Pure Cowboy Boot Bliss

Today we spent the day in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We slept in and ate homemade carnitas & tamales from a street vendor in the plaza for breakfast. HR had a little bit of work to do after so I wandered the streets of the old city to do some window shopping. I stumbled upon a pretty sizable vintage store and was easily caught up in a dozen or so old cowboy boots in a dusty corner. They were all nicely priced but none were the right size. I meandered some more and followed a sign to the "Western/Ranch" section. I rounded the corner & this is what I saw:












I was in awe; I love cowboy boots. I have a plethora of pairs and wear them with almost everything and as much as possible. There was nothing I could remotely justify buying as we are 6 days from purchasing our house & all the boots were $300 - $1000, but I was in heaven to say the least. Just to be in a room with hundreds of vintage cowboy boots was an experience in itself. They were amazing to look, touch, and in sometimes imagine how fantastic it would be to wear certain pairs out on the town. If we were already in the house I would have taken out my visa in a flash & purchased the green & yellow pair in the top photo without second thought.

Later on as HR & I walked through a shopping complex to escape from the rain, we encountered yet another store filled with boots. These were all brand new and boots were priced $1000+ on average. In this store there was an incredible pair of black boots with colorful peacock feathers stitched down the sides and over the toe. I didn't take a photo unfortunately, but I did realize something from those boots.

Today I acquired a new appreciation for Cowboy Boots as an art form. There are so many designs, colors, stitching, heel styles and such that variance of Cowboy Boots out there is spectacular. They are a canvas and an amazing canvas at that.

Next time I'm in Santa Fe I vow to leave with a new & amazingly beautiful pair of cowboy boots on my feet.

xoxx

Road Trip.

Los Angeles to Minneapolis via the beautiful Southwest. Yesterday we pulled out of Needles, California around 11am stopped in Flagstaff, Arizona for coffee and a walk around 3ish, and ended our day in Santa Fe, New Mexico around midnight. Along the way we drooled a the amazing scenery, laughed at each other while playing very intense and competitive versions of The Roadtrip Alphabet and sang old country songs acapella and a few by Queen and The Who too. More to come.
xoxx

Sir Terrible

The drive from Minneapolis to Kansas City is pretty boring. It's 475 miles driveway to driveway. 430 of those miles are bor-ring farmscapes. Not even the cows, horses and pigs type of farmscape (I saw maybe 10 cows the entire way) it's all fields. Yes this can be pretty as there is a lot of green. But there aren't really any rolling hills and there are very few landmarks outside of freeway exit signs.

Bor - ring.

The most exciting moment in my drive to Kansas City has traditionally been when I cross over "Pole Cat Creek" somewhere in northern Missouri. When I cross over it I will say in a horrible, fake southern accent,"POLE CAT CREEEEEEK!" (Note that the extended "eeeee" in creek is said in a higher pitch than the rest). This is very entertaining and I usually crack myself up for a good 2 or 3 minutes with this antic.

I usually make this drive alone.

I can't imagine why no one would want ride with me.

Well I Pole Cat Creek was nearly upstaged on this journey. As I drove south on I-35 I could see something in the horizon. It was something I had never seen before.

I was kind of excited.

Terrible's Casino in Southern Iowa erected a new sign since last summer. Isn't he striking?

This means that there are now two exciting landmarks on the drive to Kansas City. And, thanks to this sign I have a brand new official stopping point for gas, snacks & bathroom.

I was so excited to see it that on the way back to Minneapolis I made a point to stop (well that and it is my official stopping place too) and took a photo. I did wish I had a road trip companion as I would have loved my photo taken with the very striking man, Terrible.

xoxx