Hello again, Granny Stroh!

There was some uncertainty around Granny visiting Denver for July 4th.  She was going to come up, then she wasn’t.  And when she ended up getting a cortisone shot in her ankle and canceling her trip, C and I said to each other, “To the car!!!  Let’s drive to Green Valley.”

Here’s the thing.  Chris made the trip from Denver to Green Valley a million times as a kid.  Sometimes,  a few times a summer.  He’s very familiar with the way the road twists and what to find in Hatch, New Mexico (green chilis on everything – of course).  So, Chris doesn’t think this trip is too bad.  Drive 1,000 miles?  No biggie!

We left after work on Wednesday and arrived in Santa Fe five hours later.  Luckily, we have wonderful friends, Greg and Alice, who live there with their two little boys.  We had a great time hanging with them for an hour before midnight and another hour in the morning over eggs and bacon.  Wonderful, perfect hosts.  We’re excited to see them again when they come up to Colorado in August.

Our first stop on our way to Arizona after Santa Fe was Hatch.  We stopped at a fantastic place, The Valley Cafe, for green chilis.  Delish!

A few more stops on the way, including a pull off the highway to see The Thing – an Arizona roadside attraction that’s preceded in both directions with loads of billboards and signs.  ”The Thing – what is it?” “The Thing – Mystery of the Desert”  ”$1 to see The Thing.”

So of course, we had to check it out.  Chris had seen it before, but not in years.  The last time Chris saw The Thing it only cost 75 cents admission.

I won’t tell you what The Thing is, but I will tell you it’s worth a dollar.  Especially for the mystery and leg stretch.  You’ll have a lot to talk about with your road trip buddies after you see it.

We made it into Green Valley right after Granny finished playing bridge with her friends in the afternoon.

On Friday morning we went to Madera Canyon for a hike that ended up not being much of a hike at all.  It was blazing hot.  We spent more time observing a skink eat a small egg than actually walking the trail.

The rest of our days in Green Valley were relaxing and quiet.  We all told stories and read and ate and ran errands.  We went down to Tubac to look at pottery and Mexican imports for inspiration.  It was lovely to hang with Granny!

The trip home was long and hot and I was wishing very much Chris could drop me off in Albuquerque so I could get on a plane and fly up to Denver to avoid the last six hours in the car.

Some shots on our way out of the desert…