Santa Fe 2011 - Day 1
There is nothing quite like Santa Fe in the fall.
Trust me.
My family loves to visit New Mexico every few years in autumn.
It's a lovely trip, only about 5 hours from Denver, and an easy drive.
This time of year, a GORGEOUS drive. We captured this via the cell phone during the drive:
Cell phone pics don't do the fall colors we saw any justice...
One thing I love about traveling with my dad, he knows so much {he reads constantly} that I can always count on him for a history/geography lesson.
So when I spotted these gorgeous mountains to the west during our drive, I called him on the cell phone {he was in Britt & Noah's car behind us} and asked him what they were:
"Those are the Spanish Twin Peaks!" he told me. "The Native Americans nicknamed them 'The Breasts of the Earth."'
And he was right. See for yourself.
He could totally be a wonderful travel guide...
Our girls handled the 5 hour drive remarkably well! Once we arrived in Santa Fe we headed first for the Plaza, just to browse some shops and stretch our legs out.
This part of the country is, in my opinion, underrated. It's so rich in Native American culture and there's just so much COLOR and beauty.
It truly is the "Land of Enchantment."
Auntie Bea spotted some mesh Frieda totes and picked one out.
When we spotted these mumu style dresses, Britt & I reminisced on how my Grandma Hartke used to wear these a lot in her old age.
We both agreed that they look very comfy, and we decided we will wear them in our old age as well. Love them.
Love the textiles...
...the pottery...
...those beautiful hand-punched tin mirrors.
We browsed and did some more walking.
Found my favorite Santa Fe shop, I found this gem last time we came here. It's called Poem. It's in a darling little courtyard.
Can you tell why I love this shop???
I adore a good boutique. Santa Fe is rich with them.
Then we ran across the street.
What's everyone looking at???
Oh that old thing?
Love these cousins!
My & Bea.
Finally, for dinner we headed to the Guadalupe Cafe, which was delicious and had great service. We all tried a cup of their special, the pumpkin soup.
It was SO GOOD.
It was Ayla's 7th birthday! She got her own complimentary slice of cake and she requested to hold the baby. Violet was happy to oblige.
And then...
Trader Joe's!
So not fair that Santa Fe has one and we don't.
{At least we have IKEA going for us...}
But it does make for an exciting destination stop for me
when we do end up down here.
Of course we stocked up on some "Two Buck Chuck".
But my favorite thing about Trader Joe's, what I can't get enough of
is the packaging!
I mean, come on, even their toilet paper is cute:
Love love love it.
So we bought a few things to take home with us...
I pretty much picked everything based on how cute it was packaged
{marketing people just LOVE my type.}
Why can't all companies put this much effort in their design???
After a long day we settled in at the Silver Saddle.
When my family travels, we go cheap. But usually we find the NICE cheap hotels. The Silver Saddle is great! We've been very happy.
The girls settled in on the quilted bed with some Trader Joe's Halloween cookies...
Nom, nom, nom!
And then it was a rough night.
The girls aren't used to sleeping in a queen {Justin's booking mistake} with their parents. It was wild for a while. But around 11pm, they drifted off.
Justin ended up sleeping on the foot of the bed because Eisley kicked him out. Poor guy...
It was a good first day in New Mexico!
Now I'm signing off in the lobby of the Silver Saddle.
We have lots to see...
3 comments
Looks like a fun trip. I've been wanting to go to Santa Fe. Someday. I'll have to ask you for the places to go when we do. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Pictures! Wow! Fun! - Dad
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how similar the Spanish Peaks are to the Twin Peaks in SF in both the view and the history isn't it? Which one was plagiarizing? :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks_(San_Francisco,_California)
Gramma
What do you have to say for yourself?