Finally, really, truly up to date!

New Mexico storm clouds

I watched the Fourth of July fireworks from the Sagebrush Inn. The clouds had finally gathered that day on the Taos side of the mountain. There had been some rain and some hail earlier, but by nightfall the sky was clear and the wind had died down.

The next morning, July 5th, I loaded up and headed for Santa Fe. I took a couple of wrong turns, but the nice thing about not having a rigid schedule is that wrong turns become adventurous detours. I ended up in the mountain forest at Sipapu. I stopped for a look at the map and took a walk along the river.

Another wrong turn and I ended up in Cordova, New Mexico. Its a tiny village just off the main road. I stopped at the Castillo Gallery and enjoyed the wood carvings, both traditional and contemporary, of Terry Ensenat Mulert and the metal sculpture and paintings of Paula Castillo. After a short map reading break in the truck I headed back out on the highway.

My final stop before Santa Fe was intentional. I went to Chimayo. It has changed since they last time I was there. Things are more built up and there are signs posted at shops like Ortega's Weaving Shop telling you to lock up your car and keep your valuables with you. The church looks the same, but the area around it has changed some. More paving, more people. I went inside and got some of the miraculous dirt from the shrine to take back to friends in Houston.

I arrived in Santa Fe in no time at all. I checked into the Ghost Ranch Santa Fe and settled in for the night.

The next morning I walked over to locate the Georgia O'Keeffe Research Center. It's only about a three block walk from where I am staying. It is not open to the general public. Access is available by appointment only.

Since I had yet to make an appointment with the research center, I walked on over to the O'Keeffe Museum. I waited outside for the museum to open. The mornings in Santa Fe are cool, particularly if you have a place to stand out of the sun. It was a pleasant enough wait. I wasn't the only person waiting to get in. By the time the doors opened there were close to twenty people milling about.

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe

The current show at the O'Keeffe Museum is "Georgia O'Keeffe: Circling Around Abstraction" and "Georgia O'Keeffe, Illuminated: Photographs by Tony Vaccaro". It is up through September 9th.

After a few moments consideration I went ahead and bought a membership to the museum. The membership gave me a 20% discount in the bookstore for that day only, admission to the museum and the audio tour, a poster of O'Keeffe riding on the back of a motorcycle, and a 10% discount to the O'Keeffe Cafe next door. By the time I finished that day the membership had paid for itself.

The O'Keeffe Cafe, next door to the museum

I spent literally hours in the museum that day. The paintings are indescribable. The photographs by Vaccaro show O'Keeffe relatively relaxed and unposed.

I had a wonderful lunch at the O'Keeffe Cafe and called the Research Center. I made an appointment to go to there on Tuesday from 10:00 until 12:00. We'll see what happens from there.

I headed back over to the Ghost Ranch facility to rest up for the next day.

Yesterday, in the morning, I got up and drove around Santa Fe. I also went looking for Sol y Sombra, O'Keeffe's last residence, the house that Juan Hamilton had bought on the South side of Santa Fe. I had the address, but was unable to locate it. The homes in that area are set far back from the road. I couldn't see them. They are very private. From my prior research I knew that the house was no longer owned by either Juan Hamilton or the Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation. There was no chance that I would be able to go to it, but I had hoped to catch a glimpse of it.

I drove past St. Vincent's Hospital where O'Keeffe died. No need to stop there.

I drove back to Ghost Ranch Santa Fe, parked the Jeep, and headed over to the Plaza for an O'K day. The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is celebrating its tenth year anniversary and I was fortunate to be here for the celebration.

Seen on an "O'K Day" in the Santa Fe Plaza

The Plaza was full of people. There was live music, free cookies, cake, and bottled water, art activities for the kids and free admission to the museum. I hung around taking pictures and watching people for parts of the day and occasionally wandered off to to look at the center of old Santa Fe.

I went back and viewed the show at the O'Keeffe Museum again. The place was packed.

I took another drive around Santa Fe in the early evening.

I had breakfast this morning with Nancy Walkup and Myra, the two women who are facilitating the workshop that I'm attending this next week.

Today is another day. Who knows what I may do?