Driving north from Albuquerque our journey in the high (very high) desert continued. Leaving Albuquerque (elevation 5300 ft.) we were headed to the New Mexican capitol city of Santa Fe (elevation 7200 ft.). I’m not sure what it is about the desert that I love so much. Living for the majority of my life on the east coast I was not around high mountains, red rocks or desert plants and animals. The state motto here is “Land of Enchantment” and it sure felt that way to me.
Santa Fe Brewing
As we got into the outskirts of Santa Fe a little early in the day we stopped at the local brewery, Santa Fe Brewing located on a small mesa (Spanish for table – it is an elevated area with a flat top) outside of the city. This was a great first stop as from the brewery grounds you were able to see about 180 degrees around for miles. We sipped on a beer looking out into the distance as the rock and grass colors changed with the changing light. It was beautiful and awesome. From there we drove into the city and checked into our campground for the night.
Los Alamos
We woke up the next morning, ate breakfast and got ready to go. We were going to save going to Santa Fe until tomorrow but for today we were going to drive an hour northwest to the town of Los Alamos. As avid history buffs, especially World War II history, we were super excited to go to Los Alamos. Los Alamos is where the atomic bomb was invented. The drive up to Los Alamos is just spectacular. Most of the drive is on a scenic 2 lane road that seems to wind its way up and up mountainsides that offer spectacular views of desert and river valleys below. Just getting there was amazing. Soon enough though we reached the town.
After a quick lunch we ventured over to the city and atomic museum. Los Alamos is located on 3 high and isolated mesas in the high altitude forests of northwestern New Mexico. We learned at the museum this was the perfect spot for a secret government city. Still to this day there are only 2 roads that lead into the city. It is still very isolated. Prior to World War II there was only a boys outdoor school and a few small seasonal ranch houses located on the mesas. The government then bought the property, used what they could of the existing structures and started building laboratories. They then recruited the best and brightest scientists that they could. Here’s where it gets really crazy. They could not tell the scientists where they were going other than someplace in New Mexico. They could not tell them what they were going to be working on or for how long. Once they arrived the scientists could not tell friends or family where they were. They could send letters as they did have a post office box but to keep their location secret everyone that worked at the laboratory had the same post office box located in Santa Fe.
Once the scientists and their wives arrived in Los Alamos they found a town unlike one that they were normally used to. For the most part this was still a frontier, wilderness town without many amenities of a modern mid 1940’s city. What really blew my mind was other than the few top people stationed there all of the workers did not know exactly what they were creating. Everyone had a small job that they did, but they did not know what the final result of their work would be until prior to the bomb being dropped on Japan. It was really amazing being here. A small, isolated town where something was created that changed the course of human history happened.
The Los Alamos of today is still a small town located on the mesas. The National Laboratory still exists which employs most of the town. After visiting the museums we wandered around the town for a bit stopping in a few shops before heading out. The road that we chose to leave on (the only other road in or out of the town) headed towards the Bandelier National Monument. To continue on this road however you had to actually go through the National Laboratory property. To do that we had to go through almost a military style checkpoint. We had looked at our maps and it didn’t show a checkpoint so we turned around once but then looking at our maps again yep it was the right way. Going through the checkpoint I asked if I was on the right road and was told yes but since we were going to go through a secure property the checkpoint was necessary. After determining we were no threat we were told to stay on this road for the next mile, do not turn at all and continue out and down the road. It was pretty neat going through the actual laboratory property after being in the museum for hours then actually being here.
Bandelier National Monument
We then drove on through the Bandelier National Monument. For us this area was totally unexpected. At this point we had been in the desert for about a week and had not seen many plants except for small desert shrubs and small cactus. As soon as we left Los Alamos we were in an alpine forest of tall, black ponderosa pine trees. We passed lush meadows and hiked a few trails with overlooks into deep valleys. We felt the cool mountain air. It was truly awesome. We had read that since there was a lot of geothermal activity in the area that hot springs were plentiful, so we decided to stop at one. We chose Spence Hot Springs and as there were a lot of cars in the parking lot it seemed like a popular spot to stop. It was only a ¾ mile hike to the springs but since we were in a mountain area it seemed like a lot more. From the parking lot we hiked down to a small river, crossed it then halfway up the mountain to the springs. The springs themselves were crowded but pretty neat. They consisted of multiple pools at different heights so one flowed into the other. While they didn’t seem necessarily hot they were warmer than the air temperature, which was nice.
