The beginning of 2021 hasn't been the great release from 2020 that I had hoped it would be. The big issue for me--when can I travel again--is still up in the air. Knowing how many people have much more important issues that they are grappling with, I feel guilty that that is "all" I have to worry about. And of course it isn't "all"--I have approached my job with the school district with the same fervor I approached jobs before I retired. I have discovered I don't have the mental energy for that kind of effort; it has exhausted me, depressed me and I feel that I can't wait for the end of the school while still feeling guilty (there's that word again) that I didn't do a calmer job of it. Still, since I don't have the ability to solve the school district's problems, or cure the pandemic, or solve the border crisis, or even achieve a modicum of peace and contentment in my own corner of the world, I focus on lack of travel.
Thus, when I found out that Santa Fe had "opened up" to tourists again, I decided that would be the place to go for March Break. I had three days off school, money in the bank and perhaps R and I could benefit from just plain getting away. We used to live in Santa Fe and we like it there. It's a day's drive--a LONG day's drive. Plus I'd be providing oldest granddaughter some money for her savings account as she could come and look after Mitzi.
All good reasons for us to set off at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 18th. It was a typical southern Arizona morning, clear sunny sky, dry highway. We listened to "Classical Music for Driving" on Apple Car Play and chatted. Once outside of Sierra Vista, it was practically all four-lane highway from here to Santa Fe. Hour after hour of driving at 70 mph, stopping occasionally at rest areas to stretch legs, call of nature. We had lunch at a very small, but very good, Mexican restaurant in Deming New Mexico, a small town much like the small towns all along the Arizona/New Mexico corridor of the I-10, notable for their gas stations, their advertising on billboards: "Pistachio Capital of the World" or "Very Large Array" (if you like radio astronomy.) In Arizona we have "See The Thing." What is The Thing, you ask, located at a small gas station stop? I have actually never seen it although a friend paid the $15-odd to see it many years ago and shared its secret. Not really worth sharing here ;)
Although the landscape can look the same from Arizona to New Mexico, it's the light that makes the difference. Once we had crossed into New Mexico, turned onto I-25 N from Hatch (Chile Capital of the World), the desert began to take on an almost purple light. Oh, not a garish disco purple, but just a very soft cast, that mutes the miles and miles of buff-colored ground, dotted with sage and juniper. The mountains look blue in the distance and the knowledge that Santa Fe is only a couple of hours away now cheered us up enormously.
We passed through Truth or Consequences, named, yes, for an old radio game show. It was once called Hot Springs, New Mexico but a radio game show host in 1950 said that he would air his show from the first town that changed its name to Truth or Consequences. Hot Springs became Truth or Consequences in March of 1950 and the host, Ralph Edwards, visited T and C every year for the next 50 years. Apart from hot springs, and its name, there is little difference between it and the other towns along the I-90/I-75 corridor.
We arrived in Santa Fe almost exactly at 5:00 p.m., actually 6:00 p.m. Arizona time. The hotel's regular entrance--we've been there a few times before--was sealed off and we had to enter through a door off the parking lot. Prominent signs on the door--mask wearing is compulsory, this door is locked from 11:00 p.m. The lobby looked much smaller than we remembered it, areas roped off "staff only," no welcoming urns of tea and coffee, no biscuits on the large circular table. Just more signs, warning that by New Mexico law, all people must stay 6 feet apart and that failure to wear a mask in public could result in a $50 fine. The pool still glimmered outside through the casement windows though. It's open with restrictions on numbers of people and, again, mask wearing everywhere except in the pool. I saw several children in the pool during our stay but I never get wet outside unless the weather is in the high 90s.
At check-in, the very friendly young hotel clerk read us off the list of changes to hotel policies--the room would no longer have coffee maker, bath robe, hair dryer, extra blankets or extra pillows in it although such items could be requested. There would not be daily housekeeping unless specifically requested--and the implication was please don't ask for it. The hotel clerk produced a plastic tray with two plastic glasses of sherry, some almonds, dried fruit and biscochitos. We said they could keep the sherry (sadly, it looked warm and comforting) but took the rest up to our very tiny room.
I had originally thought of splurging for a junior suite and when I saw the size of the room, and the bathroom, I wished I had stuck with my original splurge. But, I told myself, we were right in the heart of Santa Fe, with so many places to wander to, the size of the room wouldn't matter. It actually did by the third day though. Because of the law requiring the wearing of face masks, even walking outside, it got tiring being outside and during the day I longed for somewhere to put my feet up and read some of the wonderful books I bought at Garcia St. Bookstore, which I am happy to report is open and thriving near Canyon Road.
Our first morning in Santa Fe was a trip down memory lane. After a very good breakfast at Del Charro, the hotel restaurant, we drove up Hyde Park Road into the ski area. This is where I did my weekly hikes when I lived in Santa Fe 2008-2010 and seeing the trail heads as we drove by brought back many happy memories. We stopped at Aspen Vista lookout, breathing in the clear air, and picking our way gingerly through the melting snow.
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