First Night in Chelsea

So I got into the city on Sunday late afternoon. Just before I left I walked outside to tell the kids good-bye and managed to get stung by a bee. I immediately thought that my luck wasn't going to change and that maybe I shouldn't be going into the city on my own. I waited around for about an hour and when I didn't go into anapolaptic shock I got on the train.
I found my room and walked around Chelsea/Meatpacking District for a few hours. I was at the Highline Park for sunset. This is an old elevated railway through the city which has been converted into a park. The first shot is from the Chelsea Market and the second is taken of the Hudson river from the Highline. The third is of the Highline Park connecting two old warehouses.
I really loved these big fluffy flowers along the park. I don't know what they are but they look cool in profile against the sunset. I really haven't had time to go through my over 1000 pictures from the trip. I had a few minutes yesterday but I don't feel like I've done them justice yet. I should have a quiet weekend coming up to spend some time reviewing and editing.

I ate a late dinner at The Spotted Pig which is reported to have the best burger in NYC. It was a damn good burger with Roquefort cheese and a mountain of shoestring fries. I made some poet friends here and spent several lovely hours looking out the bay windows onto the West Village streets talking about poetry and art vs. commerce. I bought Cecelia Adam's book of poetry which she had quoted to me throughout the night.

I finally felt like my New York adventure was starting to turn around. I had no more major drama or negative energy thankfully and despite the heat and tired feet I enjoyed the rest of my trip. I'll share more as I have time.

I survived my big adventure!

I wish I could say that things were all smooth sailing after the plane ticket debacle but that isn't quite true. Our plane was delayed flying into Newark which is evidently a very common occurrence. So we missed our train to upstate where Mike's sister lived. We sat at Newark for over an hour tired and frustrated before we were finally able to find a hotel with a shuttle that wasn't booked up for Memorial Day weekend. The next day went much better. We made the early train and got there in time for the last 30 minutes of the Bat Mitzvah ceremony. We were then able to hang out for a few hours before the reception. It was quite an event let me tell you. I've never seen anything like it but we had a good time that evening with the open bar.

Abbie was incredibly composed and gave a lovely speech with personal reflections on all of her family members in attendance. I was thanked for the fluffy Hanukkah scarves I send. I am glad that we made it after all the travel drama since I know it meant a lot to Mike's sister for us to be there.

We had my niece Kate this weekend so I haven't had time to go through the rest of my vacation pictures. I had fun in New York but it was pretty exhausting. I really wish I could have a vacation to recover from my vacation for sure.

Thoughts on Taos

This will be my last vacation concentrated post. In some ways New Mexico already seems so long ago. I have a frame filled with some of my favorite landscape shots ready to hang right over the student's head in my office to try to bring a bit of that peace during the chaos of the coming months at work. After Santa Fe we took the high road to Taos while our travel mates headed back to the airport. The high road had some lovely views but honestly we were more impressed by the low road in some ways. You follow the Rio Grande River for much of the way and you have actually more mountain views that both the driver and passenger can enjoy.




This was supposed to be when Mike and I had good quality time together and I got to focus on my photography some. The later happened as planned, the former not so much. Mike forgot his laptop adapter in Santa Fe so he was unable to write or play much online which made for some grouchiness on his part. But he did enjoy the peaceful B&B environment and spent hours out on the porch reading in the chair above with the string of chilis. We stayed at the Adobe and Pines Inn which is 10 minutes from downtown Taos and has a beautiful stream running through it and a zen rock garden with a labyrinth.

The day that we got there happened to be a feast day at the Taos Pueblo, the longest continually inhabited building in North America, with a corn dance. The Pueblo Indians have been living there for over 1,000 years and still maintain much of their culture. You can't photograph the dances so I went back the next morning to get some shots. The sun was already blaring when I got there so I didn't get any great shots but I like this one.

The first night there I took off with my camera right before sunset. I found a great spot where I could park which was the start of a trail with great views of the sunset and mountains. I took several of my favorite shots ever that night. I'm actually still processing the raw images from that night and there are more gems still to be discovered I know. Both of the shots at the top as well as this my favorite tree in New Mexico.

The last morning we were there I woke up before sunset, which shocked my family to death. I saw the sunrise from behind the mountains, visited the Rio Gorge Bridge, drove to D.H. Lawrence's ranch at the top of a mountain, and visited his memorial all before breakfast while Mike slept in.

I will probably be going back there next year to take a photography workshop without Mike. It is by far the most beautiful place I've ever been. Mike didn't really like the vibe in Taos like he did the rest of our travels. There is a certain uptight, rich former hippy tourist feel to it. Santa Fe has a much more laid back scene. I will definitely never go in the summer, prime tourist time again. I was told late September is a great time for taking pictures.