After leaving the hot springs we continued our drive down and back towards Santa Fe stopping in the tiny town of Jemez Springs for a beer. Earlier in the day while stopped at an overlook for pictures a nice gentleman offered to take our picture. We commented on his car, which was wrapped in Domino’s pizza logos. He said he was a regional manager for the chain and him and his buddy were on a trip. We again then ran into them while hiking to the hot springs and they said to stop at Los Ojos Bar for a beer, so we did! The place looked like it hadn’t changed in 100 years. It was packed with people eating and drinking. We found two bar seats and got a beer, relaxing and enjoying the sights and sounds. After the beers we got back in Bubbles and headed back towards Santa Fe. On the way back after stopping for a restroom break we noticed we were parked next to a Blake’s Lotaburger. We had been seeing this fast food chain everywhere in New Mexico and after passing about 30 of them we decided to finally stop. The menu was small and seemed almost like the California chain of In-n-Out, albeit with a New Mexico twist. The menu consisted of burgers and fries with the famous New Mexican green chili added. We both got a burger and decided it was pretty good. Two thumbs up from us! After stuffing ourselves we made our way back to the campground. It was a fun day!
Santa Fe
We woke up the next morning, ate breakfast and checked out of the RV Park. Today we would be staying in our first hotel of the trip. We had booked a room in the center of Santa Fe at the Inn at Loretto. After a short drive into the city we drove down Canyon Road which houses street after street, block after block of artist galleries. As streets and parking is at a premium in Santa Fe (especially Canyon Road) we just drove slowly looking at the shops as well as the people walking down the sidewalk. It was Memorial Day weekend so the people watching was especially good. We then drove to the hotel, parked and checked in.
We were hungry for lunch so we headed over to Café Pasquals, a recommended favorite of Julie’s brother Patrick and his wife Sarah. The line was out the door when we arrived so we put our name down and were told to come back in an hour. In the 5 minutes that we were standing there after the host came out calling peoples names and when no one answered he looked at us and said follow me! We had an awesome meal of blue enchiladas and met a great couple, Krista & Justin next to us who were celebrating their 1 year engagement anniversary and had ties to the Tampa Bay area.
After lunch we wandered the city checking out a bunch of their galleries. Santa Fe is famous for their artists and their galleries so we thought that we had to walk into a few of them. We wandered in and out of a few before heading over to the Palace of Governors where Native American’s are allowed to sell their handmade crafts. We walked up and down looking at everyone’s items before Julie picked out a set of New Mexican turquoise earrings for her Mom’s birthday.
Wine & New Friends
We had tried to visit a winery on our drive to Santa Fe a few days prior but when we got there it was unfortunately closed, so we decided that since we were not driving the rest of the day today it would be a great day to visit one in the city. We found Noisy Water Winery and headed in for a taste. When we arrived we were the only ones there but soon enough more and more people started to walk through the doors. What normally for us is a 30 minute tasting turned into a 3-hour party. We liked the wine and decided to have a glass. We then started to talk with the guys next to us, Rupert & Juan. One thing led to another and soon enough we were sharing glasses of wine with them, a cheese platter and having a great conversation. They had moved to Santa Fe from Houston a few years prior to start a new life together and were having a blast in the city.
It was getting into dinnertime but we were having such a good time talking we decided to all go out to dinner together. As Rupert ran a food tour business in the city we decided to go to The Dragon Room at Pink Adobe for dinner and margaritas. The great conversation continued and dinner was excellent. We then headed back to our hotel for a nightcap. We learned that Rupert & Juan love to go to Las Vegas and as we had plans to go in November we invited them to come along. We had a blast meeting them and can’t wait to see them again in November! After a long day we slept pretty well in the hotel bed.
New Mexican Capital Building & The Oldest Church in the USA
The next day we woke up, had a great breakfast at the hotels restaurant and checked out. We had one more thing on our list for Santa Fe, which was to check out the New Mexico Capital Building. As far as unusual capital buildings go this one takes the cake. Unlike most capital buildings, which are made of granite with a dome, this one was in the adobe style, was round and from the outside only looked to be 3 stories. We entered and were able to take self-guided tour. While it did not look like there was a dome from the outside there was one in the middle of the building on the inside with the states famous Zia symbol. The Zia is a sun symbol with 4 sets of rays coming off of it. The four rays have meaning as the number 4 is a sacred number, which symbolized the circle of life; Four directions, four seasons, four times of the day and four stages of life. We had seen this symbol on the New Mexican flag and all over the state but this was the first time we knew the meaning behind it.
We toured the building seeing the house and senate chambers as well as admiring the artwork on the walls. After we were done touring the building we walked down the street to the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in Santa Fe as well as in the entire USA. Records have it being built sometime between 1610 and 1626. It was pretty neat being in something this old as for the most part it still had dirt floors and had places cut out in the modern wall that showed the original wall and structure. History goes back very far in New Mexico!
We had a great time in the Santa Fe area. We ate great food, had good drinks and met some great new friends. We will be back!
Next up…Our last stop in New Mexico…..Taos!
