Same old. Same old.

Been a busy week.  Still have to finish documenting the New Mexico trip.  Not going to happen right now.

The house is quiet (well except for Wrigley, who is laying behind me barking every few minutes?!?!?!).

Got some new stuff delivered today.  Of course, the dog is nosy and needs to see what we got.

Something new for the kitchen and something new for the guest room.

Have to wait for my handyman to show up on Tuesday and put it all together for me.

We have a roofer coming out next week to see about getting a new roof on the house.  We're also going to talk to him about doing the gutters and new siding.  Wow....our house is going to look so different from the outside pretty soon.  I think I'm going to change the color too.

Okay.....that's enough out of me for tonight.  I've got laundry to put away, my office to clean, and my new computer to try and get set up.

Yes.  Life is busy.

Why do houses have to get so dirty?

Spent my Friday evening at home shampooing the carpet.  I had worked in PZ 4 nights the last week and struggling to get anything else done.  So the hubby said they would try and not call me in.  Yay!

Got the living room carpet all shampooed and the Roomba is out there doing her job now.....final vacuuming before I put all the stuff back in and make it look livable again.

Next stop on this cleaning frenzy.....the guest bedroom.  The last guest that just moved out of it was a slob.  That guest won't have an invitation back to this hotel again if he's not gonna keep my room nice.

We pulled all the furniture out of it this morning and I'm headed up there to get it vacuumed and shampooed.  By the time it's dry......I should have the living room done and kitchen cleaned and other assorted chores completed.

Dinner today will have to be easy.....too busy to bother with a huge preparation.  Last night we threw together an amazing meal:  leftover broccoli cheese rice, with some leftover chicken and then he stopped at the grocery store and bought salami, crackers, and gouda cheese.  Oh what a feast it was!

Okay.....time to get back to work.  It's such a gorgeous day that I have all the windows open.  I'd rather be outside.....but the reward of my hard work will be one more room that I've finally gotten cleaned up.  Only 8 more to go!

Here's what we've been doing (not the things we want to....boo)

Always a potpourri of things that we get to do each week living the glamorous life of a pizza shop owner.

Of course, I can't remember what we've done all week......so I'm just checking the pictures that automatically downloaded themselves from my phone to my computer.  Just review the pictures....and BAM -- there's what you've done all week.

Went out on for a late dinner on a Thursday night after Paul got home.  Found this place had live music.....so it was fun little late night date night.

Laughing at my husband for the funny facial expressions he gives me when I need to take pictures.  He's such a good sport and will do pretty much anything I ask.  Love ya Paul!

 

We got this giant card signed and delivered to a young man who is battling cancer in our community.  We also did a small video to be added to others to make a video birthday card for him.

Here's our video that we made:

 

Been watching these giant squirrels that have been digging up the yard every day looking for acorns.
I can see them from my desk while I work.

Just found the missing Sicilian pizza picture that I took in NYC the last night we were there.  We feasted on this baby in our hotel room while we were packing to head home the next morning.  Seriously, we barely made a dent in it......but oh so delicious!

Paul and I had to go in early one morning this week and make a 50 pizza order for a customer.  They wanted 10 of the pizzas to be Mediterranean Chicken.....these are a few that I made.  I think I make a pretty darn good looking pizza.

We got to plan, make, test taste, photograph, and make up lots of marketing stuff for the new pizza of the month:  Chicken Pot Pie. 

I've also been working in the store the last 3 nights getting the new people trained on answering phones.  It's always so busy that no one has time to teach someone how to answer phones, so I've been going in and spending 1-on-1 time teaching them.  It will pay off in the long run with excellently trained employees.

We've also had the usual stuff going on.  Trying to get someone out to get a new roof, new siding, new gutters and then I want to get someone out here to start working on that guest bathroom.  I DO NOT WANT Aaron and Shay to get here one more time and have to use that ugly tore up bathroom.  I want a nice beautiful bathroom for them. 

All of this takes time.  Time.  Something we don't seem to have much anymore.

