Santa Fe, New Mexico   Friday May 23 – Tuesday, May 27th 2008

Friday, May 23rd

Albuquerque Weather – light showers – low 43, high 56 normal low 52 high 82.  Rain 0.05
Santa Fe Weather - light showers,           low 40, high 50, 0.18 in rain
Austin Weather -                                      low 76, high 100
Drove to the airport and left car at Fast Park.  We flew on Express Jet (our first time to fly them) nonstop from Austin – Albuquerque.  Left at 8:00 am and got to Albuquerque at 8:47 am (1 hour time change).  Lyn and Bill were meeting us there and the flight they were on was about 4 hours after ours, so we drove into Old Town http://www.oldtownalbuquerque.com/) and visited some shops there.   There was a very old church on the Plaza – San Felipe de Neri Church (http://www.sanfelipedeneri.org).  This present church building was constructed in 1793.   The original church was started in 1706.  We bought some beef jerky and bought some spices to take home.  For lunch we stopped by Kelly’s brewpub (http://www.kellysbrewpub.com/). We had a couple of brews each – Weizen, Oatmeal, IPA and Apricot (they had a great selection!), green chili stew and ½ sandwich.  We went back to the airport to pick Lyn and Bill up from their on time flight. We took the back road – Highway 14 aka the”Turquoise Trail” to Santa Fe http://www.turquoisetrail.org/ stopping on the way at the shops and galleries  in Madrid.  Late afternoon we got to our hotel in Santa Fe – Garrett’s Desert Inn (http://www.garrettsdesertinn.com/).  This was a very convenient location as you could walk to all the galleries, shops and restaurants in town.  The only disappointment was the pool was closed for maintenance.  Even though it was cold outside, the pool here is heated.  For dinner we ate in town at the Blue Corn Café (http://www.bluecorncafe.com/  on Water Street. The beers at this brew pub were pretty good.  The altitude of Santa Fe is around 7000 feet, so the air is a bit thinner than it is in Austin! It took us a day or two to get used to not being dizzy!

Saturday, May 24th
Santa Fe Weather - low 42, high 65
Austin Weather   - low 77, high 96
We spent the day walking around town.  Here are some of the highlights.

• Loretto Chapel (http://www.lorettochapel.com/) and it’s unique staircase
• New Mexico Artists Fair
• Georgia O’Keefe Museum (http://www.okeeffemuseum.org)
• Docent speaking at Georgia O’Keefe Museum
• Lunch at “The Shed” (http://www.sfshed.com/home.html)
• Dr. Seuss Gallery
• Canyon Road
• Mid afternoon nap
• Dinner at “Tomasito’s”
• Kakawa Chocolate House (http://www.kakawachocolates.com)
• Drove at dusk to Ski Santa Fe (http://www.skisantafe.com

Sunday, May 25th, 2008

Santa Fe Weather - low 47, high 77
Austin Weather    - low 77, high 97

We made a road trip today.  Here are the highlights:

• Drove through Hyde Memorial State Park to Ski Santa Fe (snow was up there still)
• Stopped by Pueblo of Tesuque Flea Market
• Drove to Chimayo & looked at textile weaving shops
• Ate lunch at Restaurante Rancho de Chimayo (http://www.ranchodechimayo.com/)
• Above was a 7.5 hour journey, then is was back to the hotel. Ate dinner at Second Street Brewery (http://www.secondstreetbrewery.com/)

Monday, May 26th, 2008

Santa Fe Weather - low 53, high 77
Austin Weather    - low 77, high 94

We made a road trip today.  Here are the highlights:

• Bandelier National Monument Park – guide tour
• Bandelier – Big Kiva, Tyuonyi  (pueblo), Cliff Dwellings (talus houses)
• Bandelier – Cliff Dwellings (Long House), trail to Alcove House
• Los Alamos – Lunch at The Hill Diner (http://www.hilldiner.com/
• Back to Santa Fe and drinks rooftop at the Coyote Cantina (http://www.coyotecafe.com/)
• Dinner at Saigon Café
• Sunset at the Cross of the Martyrs

Tuesday, May 28th, 2008

We flew home on Southwest Airlines with one stop in El Paso. Flight left Albuquerque at 10:40 am and arrived in Austin at 2:25 pm