some more of that trip from october that I haven't blogged

Jan 5

It's been three months now and I'm just getting around to blogging another leg of our trip -- three months that have rocked me, changed me, and spurred all sorts of movement. This trip really shook me up in ways that I wasn't prepared for, and looking back on the photos all this time later makes me appreciate how much I've changed since then. (They also make me want to go back to the southwest United States like crazy, you know?)

So, we left off in Monument Valley and were heading for New Mexico. In New Mexico there's a tale that people often get stuck there for some crazy reason, and then end up staying. I was told that story time and time again as I gushed on and on about how much I loved it there and didn't want to leave. I was tempted to just stay......but didn't ;)

Our first stop was the tiny mining town of Madrid where we planned to stay in an Airbnb "eco cabin." One room, compostable toilet, set up on a mountain off the main road. We took a chance at staying 25 miles outside of Santa Fe instead of right in it (mostly because the Airbnb host seemed so great), and I'm so glad we did.

I fell in love with Madrid. With New Mexico. With all of it. I woke up early on our first morning there, and went out to the porch with my tea and journal. The sun was coming over the mountain and the world was waking up. The neighbor's donkey brayed in greeting, the birds sang, and I was in heaven. Our Airbnb host, Lucy, was a kindred spirit who invited us to join her in a full moon fire circle, gave us tips on being in our twenties, and even ended up KNOWING my best friend Christina. Tears came to my eyes as we both realized the enormity of this seeming coincidence, while also realizing that it wasn't really a coincidence at all :) It's a small, kind world out there and in that moment, I was so happy to be living in it fully and deeply.

We visited Santa Fe, bought some turquoise jewelery, went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, and traipsed around eating popcorn from a street vendor. As our time in Madrid came to a close, we ventured on to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument (an awe-inspiring and very difficult hike that we were not dressed appropriately for!) and pretty much sighed every two minutes in amazement.