So we made for Santa Fe with a stop in Albequerque, NM. IMO, Albequerque was pretty boring. We stopped in Old Town for lunch. Great food. Looked touristy. The outskirts of town, coming in on Route 66 looked tired... not in an interesting way. But I did stop at a roadside stand to get some nuts I had never had before. They were like pistascios in a sunflower seed shell. Good shit.
Albequerque has an Edo section (East Downtown) that is similar to Williamsburg in Brooklyn - gentrification and such. Trendy kids, cheap flats.
We stopped so Zoo could look at some apartments he had heard about in an old school. Pretty cool, if you ask me, but unfortunately, it's a heavily gated community, and we go there at 5:15, so they office was closed. Looked cool anyway.
Santa Fe is only 'bout 2 hours north of there. Arrived around dusk.
Checked in and went out to Cowgirl for dinner. More barbeque and texas chili fries. Yum. After that, a local bar with live music. Was D-E-A-D in Santa Fe, but it was a godo time to drink. So I did! And if you're ever at 7,500 feet (or any altitude you're not used to...), here is a rule of thumb: DRINK ONLY 1/2 OF WHAT YOU'RE USED TO DRINKING, NOT DOUBLE.
Yup - you guessed it. A massive hangover and some embarrassing moments. Like flirting with 50-something lesbians. Hey - they were awesome! Great gals.
Anyway... next day - terrible hangover and then some nasty 24-hour flu. In bed for a day. Went our for lunch - incredible green chili stew, then back in bed. Stayed overnight - bad weather coming in and our plans to skit at Taos ruined becuase they don't like snowboarders (Ki snowboards, I ski). One of our goals is to run up to the Aspen are and see an old friend of mine from high school... but blizzard is coming in, ole' Spammer is sick and the west side of the Rockies is looking dangerous to drive over in February...
So far, Santa Fe has felt more right than any city, despite the fact that I am dead sick and can barely understand what's going on. It's full of artists and beautiful surroundings. It's like a small town, comfy and a short run gets you to the wilderness or skiing.