It is hard to be a retired couple

We couldn't just lay around the beach for the rest of our lives so we came home to a beautiful, and very white, Winter Solstice.

In this photo you can just make out the house near the center of the ridge line.

These were taken on Thursday. On Friday we got another foot of snow.

By the way, the color of the sky is accurate. Some days it looks like there is simply no air there.

On Friday we hook up the trailer and head south until we get to I-10. Then we turn left and follow the Gulf Coast until we are back in Florida. We get a week with close friends in Ocala, a week with family back at the beach cottage and then a few days with Gerri on the East Coast of Florida before meandering back to Santa Fe.

Back to Reality as a Retired Couple

O.K., so we can't just lay around the beach every day!

We had a wonderful, and white, Winter Solstice and then it warmed up and then we thought winter must already be over and then -- wham!

You can just make out the house near the center of the ridge line. The blue in the sky is the actual color of the sky. No photoshop involved.

This is looking down on the house from our road.

Kathy and Jackson. He loves the snow here. It's all dry powder so when he runs through it like a snowplow the effect is amazing.

This is the turn around in our driveway.

But, retirement does have its costs. We leave on Friday with the trailer, heading south until we get to I-10. Then we turn left (go east for all you geography freaks) and just go until we get to Florida. Another difficult couple of weeks with friends and family in the warm glow of the Gulf of Mexico and then we come back to Santa Fe and get the motorcycle ready for the Spring season.

Three Boobs on Captiva Island

Wait a minute! What were you thinking when you saw the title?

Well, we are shocked!

We were speaking, of course, of Kathy, Craig and Kathy's college roommate, Gerri.

Kathy's family is part owner of a beach cottage on South Seas Plantation which is at the northern most end of Captiva, and island on the Gulf Coast just south of Fort Meyers. It is really quite amazing.

Photos of the three boobs to follow.

Kath and Gerri -- some friendships just last.

We arrived on the island during the

second week in December and it was incredibly empty. Apparently most people skip this week because they are getting ready for the Winter Solstice.

On our first day Beachside we ran into this guy and four other people.

It was like having the place to ourselves.

The first shot is Kathy alone on the beach.

The second beach shot is looking North with the Gulf on your left.

The third is looking South with the Gulf on your right.

The weather was perfect. Daytime highs in the mid-eighties. Cool at night. No need for AC.

Enough said, we had a wonderful time.

Saying good night with a sunset -- the cottage is known for just beautiful sunsets.

This week's road to adventure

Last week I had a chance to ride the bike for a couple of hours and ended up spending all of those hours riding on a County Road (yeah, this is a county road) through one very large ranch. I couldn't wait to get home and grab Kathy and her jeep and do it again.



This, by the way, is the good part of the road.





About an hour into the ride we came across this old adobe house. There were a few houses that we could see but they were mostly modern small ranch style. We assume they are the replacements for the adobe and for the stone house we saw a few minutes later. On a ranch that is so spread out they needed (and still need) people living near the action.


This is just so beautiful!








Every week we try to find someplace new that helps us understand a bit better what we have gotten ourselves into.



Whew! Two weeks ago it snowed (not huge but it was beautiful). Since then it's been in the mid-sixties and georgeous. I was planting trees today in a T shirt. But yesterday we drove up a road on the other side of a canyon that is an easy walk from our house. Still snow on the ground. Go figure! More later.

Sorry about the weather in the east

Sorry, no photos today. The scenery is there and waiting for us but we've been so busy that the camera seems to be stuck in the wrong place every time we think of taking a shot. But I (Craig) wanted to write about yesterday. And since there are no pictures then I guess I'll need a thousand words.
I was looking west and watching the line of the sunlight as it worked its way down the Jemez Mountains and then across the Rio Grande Basin moving toward us. By 7:30 it was so clear that I could see Mount Taylor, about 120 miles away and one of the four corners of the traditional Navajo land. Temp was 45 and Kathy and I decided to take Jackson on a couple of hour hike into the Barberia Canyon which is on the other side of our ridge line. We began on foot trails about two feet wide, made a small detour down a dry stream bed and dropped about 700 ft in elevation. Then we came to a path that had evidence of some kind of four wheeler. As we followed that the Pinyon (a type of pine that is sort of a tallish bush -- big ones are maybe 20 ft. high and they cover our side of the mountain) gave way to Ponderosa Pine (40 to 50 ft. high). This side of the mountain is facing north (less evaporation means more Ponderosa) and is protected from the wind. The four wheeler trail emerged onto a dirt road that was accessed from somewhere and we began to see a couple of houses. No idea how these people get in and out when it snows because the "road" would need a 4 wheel vehicle when it's dry. In the canyon it is incredibly quiet. Just walking we felt like we were making too much noise. Anyway, two hours later we climbed back up out of the canyon and Kathy made pancakes to die for and Jackson curled up in a chair and didn't stir for several hours. By the way, when we saw the 45 degrees we both put on polar fleece. Ten minutes into the hike we realized our mistake and were in shirtsleeves the rest of the way. When there is no breeze 45 degrees is downright hot in the sun. We are still learning about living at altitude.

