Return From The Road

I honestly thought I would blog from the road while we were on vacation for the past 12 days, but we were so busy and having so much fun and it just didn't happen. So, here I am, home from the journey with many stories and experiences to share...and I will, over time. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook you can see our vacation album here. Not my Facebook friend? Fret not, you can look at most of the album over on my instagram page--lmj14. A picture speaks a thousand words and I took A LOT of pictures! Here are three of my favorites...

While we were in Alamogordo, New Mexico we visited White Sands Desert. It is a magical experience. White sand dunes as far as the eye can see. The sand is warm but doesn't burn so I ran around barefoot. If you dig your feet in just a few inches, the sand is cold. It is white because it is actually gypsum. Usually gypsum just gets washed to the ocean, but because this desert is surrounded by a mountain range the gypsum is trapped. Gypsum is water soluble and when it solidifies is it selenite. I have a selenite lamp in my bedroom, so I thought that was pretty neat. Anyway, we did a little photo shoot in the desert and below is the first one we took. 

White Sands National Monument 

On our last night in Alamogordo we drove east to a town called Cloudcroft over 8,000 feet up a mountain. This small mountain town is so cute. You leave the desert and its adobe houses and sand and shrubs and escape to a place with log cabins and alpine vegetation. Mark said it reminded him of being in Switzerland. We went to The Lodge Resort At Cloudcroft and ate at the lodge restaurant called Rebecca's. The lodge is beautiful and our table looked out over the mountains. I remarked how the place had the same type of feeling as The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. Later that night I read the flyer I had grabbed at the front desk when we left and discovered that The Lodge is haunted by a woman named Rebecca who died there many moons ago. She was a chambermaid and went missing after her lover found her with another man. No wonder it had the same vibe as The Crescent Hotel. I've always been very attuned to the spirit realm and sensitive to "haunted" places. We watched the sunset over the mountains while we were there. It was gorgeous.

Cloudcroft, New Mexico

Below is a photo I took of our front view from the casita we rented for a few nights while in Taos. We had a storm that night and the sky and the light of the setting sun on the mountains was breathtaking. When the rain began to fall it kicked up the smell of the loamy soil and the sage shrubs. Nothing smells that way...it is what perfume alchemists strive to create.

Sangre de Cristo mountains in Taos, New Mexico.

I took a short video of the interior of the casita. We stayed at the historic Taos Inn and The Hilton Santa Fe, among other fancy places on our trip but the casita was my favorite. I love the neighborhood it is in and imagine that if we ever move to Taos, that is the area I would want to live. 

Before we left New Mexico I harvested some sage and mountain flowers. I am keeping a bundle on the dash in my car because it smells so yummy. 

Mountain wild flowers and sage.

We did so much while we were gone and I plan to share about it in future posts. For now I will pace myself or I could go on forever!


When we got home yesterday, the first thing I did was check my plants. Everything outdoors looks good and I heard we had plenty of rain while we were away. The flowers I planted look a lot better now than when we left! The houseplants are fine too. I cut the jasmine and philodendron way back before we left and it forced bloom on the jasmine! I also have a few spiky tropical plants that Alicia gave to me about three years ago. I don't know what they are called though. Anyway, I was watering all of the plants and when I got to the larger of the two tropicals I noticed mushrooms growing from the pot! MUSHROOMS! What the... They are attached to the conch shell I had placed in the pot. I found the shell in the tiered garden area that I attempted to clear of weeds earlier in the summer. When I broke out with poison sumac rash, I abandoned the project but I had already collected interesting rocks, geodes, quartz crystal and shells from deep in the soil. I don't know how the shell had mushroom spores in it though? I pulled that shell out of the soil. Maybe the spores have been dormant for  The Gods knows how long?

Mushrooms growing from shell.

Have a closer look.

Today I went to pick up Penny from Caroline's Pampered Pet Resort. Look how tired she is...

One tired hound.

She plopped down on the couch right away.

Running around with other pups for 12 days was exhausting!

Right now I'm enjoying a hot cup of lemon tea sweetened with cactus honey that we bought when we were at the Heart Of The Desert pistachio farm in Alamogordo. Prickly Pear Cactus Honey is potent and it only takes a small drop to sweeten beverages. 

Check out the sweet mugs we picked up at White Sands!

Let me end by telling you that I did indeed finish the Yoga Girl Challenge. I took one photo on the day we hit the road but after that I was too busy taking vacation photos to remember to do the challenge photos. I enjoyed following along though! Okay, this post has been a giant brain dump. I better sign off for now! 

~ Love & Light ~