Exploring | The Rio Grande Gorge

Be Right Back

[credit]

I no sooner get back to blogging.. and I'm off again. 

I will be back on Monday with stories and photos to share from a long weekend in Salt Lake City. For now, I am on my way to the International Head Quarters for Children's Miracle Network for the 2013 Dance Marathon Leadership Conference. (You can follow along on Instagram!)

This year I will be serving as graduate advisor to the Lobo Dance Marathon executive committee, helping to prepare a dedicated group of students in hosting their first ever Dance Marathon. And so, we are starting off the year, together, with more than eighty other colleges and universities.

I've never been to Salt Lake City - I'd love your suggestions! Things to do? Places to eat?

Where We Ate | Season's Rotisserie & Grill

As self-proclaimed foodies (my other half is a chef, after all), Trevor and I really enjoy trying new restaurants - whether it's chosen from a friend's recommendation, a magazine article, or just on a whim. Now, living in a tourist-driven area, there are more than enough great restaurants to choose from. I know that when we travel, I hunt out reviews of the best restaurants in the area - after all, you only have so many meals to eat in one place. I thought that this new feature "Where We Ate" might help anyone visiting the Albuquerque or Santa Fe areas - besides, it's a good reason to go out more. (Isn't that right, Trevor?)

Lately, I have been spending far too much time in Old Town - more on that later this week -  but I decided to go back once again when Trevor suggested a spontaneous date, on a Wednesday none the less, to Season's Rotisserie & Grill.

Some of the things we loved about Seasons?
The open kitchen.
They take food allergies seriously.
Their seasonal menu - with fresh seafood!
(And that you can add two diver scallops to any meal for $10!)
Their polenta. You have to try it. 
Their use of fresh, local vegetables.
That strawberry vanilla infused mojito.
Those flowers.
They have gluten-free dessert - a chocolate torte with a creme brulee top. So. Good.

And while we choose to eat in the restaurant, I've heard that Season's second-floor outdoor bar is pretty great during the summer - they even have live music.

As hard as this is to believe, I'd give Seasons a 5 out of 5.

While the prices are a little higher than you might like a weeknight dinner, they are comparable to restaurants of the area and the food quality makes it worth it. We had no complaints about our dinner, our drinks, or our dessert - and the atmosphere and service were right there too. We will definitely be back. (And this time, I'm ordering the scallops and polenta)


p.s. Trevor got a smart phone and I'm not sure if it's the best thing or the worst thing ever.

Exploring | The Pecos Monument

I swear that we have been doing things other than exploring. Truth be told, life has been busy and full, yet at the same time, quiet. Our days have been filled to the brim with the ordinary. Things like grocery shopping and laundry, house cleaning and car washing. Chicken Cordon Bleu and Netflix. Filled with the things that no one wants to read about. So, for now, exploring will have to do.

That being said, I hope to be back to a regular blogging schedule next week. I've been a bit swamped with graduate assistantship interviews, designing an entire political campaign, and excitedly preparing for Trevor's family to arrive tomorrow. Like I said, life has been busy.

Exploring | The High Road

Our house lies in a desert valley, tucked quietly under the shadow of the Sandia. Our yard, sand. Our neighborhoods lined with cacti and yucca trees. Rio Rancho bustles with busy lives - families weaving between strip malls, fast food restaurants, and the perfectly manicured parks dotted across the subdivision maps.

But north of us lies Santa Fe, and above that, Taos. The High Road weaves a path out of Santa Fe, among the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. On our weekend journey, the road was lined with pilgrims making a hundred mile trek in honor of Easter.

The High Road weaves through desert, forest, and pueblo lands, many areas still dotted with snow. Along its path, galleries, eateries and tiny villages. From Nambe to Chimayo, Cordova to Truches - a collection of adobe houses built quite precariously on a cliff face.

At the road's end, Taos. Settled by Spanish colonists in the early 18th century, Taos now houses to ski life, colorful shops, and many places to find a good cup of coffee. For us, an afternoon of admiring leather moccasins, savoring indian tacos at Michaels kitchen, and an iced chai latte at World Cup Taos.

