ANTICS AND ADVENTURES OF AN UPPITY WOMAN: GEORGIA O'KEEFFE COUNTRY

THE ROAD FROM LAKE ABIQUIU TO GHOST RANCH

The stunning landscape of Highway 84 between Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch -- hard to keep my eyes on the road straight ahead! Good thing wide spots were plentiful.

GHOST RANCH

I did not take any formal tours or venture beyond main roads. Visiting the museums and wandering around its low-key, tranquil grounds consumed an entire day, enough to sooth my tired old self!

Briefly, Ghost Ranch was originally a 1930's dude ranch that was eventually sold to the Pack family. After renting Pack's home for years, O'Keeffe purchased the house and seven acres from Pack and used it as her Summer home. In 1945 O'Keeffe bought a crumbling adobe on three acres in the village of Abiquiu, not too many miles down the road from Ghost Ranch, for use as her Winter home. She set about restoring the Abiquiu parcel and in the meantime, the Pack Family sold Ghost Ranch to the Presbyterian Church.

Ghost Ranch has been used as a conference center and spiritual retreat since the mid-1950's, but O'Keeffe's homestead there is on private property and not open to the public or included in any Ghost Ranch tours. As mentioned in Part I, O'Keeffe's Abiquiu home and studio is currently managed by the O'Keeffe foundation and is open for tours as is the O'Keeffe Museum in Old Town Santa Fe: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org

Exquisite surround-views from the Welcome Center. It's no wonder this is a place for reflection and spiritual renewal.

We are now entering the Interfaith Peace Garden...

...where an imaginative, ceramic 35-foot long mural adorns one side of the building.

The mural, River of Peace, incorporates spiritual symbols from around the world and poems and wishes quoted from a variety of sources. Click to enlarge to see if you recognize any contributors.

The inviting door to one of Ghost Ranch's two museums.

In a smaller form in California and Nevada, this flower is known as "Prairie Smoke" or "Old Man's Beard." This planting was enormous; it may not be the same plant, but it's certainly related.

The Pedernal (*again*!) from Ghost Ranch. It's said O'Keeffe's ashes are spread here. Its unique mesa dominates the landscape for miles and miles around.