It's a Monday in Santa Fe

Monday is the day that we have all to ourselves.  Aaron and Shay both have to work and our plan is to meet up at their apartment tonight and Aaron is going to cook us dinner.  Nice.

We spent Sunday night and will spend Monday night at a hotel in Santa Fe.  Aaron does not have air conditioning in his apartment.  It's August.  I'm still a menopausal woman and can't stand heat.  We got a hotel.  Actually, this made it more comfortable for all of us.  And besides......they were going to have to get up at 3:30 and 5:30 respectively.  Too damn early for us.

So we found a lovely AWESOME and unique hotel that was only a couple of minutes down the street from their apartment.  It was hard to find due to it being off the road a little.....but what a gem to find.  It also fits our criteria of trying to stay in places that are just a little bit different from the cookie cutter hotels.

Here is the Guadalupe Inn:

This was the office area and the private residence of the people that ran the place

 

All the rooms were upstairs and the parking was below the building

 

We had the top room in the right corner.  Oh and if you look closely, you can see the bellhop coming to get our bags from our vehicle......lol

The room was quaint, cozy, unique, and made us feel like we were staying in a guest room of someone's house.  Even though it was not cold enough......I still had to turn on the fireplace just to enjoy the ambiance.

Even the door to our room was unique.  That's it on the right hand side of the picture.  It was an all wooden door that opened outwards.......the room felt totally Santa Fe.

The bathroom had French doors off of the bedroom and had this magnificent tub.  I'm just sad that I never had the opportunity to use it......boo!

After a good night sleep......a Pizza Zone catastrophe (of course).....we headed downstairs for breakfast.  They had homemade green chile muffins (that were so delicious) and the best orange juice ever.  We sat and made our plans for the day.

First stop was to Sherwin Williams and check in with Aaron.  Next stop was some fancy feed store that was brand new......they had a giant cage of tubs with baby chicks in them.  Oh they were so cute!

We leisurely strolled through that store and then continued on our journey.  We found a couple of other stores in the area and then realized we were starving and it was time for lunch.

Even though we had not liked Aaron's choice the night before for a meal.....we went with another one of his suggestions:

I ordered Green Chile Mac-N-Cheese......oh my goodness......the BEST MAC-N-CHEESE I have ever had in my life.  It came with a giant Caesar Salad and Texas Toast.  Holy crap.  It was so delicious.  So while I pigged out.....we plotted the rest of our day.

The decision was made to make the 30 minute drive to Madrid, New Mexico.  We had no idea what we would find there.....we only knew that lots of people liked to go there.

One thing we did find there.....was the funniest sign in the world.

Madrid is actually a tiny little town that is filled with artisan shops of different and unique stuff.  We had a great time checking out all the stuff.  I ended up buying a pair of turquoise and coral earrings to match the necklace I had bought the day before.

 

 

 

We enjoyed just strolling along and spending time together.

We found a little park that had lots of these great picture taking opportunities.....however, the husband wouldn't give in and have his picture taken......so I did.

 

The other thing that Madrid, New Mexico is famous for is the saloon there.  This is where a scene in the movie Wild Hogs was shot.

A little further down the road is the town of Cerillos.  This was our next destination.  Seriously....if you blink you'll miss everything in this town.  We found the biggest attraction advertised and that was the Trading Post, Mining Museum and the Petting Zoo.  All 3 located in one easy place.

We passed on the petting zoo and the mining museum.....but we did take a stroll around the trading post looking for something that we didn't need.

 

On our way out of town we found Main Street which was pretty much non-existent any longer.  However, this famous street was once a movie location for Young Guns.  I loved the old-time feel to the street and this quiet sleepy town.  Notice that it's even still a dirt road and not paved.  In fact, the whole entire town was pretty much dirt roads.

 

Of course, the churches in these tiny old towns are so beautiful to look at.  Love it!

