Santa Fe Style

It's been a while since I've posted anything here.  Seems like I've been stretched pretty thin lately but this has been a good week—my fourth full week of use-it-or-lose-it vacation (two more to go before the end of 2009).

Rather than stay home and do nothing I asked my friend Tammi whether she'd be interested in having a visitor for a few days.  She was and so I spent the first half of this week with her down in New Mexico.  It was my first ever visit to the Land of Enchantment.  On my first full day, Tammi gave me a tour of historic Santa Fe that included an adobe building purported to be the oldest house in America, the San Miguel Mission (oldest church in America) and the St. Francis Cathedral, probably the jewel of Santa Fe.  Then in the afternoon we attended the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk (Tammi is a NM board member) and just before darkness fell we took a hike around the Borrego/Bear Wallow loop trail with her dog, Gaia.

The next day we traveled from Santa Fe to Taos so that we could go for another scenic day hike.  We hiked from the Ski Valley parking lot to Lake Williams putting us directly below Wheeler Peak, which I later learned is the highest point in New Mexico.  We ate lunch by an ice covered waterfall before hiking back to the car.  On the drive back we stopped to check out the view from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge... the roadway is a full 400 feet higher than that of the Golden Gate Bridge!  A nice lady snapped a picture of us from the bridge with my cell phone camera.

Tammi had to work the rest of the time so I got to entertain myself during my remaining days in New Mexico.  That included walks around Santa Fe with Gaia and some handyman jobs around the house that she's trying to sell.  I got a couple of yummy home cooked meals in return so no complaints here.  On my last day in New Mexico we traveled back to Albuquerque in the morning and Tammi lent me her car since my flight didn't leave until the evening.  I spent a couple hours at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History and the rest of my time at Sandia Peak.  Unfortunately the tram was "on standby" that day due to high winds.  It eventually started running but I opted not to chance getting stuck at the top and missing my flight.  Instead I put on my hiking boots and did a few hours of hiking alone on the trails up there...