Santa Fe 3/24 - 3/27/2021

Back to Santa Fe.  This time we are in the St. Francis Hotel.  https://www.hotelstfrancis.com/  It is 1 block from the Plaza and the oldest hotel in the city.  The lobby and stairs are exquisite.  The rooms leave a little to be desired since they had to be modernized in slightly strange ways.  For instance, you need to step up to get into the bathroom.  This step could be incredibly dangerous.  I made such a fuss about it that I always remembered and never fell.  We had 3 rooms.  Jef & Alec, Calder, and Branwen, Yoshi and I.

Because we were still filled from our enormous breakfast, we did take out from the hotel dining room.  I just had spring pea soup.  Tasty and just the right amount.

Thursday Alec and Calder went to the Albuquerque zoo.  They both really like zoos and manage to see everything quite quickly.  They had enough time to go to the Rattlesnake museum while they were there.

Jef, Branwen, Yoshi, and I walked to a Chocolate shop for hot chocolate.  Branwen decided to go back to the hotel.  The rest of us explored Canyon Road which has many art galleries.  We split up because Jef was going to walk much farther than I wanted to.  We met back at the Nambé shop and then walked to a Weaving/knitting shop on the way back to the hotel.  Managed to stop at a bead shop that was on the way.  I walked 4 miles!!  The altitude here doesn't bother me, but the masks are a hindrance. 

We went to Geronimo for dinner.  https://www.geronimorestaurant.com/ This was our most upscale place and our second inside restaurant.  When Jef asked about the seating, they said that we would be in a room by ourselves, so we felt safe.

The waiter asked how old the kids were and then brought Gruet champagne for the adults and mocktails for the kids.

Starters:

Seared Fois Gras for me.

Mushroom soup for Calder.  He didn't want anything but when they brought this to him, he slurped it right up.

Crab cakes for Jef.

Carpaccio for Alec.
  

Mains:

Elk Tenderloin on a bed of vegies for Alec and me.

Lobster Tails on Angel Hair pasta 

for both kids.

Steak and Frites for Jef.

Desserts:

Lemon crepe with Limoncello for me.

 Chocolate cake for Branwen

White ice creams for Calder, more assortment for Alec.

Lemon mousse with stuff for Jef.

We also got a side of broccolini for Yoshi.  The waiter thought we were kidding, but we explained that this was his very favorite and that it would make up for the fact that he had had to stay in the hotel alone.

On Friday we split up again.  Alec and Branwen drove around and looked at houses.  I went into stores and galleries around the Plaza.  The really best one was by appointment only.  Jef kept telling me that people were working inside and I should call.  So when I walked by, and people were inside,  I called from their front door and they let me in to commune with the lovely pots.  It is interesting to see the style changes since Chuck and I were buying 30 years ago.  I showed them some of my pots and they loved my display windows that Alec had designed.

A really nice feature of this hotel is the Gruet champagne tasting room.  The family joke was that if they couldn't find me, this was the place to look. Because of Covid rules, reservations were necessary.  We made a reservation for Alec, Jef and I on Friday afternoon.

There were 16 different sparkling wines and 14 stills.  We tasted 14 sparklings.  We started with a flight (4 half glasses of  different kinds) of whites.  Jef only took sips, Alec and I finished each glass.  Then we had a flight of sparkling rosé. Moving on we did a custom flight where we chose those we hadn't tasted yet that looked interesting. Seeing that we were really interested, the waitress added a fifth that she thought we should try. By that time we had narrowed our choices to our very favorite and the others that we liked. We planned to buy a case. The waitress then told us about THE WINE CLUB. WHOO HOO. Joining is free. You have to buy 2 cases a year for 2 years. 1/2 off of Tasting room and 25% off of cases. I joined and when we asked about shipping, she said that at the moment there was a flat $20 rate. Sooo, we decided to buy 2 cases right then and there. At that point, the waitress brought one more kind that she thought we would like and should taste before our final choice. She was right. We ended up with a full case of our very favorite (the same one that we had tasted at Geronimo) and a split case of 4,4,2 and 2. They went back afterwards and bought a turquoise Gruet bandana for Yoshi.