Tomorrow I'll try to get back to some regular blog material, whatever that is....

Santa Fe Fun.

We just got back from the farm for 5 days, but I will talk about that later in the week. Today I'm going to share my great admiration of Santa Fe. I don't have many pictures from that fair city as it was all about enjoying the moment on those days and not so much recording it. The top shot is my favorite of Mike and me from the whole trip. It's taken in the backyard of the restaurant we ate at on our last night in Santa Fe. And these are our traveling companions for the first half of the trip. Brian Katcher and Sandy are about the most laid back travel mates you could ever hope for. Whatever we suggested was a-ok with them.

We were laughing about my airheaded ways and we really enjoyed each other's company thoroughly. When my floppy hat caused shadows in all the indoor pictures on the first day of the trip I was freaking out thinking something was wrong with my camera. It literally took me all day to figure out what the problem was which had us laughing for hours.The amazing thing about Santa Fe is all the random art everywhere. The freeways are filled with it and pretty much everywhere you look is a statue or mural along the sidewalk. This is in addition to all of the stunning views of mountains and random rock formations like the one below along the road. I got pretty good at taking pictures from my car as Mike was generally not inclined to stop whenever I spotted a photo op as they were everywhere.
We didn't bother going to any art museums as there was so much free art to take in everywhere you looked. In addition to all the random art there were art galleries that you could wander through even when you knew there was no way in hell you could afford a thing besides maybe some postcards by the door. We also walked around the state capital building which is covered with artwork by New Mexican artists. You can just wander the halls while lobbyist and government workers hurry past conducting the business of the state. We walked into the governor's office and shuffled past the secretaries station mumbling don't mind us we're just here for the art.

Mike has decided that Sante Fe is now his favorite city. Poor New Orleans is now a distant second.

Along the Turquoise Trail

The Turquoise Trail runs between ALB and Santa Fe and may be most favorite stretch of road in the world as of today. There are beautiful views of the Sandia Crest Mountains and amazing little towns with more character and personality than anyplace I've ever been. I took the top shot from my car of a wandering soul with plenty of water for his trip.

I particularly loved Madrid which is happily stuck in the 60's but not in a phony way. Even Mike was charmed by the locals and their sincerity and beautiful artwork. The beautiful blue sky with the cool cloud formation was over Madrid and it puts me in a happy place to look at it. It's one of 3 sky pictures that I'm blowing up to hang over my couch. The other 2 are sunsets that I've posted in the last 2 entries here.

There are over 40 shops and galleries in Madrid and unlike the Santa Fe/Taos gallery experience I felt right at home. The art here was accessible and affordable. I bought some prints at the Color and Light Arts shop and Mike got a matted photograph of clouds he fell in love with at the Dream Gallery. I also got a beautiful shell inlayed pendant and turquoise necklace at the Gypsy Gem shop.

I got some more jewelry from the Native American craftsmen that set up in front of the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. I got a large turquoise ring that reminds me of my Nana's ring that she wore almost everyday. Another cousin got the turquoise ring when she passed and I got the mother of pearl ring. I hope this one will be a heirloom for my nieces to fight over someday. I also got an inlay pendant, although I didn't spend $1,100 on it like the one I coveted in Madrid. Overall I'm very happy with my purchases along the trail as you can see here.

Back to reality

I've been having a hard time adjusting to life after vacation. I've been kind of in a daze and I'm so glad that I have this week off of work too. I will definitely be going back to New Mexico although the next time I will be leaving Mike at home. We had a great time for the first 4 days of the trip as we had some friends along which made it even more enjoyable for Mike. I can't remember the last time we laughed as much as we did when we were in Santa Fe.

I had found us the perfect little house or casita with two bedrooms and a living room at the Casa Del Toro within walking distance of pretty much everything in downtown Santa Fe. I ddn't take many pictures in Santa Fe since it was more about just relaxing and having a good time.

The first night when in ALB we went on the Sandia Peak Tramway and ate at the top of the mountain. Mike and Sandy both freaked out on the way up, which takes you up 10,000 feet in around 15 minutes. I was snapping away and was fine. I got the shot at the top right at sunset on the way down.

I don't think you can take a bad picture from up there. There was some fog and hazyness but I think it just adds to the coolness.

The last 3 days we spent in Taos which was when the real picture taking began for me. I'll share some of those shots tomorrow.

I'm Back!

We made it home this afternoon from our New Mexico adventure. I am pretty exhausted to say the least. Yesterday I managed to get Eggs Benedict from my breakfast in Taos, hibiscus tea from my lunch in Santa Fe, and ketchup from my dinner in Albequerque all on my cream colored shirt. Quite a collection of stains, and cuisines if I do say so myself.

