pecos yellow (one), first in a series of yellow flowers from the Pecos Mountains, July 24, 2008, photo © 2008 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
There has been a spate of articles lately about how gas prices and the state of the economy in general are forcing many Americans to spend summer vacation at home or close to home this year. There’s even a term for it: staycation.
I guess my family qualifies as stay-at-home vacationers. During one of my two weeks off from work, we managed to keep our miles down to a mere 300, all spent right here in our very own Land of Enchantment.
Here are highlights from our “trip-ette” and some of the ways we cut costs:
- “Flower-watching” in the mountains (although we didn’t have guide nor guidebook to tell us the names of the flowers).
- The girls made “$aver-enirs” by collecting tree sap, letting it melt in the sun, then forming the sap into objects.
- We took Jim’s childhood boat out for a cruise along the river.
- Used the swimming hole at Pancheula Creek (and swam in our clothes so we wouldn’t have to splurge on new swimsuits this season).
- Harvested and sautéed exotic fungus (a puffball mushroom, not pictured), although I refrained from sampling any in the event it turned out to be poisonous; designated driver rule.
- Weiners and buffalo burgers on the grill.
- Fancy s’mores for dessert every night.
- Antique collecting.
- Fossil hunting.
- Simulated day-spa (i.e., reading an entire memoir in one sitting while lying under blankets the day it rained, a fire glowing in the wood-burning stove).
What a delightful way to spend a summer vacation. Just goes to show that sometimes the best vacations don’t have to mean traveling far from home. I love all of the photos, the flowers, the boat, & I’m guessing that is Jim’s version of “The Moon over the Pecos Mountains”! Everything you shared are things I love to do. I am especially intrigued by the girls $aver-enirs. I have never heard of that before. The puffball mushrooms, wouldn’t be enough money to make me try them! Thanks for sharing what had to be a wonderful time as a family.
My favorite vacation was one that J & I took together in a state park less than 5 miles from our home. We didn’t tell a soul that we were going there. We took our grill from home & a canoe & cell phones. The log cabin we rented was along the lake & had all the amenities of home, aside from tv & we had a great time there! Alas, no vacation this year & we’ve barely made it to camp before J became ill, but there is already talk about heading to the Outer Banks in NC during the “off season” depending on J’s recovery.
The rates will be much cheaper. We had to cancel this year & had planned on leaving the 1st of August, however we will be getting a full refund as we had already paid it in advance. D
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Lovely pictures, dear! And it sounds like a wonderful, simple vacation.
My vacation this year was hiking in Colorado. It was only affordable because C had a conference there the following week, so his plane ticket and other expenses were paid by his department. I’ve also had several mini-vacations around here, backpacking on weekends.
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OK. The butt crack threw me for a loop . . .
Staycation! I like that word. We were hoping to leave this morning for a quick trip a few hours south to see my family. But the alternator went out last night. That over $300 bucks I’ll never see again . . . that could have went toward other things.
So, a staycation will probably have to suffice. We do still have our family zoo pass, so maybe a 20 minute drive to see the Siamangs is in order . . .
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That’s too bad, Brian. Just keep in mind what Dustin Hoffman said: I envy people who can just look at sunset…there is nothing more grotesque to me than a vacation. (This, btw, I saw on Joe Felso: Ruminations, which is on our blogroll.)
Also good ideas for something close to home: museum visits, and all the tourist sites in your city that you rarely go to because, well, you’re not a tourist.
teaspoon, hiking in Colorado sounds way splendid. I bet you saw some of the same wildflowers I did.
diddy, when I read your comment the first time, I thought you had gone to a “skate park,” and then I tried to imagine you taking your grill, etc. LOL. Then I re-read it. Sounds like a good time. Being close to water is key, I think.
Ha! “Moon over Pecos Mountains.” See, you’re a caption genius! Well, I’m not naming who’s moon that is. 8)
Outer Banks in the off season, fewer tourists, sounds nice. Maybe in Fall for colors?
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Thank you for wonderful photo essay on your Pecos paradise.
We had the best vacation in years this summer: babies on the beach! Brief, but sweet.
