Thanksgiving in Santa Fe

Taking advantage of a long weekend, we took off on Thanksgiving morning to drive to Santa Fe, through cloudy skies and rain. By the time we reached the outskirts of the city, it was snowing, big, beautiful flakes. Our dinner of green chili chicken soup, salmon wraps and Margaritas wasn't exactly the usual Thanksgiving dinner, but it was good and comforting.

We're attracted to the architecture of Santa Fe and all the art galleries.

We took a walk in the neighborhood that night and also the next morning.

I was intrigued by the winding staircase in the Loretto Chapel.

We took a drive to the San Ildefonso Pueblo in the afternoon,and drove through Chimayo, known for weavings and the El Santuario (a chapel of miracles).
The next day, we toured through the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, enjoying the many stories told by a docent. Then we headed north, taking the High Road to Taos, and stopping a several art galleries.

We got to the Taos Pueblo just before closing. The lighting on the buildings was phenomenal.

We missed taking a traditional ofuro (bath) at the Ten Thousand Waves Japanese spa. Guess we'll save that for next time.

Our neighbor, Jane (3)

Despite the best efforts by Fox News, there are some people who do not buy into their culture of fear. One of those people is Jane.

Last Wednesday, Jane woke up at 5:00 am to go to the bathroom. As she headed back to her bedroom, she noticed the light was on. Then she found a man filling a bag with her jewelry. She yelled, “Get out of here or I’ll call the police!” The phone was next to her bed so she couldn’t get to it. The man then yanked out the phone and fled the house. To get in, he had removed the door knob on the side kitchen door. One of Jane’s neighbors is installing a security screen door to prevent future break-ins. Jane didn’t seem a bit afraid, only perturbed. She told us, “As my 5 year old great niece said, shrugging her shoulders, ‘Life isn’t easy. These things happen.’”

3 hikes

Taking advantage of the cooler weather, we've gone on a hike for the past 3 weekends.

Two weeks ago, we hiked a loop trail in Cave Creek Regional Park, just north of Phoenix. It took us about 2 hours.Last Sunday, we drove further out of Phoenix on 89 near Rye, south of Payson and took the Barnhardt Trail. The climb took us into the Mazatzal Mountains. It was a gradual climb and very pleasant.The leaves on the trees were changing color and gave a great Fall feeling.The hike took about 3 hours.

Today we took 89 again but only 1/2 hour out of Phoenix to the Ballantine Trail. It was a much more rigorous hike, climbing up and up, but had great rock formations.

We were surrounded by cacti: saguaro, prickly pear and cholla.The most exciting part of the hike was coming across a tarantula right in the middle of the trail.We hiked for about 4 hours today.

I don't know if I'll be up for a 5 hour hike next weekend. We'll see.

Antelope Canyon

We went with our group of friends to Page last weekend, to hike through Antelope Canyon. It was a fantastic trip!

sign of the times

from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/cartoons.html

The Date

We’ve been waiting for months to go on a special date. Mostly we were waiting for the weather to cool down. Yesterday’s high was in the 80s and it cooled down into the 70s in the evening – a perfect night. Miriam, Lauren & Aaron had given us some gift certificates for Christmas, and we used them all in one evening.

Our date began at the Phoenix Art Museum. We enjoyed the Asian exhibit, with some contemporary Chinese scrolls. I was fascinated by a piece called Mass (Colder Darker Matter) 1997. It was made with wire and the burnt wood from a Texas church which had been struck by lightening.

We also enjoyed walking through a small dark mirrored room which had (computer controlled) LED lights suspended from the ceiling. It gave the feeling of looking through space to infinity. Very cool.

Pizzaria Bianco is a restaurant located in the historic Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix. We were warned that we’d need to wait for a table, so we arrived a little after 5:00. The hostess told us there was a 2 hour wait. Nothing new for this restaurant. People arriving after us had to wait 3-4 hours. So we sat on a bench outside, nursing a glass of wine and enjoying the parade of people at the “rainbow” event going on in the pedestrian streets in front of the restaurant. A little light rain didn’t even spoil the fun, and the double rainbow after the rain seemed to fit the night. The wait was worth it. The antipasto was so good and the pizza is incredible.
After dinner, we took a walk and toured the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown – a beautiful new Starwood hotel.

We used our last gift certificate for dessert at the Compass Room, a rooftop-revolving restaurant in the Hyatt Regency. The floor does a complete circle in 55 minutes. It was so pleasant to enjoy coffee, tiramisu and flan while viewing the night lights of downtown.

Even if you’ve been married for 33 years, a date is still a great idea. Thanks, kids!