Tucson Artist Melinda's Magical Journey Continued

First look, first draft of Cerro Pedernal Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza As we drove toward Albuquerque a few weeks ago, I thought, What was it again that compels me in this direction? I mean, there aren't any saguaros or very many ocotillos there. And gee, in Arizona, there are as many spectacular vistas as New Mexico, right?...Hmmm. It's about six hours from Tucson to Albuquerque, if you take the cutoff toward Hatch (where all the yummiest chile peppers are grown) through Deming. It is our custom to stop in Lordsburg for fuel. Right away, there were strange things afoot. My favorite hills were being mined and the machines were busily scratching at the hems of their skirts. Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza Journal entry: On the way up to Albuquerque, I saw a young calf standing under a lone billboard with these words written in bold letters, "Fresh Jerky," and a hill whose vegetation formed the stylized image of a running horse-- like cave paintings. Light and shadows danced along the ground as storm clouds gathered. The second day, we were in Santa Fe fueling up and about to get lost. I was not feeling well. I did not pay attention. My internal GPS was not working. We headed northeast instead of northwest to Abiquiu. Driving through the foothills of the Sangre de Christo Mountains and rounding the bend, I saw a flat topped mountain that seemed to appear suddenly over the top of the other hills. Was it smiling? I was overjoyed that I had, perhaps, glimpsed Cerro Pedernal. I was wrong, and drove further until I could tell from the incredible grassy plains (like Kansas) that something was not right. At Wagon Mound, I melted down. Appalled that I had made such a mistake. Freaked out that I now must drive back toward Santa Fe and begin again toward the northwest. 

Stopping in Las Vegas, NM, we found the Comfort Inn and crashed. Lucky to get any room (Harley motorcycle rally in town), we had a clogged sink...on the second floor, and had to brush our teeth while taking our showers. Ha. From Ghost Ranch Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza Storms come to New Mexico Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza Third day journal entry: On the way to S. F., I saw the monsoon come in a cloud like an Indian dancer in the sky, the Pecos River and one hundred happy bikers listening to ZZ Top, as we ate French 'Ready to Eat' meals at the Pecos River Station. Made it to Santa Fe. We saw antique and vintage cars. One was a Ford Cobra. Penitente Morado Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza It seemed like the Trickster, the devil, and a small host of angels vied for mastery of our journey. We were like confused observers, trying to listen to the right voice. 

The Sage Inn became our refuge, and I cancelled my Ranch adventure. The faucet in our room's sink would not turn off and a kindly maintenance man came and replaced the faucet. The next night, in a different room again, he came to replace something else, and we gave him our treasured tamales from Tucson's Larua's Restaurant in gratitude. Fourth day: Still ill, but painted in my room (That's fun. Put down a small tarp to protect the carpet.) Had a pleasant lunch along the Santa Fe River where birds fought amongst themselves, but, only we noticed. See Arty Fice. Fifth day: A setback. Slept most of the day. Drove around a bit and took a few photos and shot a little video. Hope to upload that someday... View from Abiquiu Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza Sixth day: All better now. Think I'm gonna live. Mr. Artyfice suggests we drive to Abiquiu and see if we can salvage the time. My first meal--Abiquiu Inn. Wow. With a trout in my belly and my eyes full of beautiful desert, we headed out. I took over 400 photos, mostly from the car. Near Ghost Ranch Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza The last night we stayed at the Hotel Parq (Albuquerque) that was so new everything worked. We were the unwashed coming in from the storm. We enjoyed the hotel robes--a lot. 

And, on the seventh day we drove home to an exquisite Arizona sunset and a gourmet dinner prepared by Ell and his girlfriend. A few days later, as written in the last post, our trusty SUV lost its serpentine belt, which runs the water pump. Then, our washing machine broke. It was the water pump. What's with all of the water stuff?! Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza For once, I had a clean house. A dear family friend joined us for dinner Sunday, completing some kind of circle that I've yet to figure out. But, I see signs everywhere. Not Like O'Keeffe Image © 2011 Melinda S. Esparza This is just a taste of what it's like traveling to New Mexico. It has its own reality--not to be trifled with. 

Loved it, and not to be trifled with.