Thursday, October 28, 2010

New Mexico Part I: The Drive & Taos

Finally! I have some time and energy! Huzzah!

We left for New Mexico on Wednesday, the 6th, just a few hours after my month-end processing at work. For those of you who do not know what I do in accounting, at Month-end, my department stays late at night to close the books. Month-end is always on Monday & Tuesday, and the weeks vary every few months. This particular month we stayed until 1:30 am or so, and it takes a half hour to get home, plus I can't go to bed right after I get off work so I have to stay up or else I dream of work. Not fun! So I got home at 2 and went to bed at 3 in the morning. A few weeks ago Blake & I decided to try to leave at 6 am on the 6th, so we could get down to Santa Fe with a bit of time to spare. So I woke up at 6:30 and flew out of bed: Vacation!!! And whoa, am I tired!! But it's vacation!!! Just south of Colorado Springs I zonked out, and woke up again outside of Pueblo; only an hour. Bummer. We drove thru Walsenburg & Trinidad, and when we got across the state line, we stopped for breakfast in Raton, NM. Just south of Raton, we took US 64 out toward Taos. The landscape was sure different than Denver; much drier, with a gravelly floor and grasses and Pinon Pines. We also spied Pronghorn Antelope and Bison on our way (I should probably note that the Bison were on a ranch)! About an hour later the scenery started to change as we drove through Cimarron and Cimarron State Park. Now it was starting to look like home!

We drove through lush vegetation and just barely-changing aspens into Eagle Nest, and then on into the Taos area. I was so excited! I've heard that Taos is one of the most beautiful little towns in the west. We drove over passes and around hairpin turns and through cute little villages with artist's homes decorated in bright colors. We arrived in Taos, and either we were in the wrong part of town, or it wasn't as exciting as I hoped! It was like any other place. It was still lovely, the architecture rustic, the landscape and scenery beautiful. I think I expected a smaller, more intimate setting, and it ended up to be much larger. We drove around a bit, and then headed out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, the fifth highest bridge in the US.


Do you see me waving?

Getting Artsy

By this time Blake was itching to get on the road to get to Santa Fe, so off we went! But not before snapping a thunderstorm:

Before long we made it to Santa Fe, where we would stay for the week. Here's our hotel room and the view:



We were pleased with our hotel, The Inn at Santa Fe. We were worried about reserving a room unseen but were satisfied with the quality and how quiet it was. We laughed at the Maserati/Ferrari club that stayed there for a few nights; I didn't think it was up to their standards but if they were staying there, maybe I was wrong!



Monday, October 25, 2010

Where'd we go?

Yep. We are still alive, for those of you who may be concerned. I haven't given up on our blog! When one leaves for a week in New Mexico, that following work week just dumps a bunch of stuff on one and one works late nights to get caught up. And when one DOES get home after such a night, all one wants to do is sit on their butt and stare mindlessly at the TV.

At least, that's my excuse.

So please accept my apologies and enjoy a teaser photo. There's way more to come, and patience is a virtue!!