Further on, the Rio Grande carves its way through the grounds of northern New Mexico. A bridge spans the 1280 feet across the gorge and provides the brave with an opportunity to jut out over a river which could carry one the entire way to the gulf . I gracefully poised myself behind my camera lens and tried to convince myself that it wasn't truly 585 feet to the water below.

As we drove more than one hundred miles home, my eyes fell shut with the heaviness of altitude change. I woke unsure of the trip, not sure if the purple of the mountains or the turquoise of the Rio Grande were just a dream.

Saving Memories

As we packed for New Mexico, I came across a box that Trevor had tucked away, a box filled with momentos, photos and VHS tapes. I fumbled through the pile, flipping through photos of relatives and army adventures, phone numbers written in chicken scratch on the back of receipts.

Before our house fire, I saved everything. Like Trevor, every note, every card, every photo, was tucked into a special place, somewhere. A plastic bin slid beneath the bed. On a bulletin board over my desk. I savored every little physical memory and stashed it away for a rainy day, when I would slide out the boxes and bins and go through the memories I had forgotten.

It was nearly impossible to sort through the box, choosing what should be packed and what no longer needed saving. The Volkswagon key that Scrappy had tried to it? Garbage. The photo of Baby Shay on her first Christmas? Saved. The girls phone numbers on napkins? Garbage. The VHS tapes marked with "Trevor's Basketball Game" or "Christmas"? Saved.

I don't think that my parents have home videos of us, not that I would say that's a bad or good thing. What I did realize holding Trevor's tapes was this - I want to have videos of our life together. I want to remember the face that Trevor makes at me when he thinks I'm being ridiculous, I want to remember the places that we've been together, the things that we've done, that we've seen.

Last week, I interviewed my little brother and created this video to remember just who he was at eight. With Trevor's birthday quickly approaching too, I wondered how I could achieve the same effect. I started dreaming of sharing a video each birthday with video clips from the past year.

On Sunday, my daydreaming grew roots and began to grow into a new dedication: to capture our life on video. This is the second piece to our Tent Rocks trip - a short video from our hike. I filmed it on a whim, without any idea of how my camera functions when shooting video. I have a lot to learn but these two imperfect minutes make me smile none the less.

Exploring | Tent Rocks

When the New Mexico wind blows, it sweeps the sand from the desert, the dust from the roads, and the tumbleweeds from the fields. Our adventuring souls are carried on the gust as if they were part of the desert itself.  Spring weekends find us blown to nearby places, places that leave us feeling lost, looking around at a world that seems unfamiliar. Views so grand, so expansive, that they don't seem to be of the Earth we know. Sunday's winds carried us to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks for afternoon hiking, a few warm hours in the sun, and a view from what seemed to be the top of the world. With sneakers full of sand and a bag weighed down from the picnic packed inside, we trekked nearly three miles through canyons and rock formations, braving a steep 630ft climb to the top of the mesa.  We drove home with sun kissed shoulders, windburnt cheeks and a respect for all that can be created and destroyed in seven million years.

Snapshots | On The Road

I have been meaning to stop in and share a few snapshots from our moving journey but with guest posts to share, a house to unpack, and the start of a new job, I hadn't found the time until now. You don't mind pictures seeing the pictures a few days (or maybe a week and a half) late, do you?

Our seventeen hour drive took us through Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico - adding three new states to my list. Along the way I was disappointed in hitting Idaho snow, amazed by the red rocks of Utah, and uncomfortable with the hotel arrangements we encountered in middle-of-nowhere Colorado.

I don't know that I will ever tire of seeing America. While living in New Mexico the first time, a man who had traveled the world mentioned to Trevor that it made no sense to travel outside of America until you had seen most of the country's states and regions. We get so wrapped up in visiting foreign and exotic locals, that we take for granted the variety within our own country. Living in Pennsylvania, Montana and New Mexico has engrained that idea deep within my mind; each state is so different and yet we function as a single entity.

