We spent a few more days in Colorado before heading south to New Mexico. My friend, Launni, just bought a hundred year old cabin up in the Rockies, so we got to have lunch with her and sit on the porch like Ma and Pa Kettle and take in the scenery. I see why she loves it and wants to spend time there. I think the Mountain Lions might be a detractor for me, but she’s prepared to stare them down when they show up in her front yard. She’s already managed to shoot all the prairie dogs that come anywhere near her place, so I’m sure a large cat will prove no challenge, as the target is much larger. These mountains/country folks get back to the basics fairly quickly when they leave the city life, I tell ya.
We went to church Sunday with our friend Paul. He lead worship and a missionary to the Muslim world gave the sermon. It was one of the most fascinating, interesting and convicting sermons I’ve heard in a long time. It was hard to leave there and not be impacted. What a life that man has lived – at 83 years old he’s still traveling around the world talking about the basic premise of the Muslim faith and how it differs from the Christian faith (he was a missionary for 18 years in Afghanistan several decades ago). He said the Muslims have 99 names for God, which they must recite regularly, but not one of the names is “Father.” They don’t understand that we are made in His image and He loves us. It’s the pivotal point in our theological differences because God loves us like a parent, and they just don’t get that. I was also humbled by his teaching that we serve only one God, but when we make selfish choices that are against Biblical teachings, we aren’t serving God, so we’ve opened the door to the devil himself to work that selfishness out however he wants. Eeew. Sin is ugly.
We had dinner and spent the night with Paul and Paula. Kaleb reminded me it was a “reste selskap” (the Norwegian word for “rest party”) where they eat the “rest” of the food the day after a big celebration. It was just as good the second time around and it was great to have extra time with our friends once all the commotion had settled down and the wedding was behind them.
Early Monday morning we headed south to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. For some weird reason, huge sand dunes lie at the base of the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains, and Kaleb was all set to climb them and roll down. It took several hours to get there and by the time we arrived it was 84 degrees. The sand was way too hot to the touch, so rolling down it with shorts and a short sleeved shirt proved to be painful. He settled for jumping off the edges of the dunes and running down as fast as he could. It was a lot more work to get back up to the top than he anticipated too, but he didn’t complain. Kory even managed to climb up some smaller dunes without getting any angina pain, but the heat kept us from staying for more than an hour. I took lots of photos and made sure everyone drank lots of water. Kaleb earned the Junior Ranger badge so at least there was something educational about the day. I love the Junior Ranger program.
We continued our drive south that day and had dinner in Taos, New Mexico before arriving at a luxurious B&B in Sante Fe owned by a college professor friend of mine (see photo) from my Pomona days. I used to babysit his kids, who are in their 30s now. I was hoping to surprise him by our arrival, but he surprised me by NOT being there. I got to meet his partner though and we had a great time at their place, especially since they had two large dogs to entertain Kaleb.
I love Sante Fe. It’s just one gorgeous photo opportunity after another, as the architecture is so opposite from anything the northwest has to offer, the heat is so dry, the food is so hot, the arts and crafts are so unique and the people are especially kind. I’ve been to Sante Fe many times, but could really make it an annual thing. Almost everyone else staying at the B&B were also from the Pacific Northwest – so I guess I’m not the only one that feels that way – and they were all repeat customers.
My left foot had some unexplained sharp pain all night long so I didn’t sleep well as the twinge of something being out of whack kept me awake. I thought it would go away once I started walking the next day, but as we walked the few blocks into the heart of Sante Fe on Tuesday, I realized I must have sprained it while climbing the sand dunes the day before. The pain was intolerable, so I had to hobble quite a bit, leaning on Kory and Kaleb for support. Fortunately, everything we wanted to see in the heart of town was very close, so there wasn’t much distance to cover. We saw the oldest house in America, the oldest church in America, the oldest continuously occupied public building in America – all from around 1610. Kaleb liked the Loretto Chapel which houses a miraculous spiral staircase built over a hundred years ago with no visible means of support. The sisters of that church prayed for a way to get access to the choir loft and a stranger showed up one day, built the thing with wood not from that area, and left before they could pay him. It’s one of America’s “Unsolved Mysteries” and totally miraculous.
By the time we got to the New Mexico Historical museum, I was hobbling pretty hard so I was offered a wheelchair, as it was apparent I needed it. That helped a lot and Kaleb enjoyed wheeling me around to all the exhibits. My foot was swelling and I wasn’t sure if it was broken or not. I couldn’t figure out how we would get back to the B&B, but just as we exited the museum, a bike taxi showed up. (Thank you, Jesus!) We got an extra little tour of the downtown area as he drove us around and back to the B&B. It was an added bonus we didn’t plan, but certainly was fun.
Kory drove us out to the nearest Wal-Mart and I bought some ibuprofen, an ankle brace and some icy hot lotion. I couldn’t see any point in going to an urgent care place and wasting vacation time waiting, so I decided to self medicate, and it worked. Kory had a good time taking pictures of me in Wal-mart using their motorized shopping cart, just like the fat ladies with bad knees use. Ha ha. I found it to be a rather efficient way of zooming through the aisles, however, so I may have to fake injuries in the future just to get to use that cart.
We enjoyed happy hour at the B&B, visiting with all the other guests for a few hours and I was able to sit with my foot elevated. I’m not sure if that helped the most, or the few glasses of wine I drank, but I knew I was on the mend by then. Kory and Kaleb also prayed for me, so I’m sure the healing really came from above.
Wednesday Kory did all the driving as we headed east early in the day to see the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos. We learned many interesting things there about how that town came to be, what the scientists are working on, and how the nuclear bomb affected the world. Kaleb requested that stop on our route, even though it was out of our way, it was well worth it. We couldn’t stay long, however, because we had a four hour drive further south to get to the Roswell, the final destination on our journey. Kaleb has been fascinated by the whole UFO phenomenon for a few years now, and Roswell is the mecca for such folks. We weren’t disappointed.
The whole town of Roswell really plays up the UFO thing. Every store has either a space ship or alien in their signage (see photo). Even Wal-Mart stacked their cases of pops so that an aliens face appears . Hotels have aliens holding welcome signs, the street lights in downtown are shaped like an alien’s head with eyes painted on the them so it looks like we are being watched by aliens. This is the largest tourist desination in the state, and after reading all there was to read in the museum, it’s no wonder. It would be hard NOT to believe in the alien crash in 1947 after seeing all the evidence, but why the government has worked so hard to cover it up is the real mystery.
We had a long drive back to Denver on Thursday, but were treated with more time with friends before we flew back home on Friday. My foot was miraculously healed by then – woo hoo! Our flight was delayed nearly three hours, so it was a long journey back, but we were just glad to arrive safely. It was a an incredible trip overall, eventhough I never did get used to the dry air which made it difficult to breathe at night, or the fact that my hair went straight (humidity helps the curls, apparently). Even with the few blips along the way (I left my laptop power cord at the B&B so I’ve been unable to post this until now!), it was one of the best family vacations we’ve had, but it’s always good to have a home in which to return. Hallelujah.
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