Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Road Trip!

We're on Spring Break! Hooray! 

Also, the MiL is visiting for the week. The confluence of these events inspired me to suggest a road trip.

This is very out of character for me. I do not like driving long distances--unfortunate, given our location--and I really don't like driving long distances with all of my children. At least one of those children hates the car and has since he was an infant, which is challenging.

But I do really want to see Chimayo.

Chimayo (accent and spoken emphasis on the "o") is a somewhat famous Catholic pilgrimage site in the mountains north of Santa Fe. During Holy Week--the week leading up to Easter--many thousands of people travel there, some walking for days, some on their knees.

I want nothing to do with those sorts of crowds, but I did think it would be an appropriate place to visit in Lent.

It's going to take us probably a bit over three hours to get there. The plan is to stop where we turn off the main road and unload everyone who can walk so they can do a mini-pilgrimage to the church. It's about three miles, which I think is about as far as our youngest family member will want to be a pilgrim. I'll drive the one child who can't walk the rest of the way.

Despite the distance and the no doubt unhappy children we will have at some point during the day, I am looking forward to it. And I promise to take some pictures and tell you all about it tomorrow. Or possibly the next day, depending on how long it takes me to recover.


The photo is totally appropriate to the topic at hand, because that's our church behind the rusty racks, boards, and barbed wire on the F-250 that I had to drive on Sunday.

P.S. We will, of course, be taking some time in the sanctuary to pray. So if you have any intentions you would like me to pray for, go ahead and put them in the comments, anonymously if you want, and I'll do that.


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12 comments:

  1. mbmom11March 12, 2024 at 5:54 AM

    Could you please add prayers for N and P for me? And my niece, J, recently diagnosed with lymphoma. Thank you. I'll add a prayer for your sons healing when I get to church thus week- St Crescent can handle tornados; I bet he wouldn't mind adding some intervention for a healing foot!

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  2. AnonymousMarch 12, 2024 at 7:52 AM

    Can't wait to see the pictures from your adventure.
    Linda

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  3. samcarterMarch 12, 2024 at 8:18 AM

    Good luck! We recently took a road trip from Ohio to Florida (15 hours driving, not counting stops and an overnight stop in Georgia) with our twelve year old. No DVDs or game devices in the backseat. I was wondering how he would do, but he did fine, when he got bored he just laid down in the backseat and took a nap. We stopped whenever he wanted to, I hasten to add, for bathroom or food stops.

    I used to not like driving long distances, but we started boycotting flying before Covid and decided if we really wanted to go somewhere, we'd suck it up. We've driven out to Massachusetts and quite often down to Atlanta to visit family, and by now the discussions are like this: "So it's about 8 hours to get there." "Oh, that's not bad, not like the 10 hours to get out to New Jersey." "I know! We'll be there by dinnertime."

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  4. AnonymousMarch 12, 2024 at 8:37 AM

    I have not heard of this pilgrimage site and look forward to any photos and hearing about it. How generous of you to offer to pray for our intentions. We are Catholic and your kindness means a lot. I'd like to ask that you pray for peace for my mom as she enters the final stages of Parkinson's Disease, and also for my husband and I that we can both conceive and, this time, carry a baby full term. Thank you again and I'm praying for your family's pilgrimage. I'm sure your children will remember it.

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    Replies
    1. mbmom11March 12, 2024 at 2:34 PM

      I'll add your intentions to my prayers as well.

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  5. Gemma's personMarch 12, 2024 at 1:08 PM

    For my spirit, and my husband's soul. Thank you.

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  6. Tu mereMarch 12, 2024 at 1:38 PM

    What a phenomenal thing to do. You’re definitely working your way toward sainthood. Seriously, couldn’t be more proud of your commitment to your families faith!

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  7. MableMarch 12, 2024 at 2:29 PM

    I look forward to the pictures. Please put me in your prayers, that my lung disease shows some improvement instead of a continued decline. Thank you.

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  8. AnonymousMarch 12, 2024 at 4:33 PM

    I’ve been reading you a long time but have never commented. My husband and I visited Sanctuario de Chimayo a few years ago. It was beautiful and moving. This is what I wrote about it in case anyone cares to read it. https://marybethdanielson.com/content/santuario-de-chimayo-wednesday-morning

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  9. MeiMarch 12, 2024 at 4:52 PM

    I love road trips. We were going to rent an RV and drive to the east coast from Portland before heading for Spain but our scheduling will not allow it. I suppose I will just have to enjoy one through you.

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  10. TMarch 12, 2024 at 5:48 PM

    I’ll pray for these intentions also. My prayer that whatever the outcome is for my daughter’s child that she ,her husband and our entire family have peace.

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  11. TammyMarch 12, 2024 at 8:30 PM

    For my 15 yr old autistic son, and his future. I have cancer, his daddy died last year. Thank you!

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