You know my mantra: Say YES! to new adventures. So one came up two weeks ago.

My childhood friend, the Delightful Lee Small, who represents artists, called me.

DL (Delightful Lee): I’m going to Santa Fe next week to celebrate the birthday of a friend and to meet with an artist. Do you want to come?

C: Yes. (I am the easiest travel target ever.)

And so we left Wednesday for a week of what Lee called Social Serendipity, meetings and moments of shared connectivity. Since Lee had spent a lot of time there over the years and Scott and I had been there briefly a few years back, I called it Old Places; New Faces.

We also called it a week of conversation amidst incredible scenery, delicious food, and riotous laughter.

Here’s how it went:

Wednesday: We arrived at the tiny Santa Fe Airport. By tiny I mean it has one arrival gate and one departure gate. The whole thing is not much bigger than my house. I loved it. Nothing has ever been easier.

We immediately went to The Shed for lunch, Lee’s favorite and a Santa Fe fixture. The pozole is delicious.

Then to Kaune’s for groceries. The must-haves: yogurt, granola, cinnamon bread, coffee pods and creamer, wine, Diet Cokes, waters, and charcuterie fixins’. I don’t go anywhere without charcuterie. Or wine.

Then to Lee’s friends’ home, which they had graciously lent us (and their car.) The house was quintessential Santa Fe: adobe in and out, with natural tile floors, amazing artwork, stunning furniture, and TV with streaming apps (which we didn’t turn on until the last night when our jaws hurt from laughing.)

Thursday: We drove to Canyon Road, an enclave of galleries and restaurants and some spectacular (even to my untrained eye) artwork. I took photos up and down the road while Lee met with Peggy McGivern who has a show currently at the GiacobbeFritz Gallery. Coincidentally, we met John, the birthday celebrant, and his friend Nina, both from San Francisco. John is an avid collector. Nina and I sneaked off for a get-acquainted while the others talked art.

Lee and I went to lunch on Canyon Road at The Compound, a revered restaurant which often hosts the Santa Fe glitterati. It was lovely and calm and rather like being in a country club. I highly recommend the French Onion Soup and Wedge Salad.

That night we rejoined John and Nina at Café Pasqual’s and met Roxanne, a well-known Santa Fe artist, and her husband Lloyd. Lee had introduced Roxanne to John years ago in Dallas. As Adam would say, the evening was charmed and also delicious with lively conversation.

Then it snowed.

No one was more surprised than the two girls from Texas who had packed for 50-60 degree weather, not 30.

Friday: We layered. And got into a six-passenger van from Great Southwest Adventures with John and Nina and two women from Indiana for a drive up to El Santuario de Chimayo, north of Santa Fe. Our guide Mark was very knowledgeable and interesting. Every year during Holy Week, thousands of pilgrims will walk all or part of the way from Santa Fe to experience the healing powers of the land there.

We drove.

With stops along the way to see the incredible views of the Rio Grande, mesas, pueblos, and scrappy vegetation that thrives there.

Chimayo consists of a ragtag group of chapels, trading posts and other buildings maintained to support the visitors to the church, which is lovely. There weren’t many visitors when we were there, so it was quiet, but I can’t imagine the area hosting thousands.

We couldn’t enter the church until mass was over. So we went for lunch to The Rancho de Chimayo and stopped at a local weavers (Centenela Traditional Arts) to shop. Then back to the church.

When we entered and sat down to meditate in that holy space, we were interrupted by two workmen on clang-y ladders who turned on a loud vacuum to dust the rafters. This caused an unfortunate Chuckles the Clown moment for me and Lee, and we were forced to make a hasty retreat.

That uncontrollable laughter has been happening to me since Lee and I were at slumber parties in the sixth grade, or in the record aisle at JCPenney, or in the breakroom when we worked at Southwestern Drug.

Anyway, back to Santa Fe. That night we went to get a salad at a sweet restaurant called Vinaigrette, which was necessary after all the Mexican food.

Saturday: We thought we might drive up to Taos for the day, but since we had traveled afar the day before, decided to stay in Santa Fe, which was a great idea. We drove to the Plaza and shopped, allowing me to pick up some souvenirs and small pieces of local art. Then on to lunch at Plaza Cafe. That night we stayed up late with wine and conversation.

Sunday; My cousin Joe and his wife Victoria, who are Santa Fe transplants from Indiana, invited us to brunch at Luminaria, the restaurant connected to the Loretto Chapel with its miraculous staircase. On the way we purchased beautifully illustrated books from Bindlestick Studio.

Brunch was wonderful, served beautifully, and we were able to meet and enjoy getting to know Jay, Victoria and Joe’s son, and his wife Manuela. Afterward we went to Joe and Victoria’s home for another birthday, this one celebrating Manuela. And in another serendipitous connection, Victoria has given tours of the galleries on Canyon Road. Joe is an artist in his own right, making handsome furniture, following in the footsteps of his father, Urvan, my dad’s brother, and my dad Jim, who both crafted furniture (although Urvan was completely blind.)

Monday: We finished off all our leftover food for breakfast and readied the house for its owners. Then we lost ourselves in conversation once again until time to catch our ride to the airport. Our time in Santa Fe was over, but I feel confident Lee and I will travel together again.

Other amazing places and people and adventures await.