Many of you are probably asking, "Who drinks 24 bottles of champagne in a year?" We do - without a problem. It comes out to less than 1 bottle every other week.

Take out from The Shed for dinner. I had chicken quesadillas with hatch green chilis.

Saturday we loaded up the car again and after a stop at the Farmers' Market for pastries and drinks for breakfast, we took the looooonnnnnnnggggg drive home. We arrived at about 9:30 (gained an hour with the time zones) and unloaded at their house. Calder drove me home and took all of my stuff to where it would be convenient for me.

After taking a shower and reading my mail, I went to my very own bed. (altitude 338')

The End

Los Alamos Drive By 3/24/2021

 On the drive back to Santa Fe, we took the "High Road" or back road from Taos to Pojoaque.  This takes you through several very small towns and some pretty scenery in the distance. This is Black Mesa.  You can also see that there is rain in the distance.

Since we still had quite a bit of time before check-in at our hotel, we drove through Los Alamos. (altitude 7,320' )  It has been 30 years since I was last there.  It has many more amenities.  (Even a Starbucks)  When we first went there in 1975, the only shopping was at the grocery stores, a hardware store and a Sears Roebuck catalogue store where you could order.  When MacDonald's and Target opened, we thought we died and went to heaven.

A high point in Los Alamos life then was to feed the ducks at the cement circle named Ashley Pond Pond.  No, that is not a typo.  The founder school that was there before the lab was Ashley Pond, thus  the cement circle was named after him - Ashley Pond pond.  In 2014 it was redone and now it just lovely.

We stopped by a Sonic on our way to SF so that everyone could get their Cherry Limeade fix.

Taos Ski Valley #2 SNOW

 Another movie of the snowmobiling:

We were very fortunate that on both the skiing day and snowmobiling day it was sunny and didn't start snowing until after we were finished.  We had about 6 inches on those two days.

That night we went to Medley.  This time we were in a little green house outside.  It had a heater and light. 

There was a button to push to call the waiter.

Pictures of food.  We ordered a lot of small plates and shared.

Roasted Broccoli 

Mac 'n Cheese with green chilies 

                                                                   Salad with lots of good stuff

lamb chops 

For dessert we went to a Chocolate Shop in Taos.  I had a French style hot chocolate and we each chose some candies to take home for later.

A winter storm was blowing in while we were eating dinner.  By the time we got back to the house, it was in full force.  The kids decided to play outside for awhile.

A snowman

Another snowman - that is snow not grey on Alec's head.

A snow angel 

Yoshi wasn't very fond of the snow.  Sometimes he had to be carried to clearer places before he was willing to walk around to do his business.  But, we did get him to run through it once:

Our final morning was a true adventure.  It had snowed all night.  We think that we got at least 12".  The snow plows had been working on the streets, but our parking area was untouched.  The person in charge texted that the roads were good off the mountain, but neglected to say that there was a snow plow service that would come to our area.  Alec and Calder tried to dig the car out, but it got stuck.  (Thank you Lora and Jerry for loaning us a shovel.)  Nothing was working.  I suggested that we offer the workers at the restaurant across the parking lot some cash to help us out.  Jef elected to go and ask.  I would have gone because people are always willing to help an old lady, but it was too slippery for me to risk it.  Two guys who were shoveling out the restaurant agreed to help.  They had really big shovels and were young and strong.  One of the guys took over driving to get it out.  Free at last, we loaded up and were about to pull out when the snow plow came to plow out the houses.  (Dirty words were spoken.)

Breakfast in Taos.  Another inside experience.  This place had a good system.  Their menu was on a large board in the lobby.  You ordered before being shown to the table.  They were doing pretty well with the distancing, but we were glad that we were early and were through by the time that more people showed up.

