We took our vacation in New Mexico. we spent three nights in Santa Fe, one night in Carlsbad, and another three in Albuquerque. Things ended up positively, though I think I enjoyed the trip slightly more than abby did. New Mexico offers many opportunities to enjoy nature, so that made me happy. Abby was interested in little more than food, beer, and sun.
Santa Fe was the low point on the trip. Possibly because it didn't match our ill-conceived expecations. We weren't quite sure what to expect out of New Mexico. By the time we got to Albuquerque we were a little better adapted.
So Santa Fe.... an artsy, small town center, surrounded by a second tier city. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the place. It defies categorization. Much of the city seemed run-down and blue collar. The rest seemed quaint, and eccentric. Then throw in a suburban shopping complex in there and that's Santa Fe.
We had our first taste of "New Mexican" food in Santa Fe. As best I can tell New Mexican food is distinguished from "Authentic" Mexican food by its heavy dependence on Red/Green chilies, cheddar and jack cheese and pinto beans. Also, a basket of hot sopapillas w/ honey is as obligatory as chips and salsa. It's good food, but just different than the Mexican food we get here in the midwest.
Abby was expecting to eat traditional mexican food out there so while she enjoyed most of the restaurants on a meal-to-meal basis, she was disappointed with the food selection at large.
Santa Fe did offer some nice Outdoor opportunities. Day one was a trip to Bandalier National Monument. Bandalier is a park built around an ancient native american settlement. Bonus historical content for Kirk! Day two was a short drive to Hyde State Park which nearly killed us with a stiff 1000ft elevation gain in
It took a four hour drive to get to Carlsbad Caverns (not including a brief stop in Roswell to visit the UFO museum) but it was worth it. The Caverns are more immediately impressive than the Grand Canyon as far as geological formations go. And only slightly less mind-blowing. I highly recommend visiting. It's even kid-friendly--actually, too kid-friendly for abby and my tastes. I think the child-centric approach taken by the park rangers ruined abby's impression. She was so annoyed after our guided tour that she more-or-less ignored the hike through the Big Room. Once we were on our way back to civilization she finally realized how impressive it all was. In retrospect, I think both would have preferred to spend another day in the park.
Albuquerque is a cool city. Or at least we were able to more easily find things to enjoy about it. Good food, good beer, easily navigable city streets all over-shadowed by a near-by mountain. We planned on taking the tram on our last night in town but it was not operating that day because of high winds. I was bummed. Fortunately we bumped head first into a great New Mexican restaurant on our way back to the hotel so not all was woe.
I got to try out a couple of my new toys on the trip. First were my new hiking boots/shoes which are effing fantastic. They're purfect for day hikes. Second was my GPS complete with topo maps which arrived in the mail just in time for the trip. I figured out how to make the GPS do route calculation complete with E.T.A. and turn-by-turn directions. Unfortunately the roads on the topo maps couldn't be used for these directions, but the maps came in handy on the steep hike in Hyde Park. And the extra roads included saved us once when we missed a turn in Roswell. I love that thing. I can't wait to get better street maps and a big memory card.
check out the fotos!
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