I have so many pictures to go through it's not even funny. I took over 1,500 shots and I haven't even scratched the surface on processing the raw images and editing them. The top one is from the most amazing museum in between Alb and Santa Fe called Tinkertown. I thought the sign summed up the trip for me. Below is one from an amazing sunset the first night we were in Taos.

I have the next week off too so I should have time to do laundry and go through my shots before we head to the farm on Wednesday. I'll share a few of my favorites everyday until then so please stay tuned.

Summer Vacation for my shop!

Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.
-- Kahlil Gibran

I had an etsy sale last week and instead of being happy about it I was annoyed. I thought now I have to get it wrapped up and go to the Post Office and with everything else that was on my plate last week with my car in the shop, etc. it was just one more thing to deal with. So I've decided to give my shop a nice vacation for the summer. I'm putting her to rest until August so that I can regroup and get my act together with better pictures and fresh inventory.

I only had 15 items listed with most of them things that had been hanging around the shop for at least a year, like the Summer Flowers wristcuff above. I will take some time this summer to put my new photography skills to work and get some new images to really showcase my scarves.

I'm starting to get my motivation to knit back. There were over 3 months when I just wasn't feeling it this year. Mike had set up a router in the living room for the laptop when I was on my back with the broken ankle. I let myself get into the habit of coming home and getting online rather than knitting to relax after work.

I told Mike last month that I didn't think I was going to have enough inventory at the rate I was going for this year's craft show season. So he decided that I couldn't handle having the laptop right next to my couch and he came and took it away. I still have my desktop in my craft room of course but I'm less inclined to waste hours on it and treat it more like my business/photography station.

So I think I'm going to put up an etsy mini of my favorites for the meantime. I'll be back with a full selection of colorful Fall accessories in August.

Up Close and Personal

I started this post last week and got distracted but I have just a little more to share about our big trip. I have decided that if we commit to our decision to stay childless than we will be taking a big vacation every 2 years. We'll do some kind of long weekend trip on the off years but every other year we'll plan some kind of big adventure for a few weeks. As long as we can afford it I think it is good for us to get out and explore.

On this trip there was a lot of up close and personal time. We spent a lot of time just the 2 of us which was nice. We also had to stand in a lot of lines up close with people from all over. The most close quarters by far though had to be the Atlantis submarine ride we took in Cozumel. It was Mike's choice of excursion for the day. I am a bit claustrophobic but it was a once in a lifetime experience so I went with it. We were luckily on the end of the row but there were 48 people packed into 2 single rows. Here is a shot I took from my seat of the confined space. We went over 100 feet below the ocean into a coral reef protected park. It was the most blue and clear water you can imagine. We saw fish large and small, a few sting rays, and one diver which was funny. Most of my pictures came out blue and blurry but the diver shot was kind of interesting. We were down there for almost an hour and at least one person got a little too relaxed and made it quite uncomfortable for the rest of us. Yes, there is no where for that smell to go down there.

I also got to know my Macro setting much better. I've had this camera for almost a year now but I am just starting to feel comfortable with it. I really want to take a digital photography class this fall but in the meantime I'm just playing at it. I really love the top flower shot that I took on a nice leisurely walk through New Orleans Garden District. These bottom two I took in Cozumel when I was walking around on my own. There was a garden right in the middle of the pier that was surrounding by cheesy shops. I had spent about 15 minutes taking pictures when a shop owner asked if I wanted him to take a picture of me and I said the flowers were much prettier. He then started chatting me up so I left the flowers and the Pier behind after that. That is the last of the vacation stories and pictures that I'll bore you with!

My Day with the Mayans

As I said the Mayan ruins excursion was one of the highlights of the whole trip. We chose to visit the ruins at Uxmal rather than Chitzen Itza. Uxmal is less famous but much more decorative. Chitzen Itza is one of the new 7 Wonders of the World so I knew that most of the crowds would be headed that way. I'm so happy that we made that choice since we practically had the place to our selves. There were over 6 buses just from Carnival going to Chitzen Itza but one lone bus headed to Uxmal. We had to travel 2 hours into the heart of the Yucatan to get there but we saw the real Mexico from the comfort of our air conditioned bus.

We were able to get up close and personal with the ruins as nothing but a few statues were roped off. We went into the buildings, climbed all over, and I took tons of pictures unblemished by other tourists.

We were allowed to chose from 3 different routes up or around the Governor's Palace . Mike and I chose to climb up halfway and come around the backside. At one point Mike had gone ahead and out of view. No one else had chosen to go that way yet so I was completely alone for about 10 minutes. I cooled off under a tree and communed with my surroundings. It was one of the most peaceful and memorable moments of the whole trip for me.

