kahunaburger

Friday morning Betty, Sieglinde, Jim and Peter (our parents) were in for a special treat: Judy and Bill Manns invited us over for breakfast and we gladly accepted. Little did they know they would get a tour of one of the most unique homes in Santa Fe plus a first class breakfast at a historic cabin.

When Judy and Bill heard that both of our parents would be in town they didn’t wait a second to extend an invitation for breakfast at their home for all of us.
Bill made us promise not to tell our parents exactly where they were going this Friday morning and so we could only hint that it was a “unique location”.

At 8:30am we left our home and took two cars to get to the Manns place. It’s all the way on the south end of town and it would take us almost 30 mins to get there. I was driving with my parents, while Jim took the little Jeep to bring Betty and Candice there.

When we started ascending “Happy Trails”, my parents began to wonder where we would end up, but when we hit the top of the hill and they saw the cabin that our hosts had rebuilt there, for a moment they tought they were in Disneyland.

At the cabin

The old cabin was transported over 40 miles to the top of the hill and rebuilt. It is as comfortable as it can possibly be and looks like something that was taken right out of a dream. No wonder, it was featured in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper on September 1st this year (besides numerous publications in other newspapers and magazines).

Judy and Bill prepared a typical American breakfast with fresh pancakes, fruit, maple syrup, bacon, orange juice and “damned good coffee” (wonder, who gets this one).

Cabin breakfast

During breakfast we are treated with the most incredible view towards Pecos: Trees as far as the eye can see. While we have breakfast our dog Frisco and Judy/Bill’s dog Bear enjoy the coolness of the wet earth next to the cabin:

Bear cooling down

Some may have thought that this was already a real treat, but when we got up after breakfast and walk over to the main house things were “turned up yet another notch” (everybody will get this one).
I remember my parents saying “Is this a museum?” when they enter the residence. Judy and Bill have the most unique collection of everything Western that one can imagine. Besides saddles, spurs, Indian relics and an incredible collection of Swastika symbols, they also collect carousel horses which turn their home into something that really looks like a museum.

The visitors get dressed up, before they can proceed upstairs:

Dressing up

As we reach the top of the stairs and get the first glimpse of the living room, we can only imagine the view from the balcony. We step out and I *KNOW* the view is breath-taking, because even my dad is stunned and can’t talk for a few moments. Two-hundred miles in every direction. No trees, no mountains obstructing the view at 180 degrees. This is truly amazing and we spend a long time on the balcony absorbing view-credits for the days in less fortunate areas.

What a view!

Judy and Candice

Cowgirl

But that’s not enough - Bill does what he seems to enjoy quite a lot: He takes the visitors on a tour of the rest of his home and has a story for every single item in his home. No room is entered without at least one “Uhhhh!” or “Ahhhh!” from our parents.

Bill touring the guests

We see all the rooms upstairs and end up in the office on the lower level, where Bill talks about his books and other publications. I know my Dad is impressed by “Dirty Nelly”, but that’s an insider joke …

Judy and Bill: Thank you so much for hosting our parents this morning. I know it left a lasting impression and will be one of the (if not, THE) highlights on this trip. Soon my whole hometown Aichach in Bavaria will know about you and the great time our parents and us had with you - just wait. A sincere thank you!