Pilgrimage, week 1 of 3….

For three weeks, in September and early October, I left my small safe place and headed out on the road again…

My Dearest and I began by driving north from Albuquerque to steep in ancient culture

and scramble around

Mesa Verde National Park…

just 4 hours north of Albuquerque

and on the way to 

Telluride, Colorado

where we spent the week as a very generous gift from my Son and his Wife, with Friends, 

and had an all round glorious, luxurious, fun time, shopping, eating, biking, 

and

hiking

 around the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park….

And listening to some VERY LOUD music….

Maybe...

maybe (I wonder) if I posted once a month that would be enough (or something).

And in July, this post would be an update of the past few months.

So… to recap

In MAY,

 I fitted out my garage studio, hemmed 6 ready made drapery panels in my bedroom
 (and learned it's probably just as easy to make them from scratch) 

 built a table from pipes,

then

 flew to Macon, Georgia

 to meet my Love and the newest member of our extended family,

Ruby 

and expand my historical reference

 by visiting Warm Springs

and then HERE

 for some of these.

After that I headed on to another week in Michigan to play

with three little butterflies, who are well into their 8th year. 

Then I flew home for a chilly Memorial Day & a girlfriend weekend at one of my all time favorite places in the world…

The Mabel Dodge Luhan House & Taos, New Mexico

In June,

I painted some walls &

turned these

into these

hung a few more light fixtures

 and then flew To meet my Guy in Cody, Wyoming before we stepped into the

Never Never Land of Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone is where I began my life as I know it today almost 6 years ago to the month.
This time, which was my fourth visit to this amazing place, had me touch and see almost every magnificent site in the park, before heading on to

Grand Teton National Park

Jackson, Wyoming

which was quite civilized & one of our favorite stops…

and Ketchum, Idaho

and Sun Valley, where we watched Olympic skaters practice their spins...

visited Ernest Hemmingway's Memorial and grave...

and dipped our toes in a mountain lake….

before we headed to...

 Salt Lake City, Temple Square,

and Moab, Utah, Arches & Canyon Lands National Parks,

the Four Corners Monument, 

and then Shiprock, New Mexico the sacred Navajo birthplace,

and the Salmon Ruins, 

 before heading home to Albuquerque.

July
has me regrouping before heading out on another three week cross country driving trip back to Michigan to visit with friends and family with a return trek through the center of Colorado before we land back in our own beds in August.

After all this busy-ness and travel, I'm home today, still unpacking my former life into this little house, asking myself one question.

Am I still the person I used to be?

Release, release, release.