Ferry Fun to Vashon Island

We spent Sunday and Monday in Kitsap County, about an hour east of Port Angeles, which included a night camping at Man- chester State Park. The next day we decided on a whim to take a ferry as walk-ons to Vashon Island for lunch.

Ferries are always fun and we never get tired of riding them around Puget Sound. We usually go to Seattle, but they travel all over. They are part of the state highway system and everyone depends on them.

The only thing more fun than a ferry ride in Washington is a ferry ride on a warm, sunny summer day.

Oh yes, and then we spent a few hours in the cute little Norwegian town of Poulsbo on the way home.

From Santa Fe to Port Angeles

I spent Sunday night in Santa Fe, strictly to see the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Loretto Chapel with the Miracle Staircase. I got to the chapel at 9 a.m., and the museum at 10 a.m., catching the shuttle to the Albuquerque airport at 11:40. It was a bit rushed, but I managed to take it all in anyway, and loved it! My first time in Santa Fe, and I must admit....the famous Plaza area was a tourist-driven ripoff site while the surrounding streets, not far away, were quite dumpy.

But the museum was great -- a twin show of a Georgia-selection, alongside some Ansel Adams prints. The two were friends and colleagues from 1929 onward, and had a lot in common with their respective art.

The Loretto Chapel boasts the Miracle Staircase. When the nuns needed a staircase constructed in 1878, near the end of the completion of the chapel itself, they ran out of money. So they prayed for a staircase and lo and behold, an unknown carpenter came along and built the staircase for free. The literature says, "The stairway confounds architects, engineers and master craftsmen. It makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20 feet tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. The risers of the 33 steps are all of the same height. Made of a previously unknown wood species, it was constructed with only square wooden pegs and without glue or nails."

Hey, I believe in miracles!

Then it was home to Port Angeles Monday afternoon -- Home Sweet Home, my city as seen from the commuter flight from Seattle.

New Mexico was great, but I was happy to be back.

Gorman-O'Gorman

What are the chances of not only seeing someone with my name here, but he's in my class this weekend, too -- Gale Gorman from Houston, Texas. I just had to have a picture taken of us with our name tags. I don't think we're really related, though, as all the Gormans in my family had lots of girls, few boys, (of which even fewer survived) or no kids at all. So I don't really have cousins out there to speak of, at least none with the Gorman name. We got a kick out of it, though, and I call him "Cousin."

More stormy weather here in Taos. It's different every day, every hour, and every minute. And the best part is the smell of wet sagebrush afterwards.

On my walk, I found this bunny who stood there long enough for me to take a pretty closeup photo. He was a highlight, and who can resist a bunny?

Last day of the conference tomorrow. It's been great and I've learned a lot. Now to put it all to use!

Real Indian stuff

That was my favorite sign at Taos Pueblo today. I finally got to see the place. The Pueblo is the oldest continually inhabited village - 1,000 years to be exact. The Pueblo Indians live there, much as they have for those 1,000 years, and not much has changed in all this time. About 150 people live there full time; there is no electricity, running water, or plumbing. Every floor in every house and shop is bare dirt. And it's a World Heritage Site.

They mostly make their living selling crafts. There were about 20 shops to look in. I bought a couple of sets of necklaces and earring, but couldn't find my ideal bear fetish necklace. I went into one place that had a little old Indian man, and I just couldn't walk out without buying something. So I got a small handmade drum that he had made....a Chirstmas tree ornament, really, but I told him I would have it displayed to admire year-round. He was cute.

And naturally I found the only cat in the place. Or should I say, he found me?

Two hours to shop

Today was the only day I could get to The Taos Plaza where all the shops are located. And I only had a couple of hours before I had to be at the workshop in the afternoon. I took the Chile Line city shuttle--40 minutes up there, 10 to get back. It's a loop.

I was on a mission to find a Zuni bear fetish necklace for myself. Don't ask me why, but I suddenly wanted one. The expensive stores wanted WAY more money than I was willing to part with. But I found two cute ones in my price range. So now this is what I wear: Keith's Valentine Irish heart and two Zuni bears---all at the same time. It would look funny in Port Angeles, but it looks perfectly normal here. (This photo was taken on a big tile).

As for an authentic Zuni bear fetish necklace, I'll try to find one at the Pueblo tomorrow. I'd rather have one from the Indians there than from a fancy upscale shop anyway.

The Rio Grande Gorge

Three of us--a U of NM driver and another attendee and I set off for the Rio Grande Gorge on the way to the Harwood Museum this morning. Quite a detour, but well worth the 10 or so extra miles out to see it. Shades of the Grand Canyon on a tiny scale, but a wonderful break from all the long, wide expanse of sagebrush desert in all directions around Taos. I didn't know this existed, so it was an unexpected surprise to my morning.

