As July leans towards August, I can’t help but wonder how we’ve arrived well past the mid-point of the year! I suppose that my attitude has tinged towards the negative as injuries, surgeries and rehab have shaped so many months. However, I shouldn’t bitch and moan all THAT much, as I’ve looked forward to different markers and have more than enjoyed some experiences vicariously (such as the Tour de France and the Women’s World Cup) and also through experiences of my very own!
While this was months ago, Michael and I spent a wonderful week traveling through the Southwest – Tucson for a family wedding, Santa Fe for our own enjoyment. It felt like YEARS since we’d been on the open road together. While this isn’t quite true, I love a good road trip. May was a particularly wonderful time to spend in that part of the world, in no small part thanks to a later-than-usual spring. In fact, as we started our trip south to New Mexico on May 23rd, we did so with care as it had snowed considerably the night before and the highways were still a bit of a mess! Still, the roads soon cleared and we enjoyed the trip south. Most of our recent travels to New Mexico have taken us to Taos, so we were looking forward to a stint in Santa Fe. After that brief visit, it left us already plotting our next venture to this area, since we weren’t able to do and see as much as we’d like.
Still, no complaints about what we were able to do! We focused mainly on the downtown/Plaza area. We stayed in a little adobe “casita” that was close enough to the plaza that we walked to most places. While Santa Fe does offer a variety of experiences, we spent most of the time in town admiring art and churches and the cathedral (which can be considered art, I know!). The Georgia O’Keefe Museum was our first stop once we arrived in town. I would describe it as a “small gem” – while it doesn’t hold a huge collection, it certainly gives you an appreciation for her, as an artist and a person. Also, confession – I used to think that some of her work was a little… Oh, cheesy, but a few years ago, we were in New Mexico and it was dawn, and the colors were JUST what she painted, and I felt like, for the first time, I understood her work. Not that anyone else cares, but I did! Since then, I’ve been quite the O’Keefe fan and have appreciated her vision of the world – certainly of the Southwest. The other museum that we visited was the New Mexico Museum of Art which seemed to be between exhibits, although we really enjoyed an exhibit that focused on Lake Powell and the now-destroyed Glen Canyon. The New Mexico Museum of Art, like so much of Santa Fe, was a beautiful adobe – and the courtyard’s hanging chiles were wonderful!
As I said, Michael might have appreciated the churches more than I, but they were beautiful – most tended to a simple, colonial style. The cathedral of San Francisco and the Santuario of the Virgin of Guadalupe both reflect the syncretism of the Southwest, mixing Spanish and indigenous styles and beliefs. While not very religious myself, there is something spiritual about these churches and I do love their simplicity.
In between our visits to formal museums and churches, we poked around in a dozen or so galleries, shops and bookstores. Santa Fe offers plenty to those who come with an eye for something typically southwestern or more interesting. Perhaps the funniest exchange was from a jewelry salesman who seemed to think that we’d be motivated to spend money once he mentioned that Drew Barrymore had purchased a few items from him. Too bad, it didn’t work! We then took a break from the Plaza area and headed to the hills. Still a bit unstable, I wasn’t up for a long, hard hike, but I hoped that my body would cooperate enough to hit some dirt. We easily found the Dale Ball Trails system, and spent a good part of the afternoon taking in the views. It sort of reminded me of hiking in Boulder or LA – the trails are great but you don’t feel THAT disconnected from civilization. Not that this is always a bad thing, and I wasn’t complaining since it was just too nice to actually be outside (!), hiking (!). And I’ll mention that the views weren’t too bad either – that southwest landscape is just so beautiful, especially with the dessert blooms!
