New tricks under the sun...for an old dog

Here I am, at 76 (!) and experiencing stuff that I'd refused to do before! Two new things fall into this category just this year—I must not be dead yet.

The adventures I'm referring to are two which I'd previously considered 1) too expensive and 2) too cheesy. But I'm not too big to admit I was wrong!

First up, on our trip to the UK a few months ago, was the London Eye (see my blog post about that day's adventures here). When I was there in 2008, we shunned this souped-up ferris wheel, but now, with grandchildren, we thought it would be worth a go.

And was it ever fun! The great views of London—changing so slowly as you rotate—were just spectacular. Of course, we were fortunate this day as most of our days on that vacation, to have fabulous weather. So the Eye is expensive, but well worth it, I now believe.

Next up was an attraction somewhat closer to home. On a road trip to Colorado with daughter and granddaughters, we spent two nights in Santa Fe to allow a visit to the original Meow Wolf—again, a place I had just thought was not for me.

Was I ever wrong again! It was a blast! All those oddly interconnected rooms, the super-clever art embedded everywhere, the corridors leading to unexpected glorious weirdness—it was so much fun!

This was my favorite room: all the walls are covered in found objects of trash. You can't really see the best examples here (I should have taken more pictures!). But there were old toothbrushes, old cassette tapes, about a billion bottle caps, and so much more.

How long it took the incredibly creative artists to do all this, I can't even imagine! Another example of the amazing Meow Wolf art is at the top of this post.

And here is a shot of a room the kiddos particularly enjoyed...

"Under the Sea"...sort of

We didn't even get into the mystery story that's supposedly embedded in the "house" you wander through. I guess that will have to wait for my next visit. And there are Meow Wolfs in different cities...must sees for me now!

Of course there was lots of other fun to be had in Santa Fe. I particularly enjoyed these pieces of rocky public art:

And monkey grandkids couldn't resist climbing on this one:

This wasn't exactly "public" art, but I was very impressed with this carved doorway in our Airbnb. Isn't it lovely?

I guess the old saw about grandchildren keeping you young is a truism. If they can get me to spend $$ and embark on adventures I had thought were not for me—and end up thoroughly enjoying them. I am for sure one very lucky Gramma!