This was without a doubt the most difficult drive.  Not that it was tumultuous or anything, just had probably the most variety of obstacles.  Driving south through Colorado was pretty cool, we started driving through snow, but it cleared up as we went south of Denver.  We passed Colorado Springs, which I thought was interesting, as it’s one of the biggest centers for Evangelicals.  I thought it was humorous however, along the drive, there was an exit called “Garden of the Gods.” Ironic.

Looking at their website, I kind of wish we had stopped, it looks amazing.  The terrain was mountainous for much of the trip..and I kept expecting it to warm up as we drove south, but it didn’t much.  I learned that Albuquerque has a very high elevation so it’s not as warm relative to its latitude.

Santa Fe: I LOVE the architecture!  If I ever had a romance with architecture, it’s with the Santa Fe adobe style block housing.  It’s just so earthy!  It makes so much sense to me to make buildings look like earth. If I could build my own house, I would have a Hobbit dwelling. In New Mexico, the dominant colors are influenced by Mexican and Native American aesthetic, so you see a lot of red hues, earthy tones, and bright turquoise or jade, you see these colors even on bridges and cement dividers.  It’s really beautiful!

This pic doesn’t do it justice, and I think this was in Albuquerque where there are more roofs…I like the kind that don’t even need roofs because it never rains.  But I probably would not like droughts so much.  It’s a balance.

I actually had a breakdown on this trip…as we were approaching our destination, the sunset was BRUTAL and I was driving without sunglasses…..not knowing where I was going at the moment, trying to look for exit signs, etc.  My eyes were straining so hard to fight the sun that I actually started crying…while driving.  Yep, it was the last thing I needed, and I couldn’t stop it, hence making it all layers of dangerous.  I finally stopped the van when I could to take a breather.  I was so tired and uncomfortable, and angry that I couldn’t stop crying, that it just made it worse.

Side note: When cry stories are being told, I like to point out that when someone starts crying, it doesn’t make sense to ALL OF A SUDDEN pay all this attention to them, and try to comfort them.  If you start comforting them and addressing their feelings after they start crying, YOU ARE LATE! If someone starts crying, it means this person was upset a long time ago, and tears just hadn’t surfaced.

So like 3 minutes later, we made it to my lovely special friend Courtnee Bennett’s house. Sadly I do not have a picture of us, because I’m lame. But here’s a pic of her that I think really represents her essence:

Courtnee is an animal lover at its best!  I was so happy to see her and her dog, Bolo and meet two other big dogs (her roomie’s). We were very grateful she could take us in for a night. Actually, her futon mattress was perfect and I slept sooo well.

We went to dinner at this really great diner/cafe called The Range. We got an enchilada, it was fab, I remember the green rice and that the sauce was really good.  Wish I had a pic, boo.

Somehow, I did get a pic of the Whole Foods that we stopped off at in the morning.  I had never been to one before, and man, this one was excellent.

Wish we had gotten to go hiking, there were mountains all around, but not as high as the ones in Colorado.