Saturday, May 14

We wake up very cold, and after getting out of bed we discover that the electric cabin heater works, even thought we were told it was disconnected.  Better late than never!  We hang around the cabin, and Caryn makes chili and rice for lunch.  In the afternoon, we drive back to downtown Santa Fe, visit Whole Foods Market, then over to Tomasitas for dinner.  There is a one-hour wait, so we get a pager, and head outside to check out the old trains.  A rainstorm comes up, followed by a rainbow, and some crazy light.  After dinner it’s back to the cabin, where we break out the second sleeping bag, and prepare for a cold night.

Sunday May 15

We’re up early, and prepare to head downtown for the NATJA conference.  After half the car is packed, Mary discovers that the right rear tire is flat.  After determining the tire has 9 pounds of pressure, she comes to grips with the fact that she will indeed be needing the spare tire, which is only accessible by removing the bed and sub floor from the van.  Not exactly what we had planned on, but at least we have a place to pile our stuff.

Caryn inquires at the office as to where we might get the tire fixed, and returns with a list of some possibilities. She determines that Firestone opens at 10am, and that it would be best for Mary to take the car to have the tire patched, while she stayed at the campground, with all the belongings.  It was a good plan, and we had the tire patched, reloaded the car and were on our way by noon. 

We stop for a nice salad at Whole Foods, then check into the Eldorado Hotel, and relaxed for a while until it was time for NATJA registration, followed by cocktail hour and dinner.  After dinner, the keynote speaker was Sally Jessy Rafael, whose appearance had changed a bit, including having bright red hair, but she still has the soothing voice I remember. It was a thrill to see her in person. Say what you like about Oprah, but I grew up on Sally Jessy.  She was quite funny, and during her talk, we learned that she has two affenpinscher dogs, one of which is named Nissa, which is the name of Amy Floren’s newest cat.  Sally held up a NATJA member we had not met before - his name is Kampari, and he does have his own business cards.  After dinner we retire to our room, and rest up for a big day.

 

Monday May 16

Today is the first full day of the NATJA conference, and we begin by having a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs wrapped in a tortilla, with some green chili sauce at TIA’s, a local coffee shop.  Then it’s over to the conference, where we attend a panel discussion of editors who hire freelancers.  After this, we sit in on the digital photography class, where Steve Ross gives a great, informative presentation of digital photography.  When questions arise, Caryn and I are invited to give responses, along with the Ross’s, and Bob Malish from Canon.  The class is quite good, and we all get rave reviews.

After a box lunch, our afternoon session is a visit to the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Where we attend a cooking demonstration given by Chef Daniel ???, who cooks up some great red and green chili, along with home made tortillas and guacamole.  It’s a good presentation, but we were expecting a bit more “hands on”.  Also, it’s very crowded, and hard to take photos, but we do leave with “belly full”.

After a quick shower, it’s off to the digital photography panel discussion, where Caryn and I are panelists.  Also on the panel are Michael DeFreitas, Nancy Ross, Steve Ross, and Bob Malish.  We begin by introducing ourselves, and then field questions from the attendees for the next hour.  It goes quite well.  The attendance is standing room only, and the questions keep coming.  When the time comes to wrap it up, we get lots of positive comments from many of the attendees.  Also, throughout the rest of the conference people come up to us and comment how much they learned from the panel discussion.  We’re all quite pleased. 

Tonight for dinner NATJA has arranged a “Dine Around”, whereby we have a credit at several restaurants, and we choose the O’Keefe Cafe, at the Georgia O’Keefe museum.  Bob Malish joins Caryn and me for a delicious leisurely dinner, and get caught up on old friends, and new occurrences.  It was a very nice evening.

Tuesday, May 17

Caryn and I have another quick breakfast wrap at TIA’s, and then attend the very informative NATJA benefits seminar given by Elizabeth Beshear, the executive director.  After this seminar, it’s off to visit the NATJA MARKETPLACE, where we can visit with many CVB’s and travel destinations.  We also score some schwag, the highlights of which are a few t-shirts, and a teddy bear from KOA, wearing a yellow fuzzy.  Another box lunch, and it’s off on the afternoon photo tour of Santa Fe.  The weather is good, and we enjoy wandering the city and taking photos.  Walking down one street we meet a woman with a Jack Russell, and in the courtyard of her home we spot another Jack, going nuts in a kiddie pool.  We ask permission, then enter the courtyard to met and photograph Jezabell?, who, we’re told, will dig in the pool until all the water is gone, and needs to be refilled, at which point she starts all over again.

Finally we’re exhausted, so we split off from the group, and head over to the Blue Corn Cafe, for some chips and sopapillas.  The sopapillas are stale, and actually crack when you try to break them, but we eat them anyway.  A little honey makes almost anything edible.

Tonight’s farewell dinner is at the Gerald Peters Gallery, and we have a nice salmon and salad dinner.  We sit with Nancy and Steve Ross, Peter and Heddy Rose, and Dave Houser, a nice photographer fellow who’s name Mary knows from some motor home magazines she subscribes to.  After dinner Mary and Dave discuss motor homes, and she learns that Winnebago is making a motor home on the Sprinter platform, now that the Rialta is being discontinued.  At the conclusion of the evening, we learn that next year the NATJA conference will take place in Stowe, VT in late May.  Sounds good.