Sunday, May 10th - The Road to Santa Fe

Yoga finished about noon today (a really energizing final class with Swati) and I grabbed a final salad from Whole Foods (love them) and hit the road.  I changed my plans yesterday based on conversations with the people I met – basically, why drive 8 hours in a straight line through the Kansas farm fields when I could drive 5 hours through the red rocks of Colorado and New Mexico AND visit Santa Fe – they seemed to think it was a no brainer … and I agreed, so off I went.

I did stop at the Garden of the Gods about an hour south of Denver – incredible red rock formations made over the centuries – I watched the video and as I learnt about the formation of the Rockies and North America – I thought just how much more my brother and nephew would appreciate the story, especially the part about the dinosaurs …

I then discovered that New Mexico really is the sunshine state – as I was literally starting to come down from the pass that separates Colorado from New Mexico, the sun came out – and with it the orange in the rocks and the blue of the sky.  Welcome to New Mexico!

One of the things I love about driving is when I go over a hill or turn a corner and then boom, something dramatic changes – it happened when I crossed into New Mexico – all of a sudden it felt like I was driving on the moon – much more arid rocks, uneven terrain and table top hills dotted in the distance.  It then happened again about an hour out of Santa Fe when I turned the corner and then everywhere there was green – all of these little shrub trees (technical name I know) fully covering the ground, with specs of orange coming through.

I arrived in Santa Fe in time to stroll around the main Plaza and enjoy the Cathedral and the adobe buildings in the evening light.  It was beautiful.  I tried to find a restaurant with live music and did in fact, but once seated, and the band stopped and my order still hadn’t been taken, I realized what I really wanted was take out from Whole Foods and to call my mom and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day – so I left the restaurant and did just that ….