So In Love In the Southwest

Our hearts are full here in the Southwest, and it’s somewhat unexpected. Sure, we knew this place was special – especially since it is unlike anywhere else we’ve been in the US, but there certainly were some surprises awaiting us.

We were smitten.

After we left Scottsdale, we headed up to Sedona.  The drive seemed like any other drive we had taken in Arizona, but it was impressive how we knew we had arrived.  Before we knew it, we were surrounded by the bright rusty-red rocks like magic.  They just kind of came out of nowhere but embraced us with open arms.  We were smitten.

We took a little time to check out the town, but realized that because of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, many other people had the same idea.  While Sedona is widely known as a peaceful place to retreat, our experience was a little different. The streets and shops were crowded with black friday shoppers, so we hit up a few places to collect some gifts and moved on to find a place to camp.  Since sites were pretty limited, we figured we’d visit our dear old friend, BLM camping.  To our surprise, as we made our way down the windy red dirt road, many others had already claimed their territory making finding a suitable spot more like a guessing game.  But just before the sun set, we found our special place nestled in a little bit of greenery with a view we were over-the-moon about – literally!  The full moon gave us a beautiful mood lighting and a nightlight for the evening.

Armed with the knowledge that the holiday weekend would probably attract a lot of tourists, we headed to the Grand Canyon the next day.  We also learned that the weather would be chillier than the more southern parts of the state, so we decided to stay in lodging at the park.  Our camper is great, but we haven’t quite nailed how to keep it warm when lows reach the 30’s.

“It’s much bigger than you think it is.”

After ditching our camper at the Yavapai Lodge, we set out to see what we came to see – the South Rim of the canyon.  We were surrounded by lots of others who came to see it, patiently waiting for a chance to sneak into prime photography spots.  I also came with an agenda of my own.  Before we left, my grandmother gave me a sweatshirt she bought while visiting the Grand Canyon a number of years back with a simple request: to send her a photo of me wearing the same sweatshirt at the canyon.  She loved this sweatshirt so much and went to great lengths to find it – so I couldn’t disappoint!

As a first time visitor of the Grand Canyon, I was shocked.  I had heard about and seen so many photos of the canyon before.  But Sam’s cousin, Nick, hit the nail on the head when he said, “It’s much bigger than you think it is.”  Wow!

Sam’s alarm went off at 6:45am the next morning after I had a not-so-restful night of sleep.  I’ve gotten used to sleeping in our camper, so waking up in a new place had me a little confused.  He really wanted to see the sun rise over the Grand Canyon, but it was 22 degrees and windy that morning.  Our original plan was to hike a little bit of the Bright Angel Trail as the sun came up, but we decided we should go back to Mather Point to quickly see it and come back to the room to warm up.  I was reluctant to go, but once we got out there and saw it, I quickly realized it was worth all the fuss.

Our original trip would have routed us up through Utah and over to Colorado, but we just couldn’t bear the cold weather those elevations would continue to bring.  It’s one thing to have a home to retreat to, but it’s a completely other thing to practically live outdoors and with a Frenchie (she loves the heat!).  We also needed to figure out how our trip would line up so that we could land in Minneapolis for Christmas.  It just made sense for us to head east into New Mexico, instead of continuing north.

I could hardly believe what was happening.

Knowing we’d have a full day on the road, we got to it after a quick breakfast and shower.  But as we made our way to exit the park, Sam kept wanting to pull the car aside to a few scenic overlooks.  The first one, we didn’t get out of the car – we just rolled through.  The second we stopped at and noticed there wasn’t anyone around – a real treat after being surrounded by other visitors all weekend.  We got out to take one more photo of the morning sun.  As I turned around and put my phone in my pocket, Sam put his arms around me and told me how happy he was to be on this journey with me.  I smiled at him, and told him I was really happy too.  It wasn’t the first time he told me this on our trip, but I watched as he put his hand in his pocket and produced a ring.  I could hardly believe what was happening.  Sam asked me to marry him at that moment and my first reply was, “Are you serious?” and my second reply was, “For real?”  My third reply was. “Of course!”

We spent the long ride to New Mexico trading smiles and calling friends and family with the great news.  Sam and I were (and still are) blissfully high on cloud nine.  Our drive through the southwest ended at a hotel for the night in Albuquerque to celebrate with room service and champagne.

In the morning, we headed to Santa Fe.  We were drawn to the area because of their arts community an were eager to explore it.  But much to our dismay, traveling with a dog made it tricky to visit the many museums and institutions the city has to offer.  We knew bigger cities would present this challenge, but hoped that Santa Fe would be different.

Bring Fido has been a great source of dog-friendly activities and restaurants along the way.  It pointed us to the Nedra Matteucci Gallery and Sculpture Garden.  We were greeted so warmly by the staff and though they were so incredibly friendly!  It was a great first impression.  As we wandered the house, we were encouraged to explore as much as possible.  The rooms were a never-ending labyrinth of beauty and exquitiste artworks with a great story behind it! Kiwi loved exploring the place and checking out all the bronze sculputures much as we did!

After browsing art, we stopped at Kakawa Chocolate House for some drinking chocolate (artisinal hot choloate) and cookies.  But since we were in Santa Fe, it seemed only right to stop by Goldleaf Framemakers and the Aqua Regia Gallery.  Having worked with Marty and David for many years,  I wanted to see the place where so many of our beautiful frames had been made.  They gave us the grand tour of the place – something I highly recommend for anyone wanting to know why custom framing costs what it does.  You’ll be blown away by the detail and craftsmanship of their business.  As someone who spent 15 years in the industry, I was in awe of their operation and commitment to producing beautiful frames.  They are works of art in and of themselves!

We spent the rest of the day bouncing around the plaza shops and browsing beautiful jewelry, clothing, and fetishes.  It was hard not to buy everything our eyes came across.  The Hispanic and Native American culture is so rich here and, as a result, there are so many beautiful objects and goods to take in here.  We’re hardly done with the southwest, but we’ll move back to more rural areas of New Mexico tomorrow.