whirlwind trip

My Bro

My brother Pete came for a visit!

Pete hasn't been here for about two years and 

I really miss him. All the time.

He's my only sibling (and younger).

I pretty much tortured him when we

were growing up.

But, times have changed and I hope

we are the best of friends now.

I asked him what he wanted to eat while he was here.

He said, "El Pinto, then some more El Pinto, and

finally, maybe let's try some El Pinto.!"

Well, we did eat at El Pinto and a lot of other good places too.

I also asked him what he wanted to do

while he was here. He listed off a few things, 

like go to Old Town and get some NM T-shirts,

meet up with some of his old buddies, etc.

But he said, what he really would like to do it

GO ON A DAY TRIP WITH ME.

The one who tortured him.

Being stuck in a car with me ALL day.

He even said he would drive!

Now, I really am not used to being a passenger

but I agreed and around 9am on a Wednesday morning,

we set off.

The pics are in no particular order:

 Headed out

Headed towards Chimayo

Pete had never been there.

 The trees were mostly still this beautiful grey.

I can see a bit of purple in there too.

 Look at these beautiful colors.

I can see some spring green cropping up in the trees.

 Beautiful gate at Chimayo

 Well, the trees are blossoming at Santuario de Chimayo!

 My favorite shop.

Great place to buy crosses and bolito beans.

 Driving through main street at Chimayo

 Headed towards Truchas

 The beautiful village of Truchas

 Even though this is not that green, 

it would make a beautiful painting.

 Old grey adobe house

 Another old grey adobe house

 Truchas Peaks

 The old adobe houses were speaking to me on this trip!

 Winter colors are still spectacular

 This would make a great 12x24" painting!

 More beautiful colors in the landscape

 Then there's the homeowner with a beautiful old car and A LOT of junk.

 Another 12x24" painting

I don't know what these trees are, they're golden.

 Could be Truchas, Las Trampas, or Ojo Sarco

I took my brother to one of my favorite 

places to eat in Penasco, The Sugar Nymph Bistro.

 We had to get the famous green chile cheeseburgers.

Pete got his with salad.

 I got mine with a mushroom rice soup.

Delicious!!

 On towards Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch.

Did I mention that this was a marathon trip?

 The old Gas Pump place near Pilar

 The beautiful river that runs along the road to Taos

 Blossoms in the background

I see so many colors in this landscape!

 Looking more like Ghost Ranch.

 Pete wanted to know why there are so many different colored layers.

I told him I didn't know.

He says don't tell him. 

We will take a tour next time and find out.

 Beautiful formations

 These are called Elephant something, I think.

If anyone knows the names of these formations,

please let me know.

 Ahhh, there's my Ghost Ranch.

 Still not very green.

 Abiquiu Lake

And we are done.

Do you see the horses in the background? 

Not a huge hunk of spring color, but very, very beautiful.

My brother is gone now and I miss him already.
Come back soon Pete!!

I'm going to TRY to start blogging in a more timely fashion.

I have a lot of cool things coming up,

so stay tuned....

Enjoy the nice windy day today!!

let me take you on a little trip....

I will admit - 

I get a mad craving to go on a day trip every month.

Sometimes it's not so bad and other days it's like if I don't

hop in the car and go for a drive SOMEWHERE to

take photos, I'm going to lose my mind.

So my friend Jane and I decided to do just that. 

We hopped in the car and headed out to 

Chimayo, Truchas, Penasco, and Dixon.

And if we have enough time, we would also visit

Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch.

Jane had never been to any of these places, 

so it was fun for me to see her "seeing"

places that I love to photograph and paint!

 Our first stop was Chimayo.

Jane went into the church but couldn't

go into the room with the spiritual dirt

because they were having Mass.

Chimayo was green and beautiful.

 Pretty cross in the church courtyard.

 Jane in front of my favorite little store.

I bought a silver cross, some Chimayo heirloom red chile,

and some sun-dried medium red chile.

The smell inside the little store was heavenly.

The owners were cooking bolito beans.

They said bolito beans come

 from an heirloom supplier in Colorado.

They are smaller than a pinto and cook up creamier.

So of course I came home with four little bags

 to make my own bolito beans. Yum!

This is Jane in front of the old gas pump.

I always like to take a pic of this pump on every trip.

 A cool old gate

Leaving Chimayo and heading to Truchas,

we passed through Cundiyo,

where the fields were green and the cows were well fed.

 The river - not sure which one.

You can barely see the Truchas peaks.

 The horses were not sure about us.

 More shades of green!

 A beautiful cross with Truchas Peaks in the background.

And big, puffy white clouds.

 I love this scene.

It's the village of Truchas on one side

and a drop down into pine-covered forests on the other.

I call this "COYOTE CROSSES."
I photograph it every time I come to Truchas.

 Did I mention that there were lilacs everywhere?

Did I also mention that we snipped one little flower and

it made the inside of my car smell like Heaven?

 An old, ramshackle adobe with lilacs

 Jane grabbing a pic of the back of 

an old Chevy pickup truck 

 Truchas Peaks in all their glory.

 An old cemetary

 Driving along, we came across this field

of purple flowers.

I wish we could have gotten close enough to see

what kind of flowers they were.

 As I zoomed in, I saw three dogs

bounding around in the wildflowers. 

Boundng! One pup was laying

on his back with his legs up in the air.

Too bad I didn't get any video.

 Even though the trees in Albuquerque have already gotten

 their green leaves, not so up in northern New Mexico.

the apple trees were in full blossom and so pretty.

 Fields of these yellow wildflowers took our breath away.

I'm not sure what these are either, so if anyone knows...

 Pretty scene in Penasco

 I took Jane to the Sugar Nymph Bistro in Penasco for lunch.

Actually, she bought my lunch, so I guess you could say

that she took me!

This is an old car piece (hood?) hanging on the wall.

 The Sugar Nymph Bistro has green chile cheeseburgers to die for.

I am not kidding.

They also make their own bread for the buns.

And they have cake.

Yes, BIG slices of chocolate cake, carrot cake,

lemon tart, and pumpkin bundt were the flavors of the day

when we were there.

Their $6 pieces of cake can feed four people.

They also have a Sunday brunch that

features homemade scones.

Yum.

After lunch, we headed toward Dixon.

No photo adventure in New Mexico would be complete 

with at least one descanso.

This will make a beautiful painting.

 An old car "sculture" out in the fields.

Views of the hills and mountains coming home.

The layers of blues in the mountains in the distance 

were incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Layers of New Mexico as we head home.

We never made it to Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch.
Another trip for another day.

I hope you enjoyed our little trip through northern New Mexico!

This week, I am busy painting, and mailing out paintings.

I am gearing up for another adventure and

this one involves plein air painting.

Stay tuned.....