A Driving Day

Our activity of the day consisted of ---- Driving!  

We were going to just head back to our hotel, but then decided that it would be nice to visit the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, to see the famous floating circular staircase, one of our planned activities before we shortened our trip.  It would add up to 1 hour to our driving time so it seemed to be worth it.  And we'd see different parts of New Mexico. While the grasslands were green due to recent rains, we were amazed at how desolate this part of the state was! We drove miles without seeing any buildings. and often, with visibility of several miles, we could not even see another car on our road!  

The driving part went well, but things got interesting when we arrived at Santa Fe.  The area near the chapel was swarming with cars and people.  A large street market was in progress near the chapel, and to say parking was at a premium would be putting it mildly.  We drove around for 20+minutes, then found a semi-legal parking spot.  It turned out to be quite a ways from the chapel, so after fighting crowds for a few blocks we gave up and headed out of town.  

So now we are settled into our Fairfield Inn and will be taking it easy this evening.   We have a fairly early flight tomorrow morning and get back to DTW around 6:30 pm. 

Jim Curry/Chris Nole Concert

When we got up this morning, I put on the local news in Albuquerque, and the weather people sure had me worried about making the drive today! They showed video of major flooding in Ruidoso (where we were headed) and were predicting another 1 1/2" of rain there today.  I called the Ruidoso Mountain Inn to explain the situation and asked if they had any flooding.  The guy assured me that we'd be OK getting here since there was no major flooding and the only time the major highways were closed was due to winter snow.  As it turned out, we drove through a few showers, but nothing significant, and they did not come close to having even 1" of rain.  Gotta love those scary weather people!

We had a relaxing morning before heading out on our drive to Ruidoso.  We left about 10:30 for a 3+ hour drive and were amazed by the desolate countryside, as you can see in the picture on the left.  Nothing but scrub pines, cactus and sagebrush.  One we got into the high elevations and closer to Ruidoso it got a lot prettier.  The main trouble we had was finding a place for lunch!  We passed one place about 11:30, then drove for over an hour past the White Sands Missile Range  (where the first atomic bomb was tested) with no sizable towns in sight before finally stopping at a roadside cafe well after 1pm.   

After supper we headed to the Spencer Theater for the John Denver tribute concert.  On the way, a car stopped ahead of us, so we did as well, and saw 2 bucks and doe by the side of the road! Mary got a photo as one buck crossed the road,  and then  took a picture of the second buck out of her window.

As we waited for the concert hall to open, we saw our friends Nancy and Mike Howard, and talked to them for a while. On our way to our seats, we spotted Chris Nole and the Currys in the pre-show waiting room.  They saw us, and Anne Curry came out to chat!  Once we got to our row 2 seats,  Chris Nole came out and talked with us for a while, also. 

The concert itself was excellent.  They played many of the John Denver classics as well as a few lesser known songs.  Their introductions to several of the songs included some info we had not herd before.  Unfortunately photos were not permitted during the show, so we only have these two.  

After the show we chatted with the performers and took some pictures.  The one with Chris, Mary and Jim also has Nancy and Mike on the left.  As is typical, we were the last ones out of the theater.  We were about to leave but Jim wanted to talk longer, so who are we to complain!

Overall it was a great evening and well worth the flights and long drive to get here.  

Tomorrow we head back to Albuquerque to be ready for our flights home on Monday. 

Back on the road again!

Mary and I are currently doing a 4 day trip to New Mexico, mainly to attend a Jim Curry/Chris Nole concert.  When this concert was scheduled for August of 2020, John Sommer (who wrote "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and toured with John) was going to join the band, but with the two year delay, John Sommer is no longer touring.  But we are very happy to get to hear the Curry's with Chris on piano.

It was originally going to be a 6 day trip which included two days in Santa Fe for sightseeing and a side trip Taos. but we had a quick change of plans this week since we needed to stay in Dearborn for an extra day due to a family issue. 

We had a fairly early morning today due to a 9:20 am flight, but we have been getting up early so that wasn't a big deal.  We enjoyed lunch in Midway airport at Harry Caray's before boarding our flight to Albuquerque.  Overall it was an uneventful trip.  

We drove around Albuquerque before heading to dinner, seeing the Old Town area and Route 66, but the shops looked mostly closed so we did not stop and did not shop.  Tonight we are settled into our hotel before heading to the Ruidoso / Alto area for the concert.