It’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, at Easter. How can I refuse an invitation to walk the eight miles from the tiny village of Nambé to el Sanctuario de Chimayó? It’s the largest annual pilgrimage in America! Why would I miss that when I’m house sitting in Santa Fe at exactly the right time of year? There are many starting points for this famous religious trek to Chimayó. Some devotees reputedly start at the Mexico border; others set off from Albuquerque about 91 miles away; some begi

Ever wonder why New Mexico is called Land of Enchantment? It’s because if you take the back roads in the state, you can be transported back several centuries and into almost-foreign lands: it’s time-traveling magic at its easiest. So if you want a day-adventure from Santa Fe, take the High Road to Taos. It’s slower, of course, than the usual US285/84 and NM68 highways that pass through Española, wind through the gorgeous Rio Grande valley, and get you to Taos in about an hour

“So,” I said to a Crestone local, opening the French doors and stepping out to the porch where she stood, hose in hand, watering the flowers around the house where I’m house-sitting, “how long have you been here?” “I’ve been here 27 years,” she said. We exchanged names. She was polite, but she didn’t take my question as the bait I intended it to be, that is, an invitation into friendly conversation. I sensed that she had no interest in me, or probably more accurately, that sh

Last night, I got a sad phone call from Kris. My beloved car, Alice, was about to be towed to a salvage yard in the Pasadena CA area, he said. I stayed on the phone a long time with him, talking about Alice. He was as bereaved as I. He too loved her deeply, though he’s only owned her for four years. We discussed Alice’s virtues: her lean, polished body; her never-repaired transmission; her amazing 445,000 miles of service; her willingness to go above and beyond; her responsiv

Date: Late February 2016 Lv Boulder, CO—through Denver to I-70E until I-135S for Wichita, KS (visit friends); Hillsboro and Hesston, Ks (visit family). I forgot to record my mileage. Lv Hillsboro, Ks at 104,586 mi—via country roads, I-135N, and I-70W. Ar Boulder at 105,125 mi. Round trip: approximately 1078 mi. Our NATIONAL INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM is fabulous! Really. President Dwight Eisenhower promoted building it in 1956 and it took 35 years to complete. Now it has 47,8

I kissed my mother’s forehead, told her I loved her, and said goodbye at her nursing home in Hesston, Kansas, on Wednesday, Feb 24. Emphatically she ordered, “Come back and visit me!” Mom rarely speaks a coherent sentence any more. I was impressed that she got out those five words. She doesn’t call me by name, but I think she knows who I am. I’m quite certain she enjoyed my two-day visit. She’s 97 now. Then I drove to Newton, KS—down Old Highway 81, recently renamed Hesston R

How about declaring 2016 the Year of Serendipity? I believe in serendipity. I experience lots of it in my nomadic life (though I often use ‘miracle’ instead); I want even more “unexpected discoveries”; and I’ve been curious about how serendipity happens. So, what serendipity that I picked up a copy of the first Sunday New York Times of 2016! It has an article, ”Cultivating the Art of Serendipity” by Pagan Kennedy. She was a pioneer of the “zine movement” of the 1990s which po

Civility on Highways & Byways Please & Thank You always help. Aid for the confused wayfarer Hmm, couldn’t this be applied in several contexts? Why limit favorite messages to tee-shirts and magnets? You Know What I Mean Don’t wake up the baby. An invasive, tenacious, aggressive weed that’s taking over Britain? Or an edible, tasting like rhubarb or asparagus, with anti-aging, anti-oxident properties and used in nutraceuticals? Sculpture Vashon Gothic Cool Gary with a chain saw.

WHITE LIGHTNING’S ODOMETER MILEAGE: Lv Eldorado/Santa Fe, NM: 89,464 to Crestone CO (visit friend)… Denver (visit family)… Niwot/Boulder, CO (visit friends). Listened to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude Lv Niwot, CO: 89,969 to Boise, ID: 90,773. That’s 804 miles in a day—without too much stress. Listened to Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl Lv Boise, ID: 90,773 to Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR: 91,219 Lv Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR. Stopped to see Mount

There’s a charming, newish housing development in the southern Santa Fe, NM, a few blocks from Cerillos Road. It’s called Nava Adé, which means Belonging to the Land. It has earth-toned Spanish Pueblo-style adobe houses with softly molded corners and vegas, pine logs, jutting out from the walls to provide support for the flat roofs. Large and small homes intermingle throughout the development; they’re professionally landscaped with river stone, native plants, wood chips ,and

In 2014, I did a lot of driving in White Lightning, my Prius that gets great gas mileage—hovering around 48 mpg. Often I record the amount and price of gas in my Quicken accounting system, just for fun. Here are some prices I’ve paid for unleaded in different places over the year: $3.48* 1/9/14* California $3.10* 2/17/14* New Mexico $3.23* 3/5/14* New Mexico $3.85* 4/27/14* Colorado $4.06* 4/29/14* Oregon $3.90* 5/30/14* Oregon $3.93* 6/17/14* Oregon $3.79* 7/28/14* Californi

An Occasional Post about Art that Thrills Me Date? Dec 10, 2014 Location? San Francisco, CA—Alcatraz Island At the Alcatraz Cruise ticket office: I like that logo! Synchronicity(aka Miracle) of the Day? Meeting Anna, an art-historian docent, at the beginning of the exhibit; she did an excellent job of putting Ai Weiwei’s work in an historical and political context for us after we approached her and asked questions. That’s what you’ve gotta do in a museum, I’m learning—talk to

Date: Monday, Dec 8, 2014 Today’s Drive: Elko NV to San Francisco Mileage: 84, 442 to 84,957 = 515 mi. Still all on I-80, except in the city. Synchronicity of the Day (aka Miracle): None noted, though that doesn’t mean they didn’t occur. Favorite Sign: “Report Shooting from Highway.” Huh? Curiosities: *A beautiful modern building to the north side of I-80, California Trail Center, not far from Elko. I wonder if anyone still walks that trail. Could be great fun. *Slogan of the

Date: Sunday, Dec 7, 2014 Today’s Drive: Boulder Co to Elko NV, all on I-80. Mileage: 83,680 to 84,442 = 762 mi. Enough for one day, for sure. Synchronicity of the Day (aka Miracle): At a McDonald’s near a gas station where I filled up, there’s free coffee; it’s last day of that offer! Favorite Sign: On the back of a dirty truck, “Have you paid it forward today?” That got me thinking. How could I pay it forward during a 12-hour driving day, sitting alone in my little capsule?