and, again, I almost cried when we had to leave Canyon Road. I did buy a beautiful original (small) from David Vigil. He was strumming his guitar as we entered the small plaza outside his shop, and charmed us with his story of building his studio with scrap wood (it was beautiful). His hair was dyed a most frightening color; it was the red-orange from your 54 Crayola box when you were a kid, but then that adds to the story, doesn't it?
Once again, I felt a strong desire to live in New Mexico. Our son forbids us to sell our current house -- don't all kids feel that way? -- but I'm dreaming of a winter home in NM. Time will tell.
Overall, I had no time for writing (I can't read or write in a moving vehicle, alas) so I didn't finish the stuff I wanted to submit to my college journal, but I did read much of Stephen King's On Writing. Once finished I will have the holy trilogy of writing under my belt, at last.
School starts Monday. Or Wednesday. For me, that is. Son still has a whole week of Break to go.
