Road Trip: Santa Fe
See that blue stuff streaked with a wisp of white? That, Paris people, is what the sky looks like.
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, at least.
Somehow the temperature doesn’t seem as chilly when the sun’s out with a sky like this. Or when it’s coming up or going down against a mountain backdrop, looking like an over-saturated photograph…or painting by an artist with a too-heavy hand with the pinks and oranges. It’s just beauty, beauty, beauty, everywhere. Green chile on everything. Burgers. Breakfast burritos. Pizzas. Then there’s the posole. Blue corn. Piñon-laced air. La la la la la.
Now, I did not take this train — the cute Roadrunner that connects Albuquerque and Santa Fe — but managed to catch this photograph as it was chugging by. I snapped this as was standing there, sipping a très tasty coffee from the Station at the Railyards, where the barista (who greeted me with “I hope you’re having a groovy day!”) swirled a heaping big spoonful of HABANERO FUDGE SAUCE into my coffee, and I took one sip and thought to myself, JEEEEEZ, this just might be the best thing. Ever.
Or maybe the best thing was the 120-minute (!!) “Mountain Spirit Purification” treatment that I got upon arrival at Encantado Resort (after our 10-hour road trip from Texas), which started with a brisk sage smudging, then moved onto a cocoon-like adobe clay body mask/wrap thingy, and ended with a juniper and hot stone massage…far too soon.
See this photo below? This is the view from the balcony of my suite at Encantado, and these are the Jemez mountains. I know you’re jealous.
And this is the view from the other side of my room. I was still in my jammies so I didn’t walk up the hill to get a better shot, but I think you get the idea.
Gorgeousness. All around, every damn where you look. This may be the best thing, now that I think about it.
Or these words, which I found on the side of the New Mexico historical records building. Talk about a sign.
It was an easy, lazy trip, with no real itinerary, lots of late mornings, even later lunches, a great afternoon hike one afternoon, and a long overdue visit with my pal Nathalie Kent, who owns the Frenchy-Cowgirl boutique Nathalie on Canyon Road.
After five days, we set the alarm for 5:30 am and drove back to Texas, and watched the landscape flatten as we ticked off the miles, canyons transforming into cotton fields…and cattle feed lots closer to home.
À bientôt, Santa Fe.
