Go West Young Girl - Santa Fe

Our June (and July) was packed! (which is why I am late late late with my posts!)

The first few weeks we were busy doing the last minute things to get the house ready to sell. Luckily the list was minimal - updating the thermostat, fixing some squirrel infested soffits, and replacing a support beam in the basement. We closed on the 13th and thankfully, everything went smoothly. We walked out of that meeting feeling on top of the world. And then we realized we had to pack because in only two days we would be headed out west for our big trip.

We knew we wanted to give Lucille time to acclimate to the altitude of Telluride so we planned to spend time at a lower higher altitude. Since neither of us had been to New Mexico, we flew into Albuquerque, rented a car, and drove to Santa Fe. Lucikly, we rented a small SUV so we could fit all our (Lucille's) stuff.

Soooo many bags

We stayed at the beautiful Hacienda Santa Fe, the only Native run hotel in Santa Fe. Pearce and I were pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the hotel and room were. It had tasteful native decor, an outdoor breakfast area, and an adobe fireplace in our room.

Our Indian Princess

Plus, there was a free happy hour every evening on the rooftop with local brews. We brought Lu up the first night, but then figured out we could put her down for nap and use the video monitor to spy on her while she slept. Win Win! Our hotel neighbors were pretty cool too- we were staying next to Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried who were filming a Western film nearby. Needless to say we were star struck!

Rooftop Patio

Sunset from the balcony

The first night we met up with my Peace Corps buddy Todd and his family. It was great to catch up with him since I hadn't seen him since we left Mongolia. We met them at La Choza, a local's only spot, only a short stroll away down really cool converted train tracks. It was our first taste of authentic Southwestern fare and we were not dissapointed. Pearce's chille relleno was the winner of the evening!

Peace Corps buds, now with kids

Our time in Santa Fe was mostly used exploring this quaint city which is very easy to walk around. We enjoyed strolling through the weekend markets, looking at the architecture downtown, and checking out the art on Canyon Road. Luckily, Lucille had a sun shade that we would roll down to protect her from the fierce Santa Fe sun.

Protecting the half she got from Pearce

Main Street

Loretto Chapel

Hanging out in the park

Sling Time

One morning we drove up into the mountains for an easy hike through a forested area. We forgot to bring a diaper for Lucille so she ended up going diaper-less for the end of the hike- not that it bothered her one bit!

Hiking is exhausting

Diaper free is the way to be!

All the time outside necessitated some cooling off! We made sure to take advantage of the hotel's pool take a break from the heat!

Shady characters

Swimming!

One last hit of the trip was a visit to a hole in the wall (or gas station in this case) restaurant called Horseman's Haven Cafe for an authentic green chile burger. Pearce was is in heaven with its fiery goodness, my mouth, on the other hand, was in hell.

Green chile Sante Fe style

After Santa Fe we headed up to Colorado through Northern New Mexico stopping overnight in Durango, Colorado to break up the trip for Lucille.