Visions of Santa Fe

Whoever thought of sticking a three day weekend onto the beginning of summer and again at the end of the summer was a genius.  Period. And what is it about having just that one extra day off that makes everyone want to take a mini vaca?  The traffic heading north on I-25 yesterday tells me I am not alone in this.  If you kick off summer in the desert with Memorial Day in Vegas, then you might as well end it in the desert as well. And while Vegas is the desert, it hardly seems like it with it's artificial landscaping and imported palm trees.  Santa Fe on the other hand--it's all southwestern desert.

Santa Fe's Farmer's market is touted as one of the top 10 Farmer's Market in the nation. That is enough to bring a girl tears of joy. 

Finding out it's only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays is enough to bring tears of sorrow. What's that about anyway? We settled for all of the artisan markets and that legendary Santa Fe Art. Santa Fe is definitely an art lover's mecca.  Take a drive up Canyon Road and you pass gallery, after gallery, after gallery. 

A long day in the hot New Mexico sun calls for a stop at a local shop for some frozen refreshments. 

Mock me for spoiling this puppy if you will, but just try and deny how cool this yogurt is. Puppies need acidophilus too and it's best served up blueberry and vanilla bean style.

And while it wasn't an art mecca for me necessarily, it was a pilgrimage of another sort.....

The hour spent within this store could quite possibly have been the happiest hour in a long time.  Sad, but true.  I have a TJs receipt total that surpasses all of the expeneses of the entire trip that testifies to the joy found within. And I was the good one.

 "Why, oh why can't we have a Trader Joes in Colorado?!?!?!" whined the crazy woman who buys her dog frozen yogurt.

Road trips are just plain exhausting.  It's good to be home.

Hope everyone had a phenomenal and safe Labor Day Weekend!