This year for our anniversary we took the whole week off again (I'm liking this trend), and we planned our first real trip since the hip surgery. As people who routinely travel every month who have been forced at home for the summer, we were ready to get out of town.
We took the camper to the beach for the weekend, which was new and easy and awesome, and some friends joined us, and then we took off to New Mexico.
We decided on Santa Fe, since it's a quick (<2hr flight nonstop) flight + 1 hr drive to our destination and when we booked it we weren't sure what my hip situation would be and wanted to keep the travel part minimal. At this point I start to get stiff after a couple hours but when I get up and walk around it loosens up pretty quick. So the flight was not bad but after we arrived at our hotel I was ready for a hot bath and stretching.
The hotel was really cute. We booked a Gallery King for the kitchen, and it was big and quirky and perfect. Good thing, too, because it rained the first two days and we spent more time there than anticipated and totally threw off our whole itinerary. One important thing to note: they did NOT have coffee makers in the rooms and the coffee in the lobby tasted weird to us. Fortunately, there was a coffee shop within walking distance (just past the dispensary) and we went there every morning for our daily vacation americanos.
The first day it was rainy so we slept in and lounged, then tried to check out Canyon Road but ultimately decided that it was NOT a rainy day activity. We hit up a few local thrift stores to see if they held any treasures for us (they did not) and then we spent the evening enjoying the hot tub in the cold rain. A rainy day on vacation is usually a forced relaxation day.
The second day it was still rainy, but we had reservations for a private hot spring tub at Ten Thousand Waves and that was fantastic. They have a resident cat there named Ashley and I'm always a fan of resident cats and things named Ashley so I was immediately smitten. It was pricey but it was our anniversary and it was a nice way to spend a rainy morning. The hot tub came with a private changing room and bathroom, private sauna, and a private little nook with a bed. Which was weird but handy. We were both impressed at how nice our skin felt after we got out of the tub, because some hot springs leave you feeling like you have hard minerals on your skin but we were both baby soft. Afterwards the rain let up a little bit and we spent the afternoon at the Plaza shopping and the evening in the hot tub.
The third day, the sun came out! We drove about an hour to the Bandelier National Monument to see the cliff dwellings which is the whole reason I wanted to go to Santa Fe. The inclines eventually wore the hip down, but I got to see what I wanted to see and a whole section of the park is in the forest and you know I love wandering around a forest. On the way back to the hotel we spotted Camino Real and you could easily spend an hour there. It's HUGE and I am disappointed it's not local because they have a LOT of cute stuff there. They had a 6-foot tall cactus wearing a cowboy boot and a cowboy hat that would look adorable in the front yard. But he would not fit in a suitcase, you know? Again, we capped off the day with a soak in the hot tub. The weather was really perfect for that.
The last day, we checked out of the hotel and took the scenic route back to Albuquerque, and stopped a few places on the way:
Origami in the Garden- worth the stop. Pretty impressive. Great gift shop.
Madrid- Wandered around the shops, FH bought some chocolate at a quirky little shop with great vibes and the most incredible smells.
Tinker Town- cooler than I expected.
Other things to note:
Santa Fe is at 7,000+ feet. We live at sea level. My advice to anyone is to drink more water than you want to & alcohol hits faster than usual. Our original itinerary had us hiking the first day but the rain changed that and I'm glad because we had a couple of days to acclimate first. Even so, FH missed the coolest part of the hike because he was tired, probably due to the elevation.
We tried twice to hit up a 100% gluten free bakery and restaurant but again, our original itinerary has us there when they would be open but our modified itinerary made us miss it. The original location of the bakery was, coincidentally, right across the street from our hotel and the sign was still there so it was a fun reminder that I was missing it every day, lol. Oh, well.
Overall, it was a very good week and it felt really good to travel and get out and not think about work after the last couple of busy months.
Cheers to 3 years!