So I got some work done and around 1:00 (it was about 60 at this point and the sky was so clear it was nearly purple) and I haven't had much time on the bike so I decided to check out this village near here called Galisteo. Down the mountain is always a bit of a thrill but I guess I'm getting used to it and off I went. It was beautiful. Back roads to an empty main highway. Trying desperately to keep my speed somewhat close to the speed limit and then down County Road 41 toward Galisteo. The road was following the old rail bed -- still in use by Amtrak -- on the right and a "river" (mostly dry at this point but filled with cotton wood trees that are turning yellows and oranges) on the left. I came over a little ridge and dropped down into the village which was nice enough but the road in front of me was spectacular. The entire valley opened up into this huge basin and I was dropping down one side like a marble rolling into a huge saucer.In front of me I could see miles of empty road. On both sides of me was ranch land (don't think lush green grass -- think brown scrub but beautiful none the less) and beyond that, on both sides, foothills/mountains that were a couple of miles away and felt like walls containing this place and isolating it from everywhere else.

The next thing I knew I was in Moriarty, about forty miles from Galisteo. Wow! On the way down I only saw about 10 cars and 9 of them were coming toward me. The only one going my way was a pickup that came up behind me. At this point I was going 70 so he was really hauling. I watched as it caught up to me and then was thinking of slowing to let him pass and Whew! he blew by me going about 90. That got my heart pumping a bit.

When I got to Moriarty I turned around and headed back. The wind was now on my back and the cruising speed edged up a bit. It wasn't like I had a choice because there were actually cars (well, two cars) going my direction now. About half way back to Galisteo I spotted a herd of prong horned antelope on the side of the road chewing on scrub and cactus. This basin would be a wonderful horse area because the view lines are enormous and just off the road looks like it must have 100 years ago.

Enough rambling. Just wanted to say, I'm having a wonderful time.

Craig

Mountain Living

This is Kathy's new Jeep, nicknamed Rocky. It has something to do with the name of the color. We took the back seat out so Jackson has his own little den area and he seems to love getting off road. We have been a bit more thoughtful about it -- trying not to get ourselves totally lost.

This is looking up toward the Ski Basin. You can just make out one of the trails (a swath of grey in the upper left hand corner). Yeah, like we're ever going down that thing!

Here are some Aspen in full turn. Most are still about a week away so we will be heading back up next week.

This is taken from a trail head called Aspen Vista. We heard is is a spectacular hike so it is now on our list of hikes in the are above SF.

Remember when we mentioned the purple daisies? These are on the rock wall above our driveway. We wish we had a better shot but the rock wall is fifteen feet up and the wind was blowing nearly 40 mph. We were lucky it came out this well.

Kitchen shots

This is the promised kitchen series. Apparently the last blog mentioning dirt floors and privy did little to disuade folks from questioning whether it is possible to have a kitchen in the "wild west". This is sarcasm and this is our kitchen.

The window you see looks out at a 50 mile view toward the Jemez Mountains. At night we see Los Alamos in the distance and Santa Fe at the base of our hill while we wash dishes. Not too shabby!
The center island and the pantry doors are made from old reclaimed wood and the doors were created, more or less, from old doors found in Central America.

Those bowls on the floor are for Jackson our dog. We do NOT make guests eat off the floor.

The area beyond the center island is our den and this is actually where we do most of our living.

These are the doors mentioned earlier. They make getting cereal in the morning kind of fun.

This is the last shot and is meant to show the door from the kitchen to the portal. Craig's grill is just beyond the door and is getting a ton of use. The opening to the left of the painting is going to the dining area and then to the entry hall.

Tomorrow we will try to dispell the myth that all of Santa Fe is brown desert. We took a short ride up to the Santa Fe Ski Basin and the Aspen were beginning to turn. All we can say is WOW! Check in tomorrow for some color in the mountains.