While I spent the weeks proceeding the move complaining about the impending drive, I have no complaints about the hours spent laughing at Buddy's road trip antics or listening to Trevor's attempts to sing along with the strange African tribal music his iPod insisted on playing.

These photos are just a quick look at our drive, a fun reminder of the journey that brought us here.

So tell me, how many states have you visited? Which region of the United States is your favorite? Which is on your list to visit? I've loved the Southwest since my first visit to Arizona but I can't wait to see the Pacific Coast or the states of New England.

Ten on Tuesday | Road Trip Must-Haves

I am in no way, no shape, no form, a road warrior. When we moved to Montana, I wanted nothing more than to bring my furniture but couldn't imagine the thought of driving for thirty-two hours. As we debated plans for relocating to New Mexico, I cringed every time Trevor mentioned that the drive would take seventeen hours. Especially when, at that point, I was actually going to be driving the. entire. time.

The longest that I have ever driven is four hours - a trip to the beach, a trip to Pittsburgh. I had ridden to Missouri and back (without air conditioning) but even that didn't seem like adequate preparation for driving seventeen hours. Imagine my relief when we decided that Trevor would leave two weeks early, in my car, and would fly home to drive back to New Mexico with me.

As we get ready to leave early Friday, I am finalizing the details of packing the house but also packing for the road. After plenty of trips short and long, mostly as a passenger, I have a list of items that I think are must-haves for any road trip. All the items mentioned in my Travel Essentials post still apply but this list goes above and beyond to cover specific car travel needs.

1 // While this one seems like common sense, in 2013, having a GPS is a necessity for any road trip. I often try to imagine what it would be like to travel cross country with only a map.

2 // This little gadget is something that Trevor introduced to me. This power inverter can be plugged into your cigarette lighter in order to plug in not only USB devices but regular electronics (ie. your laptop) as well. Then there is no need to worry about alternating having a charged cell phone, GPS, iPod and computer - they can all be plugged in at once. Genius.

3 // Good music is usually at the top of road trip lists. There is nothing I love better than making a specific playlist for a specific trip but , a seventeen hour trip is a little too long for that. Thankfully Trevor and I both have our own iPod Classic with over 15,000 songs - and that means not hearing the same thing twice.

4 // I hate trying to guess where and when to eat while traveling. You may pass a plaza of McDonalds and Subway, only to realize it's dinnertime and the next restaurant isn't for an hour. I love using the Urbanspoon App for my iPhone to find food options.

5 // Staying hydrated is important when traveling and while we often stop for drinks, I tend to find myself wanting more. I've made it a habit to not only buy a drink at stops but to also fill my water bottle for the next few hours.

6 // Being gluten free makes traveling much harder. I make sure to pack plenty of healthy snacks whether traveling my road or air. KIND makes these Mini Bars which are perfectly filling and easy to pack.

7 // You may feel well protected under a car roof but research has shown that deadly skin cancers are more likely to occur on the left side of the body - the side exposed to the sun while driving. Having a good sunscreen is important for long hours on the road. This sunscreen from Eco is made of all natural ingredients and was rated as "very good" by Consumer Reports.

8 // If you're lucky enough to be a passenger for a long car ride, movies (especially funny movies) are a necessity. No matter how many times I see 21 Jump Street, I laugh just as hard.

9 // In the past few weeks I have fallen in love with my Kindle. I used to pack multiple books and magazines, only to find that I hadn't packed quite enough. Having a Kindle with 3G solved that problem because books can be downloaded at any time without needing WiFi access.

10 // While you obviously need gasoline for any road trip, I threw this in to symbolize having a roadside assistance plan. I really can't think of  anything worse than ending up locked out of your car or with a flat tire especially when alone or in an unfamiliar area. While AAA is a classic, I have roadside assistance through my AT&T cellphone plan. At less than $3 per month, it's great for peace of mind when traveling!

So tell me, what are your road trip must-haves? What else should I add to my packing list?