It was time for us to head back to Aaron's apartment.....but we made one more pit stop on the way to one of my favorite shops to pick up some souvenirs.  It had been kind of a cloudy and somewhat stormy in places day, which led to it being a little chilly.  Aaron built us a nice fire in his fireplace and we enjoyed scalloped potatoes, grilled steaks and grilled corn for dinner.

What a glorious and relaxing way to end Day 3 in New Mexico.......but we're not done yet.  We still have one more full day to enjoy!

And the saga continues.......(New Mexico Day 2- Part 4)

Here we go.....again.   This was our view as we were leaving Osier.

 It was such a gorgeous day.....look at that sky!

 

 

Our bellies are full, we're comfortably sitting in our seats with our eyes glued to the windows,

and we are enjoying the beautiful scenery. 

 

Well some of us were....................

 

Wake up Paul......you're missing it!

Nope.....guess he's not ready yet.  We'll just let him nap a little!

 

 

What a view!

 

 

Paul finally did wake up again and took a selfie with Shay

 

The lamps on the back of the train.  I thought it might make a cool picture.  It does.

We took another inside picture of our train car.  It was so gorgeous and comfortable in there.

Out the back door of the train car.

This water spout was used in one of the Indiana Jones movies. 

Do you remember seeing it?  I do.

 

Our journey finally came to an end.  We pulled into the train yard and took a couple of last minute pictures of our Parlor Car and the train station in Chama.

 

 

We walked through a few souvenir shops that were along the main street near the train station.  We were looking for Chama t-shirts......but we didn't have any luck.  There certainly wasn't a lot happening on Main St. Chama on a Sunday afternoon at 5pm.

We jumped in the car and made the 2.5 hour drive back to Santa Fe.  Aaron and Shay had to work the next day VERY EARLY in the morning.......so we needed to get back. 

We arrived back in Santa Fe around 5pm and after checking in to our hotel (we'll discuss that subject next posting), changing clothes, and hitting the grocery store to buy supplies for dinner the next night....we headed out to dinner.

Aaron and Shay's choice for the evening:

They love the place.  We weren't impressed.  Aaron and I got meatball subs, Paul had a Rueben, and Shay had soup and salad (I think).  It was over priced for what you got (but that's most of Santa Fe).  It was time for us all to head back to our respective places to sleep for the night......because who knew what we would be doing the next day!

Still riding the Choo Choo (Day 2 - Part 3)

As you can see, this day was packed with so much fun.......it takes this many parts to tell the whole story.

So......we're riding the train and we make one stop where we get off:  Osier, Colorado.  There's nothing in Osier except for this building where the two trains meet and they served a buffet lunch (which is included in the price of your ticket). 

The lunch was DELICIOUS!  You could have roasted turkey with all the trimmings and a fresh salad bar or meatloaf with mashed potatoes and all the trimmings.  What makes it all even more incredible is there is no power there.  They run everything on generators and one person lives in a house there.  This person has to get up in the middle of the night and put the turkeys on to start roasting for the buffet the next day.  The food was really, really, really delicious!

We sat outside at a picnic table and enjoyed our lunch.  Our train got there first and there was another train expected within 15 minutes of our arrival.  After eating lunch, we had about 45 minutes to take a look at the other buildings on the property and to check out their gift shop.

I got some great stuff in the gift shops including a beautiful turquoise necklace and a couple of nice jackets for Cris and Aaron.

Our view from our lunch table.  The other train as it pulled into the station.  This is the train we would be taking to go back to Chama.

Watching the train as it pulled in while we ate

What a wonderful sight watching the train come in.....and we had front row seats

Checking out some of the stuff they had there after we ate

A view of both stations and the building where we ate lunch

This must have been a real train station back a long, long time ago. 

It really is out in the middle of nowhere.

The water tank so the engines can take on water

The caretakers house

The lovebirds

 

Leaving Osier, Colorado and heading back to Chama, New Mexico

 

The other train left the same time as we did and this was a picture I got of it as it headed the other direction. 

Okay......we're halfway through our journey.  We just had lunch.  AND.......we still have half a day left.  It's only 1pm!!!!!! 

Guess we'll have to extend this to part 4.