Learning, Letting Go, and Opening Up (S)

Well, I am sitting in Iconic Coffee Roasters in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There is a band playing some honky tonk country music, and the smells of micro-roasting all around me. Santa Fe was actually an accident, but many things happened before New Mexico. We began by driving out to Crestone. On the way we stopped for a hike outside of Salida. These mountain towns are growing on me more and more... but they all still have a strange feeling about them. It's as if there is a secret being kept. After our hike we walked through the town, stopped for ice cream and sat at the river to dip our feet. Dip our feet. Yes, that is what we did in Salida. Then we dove into Crestone.

After passing through mountain passes for hours there was a sudden opening into a massive valley. A bowl that stretched for miles with mountains on either side. Our side of the valley was the eastern side, and as we approached the town of Crestone we also drew nearer to Sand Dunes National Park. We set up camp at Crestone, and fell asleep before two of our friends came to join us. The next day began with yoga, then a hike up the mountain. The sun setting that night over the valley was a sight that is in league with the greatest to be seen.

After a good hike, and many laughs with friends we packed up camp the next day. We made our way down to Crestone. Beware of the spiral. Crestone was a cool town, but again something was a little off. Our waitress for coffee was very sweet and let us refill our water jugs, and we found the most amazing little bookshop, but beware of the spiral. On about half of the buildings in Crestone there was a small sign with a yellow spiral. We asked a lady in an art store about them, and she became rather defensive, pointing out that she did not have any spirals on her building before suggesting, "maybe pay it forward?" She did not have any spiral sign on her building, but she did have the spiral incorporated in her sign.

Next was the sand dunes. As diverse a setting as I have ever seen: from dessert to mountain, with a stream running through that created a muddy marsh. Sand blew everywhere as we scaled the dunes, and when you crested one hill there was a score of hills taller. At one point a giant cloud of sand blew through the dunes, and whipped at our skin and clothes. Our stay was short, and we drove into Alamosa for dinner in a Walmart parking lot and the most awe inspiring sunset I think I have ever seen. As the sun finished setting we set out for New Mexico.

It was dark, and we were tired so we stopped off at the first national forest we could find to sleep in the car. The next day we woke to find ourselves in a flat land with tall trees all around. They say that New Mexico is the land of enchantment, and this land certainly was. However, it was not our destination. So we took to the road after lunch.

Rabbit was driving, and Geogaddi was blaring, but we did not realize we had driven about an hour past our planned stop. So we decided to continue on the road and visit Santa Fe. We toured the city a bit before heading to Santa Fe National Forest to set up camp before dark. Yesterday was our first day spent just the two of us, camping all day with no destination and no distractions... save for the storm all night, and the rain that lasted until about 5 pm. Distraction or no, we found plenty of ways to enjoy ourselves.

The time has been spent learning, letting go, and opening up. Up next is Ghost Ranch, then we head back to Colorado for Sonic Bloom.

Namaste,

Squirrel