Ten on Tuesday | New Mexico Plans

I guess this is our way of telling you, those of you who haven't already heard, that it's decided - we're moving to New Mexico. When I started this blog post at 5:15 this morning, I was thrilled, high on the excitement or a new job, a new school, a new place. Now, after another day of house searching? Well, I'm not writing with quite as much enthusiasm.

If you've followed the record of my travels, you may realize that I've never actually been to the Land of Enchantment. That being said, I feel as though I've wandered through the state vicariously from Trevor's stories, photos, and dreams of someday, one day visiting together.

Now, as we're making real, tentative plans to not only visit but to move to the state, I've got a list of places I'd like to see and things I'd like to do when we get there.

1 // The Taos Pueblo ranks high on my list of places to see because of Trevor's attachment to the area.  I find it astonishing that an adobe pueblo could be inhabited for more than 1,000 consecutive years. Now, 150 people live within the pueblo full-time without running water or electricity.

2 // Each fall, Santa Fe builds and burns the world's largest marionette, the Zozobra. Also known as "Old Man Gloom", the giant figure is filled with scraps of paper containing the troubles and worries of the cities inhabitants. The idea is that in burning Zozobra, all the worries and troubles of the year will also be burned away.

3 // The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was on my list for 2012 - when Trevor moved to Montana, I hatched a crazy plan for us to meet in Albuquerque. For obvious reasons, we never made it. The fiesta is the largest annual international event held in the U.S., and the most photographed event in the world. Hopefully in 2013 I'll be there to photograph it myself.

4 // If you're familiar with Natural Born Killers, you will know why seeing the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge makes my list. Unfortunately, I think it is a bit of a lofty goal (ha!) considering my fear of heights - after all, it is the 10th highest bridge in the country.

5 // Perhaps the most nonchalant item on my list is a visit to Tribe's Coffeehouse. While it may not be "the old dirty Tribes" of Trevor's stories, his handwriting is still on the walls. Besides, I've heard about Mama Tribes' chai recipe for years.

6 // The Santa Fe Indian Market is my second nod to Native American Culture. I'm always intrigued by art festivals and one filled with turquoise, culture, jewelry and pottery is obviously at the top of my list.

7 // When I first started actively searching out great photographers, I came across a series of portraits a photographer had taken of her perhaps five-year-old daughter. The portraits were to celebrate her birthday and while the little girl was dressed in a pink, short-sleeved princess gown, she walked barefooted in what looked like snow. Ever since seeing that series of photos, visiting White Sands National Monument has been on my bucket list.

8 // Though not Catholic, I am always impressed with cathedral architecture and stained glass. For that reason, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and seeing the spiral staircase at the Loretto Chapel make my list.

9 // The Pecos National Historical Park is another site that makes my list because of its importance to Trevor. While I don't know much about the history of the Pecos Pueblo itself, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see preserved wagon ruts from the Old Santa Fe Trail or the Glorieta Pass Battlefield.

10 // In our bathroom hang several small original paintings from New Mexico, one of which features the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. After visiting Sedona, I became enamored with volcanic rock formations and can't wait to visit these which were produced six or seven million years ago.



So tell me, have you ever been to New Mexico? Any of the places I've mentioned? What do I need to add to my list?

Baby Blues

You'll have to excuse the quiet over the last few days. This sweet girl played me out for the few days that I was in Arizona and it has taken me all week to recover. I'm missing those sweet cheeks and those happy feet, so I thought I would stop in to share a few snapshots from my weekend away as a cure for these baby blues. I've been anxiously waiting to meet Kendall for almost eight months but that wait was well worth it - she's the funniest girl. Her favorite things? People watching at the grocery store, my coat buttons and hearing her mama laugh. It's hard to believe that during my last trip to Arizona my Aunt Sarah was still in her first trimester, now, she's getting ready to plan Kendall's first birthday party. I would be lying if I said being closer to this little one wasn't on my list of reasons to choose NAU.

While I wouldn't have traded a weekend with my aunt and uncle and their beautiful baby girl for anything, I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend at home. Our plans include a whole lot of nothing - a novel to read, a special THON project to finish and laundry to do.

So tell me, what are your plans this weekend?