These excursions prove to be a refreshing break from the workshops, fun as they may be. The conference organizers schedule the classes for half days for this very purpose--to see the sights. And I am . . .

Quite the welcome sign

I walked outside tonight for the short walk to Guadalajara Grill, my favorito taqueria, and this is what greeted me. I caught this quarter- rainbow at just the right spot over the "Welcome to Taos" sign. It pays to take the camera everywhere, no matter where you are or what you are doing.

Rainbows don't wait for you to go back to the room to get it.

This is where Georgia lived

A closeup look at Georgia O'Keeffe's third- floor hideaway, room 301. It's the only room that occupies a third-floor perch. The cost is only about $40 more per night than what I'm paying, and the next time I ever stay here, it will be THAT room! It has quite the history and mystique about it.

I'm going to Santa Fe on Sunday to spend the night there, to see her museum. Ansel Adams is joining her for a double retrospective.

I can hardly wait . . .

The Sagebrush Inn

Every- thing is made of adobe here, or at least looks a lot like adobe. The Sagebrush Inn is really quite beautiful. . . and you gotta love all the aromatic sagebrush. Georgia O'Keeffe spent something like 6 months at this very place back in the 1930s, and painted here. It's a VERY peaceful, quiet place, and I highly recommend it for anyone thinking of visiting Taos. The only downside is that it's a couple of miles away from the Taos Plaza, the main part of town with all the shops, restaurants and museums.

On the other hand, maybe that's why this adobe gem is so peaceful and quiet. . .

I can see forever . . .

From the D.H. Lawrence Ranch you can almost see forever. It's up in the hills somewhere, and although most of the views from the cabin are peek-a-boo through the trees, the drive up offers many sweeping vistas. The ranch is open to the public, but you have to be special, like us, to get into D.H.'s cabin. It remains off limits, otherwise. So yesterday's tour through it was all the more appreciated.

Surrounded by big pine trees and low pinion bushes, it was unbelievably quiet and peaceful. It just might be the highlight of the trip, although there's more to see and do.

Stay tuned . . .

Lady Chatterly's Lover

The conference shuttle vans took a dozen of us to the D.H. Lawrence Ranch, a 45 minute drive from the Sagebrush Inn. This is where D.H. Lawrence lived for several months over the course of a couple of years back in the early 1920s. He worked on some of his novels there, and I got to touch his old typewriter on his old desk, in the cabin where he stayed. This is his bedroom and living room, too.

Georgia O'Keefe was also a visitor and painted a famous work of hers here--the big old tree in the front.

There's something magical about tromping about in the places where these luminaries once lived.

Taos Mountain Rules!

New Mexico skies change all day long - clear one minute, cloudy the next, then stormy, then lightening, plus thunder, then warm sprinkly rain, and back to beautiful blue again. Taos Mountain is the focal point of the town. You can't help but look at it, be drawn to it, every time you're out of doors. It's moody, it's friendly, it's what makes this place what it is.

I, for one, never get tired of it.

The Pueblo was a bust . . .

The conference people provide shuttle excursions for attendees to use some of their free time seeing the sites of Taos. We set out yesterday for Taos Pueblo, a World Heritage Site and one of the main draws here for countless visitors. Unfortunately, the Pueblo Indians closed it long enough for us to have to turn around to get back to the workshops. They had a funeral going on, and closed it to the public temporarily. It's famous for being continuously inhabited for more than 1,000 years. And the multi-storied adobe dwellings are extremely picturesque. So we came back to the Sagebrush Inn, where the conference is, and I took a walk around here, snapped a few photos, then checked my e-mail on the grassy courtyard, wi-fi style.

We're going to try for the pueblo again on Friday.

Hello, Taos!

I arrived in Taos, New Mexico, last Friday and met my friend Sally for dinner. She's the author of two published books already and wanted to take a workshop and meet with a publisher for her third book at the Taos Summer Writers Conference. I signed up for three workshops over nine days.

The first one last weekend was screenwriting, taught by a professor of screenwriting at the University of New Mexico. My current workshop for the week is intermediate novel writing with an accomplished novelist, Laura Dave. Next weekend will be about publishing, led by an editor who worked with the likes of Shirley MacLain, Clive Cussler, and Hunter S. Thompson. This guy's been around the block a few times.

To get the most out of this conference, I whipped up a synopsis, a couple of chapters, and an outline of a novel I'm working on and have thought about for a while. It's great fun to have total immersion with hundreds of like-minded folks here. And the advice is priceless from some very top-notch people in the field.

This, I must admit, was a great idea...