Vacation is a Numbers Game

Santa Fes Five and Dime Store

Santa Fe’s Five and Dime Store -Tiled Entrance ©2008

Back home after a great trip out west. Here is our vacation summed up in a few numbers. We managed to spend lots of nickles and dimes, but it was well worth it.

Days of vacation: 16
Days we had precipitation (either rain or snow): 2

Nights temperature dropped below 32˚F: 5
Days temperature rose above 90˚F: 2

Total miles driven: 4452
Most miles driven in one day: 739

Total cost of gas: $1267.02
Highest price we paid for gallon of gas: $3.79 (Fort Morgan, Colorado)
Cheapest price for gallon of gas: $2.48 (multiple stops in Kansas and Iowa) though we saw it for $2.29 in Des Moines, IA – just after we filled the tank.

States visited: 9 (including home state of Wisconsin)
State capital cities we drove through: 7
National parks/monuments visited: 11

Days we were in the mountains: 12
Days we were in a desert: 9
Days we were in deep canyons: 3
Days we were on sand dunes: 3

Nights we camped next to loud rushing water: 1 (Once was one too many.)
Nights we camped so close to tracks we heard train whistles all night long: 7 (There are train tracks everywhere west of the Rockies.)

Photographs taken: 2021
Number of books purchased (mostly from National Park Service): 14

Overall cost (borrowing the rather well-used phrase from our “friend” MasterCard’s famous commercials): Priceless!

Candles in Santa Fe

Candles and Copper Crosses

Candles, Crosses, and Copper ©2008 Bo Mackison

Santa Fe’s history is steeped in its religious heritage. The majestic Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, just one block east of the historic Santa Fe Plaza, was dedicated in 1886. The church is currently being renovated, but it still full of mystique even covered with interior scaffolding and canvas tarps.

I love this copper votive holder with its crudely rendered crosses. The flickering lights made a striking visual in the darkened interior of the church.

Santa Fe Silhouette

Santa Fe Silhouette

Santa Fe at Sunset ©2008 Bo Mackison

Our first night in Santa Fe, we watched storm clouds gathering over the city. Forecasters gave dire warnings of a foot of snow in the nearby Sangre de Cristo mountains and possible accumulation on the streets of this high elevation city. Since rain/sleet/snow were all possibilities, we decided to stay in Santa Fe another night and then head into the mountains when sunshine was expected to make a comeback on Wednesday morning..

Santa Fe is an interesting destination, even when it is rainy and cold. There are many museums in the city and the Plaza area offers dozens and dozens of stores and galleries for browsing, oohing and ahhing, and inspiration gathering. And need I even mention the Southwest eateries? I thought not.