'Are you Taos people?' - Santa Fe day 6

I'm still feeling pretty crummy today, so we're opting for more of a laid back exploration day. We decided to head up to Taos to check out the scene. I plotted a route on the low road towards the Rio Grande Bridge. I've been amazed throughout this trip how dynamic the scenery is. I have an idea that the desert is monolithic and it absolutely is not. Every mile we drove, the earth and rocks around us evolved. Absolutely breathtaking!

We arrived at the bridge rest stop and made the short walk to the span. Supposedly when this bridge was built in the 60s there wasn't enough money to complete the road in the far side. So they created the graceful span some 600 feet over the Rio Grande pretty much as a point of interest. Once you see the views it sort of makes sense, but talk about 'if you build it, they will come'!

From there, we headed into Taos which was... Interesting. We drive arond and looked at the shops and did a little people watching. All in all, we weren't really feeling the vibe. Kris took us past an earthship which is an interesting approach to off the grid, sustainable design.

We opted to head back to the hotel for yet another nap. Along the way we stopped at el parasol for lunch. As we were eating a gentleman stopped by our table and said 'There's an old saying "if you want rain, be nice to somebody" so I hope you guys have a good lunch and have a great day!' Since he stopped  two other people and said the same thing to them on the way to his car, I suspect he just likes saying hi to people. However it was still nice!

After a refreshing and long nap, we headed to the various hot pools on the property. We met a local couple in one. They were from Albuquerque and were visiting the resort for the weekend. She asked us, with some incredulity, why we would possibly want to come to Santa Fe for a vacation. We had a nice chat about how we take for granted the things that are in front of us and how it's sometimes advantageous to be a tourist. We chatted about our various trips and mentioned that we had been up to Taos. She looked at us and said 'so, are you Taos people?' Trying not to offend in case I read the hot tub wrong, I responded that while I could see why people like it, it wasn't really for us. She laughed and said that she didn't really think it was us, in a nice way.

We headed to Paloma for dinner. Aside from the mega annoying foursome from Miami planning /kvetching about their daughter's wedding, it was lovely. Food was amazing and the ambiance was great. Sad to be on our second to last night! 

... the bill comes due - Santa Fe day 5

Some of you know I was battling a cold that Kris lovingly shared with me the week before we left. I didn't take time off from work because too much to do before vacation. And I certainly didn't want to be sick on vacation, so more powering thru. Right?

The plan for my birthday was for me to get up early and tackle a pretty long, challenging hike, then meet back up with Kris for the afternoon. Instead, we headed back to Bandelier and did the short loop of the ruins behind the visitor center. We then went for a long drive thru the park. I had wanted to try a short hike to a Dome, but the approach road was closed, so that was a pass.

Totally wiped out from a 1 hour walk and a long drive, we came back to the room where I totally uncharacteristically took a two hour nap. And still woke up tired.

For dinner tonight, we headed to a restaurant that we have a tenuous personal connection to. A couple of years ago, we took a cooking boot camp at the CIA in Napa. One of the other students, who was there with his father, is part owner of Radish and Rye. We liked his cooking at the boot camp, so... Dinner was fabulous! And for my birthday, we split two desserts. I gotta say, Kentucky butter cake for the win!

Hopefully, the long nap will help me kick the last of this ick... Just in time to go back to work!