Santa Fe, NM: On the Road Again

I flew in to Oakland from LA last night and crawled home thought traffic. I was feeling exhausted at the prospects of hitting the road again just wanted to be home with my Duncan street family for a minute. Plus, tonight was Ashish's birthday party and also when Dine was coming into the Bay Area.

But alas, Phillip hauled me to SFO this morning and I got into Albuquerque late afternoon. The airport was pretty empty and decorated in a derivative some sort of American Indian motif. Its pretty cold here, there is frost on the ground. The guy at the car rental office handed me the keys to a brand new, silver P.T. Loser. But it isn't so bad; it looks like a Disney version of a London taxi cab. The dashboard features a totally retro aesthetic and perhaps now I can see why it might appeal to the boomer demographic - that plus it drives real niice. Compared to Phillip's hulking mid-90s Benz this is like driving an ultra light tin space ship!

I took the 25 about an hour north to Santa Fe. The landscape is objectively beautiful; it looks a lot like reddish mountains in the rest of the world (I will post comparisons later in the week). The land is flat with snow capped mountains in the distance. There's not a lot of development along the highway - barring an occasional casino littering the roadside.

I made it to the hotel by sundown. It is really lovely! Both Iris and my boss Kelly recommended it to me. The Turquoise Bear is the restored estate of Santa Fe poet Witter Bynner. The rooms are named for former guests of the estate - Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keeffe, D.H. Lawrence, Willa Cather. I am staying in the Edna Millay room. Its really cozy in here and I have my own fireplace. Good thing because its freezing here in Santa Fe - 22 degrees last time i checked!

bathroom at Turquoise Bear

My class starts tomorrow evening so I am going to use the day to scratch some sites of my list, among them:
El Santuario Chimayo
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
The Museum of International Folk Art
Jackalope World of Curiosities

I hear there is a ton of freaky stuff out here - I cant wait!