Bandelier

We weren't going to start work until late in the day, so we decided to take in a little bit of New Mexico. Our B&B hostess pointed us to Bandelier, a National Monument and Park. We drove about an hour in the early morning cold, enjoying the beauty around us. Once at Bandelier, you have about a gazillion trails that you can choose from. But let me backtrack: the Bandelier area was once inhabited by the Ancestral Pueblo People. We chose to not check out the Cavate areas (caves that were excavated by the Ancestral Pueblo People) were they had more than 400 rooms built. Instead we chose one of the trails - a moderate one that would take about three hours and that would take us from the top of the mountain down to the Rio Grande: Falls Trail.

The hike began easily enough, specially since it's on the way down. Although the trail had sharp edges and you had to make sure you stayed on the path, the path was pretty big and even, with very few sharp drops between steps. You could hear the Frijoles River singing a good 60 or 70 feet down from the trail, next to us - we essentially walked around this huge crater, in search of some falls, and in search of the river.

On the way down, enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful sights, we crossed paths with a family of four (parents and two boys) who were already coming back from the hike. We all said hi to each other as we passed, and I quickly decided that I will have a hiking family. I want my children to love nature and to feel comfortable with walking around a tiny tiny piece of earth that allows you to see awesomeness around you. Plus it just sounds cool. We also later on ran into a family of three (parents and a boy) that were also on the way down, but had stopped a bit to enjoy one of the falls.

The little boy was very cute, and fearless, climbing to the very edges of the path to look down. He also informed me that the entire thing had once been a volcano that was bigger than... something. I drowned him out, because little know-it-alls are hella cute, but also hella annoying. I decided that my future children would love hiking and would be fearless, but would not be know-it-alls. And if they end up being know-it-alls, they'll be the cute only kind.

We quickly surpassed the family and kept making our way down. That's when the trail got a little steeper, but it was okay - we jumped the Frijoles river a couple of times (back and forth and back and forth) until we finally hit the valley. The most amazing part about the trail was that there was all kinds of foliage on our way down - it went from looking like we were walking down a mountain to areas that could've been somewhere in the Northeast, to the Valley, that was mostly dry and did have tumble weeds, but was caught in between all of these mountains and the most impossibly blue sky you could think of. The Rio Grande totally snuck up on me - the little sucker was huge, and very muddy, but incredibly quiet. You could tell that the current within it was strong, but the surface did not show it at all.

After relaxing by the Rio Grande for a bit and a couple of swigs of water, we headed back. It was high noon and the sun was squarely upon us. I wished that I had brought a hat with me.
Soon though, it became obvious that the way out was not going to be as easy as the way in - of course not. We had walked down into a crater, now we were hiking out of it. Holy Shit. I made it a good 25 minutes before I had to stop. By the time that we hit the second Falls and we stopped to let my heart slow down I had decided that a hiking family is for idiots that don't know how good Central and Prospect Park are, and if my future kids can't get enough nature out of that, they can rent a documentary. We then ran into an older man, he must've been 65 to 70 something, that was also on his way up. He decided to join us and began walking between Matt and I.

I don't know if to be thankful for his presence or not. He kept Matt busy, talking about New Mexico and giving us details about the places we passed; everything from they just fixed this wooden bridge to the type of rock we walked by. He informed us it was tarantula season. I quietly wheezed my way up behind the two of them, while the old man, in his hat and his sweater, walked ahead cool as a cucumber. He reminded me of Roger Gulley and I was torn between finding him adorable and wanting to smack him over the head so that he would stop talking and I could concentrate on my wheezing. I need to get in shape y'all. For reals.

A Salad Bistro

The work day was pretty slow, but that didn't deter our hunger. After a beautiful Sunny day, we decided to stop by a spot in Santa Fe proper that advertised that they only sold Salads. Its name? Vinaigrette.

It was crowded, which is always a good sign I suppose. They apparently own a farm and only serve seasonal and organic veggies. They do offer meat, however, so they're not strictly a veggie place. We ordered from the seasonal specials and salads. We shared the most delicious pan crusted potatoes

And then I had the On the Cob salad, which consisted of a lot of corn, goat cheese, and a whole lot other goodness.

We finished the night with hot apple pie with a scoop of their homemade ice cream.

Perfect.

Do you know the way to Santa Fe?

After lunch in Albuquerque, we hit the road to Santa Fe. We took the scenic route. Check out all the blue:

Mountains upon mountains. The place is gorgeous and at times just beyond breathtaking. I kept singing the Santa Fe song from Rent, which probably bothered Matt a little, until we turned on his iPhone on shuffle.

We stayed at this place called "The Triangle Inn", which markets itself as the Gay Santa Fe Bed and Breakfast. The couple that own the place have two children and are hella friendly. The B&B consists of a bunch of "casitas" all made out of Adobe. I stayed in one of their Studio Casitas, with a lovely living area and kitchenette area attached to my bedroom. The only drawback? They don't receive TV signal, so although the rooms are equipped with TV's, you have to depend on their (considerably) large vhs collection if you'd like in room entertainment. Luckily, I had Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to keep me company, but this also means that as of this writing I've yet to watch this week's Grey's Anatomy and that sucks balls.

We were hungry, but also tired, so instead of heading into town for dinner, we drove around the corner to Gabriel's. The place is huge and quite beautiful. I was swayed by the smell of onions and so I had me a most excellent chicken fajita.

It comes with rice, pinto beans, pico de gallo, guacamole  and corn tortillas.

The food was excellent, and even though I was only able to eat about half of it, I was immediately thrown into a food coma, so we quickly paid the check and I promptly passed out for the night.

Albuquerque, part I.

Arrived in Albuquerque in a very sunny Thursday afternoon. Call it Schadenfraude, but knowing that it was raining cats and dogs in NYC made me happier to be in the sun. Sorry my NYC loves! Nothing personal!

Anyway, we drove to 20 Carrots Cafe.

There was only a customer there, an older woman that kept saying in Spanglish that she was from Bogotá, Colombia, and judging by her commentaries, she was not very fond of people from Mexican descent. The owner, who might've been of Mexican descent, was a lady probably in her late 50's that just kept agreeing.

I wasn't too hungry, so I got a cup of pinto beans soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Simple, yet delicious.

The best part, though, came when I stopped by the bathroom before leaving. The original owner of 20 Carrots (Christie Brinkley's brother, nash) had commitioned a painting or something. The thing was bizzare, but awesome. There was a beach scene, with a Scotsman in a kilt playing the bagpipes, walking on water. On the other side Jesus was actually walking on water. It was just too much.

Before leaving, stopped by the news stand next door to buy a postcard for Brichelle. The self-help section:

Of unplanned hiatus and what not

So I haven't updated in a while - no particular reason, just have been really lazy with the posting. I have pictures of meals and all these things I've been up to since the last post, but it seems ridiculous to go through the work of recounting all that, so we shall just say that the month happened, it was good, meals were had and enjoyed, movies were watched, books were read.

Speaking of, I'm smack in the middle of re-reading the Harry Potter Series, in preparation of the movie. I hope  I didn't start reading it too soon, since I'm already in book 3 (Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban). I plan to re-read the seven books, then re-watch the movies, and then there's the premiere of movie seven, which I CANNOT wait for. Huzzah!

So, I promise I'll write some more. Or something.