More about Santa Fe

Our time in Santa Fe is almost over. This sculpture that we saw outside of one of her many galleries truly expresses the nature of the city:  Joyous!

This bronze, which we saw at another gallery,  adds: Fun!

And of course we found the taste of New Mexico at the city Farmer's Market: chilis.

One of the many nice locals we met this week suggested that we drive up into the mountains to see the Aspen color.  He said not to go during the weekend because it would be crowded. So we waited until Monday.

The four images I am posting fall so short of the experience of driving through an area of Aspen peak color! 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

The trees were glowing in the sunshine against the brilliant blue sky.

The magnificent pines lent themselves as contrast to the brilliant yellow of the Aspen.

Even the grasses along the path echoed the color above.

But no image can really convey the full experience. The breeze played with the quaking aspen leaves in a magical way, and the faint scent of pine teased the senses, while a hint of coolness in the wind promised snow to come.  

It was a glorious afternoon, and we are so glad we got to experience this place high above Santa Fe.

When we got back to the Alfa, I finished making a special grilled ratatouille using some of the delicious veggies we bought at the Farmers Market. The key is to char the various ingredients, eggplant, peppers, onions, garlic, and squash, individually on the grill, and then combine them with seasonings before simmering them in a big pot on the stove top for a little while to combine the flavors. Perfection!

I served the ratatouille with a freshly baked baguette we picked up at a charming French bakery on the way home, along with these tasty Raspberry Tarts for dessert.

RV life is very good!

Food, Fun, Friendship

 

No cold has developed. I'm very happy about that. I have never been one to suffer allergies, but I understand that there are things in the desert air that cause irritation.

I started the day with another nice walk around the park while we were waiting for the windshield crew to arrive. I was please to see they were there when I returned, and finished the installation without any problems in a timely way.

The wind had died down and the day quickly warmed up.

At about ten we drove over the Casa Grande National Monument. It was interesting, but it didn't take much time to view and appreciate it.

A very nice saguaro cactus outside the visitor's center

There are many cactus flowers blooming. 

We missed the noon-time ice cream social, but got back to the resort in time to attend a question and answer session with the Alfateers techs. It was interesting in that no one seemed to have any really big problems. One of the more unusual quetions was from a woman who had experienced some electrical outages and now her microwave readout was in Spanish and she couldn't get it to reset in English.

We are getting to feel like we belong to our chapter (club). The Alfa Owners group is divided into six chapters. Ours is one of the smallest. The chapters have informal happy hours every afternoon, and sit together at the dinners. We had another all-rally sit down dinner tonight, and tomorrow morning we are going out to Cracker Barral with our chapter for breakfast, and to a dinner show in the evening.

Food, fun, friendship.  Learning more about our coaches and connecting with vendors. A rally is what you make of it. So far we have learned some new things, and enjoyed the company of other Alfa owners.

I was good and bad today

Craig loves baseball.

Me?  Not so much, but every few years he gets me to go to a game with him.  Today was the day.

In the past, I have always rewarded myself for going to a game with garlic fries, bratwurst, and sometimes cheese nachos.  I was determined to not eat any of those things, and packed a baggie of carrot sticks and  sliced red pepper.  I put them, and a bottle of water into my purse with a cool pack.

Good intentions, but I was lead astray.  Not by any of the favorites mentioned above, but by my own generous intentions (sure!) and a hot day.

Craig asked me to stand in line and get him a BBQ pork sandwich while he went to get a beer.  The BBQ was being sold at the same stand as ice cream, and one of the ice cream options was a double dip in a cute little plastic baseball hat. (I'm really trying to put an altruistic spin on this) Craig loves ice cream and eats it almost every night at home. 

I thought the cute cup would be fun to use as he watched and listened to all the play-off games in the upcoming weeks.  But the only way I could get this special prize for him was to buy some ice cream.  

 I choose his favorite flavor, butter pecan.

After getting his sandwich and the ice cream, I went down to our seats to wait for him.  It was really hot, and his my ice cream started to melt.  What to do?

I had to eat it.  
Bad me. 

It was very good. 

I'm not ashamed, because I had really bought if for myself.  Carrots only go so far.  Only a saint would be willing to buy him a BBQ and pass on the Ice Cream.
  
I'm not a saint.

In addition to his BBQ, Craig also had a bratwurst.  
He offered me the first bite.  I said no.
He offered me the middle bite.  I said no.
I ate the last bite. 
I am not a saint.
It was very good.

I also ate my bag of veggies.
They were better than the bratwurst. 
They tasted fresh and cool. 

I shared them with Craig.
Good me.

What have you indulged in lately?