The rest of the day

After breakfast we drove about 5 miles to the flea market north of Santa Fe. The flea market just opened for the season about 3 weeks ago and not all the vendors were set up yet. It was cold and windy, but we managed to do some shopping.

We returned to town and did some walking around. Old Town Santa Fe is much like Old Town Albuquerque. Shops and restaurants surround a central square with monuments and museums close by. Indian vendors and other artists come every day to sell their wares. The best bargains are at the square. The shops are more upscale (expensive) and rarely negotiate on price. Everyone was friendly though.











A monument in the square memorializes the Santa Fe Trail. A wagon trail starting in Independence, MO, and ending in Santa Fe, NM.

This is a magnificent cathedral and museum situated at the end of a street in Old Town.

After doing some sightseeing, we had lunch in a small Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. We made our way back to the condo shopping at the street vendor area and window shopping in some of the upscale stores.

By the time we got back, my feet were sore again.

We stayed in tonight, snacked on apples and cheese then split a Tres Leches piece of cake we bought yesterday at Whole Foods. We watched a movie about the life of Georgia O'Keeffe in preparation for a visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. We'll probably walk there tomorrow as it is only 5 blocks away.

If it's Sunday

Normally, our Sunday mornings consist of watching the morning news shows: Sunday Morning, Face the Nation, Meet the Press ("If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press."), and Fareed Zakaria's GPS. Today was similar, except we missed Fareed's show because we don't have a recorder here. Also, we didn't have ranch chores to do. To be honest, Dennis usually does the ranch chores on Sunday, but not today.

We thought we would start the day conservatively with breakfast foods we bought yesterday at Whole Foods. Dennis had fresh berries and granola and I had yogurt, berries and granola. A good start.

Billy the Kid Slept Here

There's a plaque on the outside of our time share, Otra Vez en Santa Fe, commemorating the three-month stay of Billy the Kid during the winter of 1980-81. At that time, the structure was a miserable windowless one-room adobe building serving as the Santa Fe, NM, county jail. Today, however, Otra Vez offers lovely vacation-stay units in the heart of Old Santa Fe.  

We started our vacation at 3:30 a.m., waking up very early to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Albuquerque, NM. The San Diego airport is about an hour away and we have ranch chores, thus the early rise time. Also, I always like to start early so I have time to remember everything I forgot the night before. As it turned out, I forgot my Kindle (yikes!) as well as my wrist-zapper that keeps me from getting motion sickness. Not a very good start. 

After negotiating the airport gauntlet, we had an easy 1-1/2-hour flight to Albuquerque. We left cold, rainy weather in San Diego to arrive in a warm, sunny climate. Why did I pack all those sweaters? 

We had a spicy Mexican breakfast at Little Anita's Mexican Restaurant in Old Town Albuquerque then took a leisurely walk around the town square.  

Our first stop was across the street to visit the Candy Lady, ostensibly to pick up a walking map of Old Town. However, once there, Dennis engaged the owner in a discussion of "hot" chocolates, chocolate candy with hot seasoning. He tasted a couple and bought several. I picked out one peanut butter chocolate and 8 red vines. We haven't eaten any yet. We did do some shopping as we strolled around the square. You can hardly not buy anything since the square is surrounded with boutique shops featuring jewelry, clothing, and food. 

We ran across two shops where I had purchased beads online: Sun Country Beads and New Mexico Bead and Fetish. Dennis was very patient.

Then we took some photos of the cathedral, park and the many bronze statues associated with the museums in the area.

Exhausted from marathon shopping and sightseeing, we took off in our rented Liberty Jeep and headed north to Santa Fe. On the way, we passed a sign for the Sandia Peak Tram, touted as the longest tram in the world. We saw the little white dots (trams) going up and down the mountain. Dennis declared he'd "always wanted to ride that tram." I said, "Huh?" No way. "But look at the view," he said. I looked and saw an expanse of brown nothing. No thanks, I'm not risking my life for that. We just got off an airplane that was way, way up there. I'm done. Well, maybe we'll go back later in the week and take the tram at night, have dinner at the fine restaurant on top (at 10,000 feet) and at least see a view of twinkling lights. Sigh.

Onward another half-hour to Santa Fe, where we checked into our time-share condo. Turned out it was a 2-bedroom rather than the 1-bedroom we expected. We're on the corner and there's a bookstore below us! Yea. We are surrounded by shops and restaurants all within walking distance. This will be a fun week. We are happy with our accommodations, compact but nicely appointed in the southwest style.

We unloaded the car and unpacked our stuff, then took advantage of the good weather and sunlight to walk about 1 mile to Whole Foods to pick up some odds and ends. My feet were sqawking after the 2 mile walk, but in about a half-hour, Dennis suggested we walk about the area and have a light dinner. So off again. We had dinner a couple of blocks away in the tiny Burro Alley bakery/cafe. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food there. We split a 3-cheese salad and had French onion soup, both of which were delicious. They kicked us out at closing time (8 o'clock), but were very nice about it. Down the street we found a performing arts theatre. It was closed, but we looked at the posters and found we had just missed Arlo Guthrie. Oh, well.

At last we arrived back "home" and were able to kick off our shoes and relax with a movie Dennis had recorded on his iPhone. We watched The Fighter, which was a pretty good flick. Actually, I watched it while Dennis took a nap on the sofa. Just like home. After the movie, to bed. Finally.