Spring Break: the epic adventure

I had a pretty kick ass spring break. It was a much needed brief escape from the city, going back to the countryside and warm southwest.


My week began the evening after I got off the plane; this is me walking around my charming po-dunk little town.
I felt somewhat fashionable.

Then I played with this puzzle. It was one tough puzzle. It also pissed me off significantly.
"ARRRGH why won't you fit???!?"

This is me at my gramma's house on Sunday. It was warm and we played outside and ate tons of food and they made me try on old clothes like my mum's wedding dress (which was loose on me! Huzzah!!)

I really like sitting on her ginormous porch. I was reading the Dharma Bums.

I got to spend some much needed time with the best dog ever, Allie. Did I mention she's the smartest and sexiest dog ever?

Action shot! Wshaaa

Awwwww, baby Sean-dog! I love Sean so much. Look how cute he is.

Actually, before all this we took a trip to the military base to buy some cheap tax-free stuff. I always love looking at the cool planes.

And then began the long and terribly boring stretch of road known as the void of West Texas.

Seriously. Nothing. For hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Our first nightly rest stop was in Canyon, Texas. Canyon is a wonderful little town. We stayed at this adorable Bed & Breakfast called the Hudspeth House.

And then the next morning, HUNDREDS MORE MILES OF NOTHINGNESS!

This is when we started to hit New Mexico. You can tell because it's WAYY prettier than Texas, with the mountains in the horizon and hills. New Mexico is such a more beautiful state than Texas.

SANTA FE ROCKS!!!

It is the most AWESOME town EVAR.

This is me sitting outside one of the museums on museum hill. They have TONS of museums including the native american museum, the Georgia O'Keefe museum, and the folk art museum, which was the only one we had time to see.
Beautiful scenery yeah?
And there are ALWAYS moutains surrounding you in the distance. Gorgeous.

One of my favorite things in the folk art museum: Gay-tor! I think this is Hispanic folk art.

Folk art from India. This museum was so beautiful and immense; I wish I could put all the pictures of everything here but it would make the bandwitdh explode.

Our first reason to go to Santa Fe was to go to this Japanese spa my mum had visited 20 years ago; I had stumbled on the website back in January and became a little obsessed with going.

Outside the spa doors. You actually have to walk up about 100 outdoor steps just to get here, but it's through this piney forest on a mountainside so it's pretty sweet.

Once you get there, you only wear these white kimono things and walk around the whole place waiting for treatments and stuff. They have this lovely koi pond here. The fish were so cuuute.
See? Everything is so Japanese and zen-ful! Plus it's a spa. Right up my alley...


Hot springs! In Japan you do communal baths, but I got me'self a private one. It's a little like a lobster boiling in a soup, but in a good way. Aaahhhh
You feel so relaxed and tired and happy after this. So much fun.


Morning after the spa and our delighful Santa Fe endeavors, it was time to head back through Texas. (I ate pancakes at a Mexican restaurant. Story below)

Me: (after I ordered my food and drink) And, uh, one medium coffee.
Man behind counter: Okay. De leets are over dere.
Me: ...The uh... the leets?
Man: De leets. For your dreenk.
Me: Do I need a leet?
Mom: LID, sweetheard.
Me: Ohhhh, lids. Right. Thanks. Sorry.


Back to exciting documentation of my long week...

Then we drove and drove and drove, all the way past the New Mexico/ Texas border and back through Canyon, then finally into Childress where we had pizza with our good friend Walter!

(I think I only took pictures of his dog the whole time. This dog has a vast history, starting with being rescued from starvation by my best friend's older brother and taken in as the dog of this coffee shop I used to have a community with, then taken by my boyfriend-at-the-time who in turn had to move out to an apartment to keep her, but then I decided she would grow too big for an apartment so I gave her to my Dad's friend Walter from the army. Needless to say she now as a wonderfully happy life.)

WHAT A SWEET PUPPY FACE.


And then I played with a whole bunch of baby chicks and ducklings and goslings at the local feed store upon arriving home. I'm such a farmgirl...
This one's name was Fredericko.


Not much happened after that except for a bunch of family stuff, plus I went shoe shopping and made a mean batch of vegetarian Chinese dumplings. Oh, and vegan pancakes. Whee.
Here are the dumplings in their pre-cooked glory... in the end they are fried on the bottom and steamed everywhere else. Pretty damn tasty if I do say so m'self.


So that was basically my spring break. Now I'm back in the city, where once again I am cold. So cold, in fact, that last night I had a dream that it snowed in my room and I couldn't use my computer because it was frozen into an ice cube.