Road trip!

Things have finally calmed down, and with an extra day to work this weekend I feel that I have the time pull together a "thorough-ish" report about our road trip to New Mexico.  

The trip began on a Thursday, after Matt had been to the car dealership for a tune up and some new brakes...after all, his Jeep would take us 2,500 miles in the course of the next 10 days.  We piled up the car, created a comfy sleeping spot for the Syd, and were off.  Within a few hours we found ourselves in a land as hot as Hades (aka "El Centro, CA") for lunch, and ended in Tucson around dinnertime. 

We checked into the sweet little copper house (featured as an architectural wonder in the magazine, "Sunset" a few years back) we rented, and headed out for dinner at a pseudo-Chicago-style pizza joint.  It was a'right.  

Syd had no problem being left behind in the cool (literally) pad, so the next day we departed early not fearing for her comfort in the least.  We spent a good portion of the day walking around the University of Arizona's campus, and having lunch in the little downtown.  Afterwards we toured the Sonoran Desert Museum, running through the exhibits before it closed.  We stopped for a Dairy Queen Nutter Butter blizzard (yum) on our way home.  After all, aren't vacation and Summer all about ruining your appetite with ice cream?!  We ate a late dinner at a recommended local Taco Shop, packed with the area's Hispanic population.

 

The next morning we toured the Titan Missile Museum, catching some views of the missile that could have been released during the Cold War.  It was definitely more Matt's thing than mine, but kind of interesting nonetheless.  The remainder of the day was spent in the car, as we headed to our stop for the night - Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We ate dinner at a recommended restaurant, the Adobe Cafe, featuring New Mexican cuisine, and got our first tastes of the amazing NM green chile!

The control room - awaiting the President's orders to blast the missile to Russia!

The head of the missile

 

Frito Pie

Back on the road, the following morning we headed toward Albuquerque.  Toward the end of the afternoon we stopped at a 1960's diner along Historic Route 66, and enjoyed some milkshakes and Frito Pie (basically chili cheese nachos made with Fritos).  Surprisingly, it was pretty good...in fact, I'm craving some as I type. We ended the night by arriving at our B&B in Santa Fe, and hitting the hay.

The next day was all about walking downtown Santa Fe to catch the sights.  The city is incredibly charming with the right amount of upscale shopping, gourmet restaurant choices, culture and over-the-top numbers of art galleries.  Santa Fe is the 4th largest artists' community in the world, behind some lesser known cities such as Paris and New York City!  I would believe it now that I've seen how many art galleries dot the cityscape.  We walked all over town, got drizzled on a bit, and retired back to our accommodations in the late afternoon.  We grabbed Syd and took her with us to dinner at the Cowgirl Cafe, a pretty decent BBQ joint where I enjoyed a Butternut Squash gratin - full of fat, but mighty tasty :0)

The Native New Mexican Indians selling their wares

A famous staircase in a church, believe to have been built by Joseph, the carpenter, himself

We decided to do some hiking the next day, and after a brief stop at the city's Farmer's Market, headed out to the Kasha-Katuwe National Monument (aka "Tent Rocks") to battle some warm weather and the slot canyons.  The hike, itself, was easy, but it was quite hot which made for a challenging excursion.  The views were well worth it though.  

Hot & Sweaty at the top

We ended our day with the purchase of cowboy boots for both of us...

Cute, no?

...and dinner made back in the kitchen of our adobe house at the B&B.  Syd enjoyed the fact that we were back with her for the evening.

The next day we decided to take the High Road route up to the ski village of Taos (we used this review to guide us).  We stopped at a few spots along the way, including El Santuario de Chimayo, which is believed to hold special healing powers in its soil.  I rubbed some on Sydney in hopes that it might cure her of her seizure disorder.  We also stopped for lunch at Sugar Nymphs Bistro in the mountain community of Penasco.  It was a dual cafe and performance theater, and an acrobatic performance troupe was in session while we ate.  It would have been fun to stick around for their show, but we didn't have the time.  

El Santuario de Chimayo

Syd enjoyed some lunch at the cafe too

When we finally arrived to Taos, we decided to tour the Taos Pueblo, currently occupied by the Pueblo Indians.  Most residents were on holiday, but it was still interesting to see how some can still live without modern luxuries like running water and electricity! 

