Fun Friday: Abiquiu and More

For our third "Fun Friday" date, we again headed north from Santa Fe and made a brief stop at the Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market, which consists mostly of overpriced stuff for tourists, but we were lucky enough to find a woman selling good used clothes for a reasonable price. Score!

Leaving the market under ominous clouds and distant thunder, we again drove through good old Espanola (the aforementioned Black Tar Heroin capital of the country) and made our way as quickly as we could to Abiquiu Lake, another of those U.S. Army Corps of Engineers damming operations that provides opportunities for fishing, boating and swimming. The water was lovely, and as the storm clouds and winds moved through the area in the mid-afternoon, the waves made swimming almost ocean-like, and jumping off the rocks into the water was one of the highlights of Keith's day.

Before taking our leave of the lake, we met a vivacious and courageous young woman from New Zealand who has made her way across the country in a rented car from her starting point in Boston, and we had one of those wonderful conversations that only fellow travelers can have.

We returned to Santa Fe to attend an art opening at a downtown chocolate cafe, and returned to the Turner Carroll Gallery to catch the new Rex Ray show before it closes next week. Ray works with hand-colored cut paper glued to canvas with painstaking attention to detail.

Driving across town, we paid a long overdue visit to the Meow Wolf Collective to see their latest art installation of fanciful rooms and spaces, a show that closes tomorrow. With thunder and lightning increasing outside, Tina was very happy to be ensconced with us in these small, cozy indoor spaces that resembled anything from Hobbit holes to fantastical yurts and mirrored crawl-spaces.

Next stop was the Second Street Brewery for local beer, steamed mussels and salmon tostadas accompanied by free live music. And we capped off the night with a game of pool at a pizza place across the street from the brewery (Mary won, of course!).

Fun Friday is a new tradition that has already brought us great joy, surprises and serendipity, and we have no doubt will continue to do so. Exploring the area in this way helps us to maintain our "travelers' mind", seeking out adventure and novelty even as we create a more solid life here, for however long that may turn out to be.

Tomorrow, we drive to Albuquerque to see Over the Rhine, a band from Ohio who we have followed for many years, and whose performances at the fabled Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Massachusetts never ceased to entrance us. It will be great to see OtR again, and we look forward to a wonderful night of transcendent music.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and expressing our deepest gratitude for the abundance of love, community, adventure and blessings in our lives.