I was able to travel home to Santa Fe last week to visit my parents.
Day 1
After an eventful flight from Houston to Dallas to Albuquerque I finally arrived in the Land of Enchantment! My mother pick
ed me up at the airport and we resided in the Hotel Albuquerque for the nigh
t. We caught drinks with some of mom's coworkers and a swanky bar at the hotel. We talked education which w
a
s a lot of fun (those of you who aren't teachers don't understand). My mom was at the state's special ed conference and had a few meetings to attend throughout the day. We got to walk around the plaza and then found a tr
aditional New Mexican restaurant to enjoy breakfast. She then went to her meetings and I relaxed at the hotel. We went shopping at Up Town and bought mom a new wardrobe. We then headed to Santa Fe and had a wonderful dinner wi
th dad at the Coyote Cantina. We ate the worlds hott
est jalape
no poppers, guacamole, and fish tacos (YUM)!
Day 2
Destination: Beatty's Cabin (6-7 miles int
o the Pecos Wilderness)
We awoke early to pack for our adventure out into the Pecos Wilderness. We inventoried our camping gear, argued about what to take and not to take into our packs, and then weighed our backpacks. They
all weighed roughly 30 lbs (mom is still convinced we gave her the heaviest pack which was UNTRUE). We had a hardy homemade breakfast which consiste
d of breakfast sandwiches made by yours truly. Then off to the wilderness for two
days!!! Once we arrived to Iron Gate we embarked on our great adventure with much excitement! We stopped to take pictures, eat snacks, and enjoy the few. The best views were from Hamilton Mesa
(2 miles in) which is mom's favorite place. Like always once we reached to top of th
e mesa and saw the mountains she broke out into The Sound of Music songs....it never fails. Everyone
was still in good spirits and enjoying the hike. About half way across the following conversation occurred: Mom: "How much further?"
Dad: "We are about a third of the way there."
Mom: "What, I thought it was just at the top of the mesa!!!"
Dad: "Nope!"
Mom: :(
She was a good trooper and made in across the mesa (another 2 miles). Along the way we saw spectacular views of mountains, wildf
lowers, and some random wilderness cows.
We stopped fo
r lunch and had some nutritious avocado sandwiches. After lunch we started a decent downward towards the river and Beatty's Cabin. This is when things turned south. Mom is able to walk roughly 5 miles happily...the remainin
g 2...not so much. We coach
ed
her through the last few miles with words of encoura
gement and many water breaks. We finally arrived to Beatty's Cabin! We set up camp and dad star
ted fishing for dinner. We enjoyed laying in the hammock, reading, drinking
in the beautiful views that God blessed us with, and then made
dinner. We finished to night off sleeping outside und
er the stars!
Day 3
We awoke shivering but the sun rose over the mountain and warmed us quickly. Dad went fishing again, we ate breakfast, and packed up camp. We set out on the hike back and made better time then the hike in. We were half a mile from the car and mom threw her pack down and said that we would have to camp in that exact spot for the night. We c
onvinced her to continue on and she was relieved
to see our car! I'm so proud of my mom for being able to backpack into the wilderness a total of 14 miles with 30 lb backpack. She has been working so hard
doing her K
ettle Bell workouts and they have defin
itely payed off! She would not have been able to accomplish this backpacking trip a year ago. It was a very special trip to do with my mom and dad and right in time for father's day. It was incredible!
The thing I love the most about the wilderness is our ability to see and hear God so clearly. The noise and business of our world is silenced, our wor
ries and daily agendas a silenced, and their is nothing standing in the way of you and
God. Being in the wilderness it is undeniable the existence of God. The earth is too beautiful for all of this to
happen by chance. It was all innately designed by our creator. The same God that created the peaks of the mountains, the raging rivers, the wildflo
wers, the clouds, the night sky, created me. How great is our GOD!
We had dinner that night a Rio Chama with Tucky and Adam.
When we arrived to Santa Fe the Pacheco Fire had already started in the Santa Fe National Forest. It was growing rapidly and was visible from
our restaurant. This broke my heart- I pray that the fires will be put out before anymore of
nature is destroyed. I wish people would remember that we share the Earth with animals and we are visitors in their majestic world. We did a backpacking trip just in time- all the wilderness is now shut off the the public due to fire danger.
Day 4
Father's Day
Dad decided that for Father's Day he wanted to go to Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort for their local "Pool Party!" The people watching
was ideal and we saw many funny sights. The winner of the people watching was a middle aged momma who didn't stop booty dancing around the hot tub the whole three hours we were there. We then went down to the casino and gave away our money to slot machines. We ended the night at Gabriels...yum yum!
Day 5
Holly's Day
I started to day off with at Harry's Roadhouse with dad and we both had buckwheat pancakes with wild Maine blueberries. Then I went to REI, Station Cafe and had the best latte, walked around downtown, read my bible, had lunch at F
lying Star, went to Whole Foods, then to Glorieta Conference Center. I caught up with old friends and pouted about my summer staffing days at Glorieta being over. I spent about an hour in the Prayer Garden reminiscing about old Glorieta days, our wedding two years ago, and old friends. I also spent time praying for numerous different things. It was wonderful. Tucky came over for a dinner and we hopped in the hot tub just like old times and talked into the night.
I miss the Land of Enchantment so much! It was wonderful going back and doing all of my favorite things. I pray one day I can live amongst the mountains again- it is where my heart resides.