Probably the other major activity in Santa Fe – for us, at least – was EATING! It seems hard to go wrong in terms of food. We ate some meals in our little casita, but we definitely sampled local fare. Sadly, we missed the farmer’s market on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop us from sampling our way through plenty of different places. Tuesday night, we stuck to casual fare at La Choza, which means “The Shack” in Spanish (and they have another restaurant that IS called “The Shack” that serves burgers and whatnot). We thought that the food was very good but we ranked the drinks in the “almost excellent” category. Their margarita menu isn’t a slouch, and they do a good job with them. On Wednesday morning, we ate at home but had a mid-morning stop at Collected Works Bookstore, an awesome bookstore with an excellent cafe within – serving locally roasted coffee from Iconik. Michael stuck with a straight up latte but I went fancy and opted for the horchata latte. It was fantastic! Not something I’d want first thing in the AM as it was a little sweet, but such a treat. For lunch, we ate leftovers from the night before but also stopped for a pastry at Clafoutis on our way to the trailhead. Most of the pastries had been well picked-over since we arrived after lunch, but we had a bite of quiche and another pastry, both of which were great! On our way back from the hike, we needed to cool down, so we hit the bar at the Anasazi Inn. I’m usually not a huge fan of hotel bars, but I’d read that this one served good food and margaritas, so it seemed like a good option. And it was! The drinks were excellent, and if my sandia y pepino (watermelon and cucumber) margarita hadn’t cost a small fortune, I would have happily sucked down another. Finally (for Wednesday, at least), we were looking forward to dinner. We initially made restaurants at the Coyote Café which serves elegant southwestern style food, but after thinking it over, we decided that we really didn’t want a fancy dinner experience. So, instead, we opted for the Coyote Cantina, which was the outdoor bar connected to the Café. That was definitely the right decision – the food was still amazing (we had these tamales that were killer!), and we also enjoyed sitting outside and watching the sky change colors. While you would think that we’d done enough damage by that point, we woke up Thursday morning and hit up Pasqual’s for breakfast/brunch before we headed southwest to Arizona. As good as everything else was, I have to admit that breakfast on Thursday might have been the absolute best meal we had. I would drive back to Santa Fe just to eat there. No doubt. I fully understand that it’s a bit touristy and super hyped, but I think that it IS worth the hype. It’s also pretty low-key and super fun. So, if you only have one meal in Santa Fe and don’t mind waiting, go directly to Pasqual’s! (I’m eating some of Michael’s breakfast in the far right photo)
After Santa Fe, we headed further south and west to Tucson, AZ for a family wedding. That, I suppose, was the “real” reason for our trip (maybe?). I’d never been to Tucson before, nor had Michael, and we left thinking that we really needed to spend more time there. We lucked out with the late spring, because May in Tucson can be HOT HOT HOT! The wedding festivities and commitments drove most of our schedule, but on Friday morning (we arrived Thursday, late afternoon/early evening), we hit up the one must see on our list: the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. OMG, what a beautiful place! It’s not a museum in a formal sense, and I suppose that it does call itself a botanical garden, but it seems to be so much more with miles and miles of trails and amazing flora and fauna (especially the birds – they had not one but TWO aviaries, one that was just for hummingbirds!). Again, we felt lucky because there were still so many plants in bloom! I would say that if you only have a morning – or an afternoon during the cooler months – spend as much time as possible here.
Finally, the wedding! It was the big family event for the summer (it seems that we’ve had at least one of those a year recently). The wedding was in Tucson, and for the reception, held later so that we could enjoy being outside, we trekked over to Biosphere 2. This is a research/conference facility with a REALLY weird/wonky history. Before the festivities began, we toured the Biosphere, which continues to experiment, just not with people. It was a beautiful place for the reception!
I will say, the wedding was fun, but it was also for the young people, and we have absolutely shifted to the “older generation”. When and HOW did that happen?!
The return trip seemed a bit longer as it was a push to get back to Golden. We did spend the night in Durango – such a fun town, and the home of Bob Roll! Despite the sense of urgency to return home, we tried to take in some of the scenery, especially the Salt River Canyon! We didn’t even know that this place existed, and voilá, there it was! The photos don’t do it justice, although they give a slight sense of it.
This road trip served multiple purposes: family, exploration, culture, nature, and more. For me, I know this sounds so dramatic, but I had really grieved when I blew out my knee – not just the injury but the sense of loss that I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all this year. Yes, privilege, I know!
That feeling of doom and gloom slowly ebbed as I rehabbed and grew a bit stronger, and so this trip felt like an absolute gift. It wasn’t the most adventurous or exciting trip, and we certainly didn’t break new ground, although we did explore some new places that I’d happily revisit, but it connected me to the outside and to that sense of roaming that satisfies some deep itch. And, most importantly, I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and just enjoyed the moments!
Elevated tales and trails 