If you want to see some photos, go to my blog chickenlil.org and the top post has a link to the album.
Hope you enjoy them!
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Cool, I’ll check those out, lil.
diddy, I meant to mention that one of the sap creations is in a photo. Em made a single dice (die) using the sap for the cube and pyrite for the numbers. Dee made a horse’s head, which I don’t have a photo of. They’re both great.
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ybonesy, what GREAT photographs. I love reading all the things you did on your vacation. The top one is an award winner. (I have to say, like Brian, the butt shot threw me, too! Wasn’t expecting it, but love it!)
Your vacation sounds really relaxing. Wonderful. Summer is good for that. Liz and I were talking yesterday about how we planned a little too much into this Georgia one. She’s back home now but Mom and I are still on the road. It’s a working vacation for both of us — she on the family tree and me gathering for the memoir and also learning more about the tree. I can’t remember the last time I just sat and did nothing on a vacation. But I’m not complaining! It feels so abundant to be here.
Your list of things you did sound very present to what it around you, the details of nature, and also honoring the past, your roots, your hometown. Jim’s childhood boat…that’s so cool. I bet you saved a ton on gas, too. It’s been a big consideration here as we put a lot of miles on Mom’s car. Thanks for this great post. Very grounding. 8)
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delicious – that is what a time out ia all about. You don’t need to go far, to discover incredible sights, enjoy yourself, re-connect with yourself and those you love.
I love the mini-spa and the melty sap best – what memories are made of…
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You beat me to it, ybonesy!
I am totally enamored with the dice!
The boat brings back many memories.
I say we should all live like this every day…
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Did you have a “staycation,” too, leslie? That’s going to become one of new favorite words to hate, like “webinar.” 8)
If so, what did you do? And yes, this is good livin’, no doubt.
Hey, Bo, kind of like those retreats you take. In fact, I’m thinking I should do my own retreat there alone. I hadn’t even ever thought of that until I was up there this last time.
QM, so good to hear from you and see you on the blog!! Working vacations are fun in their own ways. This one you’re on is going to pay off in such richness, like really knowing your family, its depth and breadth.
And the butt crack is what happens when you swim in corduroys. The weight of the water does its gravity thing. 8)
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p.s., QM, with you on the road and not having opportunity to post, I’m running amuck with my posts. Butt cracks, over-sized truck testicles (the one that I just posted)…you need to come back soon or who knows what’s next… 8) 8) 8)
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lil, your beach photos were fabulous. Some of those clouds and sunsets, and I love the angling on the water and sand. Was that your sister? She looked kind of like you.
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I’m a big fan of the “stay-cation”. This summer we’ve been to Silver City, Tucumcari, Las Vegas (NM), and Jemez and all points in between – it’s been so fun exploring New Mexico!
Great pics!
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Thank, yb – I have lots more, but all I have gotten around to posting is the beach photos. I think you are asking about Ann, is that my sister – no, she is a dear friend who we first met in Llano Quemado in 1979. She lives on the gulf in Florida now so we get to visit regularly and play with our grandchildren together — we had three babies and a 6 yr old this trip. (BTW the pic of the dog head in the window on the next post, that was worth taking a chance to get it!)
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Raine Klover (may I call you RK?) — I saw some of your NM photos. They remind me of NM in the 60s, when I was very young, or even earlier, old photos of NM. Really cool.
Silver City is a great place to visit. (My friend Mimbres Man, who’s from there, calls it “Silver.”) Jemez, too. I’ll be there this weekend. And Ghost Ranch, we’re going back up for a night. Oh, Las Vegas NM. Another good one. I don’t know Tucumcari. You should try Grants and the Zuni Mtns if you haven’t already. I always go north, and so we went west one trip — it blew us away. Anyway, NM makes staying close to home fun.
lil, yes, I think that’s the one I was talking about. Isn’t it cool when good friends move to great places? Wasn’t Llano Quemado the place where the hippie commune was? Just kidding. (Or was it? Ha!)
You know, that dog in the next post, he was so cool. And that white head popping out of the black truck. I used my cell phone camera, which is horrible, but at least I got it.
