We woke up early this morning and prepped ourselves for a long travel day. We made our signature sandwiches, packed up the car and even had some time to admire the sunrise right from our balcony.
We enjoyed the show with our cups of Nespresso before beginning the drive towards Santa Fe. Our goal was to reach Santa Fe as early as possible so that we could have some time to enjoy the artistry and restaurants in the city, plus soak up the Santa Fe environment in general. But first, we had to drive through some very different scenery and environments.
The Changing Scene
During the drive we didn’t stop much, however, Ronit took a few shots of the surrounding scenery every time it changed colors, shapes and heights. At first, the rocks were red and in the form of huge towering formations.
Then we ended up in a huge valley plateau with green shrubs everywhere. Not long after, the green shrubs changed to yellow shrubs and the environment became even more desert-like.
We decided to make a stop at Baby Rocks, which is a very cute name for an area that has a cluster of thin rocks. It looked like it was a gaggle of youth rocks just hanging out together. We got a kick out of it.
We continued driving until Four Corners State Park. It is aptly named since it marks the point where the 4 Southwest states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all meet on one square inch. It is also the only point in the USA shared by neighbouring four states. We were able to stand on all states at once!
Crossing Santa Fe Forest
We were enjoying the drive, including crossing the very beautiful San Juan River when we decided to take a shortcut across the Santa Fe Forest. It ended up being very windy outside and a bit of a tricky road to manage, but the nature around us was stunning.
As we were driving we noticed a few locations hit with large forest fires from the nearby heavy smoke. It seemed that they were contained fires, though, as we didn’t see any emergency vehicles or helicopters nearby trying to put out the blaze.
We checked the air quality at this point and realized the outside air was definitely showing unhealthy levels of contaminants, but as usual, Steele saved the day by making sure the air inside the car was nice and clean for us. We passed a beautiful viewpoint looking down on the lake within the forest but didn’t stop to take photos due to the air quality.
Later on, a short half-mile drive down a trail just off the highway we found a small lake surrounded by the most beautiful flowers.
El Farolito BnB Santa Fe
We made it to our destination around 3:00 PM and navigated through Santa Fe to find our Bed and Breakfast. El Farolito BnB was an excellent choice for us and we couldn't have been happier with the place we chose. The rooms are all independent small cabins in a private gated area that gives you very close access to the city highlights.
Wayne, the owner, was very friendly and greeted us to give us the low down on the accommodation and facilities. Wayne, this is a beautiful BnB! We unpacked and got settled into our room and then we were ready to explore Santa Fe!
On Our Way to the Chapel
Our first stop was the Loretto Chapel, which has a famous wooden staircase. No one knows how it was built, who built it or with what materials. Whoever built it managed to create a magnificent design that was very innovative considering the times, and even today the structure’s design and feasibility perplexes experts today.
We arrived with just enough time to explore the mysterious staircase. They were set to close at 5:00 PM and we managed to quickly squeeze in at 4:48 PM! Talk about cutting it close. 😉
Why did we get there so late, you might ask. Well…we were on our way to the chapel, making good time, when I saw a genius mind’s work. Whoever had done this must have been a surgeon or a tailor. Certainly a man of craft. You can see for yourself the ingenuity here. To the owner of the car, I don’t know who you are, Buddy, but you get an A+ for creativity and execution!
After the chapel, Ronit and I went to look through some of the jewelry made by the local Navajo tribes. Unfortunately, we had arrived at the end of the day and most of them had already started to pack up for the day so we will come back tomorrow. I just know it will be a big spend kinda day, making sure to load my wife up on jewelry. That is part of the danger of coming to Santa Fe after all!
Rio Bravo Trading Company
We made a short stop at the Rio Bravo Trading Company where I saw quite the find! Here they had a full-length coat made during the early 1900s. Can you guess what the coat was made of?
What was the exceptional coat made from?
Furs of a type of mountain lion local to the Santa Fe area
Genuine brown bear leather and furs
Beautiful multi-colored textiles hand-made by a local tribe
Recycled potato chip bags
I’ll give you the answer at the end of the blog. 😉 Well, the coat was being sold by my new friend, Randy Rodriquez. While I shopped around he handed me a collector’s shotgun used to hunt bears as well as a cowboy hat that looked well suited to native Texans!
I considered purchasing the coat from earlier but was worried about import laws and regulations (am I giving the correct answer away?). I did try it on, however, and woah was it heavy! This puppy could definitely keep you warm during extreme winter conditions. Thanks, Randy for the great photos and all your help!
Dinner & Dessert
After our explorations of the city, we were ready for dinner. We ate at a nice restaurant called The Paloma. The service was great, the atmosphere was casual and the food was definitely delicious.
After dinner, we found a really good dessert place called Restaurant Martin. They seated us on the balcony outside, just 2 feet away from our cabin right on the other side of the fence. What are the odds, as we’d say.
The dessert we decided on was spectacular, and I mean really really good. We chose the Raspberries and Custard, but I took a picture of the menu which had some other amazing options.
Once we were fed and watered, we made the long journey back to our room to have a little rest before going for a walk to see the sunset. Sadly, our rest ran a bit long and we didn't quite make it to see the full sunset, so we’ll have to watch the full thing next time. From what we managed to witness, the sunset was mesmerizing.
We ended the day sipping on the high-quality vodka from Saskatchewan on our private little balcony, just enjoying life.
Goodnight, Y’all! And see you tomorrow.
-Shlomo & Ronit
P.s. The answer to the poll - It was a brown bear coat!!! Here is the photo of me and Randy for proof!
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