Therapeutic Massage, The Plaza and The Sky

The first event of my day was a massage at Love Your Body Spa, recommended by my yoga teacher Maureen. Sheila, the Massage Therapist, is well-versed in a number of body-related modalities (energy work, craniosacral therapy, a variety of massage therapy techniques, yoga, etc.) so she was extremely helpful. Not only did she give me an amazing 90 minute massage, she gave me some exercises for my shoulder (I had rotator cuff surgery 2.5 years ago and it still bothers me - mainly because I stopped doing exercises! - and driving exacerbates it) and some recommendations for my sciatic pain.

This is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, which I guess is the main attraction of The Plaza.

 The Uber driver who took me from the spa to The Plaza recommended Cafe Pasquale's where they have communal seating. I sat next to a woman named Jill who is originally from Milford! She apparently hates people from the east coast (which, btw, is where I am from!) and spent a fair amount of energy trying to convince that east coast people are too much in their heads and use too much alpha energy (or was that beta energy). I think the irony was lost on her. Anyway, I had what she had, which was a quinoa burger with kale salad, which was delicious! According to Jill, the original art in the place is really common on Santa Fe and contributes to the good energy of the place. I admit that's this is not the best pic but I thought of taking it as I walked out the door.

Oh - and speaking of Uber drivers...the driver who picked me up from The Plaza and brought me to get the van at the Chevy dealer was this really cool guy named Jaime who is from Santa Fe but lives in NYC. He's here for a while to deal with his father's estate. He was so cool, in fact, that I tracked him down tonight and invited him to lunch tomorrow - he said yes! In fact, he texted me later, "I would very much like to have lunch with you." :-)  :-)

These are pics from a mineral and fossil store in The Plaza where I asked if I could take pics. I was told yes, but only because I asked. Most of the shops have signs saying, "No pictures please" which is why I asked. Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate these pictures. Apparently, there's no way to do it within Weebly, and even when I rotate them before I upload them they still show up like this!

This is the $230 blouse/jacket I did not purchase (it’s WAY more beautiful in person than is captured in this pic) and the $358 bracelet I didn’t buy. Damn that is beautiful!

 And these are a bunch of really cool cowboy boots I also didn’t buy. The brown and blue ones on the top shelf were over $3000! Again, sorry about the sideways pics. In years past, I would have worked for hours and hours and hours to fix them, and probably would have found a way to do a screen shot and rotate it using 3 different kinds of software while standing on my head just to make sure it was done "right." Now, "good enough and done" is more my style! You get the idea - lots of colorful boots!

And now, the moment many of you are waiting for...Yes! The van has been fixed! This is the van as it's ready to exit the van hospital. $930 later, new alternator and battery. And yes, Diane paid for it. She is also paying for my hotel stay last night and my Uber rides today.

And THIS is what I came here for ("here" being on this road trip) to see the beauty of God's creation. There will be many, many more sky pictures, I can assure you of that. I believe the sky is the most beautiful thing in the world. I look at it like it's God's canvas.

Here's the cool thing about the rainbow pic, I pulled over to take a picture of the mountains, got out of the car and said, "HOLY SHIT! A rainbow!!" (yes, out loud, to myself).

Tomorrow I head to Taos. From there I will take the Turquoise Road on my way to Arizona, probably on Sunday.

p.s. I sent the rainbow pic to Jaime. He sent one back! He took a rainbow pic today too! His was better!