Tent Rocks

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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!

georgia okeefe museum, exhibit

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.

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Would I go on a road trip like this again? Absolutely. It was such an amazing time but really hard to describe. Everyday was packed with adventure and new things to do. Yes, it was exhausting but it was so much fun.

Since I’ve been back, a lot of friends have asked me how Sue and I didn’t kill each other after being in a car together for 10 days. I told them that it wasn’t bad because we just listened to a lot of audiobooks. We listened to ‘Modern Romance’ by Aziz Ansari  and ‘I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons’ by Kevin Hart. Both are read by the author and both are hilarious. Although, I’m partial to the Kevin Hart book because it was more about his life and how he became such a positive person with a humongous work ethic. To be honest, I wasn’t that big of a Kevin Hart fan before, but now I am. So much respect for him.

And while Sue was sleeping in the car and I had full control over the radio, I’d listen to the classic book: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Its probably my 3rd or 4th time listening to it but it never gets old. I always learn something new whenever I listen to it. I think its because every time I listen to it, I’m at a new stage in my life and new principles apply to me. So if you’re looking for book recommendations, check out the Secret. If you’ve already read that or not interested, check out ‘I Can’t Make This Up’. It’s hilarious and the stories are really entertaining. You won’t be disappointed.

Also along the drive, we made stops in the middle of the road multiple times so I could take pictures like this one. That made for some exciting times 🙂 This was on the way to Tent Rocks. A beautiful place with a scenic drive.

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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.