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For years I’ve thought of going to Santa Fe and may have mentioned this dream a couple of times. Actually, I mentioned it enough times that my husband finally told me to just make the reservations and let’s go. My first task, was to pick a date and find out who flies non- stop from Atlanta to Santa Fe. I quickly discovered that Delta flies to Albuquerque and the airport was only an hour from our destination so I booked a Thursday departure and a Monday return. Next, I looked into hotels and while the Inn of Five Graces was beautiful, we decided on the Hilton. We expected to spend our time sight seeing, shopping, dining, and checking out museums . The Hilton sent us an “Inside Santa Fe” magazine which was very helpful for my planning, but, after looking at some of the art and jewelry in it, it had me thinking about mortgaging our house before making the trip!
Richard and I both love Georgia O’Keeffe’s art. On OkeeffeMuseum.org, I found that tickets can’t be purchased until 30 days prior to the ticket date and tours of the O’Keeffe Home and Studio were sold out already. All of that was OK but I asked Siri to remind me to go online on that 30th day and get tickets. I did not want to go all the way to Santa Fe and not see her paintings. I was successful and got tickets for Friday morning.
Friends told me I should look into some restaurants so I checked out reviews on foodnetwork.com and made reservations at Geronimo’s for Thursday and Cafe Pasqual’s for Friday night. If limited reservation times are any indication, the food must be good at both. We decided to wing it for the rest of the time. Who wants to be looking at some beautiful scenery and have to rush back to eat!
A couple of my friends had just come back from the Balloon Festival and they loved their trip even though the weather was uncooperative and their balloon ride was cancelled. I had avoided those dates since neither Richard nor I cared to get into a hot air balloon nor did we want traffic and crowds. My friends had gone to Old Town Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and stayed in Taos. They wanted to visit an Indian Pueblo but couldn’t because it was closed to the public the day they wanted to go. One has to call each day because they close on some feast and festival days, sometimes without notice. There are 22 sovereign Indian tribes in the state with multiple pueblos. Not all were in our travel area but several were. The world wide web is indeed a wonder! I found a Native Adventure Guide that had all their phone numbers and much more information. Fortunately, I saved it as a pdf to read on the plane because I couldn’t find it online again!
We didn’t want to feel like we were on a schedule but I did want to have a little direction. We had a 9:00am flight to Albuquerque arriving at 10:17, due to the time difference, and had a 4:00 check-in time. I thought it would make sense to go to Old Town Albuquerque first, look around, shop, and have lunch and a margarita. I knew we’d never drive back to Albuquerque once we made it to Santa Fe. Then, we’d travel up Highway 14, the Turquoise National Scenic Byway, to Santa Fe instead of taking the interstate. That way we could make a few stops along the way at what were yesterday’s mining towns and today’s art communities. By the time we arrived in Santa Fe we could check in and get ready for dinner.
Friday, we’d go to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. I was looking forward to that most of all. Afterwards, we’d take in the downtown historic sights, including the Loretto Chapel with its miracle staircase that was built with no nails or visible support. Next going to one art gallery after another, after another downtown and on Canyon Road seemed like a great idea. Somehow, we’d fit in some Southwestern cuisine with chiles, hot but not scorching, and maybe another margarita or some wine. Until I started planning this trip, I had no idea that New Mexico is the oldest wine producing region in the United States! Cafe Pasqual’s would be next on our list.
Saturday, day 3, plans were to head north to Taos and maybe get to visit at least one Pueblo and Santuario de Chimayo’. We’d then continue along a dizzying, winding road, look at the scenery, and arrive in Taos. We’d probably be hungry by then and could find someplace for lunch there or head a little further north to Arroyo Seco and have lunch at Aceq, recommended by my friends. We could then wonder around, maybe go to the Millicent Rogers Museum, go to Taos Pueblo, the largest multi-storied Pueblo structure, and definitely venture to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge for a breathtaking look at the river 565 feet below! We’d head back to Santa Fe along another route, Highway 68, that follows along the Rio Grande. I was expecting gorgeous scenery.
Sunday plans were to have no plans. We could go to Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch or Bandolier, Tent Rocks National Monuments and Cochiti Lake, or Jemez State Monument or we could sleep late, have brunch, and walk around.
Our return flight was for Monday morning so there would be no time to do anything other than get to the airport.
Tuesday night, our bags were packed, arrangements were made for our animals and garden, bills were paid and and we were ready to go to Atlanta Wednesday afternoon, spend the night there, and head to the airport early Thursday morning. Our plans came to a screeching halt! Wednesday morning, Richard was sick. He called his doctor. Because of his symptoms, he was told to take a Covid test. The test was positive but I was having none of that! I insisted that he take another since I did not intend to trust that one stupid test enough to cancel our trip. He did and it, too, was positive. Disappointment engulfed me! Taking a walk seemed to be the best thing for me to do at the time. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I went back home after deciding I had no choice but to accept that the trip was off and I should be nice to Richard. After all, he didn’t want to be sick or miss the trip either. Now, it was time to cancel flights, cancel the hotel, cancel the museum tickets, cancel Avis, cancel Geronimo’s, cancel Cafe Pasqual’s, and unpack! Now, Richard’s in bed, and I’m home writing Best Laid Schemes! Stay tuned for when we really take the trip!