 

On our way back we stopped to view the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge.  It provided interesting sights, and a good preview of what we'd eventually see near the Grand Canyon.  Sydney had a seizure in the car while we were parked in the lot near the bridge, so my chapel soil didn't seem to help.  As usual, it was mild and fast, and she recovered quickly as if nothing had happened.  We hope that if they continue, they will still be mild like this.

The Rio Grande down below

That evening we went to dinner at a highly recommended Santa Fe restaurant, La Choza, whose sister restaurant (The Shed) in town is one of the city's fanciest.  We really enjoyed our meals and I would highly recommend a stop to anyone visiting Santa Fe.

The next morning we rose bright & early, heading back toward Arizona.  It was a long day in the car (during which Sydney had yet another seizure = scary!), but we did see some pretty scenery.  Just outside of Flagstaff we stopped at the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest.  They are right next to each other, so stopping for many photos & seeing both only took about 1 hour. We ended the evening in Flagstaff, eating Subway sandwiches, curled up on the bed in our hotel room!

The Painted Desert

Some rock carvings in the Painted Desert

Numerous logs turned to stone

The next morning we rose fairly early and M & I visited Meteor Crater National Monument.  He'd been there as a child, but it was truly unlike anything I'd ever seen.  It was easy to imagine how a meteor leaving behind a crater of this magnitude could cause intense damage, and how a much larger meteor could have led to a mass extinction event.

We checked back in on Sydney half-way through the day, and then headed back out to Sedona to see some red rocks.  I'd never been before, and it was honestly one of the most gorgeous things I'd ever seen.  Sedona has definitely gone on the "possible places to retire" list!  We tried to go on a hike, and are so thankful to have been driving M's Jeep Wrangler with 4-wheel-drive.  The drive toward the trailhead was INSANE, and any non-4WD vehicle could not have made it.  We were even happier to have the Jeep when the skies opened up a short time later.  After ~ 10 minutes of walking from the trailhead, we proceeded to run back to the car before getting completely drenched from a torrential rainstorm.  Had we waited any longer, it was quite likely that the "road" would have been washed out by floods and we might have been swept away with them!  It was pretty dangerous (and stupid <-- we both agreed).  On the way back to our hotel we saw some amazing rainbows!

Scary weather

The result of scary weather :0)

That night we wanted to check out downtown Flagstaff, and decided to take Sydney with us since she'd been sitting in the hotel room all day.  The downtown was so cute & walkable, with tons of activity, foot traffic and nightlife options.  Definitely a great place to spend some time.  

The next day we headed out for the Grand Canyon.  It was a 1.5 hour drive along some side roads.  While driving along I just happened to glance to the left of the car and spotted a brown bear just a few feet away!  Matt turned the car around and we got some great photos since it was only ~ 10 feet away max.  When it started to show a bit more interest in us (and when we recognized that it was still an adolescent) we realized that "Mama Bear" might be close by so zoomed away before there was any incident.  

We stopped at the Grand Canyon for ~ an hour, before it started getting too hot.  Syd loved the views ;0)

 

 

From there we drove on toward our destination - Las Vegas!  Matt had only one thing on his mind while heading toward Sin City, and that was to see a favorite Irish band, Sin e Ri-Ra, perform at Nine Fine Irishmen in the MGM Grand.  Matt has talked about taking me to see this band for the last 3 years, and finally we had our chance!  After getting settled at our hotel, he and I headed out in the 100+ degree heat (it was really hot) of the night-time heading straight there.  Wouldn't you know though that when we arrived we found out that the band was on vacation?!?  Matt was incredibly bummed, but we went inside anyway and ate some yummy Irish dinner while listening to the replacement band, which I'm told is nowhere near as good.


The next day we departed for home, and while just outside of the city our car's AC started acting all wonky.  The hottest part of the trip and NOW the air-conditioning goes out?  I mean, really...


Nonetheless, we made it home sweaty and ready to be out of the car after battling some serious Sunday "Vegas to SoCal" traffic.  

It was a great trip and we hope you enjoy the recap!