Santa Fe

            Well, the drive to get to Santa Fe was long and boring for sure, but very worth it!  Santa Fe is a little hidden gem of a town about an hour north of Albuquerque.  It only has a population of about 65,000 but packs the punch of a much larger community based on the town’s diversity, amenities, and artistic talent.  John’s brother was kind enough to let me stay with him and his wife in their darling adobe style home while I did laundry and explored to my heart’s content.   Allison is the VP at the local branch of United Way and David is a retired doctor turned museum tour guide.  They graciously showed me all around their darling town and gave me tips on where to go and what to do.

            Wednesday morning David and I went out to breakfast at Pasqual’s where I had the most delicious whole wheat pancakes ever!!  After, he went to give a museum tour and I explored the town and checked out a museum of my own (not the same one).  When we met up again David offered to come with me while I got my car cleaned and oil changed before Allison and I went for a run, and we finished the day off with a lovely dinner.  The landscape here holds certain ancientness in it.  You can almost feel it when you walk.  Scaling up reddish rocks and crack covered clay beds; it’s so obvious this is a special place.  This land is old, and has been fought over (with good reason) for centuries before it became the Santa Fe we know today.  When you get out into the wilderness here, it says, tread softly, I hold treasures and secrets unknown.  It’s really quite captivating.

            The next day we had a relaxing morning and I tagged along with David to his exercise class (serious thigh work out), which, we followed up with a hike in Santa Fe Ski Basin.  While we were in class I dropped Charlie off at the pet spa seeing as he was far over due for a bath and nail trimming.  He came back all squeaky clean and with a charming little bandana.  Of course he rolled in the first dirt pile he could on our hike, but I suppose dogs will be dogs…

I was a bit worn out after out class and the trail was steep so we didn’t make it all the way to the top, but still got some great views out of it!  Charlie has become fast friends with the Gregory’s dog Sawyer, who is a 5-year-old Wimerotter.  They are just adorable together and seem to agree that the kitchen is the best room in the house.

            The following day I finally got to take myself to the spa!! Charlie and Stella had their turn and now it was mine! I had a foot massage and just relaxed for about 3 hours at a place called 10,000 Waves.  Unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate and we were all booted out of the hot tubs because of the lightning hazard. However, before the weather got out of control earlier in the day, David and I got to go to The Coyote Café for lunch. He had fish tacos and I had grilled veggie tacos and we left the restaurant filled to the brim and talking about how incredibly tasty the meal was! We did a little walking around to help ease our swollen bellies and perused a few ceramic shops and little places around the plaza. 

The next morning I sadly said goodbye and we were off, the tree of us refreshed and rejuvenated, to see if all the Texas hype is really true…