The first leg of our trip – easy flights on Saturday to Santa Fe, where we’ll get acclimated to the altitude then head on west for more oxygen deprived sight-seeing. Flew in to Albuquerque, grabbed the car and made it to Santa Fe by 7 (of course that’s 9pm our body time – so we’re not exactly chipper and fresh!). Hit the grocery store – stocked up on the essentials (yep – beer and wine! Remember – we’re going to Utah – and while they’ve recently changed the laws – we’re still not convinced we’ll be able to drink or buy anything beyond 3.2 beer there – so we’re not taking any chances!!!).
Hit the hotel, the shower then made our way old town to the Inn at Loretta. It’s adobe, it’s right off the plaza, and they have this great lobby bar called the “living room” where on Saturday nights they have tapas specials and an acoustic guitarist singing pop/rock hits. Great way to start our trip! Lamb sliders, Buffalo sliders, wine, beer. Too fun! But too late! We’re exhausted, so it’s off to bed we go on a Saturday night.
On the way home, we plug the hotel address into Alice (Al-ee-chey in Italian – our pet name for the GPS) – and the darn thing took us to the highway to get home? What? We didn’t follow it, and ended up going through speed bump alley to get home – but there is definitely a more direct route from the Old Town to our hotel. (every day though, FYI, “she” sent us to the highway from Old Town – there is a serious glitch here!!!).
Sunday dawns bright and early – because of course, we’re still on EST! Ed goes to the gym, Cathy to go run on the trail that follows the railroad. Uh, yeah, duh! Altitude!!! So, that’s why it feels like Cathy’s having a heart attack and can’t run more than 100 yards at a time. Dope! But , the run – now a walk – is still fun –following an arroyo under the road and to the RR tracks, then walking the paths. Will be even better when we have our “lungs” in shape.
We’re taking it easy today – after coffee, we head to old town to wander through the Memorial Day craft show on the plaza near the cathedral. We meander through the streets ending up at Cowgirls for their Sunday Gospel brunch – which is just too fun. Ordered too much food – as usual – but enjoyed sitting in the shade listening to the music and passing the time. Explored the Railyard complex (the old sightseeing train leaves from there, and there is a redevelopment going on – 2nd Street Brewery has a location and there are 1 BR lofts on the market as well) Hit a local craft market, then headed back to the main Plaza to grab the car and head back to hotel.
Dinner tonight is a low key affair at one of the fun bars in town. Wings and Burgers at Del Charro. The “Saloon” at the Inn of the Governors. It’s a great little hang out joint with good food, flat screen TV’s and a great local crowd. Nice way to spend a Sunday night! After dinner we head back to the hotel (on the highway – thanks Alice!) and take our drinks out to the little arroyo at the back of the parking lot so we can sit outside with our night caps. Gorgeous night, great town. How fun!
Monday – Ed’s big Birthday!!! We’re up and out and hiking in the early morning. Hit the Dale Ball trails – a huge complex of trails all over the Sangre de Cristo mountains. After the Dale Ball trails, we head up into the mountains a little further to hike the Chamisa trail that eventually leads to a pond/lake across the ridge of the mountains. We didn’t quite make it that far, but we did make it all the way to the ridge.
On the way down, we were passed by two mountain bikers! How in the world do they stay on those little trails? No way Jose! We also rounded a corner to be confronted by this huge black curly haired thing – which Cathy immediately asked “that big black thing is a dog, right?” I mean, come on! We are in the wilderness, there is a big black animal on the path and there is no other human in sight! Of course Ed thought that was funny – and yes – it was a dog – the human owner showed up shortly – but still…..
Hiking didn’t take us as long as we anticipated, so we head off to find the Pecos National Historical Park, about 25 minutes away. Here, there is an easy trail that winds through the ruins of an old Pueblo and church from the Spanish missions. There are over 20 Kivas here- ceremonial pits, where the Puebloan people communed with spirits. They’ve reconstructed 2 Kiva, so you can climb down into them. Pretty cool, actually! All in all, it’s a fabulous site – and our first National Park! We bought a little “Passport book”, so now we can get stamps at every National Park to record our visits.
Back to cool off and shower, then on to Ed’s Birthday dinner! He had picked a great tapas restaurant we had read about, and is rated really highly - La Boca. Sitting one long block off of the Plaza in Old Town, this little restaurant is packed – with lines forming outside to get in. Great food, atmosphere and service. So glad we made reservations though – we would have been doomed to walk the sidewalks waiting for a table without them. After dinner – we hung out on the 2nd floor open air balcony of the Marble Brewery for beer and coffee and watched the happenings on the Old Town Plaza below. Fun night, great times, happy birthday to Ed!
Click here for all 3 days worth of pictures.
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