Home again, home again

Our little trip to Santa Fe was mostly really good.

There were problems with our Air BnB RV rental, which were partially blamed on US, so I only gave them a 3 star rating.

The hot water, for example, only ran for about 3 minutes at a time when we first arrived, and then it stopped working entirely the second night while we were trying to do dishes.

The host was a management company, with a local individual, "Charles," who lives in the house on the property.  

Despite him being right there, no one could come to fix the hot water until after we had already left for our Wednesday planned activities.  

Dave was able to take a "navy shower," and I just heated water on the stove and did a "sponge bath" before we left.

The hot water failing was blamed on us.  No.  You just DO NOT do that, AND it wasn't working the moment we arrived, so how was that our fault?

The other major issue was that the website didn't make clear that the interstate was about 350 feet away.  The noise was CONSTANT and LOUD, and I got almost no sleep the first night, even with running fans to try to get enough white noise to block it out.

And, there was also a minor issue with the pedal that operated the toilet.  It got progressively more difficult to operate, which is not good! "Charles" said that he wiggled it back and forth when he came to fix the hot water, and that it was fine, but it had not been touched..... By the time we left, we had to get down on the floor, with our faces in the toilet, basically, to get it to flush properly.

It was disgusting.

We knew we were renting an RV, and that the accommodations would be modest, but we DID expect everything to work properly, and for the lodgings to be serviceable, but certainly not luxurious!! We don't need luxury, but we needed to be able to stay there without having any struggles, and without being blamed for any of those struggles. 

Anyway, we had planned to go to the local mall on Tuesday, our first day there, and get pedicures, visit a thrift store we'd been told about, and then go to lunch in The Plaza.  We had planned to take it really easy, to adapt to the altitude.

Fortunately, we both did REALLY WELL with the altitude.  My ears even worked better than I expected, going up and coming down.  That was such a relief, as I was worried about having ear problems the whole time.

Anyway, when we got to the mall, the pedicures were $7 MORE than advertised on line, and our budget for this trip was TIGHT, so we skipped that, and wandered the mall for a little while.

The thrift store had nothing we couldn't live without, so we went on to The Plaza for lunch, which was AMAZING!!  

If you're ever in Santa Fe, eat at The SHED! It's in a building that was constructed in 1692, and the New Mexican food is SO good.

More wandering, to the song of over 9,000 steps!  We found the gallery where the largest in-town collection of Maria Martinez's pottery is, and I cried a little.  

My sister and I each inherited a piece of her pottery.  They were purchased by mom and grandma in 1955, from Maria directly, during a desert south west vacation my family took. This was before Maria was famous, and she was selling her pottery herself to tourists. For something like $2.00  

Having seen her work in a gallery, with prices, we now understand that we should probably take out insurance on the pieces we own!

The next day was the Georgia O'Keefe museum, and then more of wandering The Plaza.

That day, we had lunch at the Plaza Cafe, which is the longest continually operating restaurant in Santa Fe, and it is a classic American diner inside, with traditional New Mexican cuisine, as well as diner fare.  I had the pork and red chili soup, and it was phenomenal. Dave had a diner style breakfast for lunch.

As we wandered, I bought some earrings, and Dave bought a hoodie, because he forgot to bring a jacket, and the evenings were blissfully cool.

We sat out and looked at the full moon and stars before bed.

Thursday, we HAD been planning to meet up with the cousin of my dear friend, for an early morning hike, but I wasn't feeling well (guess that delicious food was too much for my digestion), and Dave was wiped out from TWO days of over 9,000 steps.

So, we opted for a visit to the local living history site, about a half hour south of town, later in the morning.

Unfortunately, our cool weather failed us that day, and it was nearly 100 degrees, so we didn't make it through the entire place, but what we did see was fascinating.

We started out in the 17th century area, with the original buildings from the 1690s, and then moved to through the 18th, and just barely into the 19th centuries, before we had to call it a day.  There was also no food available there, and we had not had lunch yet, so we went to the nearest, air conditioned place we could find.

Not everything has air conditioning in Santa Fe, because, like everywhere else this summer, it hasn't been THAT HOT for, well, ever.

Welcome to climate change.

Lunch was nothing special, and some of it was way too spicy, even for Dave. 

We just lazed about on Thursday afternoon and evening, me doing a little packing up as I felt the urge.  

Because it had gotten so hot that day, it took a LONG time for the RV to cool down

It was 100 degrees INSIDE when we got back, and running the air conditioning on high tripped the breaker, too.  Fortunately, that was an easy fix, with no need to contact the hosts!   

Unfortunately, the reason it was still so hot in there, even into the evening, was because the rules are that you can't go out and leave the roof vents, or any windows, open, or the a/c on.  

Thankfully, even though it was hot, there was a breeze, so I sat outside most of that time with a cold drink.

We didn't see much wildlife on our trip, but there were mule deer that we saw in the area of the RV, as well as bird varieties that were new to us, ravens, magpies, a jack rabbit, and a couple of different kinds of small lizards. 

We got up and out on Friday morning, and made it safely home, taking our time, by about 6 pm.  Traffic was really pretty good both ways.

Sadly, we stopped in the famous town of Tucumcari, NM on the way home, and, while we saw all of the really cool, original neon signs (during the day, of course, so they were not turned on), along the streets, nothing was open, and we didn't get to visit the Route 66 gift shop.

The website said OPEN NOW, but it was closed up tight, and there were no cars in the lot. 

I had really wanted to explore the town a little, but it's become very shabby, and looked forgotten. 

This is a three day weekend, and so yesterday was laundry and cleaning day, though the house was still pretty clean, and Dave went to the pet store to re stock cat food.

Momma and four surviving kittens are still here, and this coming week, we hope to find a way to get them to a shelter, IF anyone will take them.

I also got groceries ordered yesterday, and we just relaxed the rest of the day.

Today, we are finally going to get those pedicures, and do some more relaxing.  

Tomorrow?  Who knows?  It's hot, of course, and will the hottest tomorrow, but I want to grill some bratwurst.  Maybe have our house sitter come and get her gift.

Have a good week!