Santa Fe Highlights - Day 1

It was a whirlwind trip to Santa Fe that left me recharged, reinspired, and ready to dive back into my life.


I drove from Phoenix to Santa Fe with a stop in Albuquerque for dinner at the Duran Central Pharmacy lunch counter. They are famous for their chicken enchiladas with green chili sauce. It was very good. There were two bug-a-boos on that first day. My camera battery died just outside of Phoenix, which meant I couldn't take any more picture en route. (I had the charger in my luggage and remedied the situation that night.) Second, my air conditioner stopped working just outside Albuquerque. The entire day I chased thunderstorms, so the temperature ranged from about 68 to 98 depending on the storms around me. I had the air off and on throughout the day. I rode the rest of the evening in the humid heat without any relief. It still wasn't as bad as driving any summer day in Phoenix without air, so I am not complaining. I got myself checked at the hotel and located the local Toyota dealership for a visit the next morning.


The first day started early with a trip to the Toyota dealership. I didn't have an appointment, but the service adviser was great and someone assessed my problem right away. It was an easy fix, and I was off sightseeing within an hour. (By the way, the Frommer's guide didn't mention the service waiting room but it was quite comfortable!)


The Plaza was only about 2 miles from the Toyota dealer, so I was there quickly. I found the public parking lot on Water street, and hit a few shops as I walked around the block to the Plaza. I arrived just before a tour started, so I impulsively decided to join the tour.


The tour covered the visitor highlights of town and we spent considerable time on Canyon Road viewing the galleries (at a distance) and seeing public sculptures. We also learned some of the history, got recommendations for restaurants and shops, and saw a great deal of the town's charm. I sat on the outside and snapped pictures as we drove. They didn't all turn out, as you might imagine, but I did capture a lot of the highlights this way.


After the tour, I grabbed lunch from a street vendor on the Plaza and copped a squat under the trees and did some serious people watching while I ate. After lunch, I sat with my travel journal, my GPS, and my web-enabled cell phone to plot out which shops I had to visit. I used my cell phone to post pictures on Flickr and messages about my activities on Twitter so my friends and family could follow my adventure. I must say, I felt like a total geek using all of that technology sitting on a grassy plaza in front of the oldest building in the United States.


The afternoon went by quickly. I found a great stamp store and not only had a great conversation there, but bought two fab stamps. I visited about 20 shops in a very short time and by the end of the afternoon, I was ready for a great dinner. I selected The Shed because it was highly recommended and was in walking distance.


I spent the rest of the daylight exploring Canyon Road on my own. Most of the galleries were closed, but since I was only looking, that didn't bother me. The buildings and landscaping were inspiring on their own, and I took many pictures of doorways and courtyards without seeing any of the art inside.


Don't miss the rest of my journey on day 2, day 3 and day 4.

Santa Fe Highlights - Day 4 (Wrapup)

The last day of my vacation was the drive home to Phoenix. I had planned to get an early start so I could arrive in Albuquerque at a shop called Papers! when they opened at 9 am. However, things didn't go exactly as planned and I got a later start.

The drive to Albuquerque takes about an hour. I stopped to refill the gas tank and my cooler (filled with healthy snacks for the road) and then arrived at the shop at 10:25. Imagine my total surprise when the shop was closed, and the sign said that they open at 10:30 on Saturday! Talk about great timing.

The shop is very nice. They have the large sheets of paper like The Paper Studio, and lots of paper related items like postcards, notecards, and other items that appear to younger shoppers. (They are located next to the University of New Mexico.) I was the first person in the shop, but within minutes, it was FULL.


The trip home was uneventful. I didn't stop along the way to take pictures, even though I had wanted to get some in Holbook. It just seemed like a good idea to get home at that point. The drive is really lovely, as you can see from these pictures snapped while driving. I've mastered the art of pointing the camera and shooting through the windshield without framing the shot. Some turn out good, others, not so good, but it's the best I can do while traveling alone.



The travel journal worked out so much better than I even expected. I love the new forms I created. At the start of each trip segment, I pulled out the forms for the places I wanted to visit and placed them in the clipboard on the front. That way, they were ready for me to glance through as I was deciding my itinerary on the go. It also made it super easy to fill in the forms for the places I visited. I was seen in more than one restaurant and other locations filling in the forms on my travel journal. It made deciding where to go a lot of fun, and gives me a record of things I definitely want to do again (and those that I will skip). Each night, I would re-read the completed forms, and I must admit, I had already forgotten some of the details I recorded in the moment. Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's just a good idea to take notes as I go. My next trip will be much better because of these forms.

The journal took a lot of use and abuse, and held up very well. I did find that the front cover needs to be reglued (the side at the honeycomb). Otherwise, it survived the trip without incident.

I took over 450 pictures with my new camera, and about 50 pictures with my cell phone. Many of the cell phone pictures went straight to Flickr. I'm working at editing the camera pictures and getting them posted as well. It may take another week to get through them all. The good news is that my camera's memory card holds about 1,000 pictures based on how full it got on this trip. That's a lot to cull down to add to the travel journal, eh?

With all of this writing, I haven't started to talk about the inner journey of my trip, the things I found on my mind, the dream images that haunted me, or the new ideas for who I want to be and what kind of work I want to do. Perhaps those thoughts will flow out later.