All right... Santa Fe

I am still not in the mood to write this, but I probably never will be. So, I might as well do it now and get it over with.

There was once another MCARP in this town. He was a few months younger than me. I never met him, and became aware of his existence only because he died suddenly, and some acquaintances thought his obituary was actually about me. All this happened about six years ago.

Fast forward to several months ago. I'm going to say late 2009, but it may have been more recent than that. I was killing an evening on Facebook, when I got an email via FB from a woman in Santa Fe asking if I ever lived there.

In the course of our back-and-forth emails, I learned that she was looking for an old boyfriend who had my name, and that the boyfriend was probably the MCARP who had since passed on. I checked with some mutual acquaintances, and reported to her the following night that the MCARP she was looking for was probably dead.

But Joan and I stayed in touch, communicating via email and Facebook. We talked on the phone a couple of times. She invited me out to Santa Fe, and I accepted.

So, off Blogblah! and I went to New Mexico. We had never traveled together before. He made an excellent road companion, and the long drive going and returning was certainly eased by his company.

I had not been to Santa Fe in fifty years. BB had been more recently. I got lost shortly after arriving in town, but Joan found us and led us to Maria's, a popular restaurant.

After dinner, Bb! and I checked into Garrett's Desert Inn in downtown Santa Fe. The rooms there are utilitarian, but clean and comfortable. The staff is great and the prices are extremely good. And it's within walking distance of the plaza and the art gallery row.

Bb! and I split up for much of the weekend, as you've read in his account. Joan and I visited art galleries on Saturday, went up to look at the scenery in the ski basin, and met back up with Bb! for dinner at The Ore House.

On Sunday, Joan and I went up to Taos. I will simply say I was disappointed. It seemed like the Cherokee Trading Post on the interstate outside of my hometown, just a hundred times larger. Lots of T shirts and Minnetonka Moccasins. I doubt I'll ever go back. Bb! and I had dinner at The Pink Adobe that evening.

We returned to Oklahoma City the next day.

I've left a lot of small details out, but you get the idea. I had a good time.