Huevos rancheros for me (With Christmas chili)

Stuffed Sopapilla for Jef

Enchiladas for Alec

Quesadilla for Calder

And a basket of Sopapillas with honey for the table.  I think Calder was the only one who finished and he shared some with Branwen who wasn't fond of her choice.

 

Taos Ski Valley 3/21/2021 - 3/25/2021

 This was the real reason for the trip.  We had been supposed to go last March but NM shut down.  The house we were renting only gave us a voucher for a future stay.  We kept trying to visit, but each time NM shut down again.  This time we finally made it.  

The first thing we did when we arrived in the TSV (altitude 9,321) was rent skiing equipment.  Yoshi and I stayed in the car.  There is no way that I am going to start skiing at my age.

Our next stop was the lots that we bought last year.  The plan is that Alec will design and build on these.

The dark spot in the middle of the bottom picture is the "river".  In NJ this would at most be a stream, or possibly a creek.  We own 1/2 an island in the middle.  At the other side of the Hondo Rio is the Carson National Forest.

On to our chalet.  https://www.villasofdistinction.com/villa/new-mexico/taos-ski-valley/bavarian-chalet-4  They take much better pictures than I do.  We walk in a spread our stuff all over before any pictures can be taken.

We did have some nice views: 

That night we went to Sabroso.  The first time we have eaten inside a restaurant in more than a year!!  Calder didn't want to go and volunteered to stay with Yoshi so he wouldn't be afraid.  (Sweet boy).  We texted him a menu; he texted back his choice and we ordered takeout for him.

Monday the others skied and Yoshi and I stayed home and read in front of the fire.  I found this altitude to be a big problem.  After climbing 1 flight of stairs to my bedroom, I had to sit on the bed to recover and putting on my boots left me gasping.  We bought a can of oxygen which really helped.  (You put it over your mouth and breath in while pushing the lever and get a shot of almost pure oxygen.) 

Yoshi found a nice spot to take a nap.  At lunchtime they others skied down to the restaurant across the parking lot, picked up lunch and brought it over to eat inside with me.  I had a pork schnitzel sandwich with sauerkraut  which was enormous.  Branwen and Alec were finished then, but Jef and Calder went back for a few more runs.

For dinner we did take out and I just had a potato leek soup which had green chilis in it.  Very tasty and just right.

Tuesday we went on a snowmobile tour. http://aataosskivalleywildernessadventures.com/index.php  Big Al is our neighbor.  His house is just across the road.  He was thrilled to have a chance to talk to Alec and give him all the town gossip.

Dressing me for this was an adventure.  I had my own snow pants, but everything else was borrowed from Jef and Branwen.  Jef dressed me like a toddler and I wanted to say, "I have to pee" when she was finished.  The original plan was for me to drive the snowmobile.  When we got to where they were parked (Just up the hill from our lots.)  we had to walk up a snowy hill for about the length of a long driveway.  At this point we were probably about 10,000 feet.)  Jef pushed from the back and Alec had my arm and assisted from the side.  At the top, I was gasping for air so much that I couldn't hear the driving instructions.  Also, my glasses and goggles were fogging up.  When Big Al finished his instructions, he asked if anyone wanted to change their minds about driving and my hand shot into the air.  (I am not a fool.  Alec said that he was going to suggest it, but I beat him to it.)   I'm the one in the blue helmet and am going to ride behind Jef. 

At the summit (12,000+)  we stopped for pictures. I stayed on the snowmobile.  I was really happy at how easy riding along was.  Branwen was taking pictures all along.  I kept my hands near the grips just to be safe.  The young woman ahead of us dropped her camera at one point and she had to hop off to retrieve it.  Then we had to go faster to catch up to the group.  Big Al did stop every so often to make sure that everyone was OK.

I love this picture of Branwen.