You know us, always itching for a road trip. This time it was Dan’s idea: 7 hours straight down I-25 to Santa Fe, New Mexico, just a few days before Christmas. He knew I have been itching to visit Meow Wolf, an immersive art experience that is opening a new location in Denver in a year or two. (Look for our Meow Wolf visit in my next post — it merits its own.)

Plus: Santa Fe at Christmas! From the very moment we rolled into the city, the luminaria and dried chili peppers washed me in holiday glow.

I will admit: the trip did not start out splendidly. About an hour from home I started experiencing stomach pains and nausea, and three hours into our trip it was obvious I had food poisoning from my breakfast. The drive ended up being the longest of my life, and the first two full days of our trip were touch-and-go for me.

Between nap sessions we visited the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, where I apparently took only one photo (so not like me):

…and explored the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

In previous posts I have extolled the brilliance of Art-o-mats, vending machines for small pieces of artwork. New Mexico has six of them — we managed to locate three in Santa Fe.

Our Art-o-mat prizes were a landscape (top left), a glass brooch created by a youth apprenticeship program (bottom left), and a Brutalism-inspired keychain (right, with a few pieces not pictured).

Dan and I return to Colorado on Christmas Eve with a fresh spring in our step (and, in my case, some temporary weight loss!).

P.S. If you’re not already a fan of the movie Newsies, take four minutes to hear the song that has been playing in my head non-stop for this entire trip. If you need more convincing: Christian Bale + fight-dancing + a horse abduction.