Thanks to Roy and Brenda Coffman, I’ve been staying at a beautiful resort near downtown Santa Fe called Villas de Santa Fe.  It’s been great to rest, meditate, write down ideas, take long walks, talk about Da Bears (yes, the football Bears) with Native Americans and enjoy the spectacular art galleries.

Here in Santa Fe, art is everywhere, including on many public walls (see photo at left).  Yesterday I captured some of that public art.  Check out my small collection of photos.

Tomorrow I’m off to Sedona, Arizona, to stay for three nights at another resort, The Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort.  Thanks so much, Roy and Brenda!

For the first time in my life, I saw a bald eagle!  Actually I saw several soaring above the Mississippi River.  As I got closer, I could hear them talking politics (of course).  It turns out that most of them think we should pull our troops out of Iraq.  Referring to the war in Iraq, one eagle quoted Gandhi, who once said, “Just stop it, just stop it.”

Anyhow, earlier this week, I had a wonderful time reconnecting with Roy and Brenda Coffman at their bed-and-breakfast, Green Tree Inn.  (Check out my photos.)  We spent several hours sharing about our lives and our journies with God.  Among other things, they told me about their powerful experience with the Taize Community in France and introduced me to the way the Taize Community meditates and prays using music.  The folks at Taize (and the Coffmans) are passionate about helping people “experience” God.  That’s a beautiful thing!

Tonight I’m staying again with my good friend Toby in St. Louis; tomorrow I’m off to Denver to stay with Megz and hang with the gang out there.

In about an hour I’m leaving frigid, snow-covered Arlington Hts. and heading to my new home in San Diego.  I’m spending the next two nights in Elsah, IL (where?!).  My friends Roy and Brenda Coffman (who are the parents of my good friend “The Beef”) own and operate a bed-n-breakfast there called Green Tree Inn.  About ten years ago I lived with the Coffmans for a summer in Breckenridge, CO, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with them.

At a small party I hosted a couple nights ago, we created four “mad libs” around the theme “Andy in San Diego.”  Three of the four mad libs turned out to be X-rated (I have some fun friends!), but here’s the “clean” one for your enjoyment.  This one is called, “Andy Starts a House Church in San Diego.”

Once upon a frog, Andy started a green, smooth house church.  The house church had three values:  horny, scientology, and libertarian.

When the doors opened, Donald Trump walked in.  All of a sudden bocce ball happened.  “Rat” got up and said, “Hey we need to pray about nostrils.”  And Andy said, “Son of a bitch!” 

Last week I had such a good time in Raleigh visiting Scott, Allison and Anna Ryan Brown; Eric (”The Beef”), Elesha and Lilly Coffman; Jerry Dancy and Mandy Kelly.  And I had an absolute blast snowboarding for three days at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia with Jerry and four of his good friends:  Kelly (who’s Jerry’s girlfriend) and their friends Kristy, Sara and Bobby.   Kelly and Kristy wrote a poem about the weekend, and I hope to share it with you soon.

To see some “W.S.B.” snowboarders and a beautiful, blue-eyed baby in a duck towel, check out my photos from the trip.

On Monday, Feb. 12, I’m driving my road-tough Pontiac Grand Prix out West … all the way out to San Diego … to live, to do life, ya know, to surf.  I don’t have a job, nope, and I may live in a shack in the Fitzgerald’s backyard (seriously!).  But it’s gonna be great, really, I think, um, I hope.

The main reason I’m moving to S.D. is the handful of close friends I have there.  To meet some of them, check out my photos of my “S.D. Posse.” 

It’s Sunday night, and my “inner introvert” talked me into hunkering down in my brother-in-law’s office in the basement for a couple hours to play on my laptop computer, play guitar and listen to music (currently playing:  “In the Sun,” written by Joseph Arthur and covered by Michael Stipe and Chris Martin).   I’ve had a wonderful weekend up here in Minnesota visting my sister Amy, brother-in-law Chris and their kids, Christopher (age 5) and Sophia (age 2 1/2).  And I had a fantastic time this afternoon watching da Bears beat New Orleans to earn a trip to the Super Bowl!

If you want to see the two cutest kids in the world (my nephew and niece!) in action, check out my photos from this weekend.

Instead of coming up with new year resolutions, I’ve come up with the following personal slogan for 2007:  “Why not?”  Ya know, like, why not have three hotdogs for lunch; or why not switch to “spring flower” scented deoderant; or why not shake my big (big?), white booty at Redmoon nightclub in front of the drunken, twice-married 45-year-old blonde bombshell.  I think I’m ready — what a year this is gonna be!?!

Side note:  I posted my photos of our afternoon in downtown San Diego.  You’ll notice (at left) that we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. 

In this particular situation in New Mexico (at left), I was just trying to fit in, quietly eating my “Flamethrower” burger at the roadside gas-n-sip. 

Unfortunately it’s true, the road trip’s over.  Last Friday night, Randy and I pulled into our driveway in Arlington Hts filled with both sadness and gladness.  Life on the road was great, and it’s good to be home.  In the coming weeks, I look forward to telling you more about our experiences on the road. 

Meanwhile, you may want to check out photos of our evening at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego.

OK, I’m pumped about the Flickr site, where I’m storing my photos.  I just uploaded my first set of photos — check out our day at Coronado in San Diego!  By the way, it’s super easy to view the photos; you don’t have to sign in or become a member of Flickr or anything.  Wooo-hooo.  I recommend you use the “View Slideshow” feature — it rocks!

Quick side note:  Randy and I spent last night in Cottonwood, AZ, near the old mining town of Jerome.  Today we’re gonna check out Sedona, the mecca for New Age spirituality and the home of the “vortex,” which is still a mystery to us.  We’re excited!

Here’s the sunrise we awoke to each morning.  It’s hard to leave paradise, but our families want us home for Christmas. 

Tonight we’ll stay in an artsy town just outside of Prescott and Sedona, AZ.  Needless to say, we’re excited to experience the “vortex” near Sedona.

Tomorrow we’ll be back at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque.  Then it’s on to Denver; then home.