We ate lunch ate a local restaurant with real food from the Yucatan. We had to have our tour guide translate with the waiters for us. It was incredibly simple yet delicious food, and no we didn't get sick. Many from the tour bus sat in the bus and ate their ham sandwiches that had been given to us but I'm so glad that we chose to eat there instead.

I had been worried about the heat and the walking and climbing but I was so in the moment that day that I felt no pain until we got back on the bus to come home. My right thigh was burning for the next few days from all the stair climbing at an angle. I have a lot more pictures on flickr here if your interested.

Thoughts on Cruising

So it's back to work today for me today. It's been so long I hope I haven't forgotten how to do my job! It seems like forever since I sat down at my desk and blogged too. I feel so removed from my blog and all of you. It will take me a little while to get caught up with all of you guys I'm afraid. Thanks to those of you who continued to drop in on me for the past few weeks even when I was not returning the favor.

I spent the weekend going through all of my pictures and posting them to Flickr. Here's the full set from the trip if you are interested. I'm going to start here by a posting few of my favorite pics from or of the cruise. The top 2 are from Cozumel when we were docked right next to another Carnival ship. Mike called the second one "Carnival throwing up onto Mexico". The Carnival pier in Cozumel was about as far removed from Mexico as you can get and was full of all shades of tackiness for the tourists.

If we ever cruise again it will not be with Carnival. When I went before I was a much different person and was into the party vibe, but not so much now. If you are not into Hairy Chest Contests or gambling there really isn't much to do on the "Fun Days At Sea". The so called serenity deck had 24 hour disco music pumped into as did every other deck of the boat besides the track. Here you can see Mike taking a run with the sunset behind him.

There was one reggae band that we enjoyed but much of the entertainment left a lot to be desired also. I kept telling Mike that he was being an intellectual snob but I couldn't help making fun of much of what passed for fun on the boat myself. I had brought along a Kurt Vonnegut book and found some irony in what I was reading. Here's a great Vonnegut quote that kind of sums of how I was feeling about everything and everyone around me: "Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops." Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

We took the requisite shot of the towel animal left in our room each night. I took a shot of my one $10 drink that I got which I totally earned with all the walking I did the day of the Mayan ruins. I'll post pics from that day tomorrow. We really enjoyed our excursions and of course New Orleans was just what we wanted. We had some of the best food of our lives including an amazing meal at La Petit Grocery. If you are ever in the Garden District and have $100 to spend on true fine dining I totally recommend it. This last shot if from the last sunset of the trip.

Back from our great Adventures

So we got in late last night from our great adventures. We had a pretty amazing time. Some parts were better than others obviously. I'll post some of my best pictures next week but I thought I would just show some of my favorite snapshots of us today. I'm filled with ennui right now so I need to remind myself of the fun. Vacation is over and I will have to really buckle down next week for a month of crazy at work. I brought back stomach problems and some kind of rash along with lots of pictures and a few mementos.

Me in front of The Chimes in New Orleans:














Me with my sister in Alabama on the dock in front of her boyfriend's house:

From our formal night in front of my favorite artwork on the boat:



From the deck when we first arrived on the boat:

Paige & Mike's Great Adventure Part 3

So we are to the final phase of our great summer adventure. Today we get on the Carnival Cruise ship Fantasy. I've cruised once before as a wild and single gal but never with Mike. I had a blast with my buddies and I'm sure it will be different with Mike but still fun. I've promised him that I will only drink one night as last time I racked up a bar tab over $500 for the 7 night cruise. He is not a big drinker and we have early morning excursions planned so I'm sure that I won't get too carried away.

I have a feeling that there will be lots of relaxing and taking it easy on our days at sea. There is an adults only deck called Serenity, in the picture, which should be perfect for us. Here is our 5-day itinerary:

Saturday, Jul 11		New Orleans, LA				4:00pm
Sunday, Jul 12		Fun Day At Sea
Monday, Jul 13		Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico		7:00am		4:00pm
Tuesday, Jul 14		Cozumel, Mexico		9:00am		5:00pm
Wednesday, Jul 15		Fun Day At Sea
Thursday, Jul 16		New Orleans, LA		8:00am

We will be touring the Mayan Ruins at Uxmal (500 A.D) which has many ceremonial sites and is very well preserved. On our day at Cozumel we'll be doing a submarine tour which will explore underwater. I left that excursion up to Mike and that is what he chose. I'm a bit claustrophobic but it is a once in a lifetime kind of thing to do so I think I'll be fine. We'll also have some time to do some shopping on that day and I'm hoping to get some deals on silver and some fun beads.

I'll lots of pictures to share when I get back and stories of our adventures.