Last Day in New Mexico

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Snow, snow everywhere! I have been reading for what seems like forever (but in actuality is probably little over a week) about the snow in much of the world and the havoc it’s causing travelers. While we have seen remnants of snow in our walks around Northern New Mexico, and Matthew thought that he felt snowflakes during our hike in Kasha Katuwe, today was the first time that we saw it really snow. (And from talking with family and reading FB posts, it seems like it snowed back home today, too!) Thankfully we are dry enough here that even though the snow fell heavily for a while, nothing was sticking to the road and we were able to continue our last day of driving and touring as planned. Yet now as we sit in the airport and wait for our flight we find that it is delayed. I don’t know where the plane is coming from, but it seems that most planes are delayed arriving in ABQ tonight and so I assume that the rest of the country and world’s bad weather has finally caught up to us. Thankfully we parked at the airport, so no one has to wait up for us. I will be so happy to sleep in my own bed tonight! And be surrounded by my furry babies – I miss them so much!

Today we had a tough time waking up. I think that all of the early mornings + walking and hiking finally caught up to us and we rolled out of bed with the intention of eating and then napping before checking out of our room. Of course eating a delicious breakfast accompanied by several cups of coffee sometimes has a tendency to wake one up, so neither of us wanted to nap by the time we returned to our room. We packed our bags (including the several small bags of ground chile we bought in Chimayo yesterday – my backpack now smells like chile every time I open it and it makes me hungry), looked at the route for the Turquoise Trail from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, and said goodbye to our beautiful room. It was 27 degrees at 10:30AM when we left Santa Fe and the snow was just starting to fall.

The Turquoise Trail is a beautiful, scenic route that winds between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It is not the route one would take if one had a specific time to be at a destination, but with nearly a full day to travel the 60+ miles, it worked well for us. There are a number of small towns and pueblos along the Trail, built over a hundred years ago around different mining ventures in the area. Some towns, like Madrid, have embraced the tourist culture and have set up small, cute, themed shops designed to trap tourists along the main street. Madrid is a far cry from its nearest neighbor, Cerrillos, a town about three miles away. Cerrillos’s claim to fame – and the draw for tourists – is that it looks much the way it did when it was founded over 100 years ago. It was a mining town, and the main business in the town is the one-woman shop that sells minerals, gems, and various jewelry and knickknacks. This shop also hosts the town’s mining museum and a petting zoo. It is located a block off one long dirt road: Main Street. We walked the town, an excursion that lasted less than ten minutes, and concluded that the hype is actually pretty accurate: the town is relatively unchanged. Even some of the houses have outhouses (or the occasional port-a-potty). The fences are branches tied together to keep the donkeys and horses near the adobe huts and out of the dirt roads. It was amazing, almost like going back in time. The one thing keeping us grounded in the present was the occasional glimpse of 20th century vehicles parked haphazardly throughout the town.

Our arrival in Albuquerque was timed to give us a late lunch at our “favorite” little NM restaurant so that we could forgo dinner. These past days have taught us that one New Mexican meal is more than enough for a day. In fact, I think that I may have discovered the one cuisine that will actually keep me full for a 24-hour period (so it is perhaps best not to ask what/how much I am eating). The lunch spot for today was Frontier, a famous cantina across the street from the University of New Mexico. It is run cafeteria-style, open 20 hours a day, and serves hearty American and New Mexican food for prices most college students can afford ($1 tacos, $2 burritos, plates of food for $5-7). We ate quickly and then walked a bit, popping into various stores to browse as we let our meal settle. I can’t decide if I’ve actually gained weight here or if it’s just water retention, but my feet and tummy have decided it’s a good vacation.

Now we are sitting in the airport. About ten feet away is a woman holding a very mellow, very large black cat on her lap. I am jealous. It makes me miss all my babies at home and wish that the plane would arrive so that we could be back home with all the little loves. That is, perhaps, one of the best things about a vacation: coming home to lots of love, pets who are excited and happy – and then ready to take a family nap.

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Photos

Turquoise Trail
Sadly the picture does not show the snow that was falling as we drove the Trail.

Cerrillos
Main Street in an old mining town.

Ha!
Someone has a sense of humor! This sign was on a shop in Madrid.