I had a wonderful spring break down in New Mexico at Ghost Ranch, an education and retreat center an hour northwest of Santa Fe. It is full of hiking trails, ranch lands for 400 head of cattle, and 30 acres for produce that is donated to those in need in surrounding communities. It is also home to several archeological sites and an anthropology museum. Georgia O'Keeffe lived there for a time and painted many of the landscapes, and movies like City Slickers and parts of Lonesome Dove were shot on the ranch, too. Throughout the year, Ghost Ranch also offers a variety of art classes, seminars about sustainable agricultural practices, and farmers' markets.
I left with the CPC (Collegiate Presbyterian Church) college ministry group on Saturday, March 12th, in the afternoon. We drove all night and arrived at Ghost Ranch the next morning. Since it is difficult to sleep well in a packed 15-passenger van, we mostly spent the day resting and becoming familiar with the ranch. We stayed in adobe bunkhouses and ate our meals at the cafeteria- really good food, by the way, and lots of vegetables!
For the rest of the week, we worked on projects around Ghost Ranch for the morning and part of the afternoon. I helped with fence maintenance, irrigation canal digging, trench digging for underground electrical wires, and house priming and painting. After we were done working each day, we usually went for a hike up to Chimney Rock or Kitchen Mesa. The hike to the top of Kitchen Mesa was amazing, and some parts of the "path" definitely required free (no rope) rock climbing. Someone died a few years ago, but he was hiking alone and after dark.
After dinner, we had a few hours of free time (I spent them working on watercolor paintings due after spring break) followed by a casual worship service/discussion. Then it was shower time and off to bed. We were usually so worn out from the day that we were in bed by 10:00 pm.
The weather was very sunny and cold in the mornings and evenings but warm in the afternoon. I would start off the day with a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, and two sweatshirts, but by 2:00, I was down to a t-shirt and shorts.
On Wednesday, we did drive to Santa Fe to look at the shops and cathedral before going out to eat. Unfortunately, I started to feel sick upon arrival and spent the majority of the afternoon lying down on a park bench. I am not sure what passersby were thinking. At that point I didn't care. After a couple hours, I felt completely fine and was able to join the rest of the group.
We headed back to Iowa on Friday, stopping at the giant sand dunes in Colorado. I felt like I was walking in a Salvador Dali painting. The dunes were huge and seemed so out of place. It took me about 45 minutes just to reach the peak, and let me tell you, hiking uphill in sand is definitely hard work. We drove through the night and arrived back in Ames at 7:00 am on Saturday, the 19th, tired but incredibly thankful we were able to go on the trip. I spent yesterday and today with my Mom since my dad took a trip to Virgina and prepared for the next 7 weeks of the semester.
Happy Spring!
No comments:
Post a Comment