Santa Fe Arrival

---

Our flights were uneventful, but since I love flying I was glad to be back in the air.

Our flight from Bakersfield was delayed so we hurried to our next gate in L.A. only to discover that we had a good 30 minutes before boarding. There was enough time to pick up a cappuccino at the Coffee Bean by our gate and I sure needed that after 4 hours of no coffee. Since we made sandwiches and packaged up snacks so we had plenty to eat.

In Albuquerque, as a preferred Avis renter I was able to go straight to my car without having to go thru the nonsense at the counter. You just go to the kiosk by the cars, look at the board, find your name with the car stall number, get in the car and go. Because I’m an Avis First member the car was upgraded to a small SUV, very nice!

We are staying at the Villas de Santa Fe. I picked this hotel 1^st because of the location to the Plaza and then because of the price. It is really amazingly reasonable and really nice. It does appear that they are refurbishing the place and there are very few people here. I do hope that they are successful, but they are part of a larger chain so I’m guessing that they will do their best.

We only got the basic room for 2 adults and 2 kids but we have a nice, fully stocked kitchen with dinette table, living room with a sofa bed, easy chair, flat screen TV and fireplace/heater, separate large bedroom and a tiled bathroom. Lots of room and like I say the price is amazing.

We did walk to the plaza and ate at one of our favorite places, The Shed. They do make a gluten free red chili sauce so lots of meals are available. The building is old, I’ll check it out and report on it next time, but it is by the Palace of the Governor’s which is from the 1600’s. But the walls are not straight, doors are low, floors worn so at least it looks old.

The wait time for a table was an hour so we checked out the wine shop a few doors down and had a great conversation with the owners about the local winemakers and growers. We are now sitting in our living room drinking a “Milagro Vineyard’s” 2009 Caberbet Franc. The wine is very rich, peppery, with hints of cherry. Wish we could bring a bottle home but alas, there is not a 4oz bottle available. So we will drink it all!

---

Photos

And We are Off
Ready to board our plane for Santa Fe

A Hungry Teenager
a 14 shrimp dinner for a hungry boy