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There was a commune at the old hot springs at Llano, way back when….I can’t remember the name, was it Morningstar? Not sure…I first found the Llano hot springs in 1971 before someone blew it up– there were wars between the hippies, the land developers, the Indians (who it was said, made the water run cold), and the rednecks who came to watch the hippies. The big pool was ruined, but the little pool was still left when we lived there on Cemetery Road. Had a baby born in Llano in a 2-room adobe. No, we did not live in the commune, we actually had an office in town and went to work.
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Oh, that reminds me, Natalie took us to the Llano cemetery during one of our workshops. I remember seeing a child’s grave decorated with a pinata and stuffed animals in a clear plastic bag so they wouldn’t get wet. It was a colorful cemetery, very much kept up by loved ones.
Also, I understand that Banana Rose was set in Llano, although I don’t know that the town was specified. I think Natalie was living there when she wrote it.
I don’t know the town well, only to drive through, but what strikes me is how it’s right there on the highway. I mean, it also goes back off the highway, but where exactly is the heart of the town? That seems to be on the highway.
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It has been quite a long time since we moved out of Llano so I can’t say what it might be like now, but I don’t think there is a town center exactly, it is just a neighborhood of Ranchos de Taos. You turn into the south side of the Ranchos church and follow the road around into a small community. It is along the ridge of a green valley, on the other side is Talpa. We used to walk to visit Peter and Ann along the harvester’s road, following the creek through the fields – it was so beautiful. I hate to think that now there are probably subdivisions there. I don’t think there was anything town-like, no stores or post-office (that was on the road next to Old Martinez Hall.) There was a small cemetery, and the Llano dump which was famous for burning, and way back was the hot springs. When we lived there everyone was named Romero and the sheep herds would come thundering by our front porch.
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lil, we drove all through those dirt roads to get back to Taos, and yes, there are subdivisions now. But tasteful, not like what you see west of here. More like adobe-style homes here and there. Most seem to leave the sage, pinon, juniper. At least that’s what I saw.
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I’m currently having a stay at home vacation at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and Festival Fringe. So far I’ve experienced: one indescribably wonderful piece of Korean theatre, one rough around the edges but very watcheable show about Jack Kerouac (including poetry, jazz, dancing and slide show), one evenign of poetry and music in three languages, two poetry readings and a presentation of wildlife photography, plus three art exhibitions and a wander round our Botanic Gardens. I do this every year and we rarely leave Scotland for our holidays, we’ve got so much beautiful scenery here, so many islands to discover…..
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I don’t blame you, Crafty Green Poet. If I lived in such lush, gorgeous lands, I’d do exactly the same. (Well, even living in not-so-lush gorgeous lands, I just I do.) 8)
Book festivals are also a wonderous thing for writers, poets, artists, and anyone who loves books. I remember going to one in Madrid, and it was like a feast. The books alone would have held my attention, but then as you say, there is all the creative performance and entertainment.
I imagine this is a most perfect time to be in Scotland.
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Crafty Green Poet, you make Scotland sound absolutely luscious. It’s one of the places I’d like to visit overseas. Mom has traced our ancestry back to the Scottish Highlanders from Georgia and that is part of what we were doing down on St. Simons and Darien, Georgia a few weeks ago. Now I want to go more than ever!
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That’s so cool, QM. Remember, Mimbres Man went there (Scotland) for a biking tour last summer and sent me photos of orbs in cemeteries.
I’ve never been, but wouldn’t it be cool to go see the birthplaces of famous Scottish writers and poets. I know a writer who did something similar, but in Ireland.
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ybonesy, yeah. If I went to other countries, I’d HAVE to look up a few writers there and visit their graves. We are Scotch-Irish, so the other half goes back to Ireland. Part of the research is figuring out where the two intersected in the ancestry. It’s a puzzle Mom is good at solving. I’d like to visit Ireland some day, too. Two of my brothers have been over there in the last few years. Different family name though than the one I’m researching.
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[…] happy. Although, we’d miss out on swimming and eating popsicles in the scorching sun. And weekend getaways spent at 9,000 […]
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[…] newly coined staycation was a real annoyance when I first heard it this summer, yet lately I notice it’s growing on […]
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