The last night in New Mexico and we tried to visit Taos Pueblo. I say ‘tried’ because there was road construction and we weren’t actually able to make it in to the vicinity! So 2 hours of driving basically went down the drain. It’s all good though. I always try to make the best of the situation and luckily the town outside of the Pueblo had some amazing Tex Mex. So we stopped for a little bit to stretch out legs and got some food. And I’m talking about cheese on top of cheese with a little bit of cheese sprinkled on top plus some of the best bites of elote corn I’ve ever had. YUMMMM.
With our bellies full we made the drive back to Santa Fe. We stopped at a few scenic overlooks which were all very beautiful but it wasn’t until about 30 minutes before sunset did the sky really start changing. A storm was about to come through and I had no idea where we could stop to take pics. I was totally prepared to take sunset pictures at the Taos but didn’t know where I could do it along the road. Soon enough we drove right by this huge intersection and I quickly pulled into the parking lot of a Ohkay Casino. It was probably the most random place to pull over considering there bus loads of people and cars there but it didn’t matter, I was there for the backdrop of the casino. I mean how amazing is this backyard? Absolutely nuts. The mountain range seemed like it was out of a movie but we had no idea who or what was inside the shack. We kept our distance and I decided to just use it as a foreground.
Moral of the story: everything will be ok as long as cheese is involved.
Before we left on this road trip, we had all our stops planned. But the original plan was to stay in Roswell, New Mexico because Sue’s bananas over aliens. But days before we left I was on tripadvisor.com and everyone was saying how Roswell was very disappointing it was. Skrt Skrt– change of plans.
Luckily we were able to adjust our plans to stay in Santa Fe instead. In hindsight this new plan was a 100x better. Not knocking Roswell or anything but we drove through it and the 15 minutes that we spent in the town was all we needed. It probably would have been cool at night time but for us to get the most out of the trip, Santa Fe was a much better idea.
I was so excited to be visiting. It’s one of those places that I’d heard of before but never thought I’d ever visit. My mind immediately went straight to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum. One of my all time favorite artists. I just admire her paintings, creativity, and boldness so much. I could not wait to visit!
Thats me looking at some images of the artist. I swear I’m wearing shorts!
We ended up staying one extra night in Santa Fe so we spent the next day in Tent Rocks National Monument. I guess I was still thinking about O’Keeffe’s flower images while walking the trail because I see some of those abstract qualities in the image above. I took the image while we were walking through the extremely narrow slot canyons. Everyone was concentrating on what was ahead on the trail, I ended up just looking up.
I can see why O’Keeffe loved New Mexico so much. It’s a such a beautiful state and I’m so glad we got to spend extra time traveling and sight seeing. I really look forward to visiting again.
We had a change of plans to our original travel itinerary. When we arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico we were exhausted! Like barely can hold a fork up to my mouth but I’m so hungry, kind of tired. Luckily we were able to switch hotels up and stay one extra day in Santa Fe. We just lost a day in Los Angeles which is no big deal since both of us had been before. That allowed us to sleep in the next day and explore Santa Fe a little more. Neither Sue or I had been anywhere in New Mexico but we immediately fell in love. Santa Fe is such a cute little city with so much character and charm. I also liked how there weren’t a lot of people there and you felt super safe just walking the streets. So we were happy to be spending an extra day there.
Using her pinterest skills, Sue found this place, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. It’s about an hour away from the city but so worth the drive. It was a beautiful hike around these amazing white rock formations. If you’re thinking about going, try your best to make it to the second half of the trail. That’s where you encounter all the slot canyons and at the end you will see the ‘christmas tree’ rocks. Rocks that look like little tents or christmas trees 🙂 It was beautiful. But HOT! Bring plenty of water. What was also nice was standing in the middle of the slot canyons. There was just enough shade to protect you from the sun but the breeze through the canyons was unbeatable. It almost felt like air conditioning. ALMOST.
As soon as we were done with the hike we drove immediately to the gas station for popsicles. The most excellent reward for such a hot hike.