To escape the Canadian winter, we had left a couple days earlier than originally planned with the thought of taking more time driving down. At some point we decided that we could push through the early driving to get out of potentially poor driving weather, and take a couple days at the Grand Canyon. In hindsight, this was a fantastic decision! Covid stopped us from any return adventures at all.
Day 4 had us push from Oklahoma to New Mexico. The old ‘Route 66’ wound its way back and forth across the new highway 40, and we were drawn to pull off a couple of times for the irresistible sights. Michael captured many of the historic buildings and surrounds with their vibrant graffiti – and yes, they were that colourful!
We popped up to Santa Fe for 2 nights with the hopes of checking out their local artisans and to visit the ‘Tent Rocks’ which Michael had discovered on his photo op research. Unfortunately, it was off season and we arrived too late in the day to check out very many of the artisanal offerings, and the next day was slotted for hiking at a nearby site. Santa Fe was unique, amazing – and COLD! It went down to -10C that night. So walking around town was very chilly with empty streets due to the 5:30pm ‘off season’ shutdown of shops. As luck would have it, the local food promo was in full swing, so there were several dining options for good prices. We passed on the Coyote Café as we were not overly hungry, so could not do it justice. This was a restaurant George & Marucia had visited and met the chef many years back – and I now own the signed cook book which Marucia kindly passed my way. Instead we opted for the $25 option at the Apothecary. We skipped the Oxygen Treatment but enjoyed the ‘Weary Traveler’ tea and fusion food offerings (Pad Thai for Michael, Green Curry for me) which was rounded out with appetizer and dessert – great food and a very good deal!
On to the next day when we finally had a chance to stretch our legs!
