The trip started when I got to the first gas station stop and my debit card wouldn’t go into the slot at the pump. I tried multiple different ways of putting the card in and it still wouldn’t go. I questioned my own intelligence as those ‘card insert photos’ have always confused me. I immediately felt annoyed and anyone watching me would have gathered that. I went into the gas station grumbling to myself and used the restroom where it was unexpectedly welcoming and smelled of the generic scented candle that burned. Then I walked up to the counter and told the man (who was older, bearded, and not wearing a mask during the Covid-19 Pandemic) that pump 3 wouldn’t take my card. He said, “Pump 3? Oh that’s Betsy! She’s a little shy in the mornings! You just gotta buy her a couple drinks to get her to warm up first.” I said, “oh haha one of those….”. He explained to me since we were so high up in the mountains when it gets really cold things don’t work right. I paid for the gas and walked out, thinking about what a funny start to my day that was. That’s part of why I love traveling, the people I meet. There are an infinite amount of interesting characters in the world.

      My dog and I continued driving up the mountain in the early morning light. All the traffic wanted to go faster than me as I couldn’t resist letting my vision veer off to look at the gorgeous scenery around me. We took the scenic route from Colorado to New Mexico as I hate I-25 but I love the mountain views of I-285. As we got further and further south while simultaneously getting higher up into the mountains, my eyes got to feast on the interesting shacks, cabins, and trailers that found their way into random clusters near the mountains. The temperature outside became colder and colder as we reached the top of the world. My dog started whining, which is a rare occurrence. I was pretty sure her whine was because she thought we were going to a dog park (because I know that whine), but I eventually found a spot to stop to let her go potty in case that’s what it was all about. When we left that morning from Westminster, CO it was almost 40 degrees, but a few hours later up high somewhere near Buena Vista, CO it was 19 degrees. I found a good spot to pull over and put on my coat and let Luna out to encourage her to potty. When I’m up that high in inclement weather it feels like I’m on another planet. It was foggy, cold, windy, and the views were absolutely breathtaking.

      Part of why I love traveling is that it reconnects us with ourselves. Without our normal daily distractions that we routinely use to avoid going inward, travel can open us back up to reconnect with that. A couple themes kept popping up that involved my physical ailments. I had a headache for most of the trip, I had bad heartburn, my hip was hurting worse than normal and my right knee was hurting. This helped me to realize that these problems are valid and I shouldn’t have to live with them. Even though doctors say I don’t have this autoimmune disease anymore, I still have the symptoms and it would be beneficial if I work on them one by one rather than try to find a name or diagnosis for what’s “wrong with me”. 

      Part of my trip involved going to the Santuario De Chimayo. It is a Catholic Church in Chimayo, New Mexico. While I am not religious, I read about this site years ago and it’s the most visited church in the United States because of it’s miraculous healing powers.

There are multiple articles about the church and countless reviews of people’s accounts of miraculous healing they received after visiting. The part that helps people is the healing dirt. This comes from a nearby hill that Pueblo Indians believed Healing Spirits inhabited the area. I wanted to go here for years and now that I live in Colorado it’s only a 6 hour drive, wohoo! When Luna (my dog) and I arrived at Santuario, I had driven a lot and needed to go to the bathroom, but the bathrooms were closed (I’m assuming due to Covid-19). So I did a rush through of the area and absolutely adored the beauty of the church and especially the views of the nearby town. The drive up the road to the church was breathtaking as I’d never noticed dirt to be such a pink hue before. All of the little houses were so unique, some were like shacks (which I find absolutely charming), many were adobe style (which I am also in love with). While walking around the church area we went inside the main church. I walked around keeping quiet as there were people praying up front. I saw a line to the left and the woman said they were in line to talk to the priest. Since I was in a hurry and had no interest in talking to a priest, I mentally dismissed going into that room. Up ahead I saw some dirt surrounding a sculpture and realized I forgot my dirt container in my car so I used a little bag that I had and filled it with a handful of dirt. Upon leaving the area (desperately wanting to find a bathroom) my GPS stopped working and I made a wrong turn. Luckily I realized it quickly and got back on the right track. I eventually found a bathroom and that was a hallelujah moment 🙌.

      Later that day at the hotel, I read some more articles about the healing dirt because I realized I probably took the dirt from the wrong spot. The room to the left where the line was, is where the magic dirt is. I know that they bring the dirt in from the nearby hills, so I’m guessing the dirt that I got was the same.

      About a week later I read how to best use the dirt, so I lit some candles, said a prayer, and rubbed the dirt on my hip (that’s the ailment that’s given the most problems in my life). The next morning I still noticed hip pain… But I am suspending my judgement as I want to believe that it will work. I strongly believe in the healing power of our minds and of magic healing dirt as being a possibility for healing (and honestly…nothing else has worked for me.) I wonder if a combination of the magic healing dirt and doing my physical therapy exercises more regularly, could help cure my chronic hip pain. Another option would be to go back to the Santuario de Chimayo and (using the bathroom before…) getting the dirt from the correct spot. Perhaps the priest blesses it and infuses it with even more magic that will help my problems go away  ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