New Mexico perfect............

It seems like it took me moments to plan...........

this week long journey of ours, my dear friend and I....

 as I have travelled these roads many times before, with friends and alone......

We drove north from Albuquerque, our first stop......

Tesuque Village Market,  just north of Santa Fe, for Sunday lunch.......

fire grilled shrimp over a New Mexican mix of greens and beans!

and another at the Tesuque Flea Market

 for treasures she won't stop talking about for some time to come....

Then we ventured on to

Taos

and the Mable Dodge Luhan House..........now her favorite place to be
(and mine)

The next day was spent touring around Taos.......with a visit to

the Taos Pueblo

That night,

dinner at the Love Apple was divine.......

surpassed only by.....

our breakfasts at the Mabel Dodge......

And sad as were were to leave Taos......

The next day treated us to lunch

 in the sweet little village of Arroyo Seco

.....and on we drove to the Gorge Bridge

with breathtaking views of the Rio Grande from the desert plane high above............

where I found out more than one friend of mine is a little scared of heights....

and we made our way down the windy gravel road heading south to Pilar from there..........

and took the high road to Chimayo where we spent the night.........

The next morning we

made a quick stop at the amazing weaving studio...

Centinela Traditional Arts

to see their incredible collection of award winning tapestries and rugs....

then we moved on to visit

 the Santuario in Chimayo.......a place of pilgrimage

and drove to Santa Fe.......enjoying the breathtaking views from the High Road.....

stopping for photo ops along the way...

We arrived in Santa Fe late in the afternoon......in time to visit the New Mexico History Museum to see the story of the making of the St. John's Bible, Illuminating the Word........and a photo exhibit of Sacred Places in New Mexico.......along with a moment in the meditation room there..........we dashed into the Patina Gallery........and enjoyed a swift visit to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.   

Then we walked to

   for a glass of wine on the sunlit patio.......and arrived just in time to secure those seats for a delicious dinner.    

We decided to have even more 'big girl' fun and booked a room at the exquisite and monastic

Hotel St. Francis....

And in the morning, we had breakfast at the Burro Alley Cafe.......a lovely French Bakery.......took a stroll.......and then made our way to the Museum of International Folk Art, home of the amazing Alexander Girard Collection, which includes my favorite wall of talismen and tokens from around the world..........

We eventually tore ourselves loose from the hold that Santa Fe had on us

and drove to the little town, in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, where I live.......to spend a day visiting with my friends.....the amazing women there....who make their own way......

build their homes......share their wisdom.....and dreams......

and finally on the sixth day of our journey.......we made our way back to Albuquerque, where it all began......

to visit Old Town.........

and enjoy a ride up to Sandia Peak........

on a gondola.... for dinner....

to watch the sunset.....

and reflect...........

on all of this.......

and much much more