Day 2:
Thursday started early. It had been unusually hot, and we wanted to get a short hike in before things got ugly.
We did a small portion of 22 miles of trails in the foothills above Santa Fe. The path was mostly shaded, save for a few nice views of the valley. More importantly, I did some cardio at altitude, meaning my Portland coworkers will finally accept me.
Hook me up to an iced matcha latte IV.
Our hike was capped off by breakfast and a few iced matcha drinks (shoutout matcha) at The Teahouse, one of our favorite cafes that happens to be close to where we’re staying. The Teahouse is on Canyon Road, which features Santa Fe’s famous stretch of art galleries. We’ll get to those eventually, but I have to mentally prepare myself before making a commitment to viewing art.
A two-hour nap and some reading split up breakfast and a late lunch on the plaza. We had about 45 minutes to burn before the day’s grand finale, so we grabbed a couple of margaritas on the rooftop of La Fonda (Spanish for ‘The Fonda’), the old luxury hotel in the center of town. They always say that the best thing to do before a massage is drink sugary alcohol in the sun.
Then came Ten Thousand Waves. We were there for three hours. It was amazing. I wasn’t able to smuggle my cell phone in this time, so here’s a doctored stock photo from the website.
Gotta keep the glasses on and eyes wide open for full effect
My favorite part was the salt glow, which involved being covered in hot oil and viciously scrubbed with generous amount of salt. It felt great, but I got a little ticklish on the stomach portion of the treatment. I am a child.
Day 3:
Last time we were here, we saw lots of people trekking along the side of the highway as part of a religious pilgrimage toward Chimayo, a holy site about 30 miles outside of Santa Fe. Chimayo is well known for its healing mud, which is claimed to have rid people of ailments stemming from bad backs to cancer.
Chimayo.
The actual grounds were relatively small, and the healing mud was in a small hole in a cramped room in the church. As you entered, the walls were lined with crutches allegedly ditched by those cured on site and photos of loved ones in need of healing.
We stopped at Chimayo on our way to Taos, another popular artists town about 70 miles away from Santa Fe. To get there, we took the High Road to Taos, a 56-mile scenic byway that takes you through Carson National Forest and past several small villages.
Taos was a bit uneventful, mostly because people were forced inside due to the heat. We walked around for a bit, got some lunch, looked at leather goods we couldn't afford, and took the low road back into town.
Dinner time. Here's a little secret about the first meal I posted: it was bad. But tonight was Tomasita's night, and Tomasita's is not bad. We both ordered the blue corn chicken enchiladas and split about a pint of the house margarita. I had to request that we stop and sit on a few different benches on our walk back from the restaurant, but the chili was worth the suffering.
Zach vs. Food Rd. 2.
Tomorrow is art day. Time to get cultured.