Albuquerque - Day 3, Madrid, Santa Fe

October 12, 2008 - Sunday


The alarm went off at 4:59AM as we had asked it to, and we turned on the TV to find out that it didn't look good for launch, but that "we should come on out anyway, because they MIGHT launch". Hmmm.... Fool me once.... BUT we decided - again - that we had come all the way here for the Festival and it would be stupid to miss a launch once we were this close, so we got up and drove up to the Fiesta grounds - listening to the AM radio station which seemed to be more realistic about prospects - I think it was AM 770 - and it didn't sound good. We paid our $10 to park and pulled into a mostly-empty parking lot - but other cars were flowing in and noone was discouraging people from paying their admission fees. We didn't see any "Dawn Patrol" going up - indicating that it was unlikely that there would be a launch - so we just decided to sit in the car and close our eyes (and NOT pay the $12 to get into the grounds) while we listened to the radio reports.


The early reports were bad: 72 knot winds at 9000 ft. Granted, the balloons don't go nearly as high as 9000 feet, but winds were high in lower altitudes, as well. So we just stayed in the car and waited - while gobs of people paid their $10 to park and their admission fees - and trooped on into the park.


FINALLY at about 7:15 they announced that there would officially be no launches: the wind was just too high. That officially ended the 2008 Albuquerque International Balloon Festival since no events were scheduled for that afternoon anyway.


So we just put "Monroe" into gear and pulled out of the parking lot - with other people still streaming in - and headed back to the hotel to pack and get breakfast - and get onto the road North.


Our next stop was scheduled to be Santa Fe, but the friendly folx we'd talked to on Friday morning had told us that it was much prettier to go up "The old Turquoise Trail" around the back-side of Sandia Mountain - than to just go up I25. And, by the way, "Madrid" was on the way. Ooooo! The town where Disney shot "Wild Hogs" with Tim Allen, John Travolta, and William H Macy. Yeah. I'm enough of a movie buff to want to see that. Remember that it's pronounced with the accent on the first syllable - not like the Spanish city.


Pretty drive. Relatively early on a Sunday morning. Just... nice. Peaceful as we drove up the 2-lane road.


Annnd eventually there was Madrid. Quirky and very art oriented now. It used to be a coal-mining town, but has transformed. Pretty:

We stopped and wandered around the art galleries that were open - and talked to the residents. Friendly people, but they - like everybody else - is worried about the economy and what is going to happen. One sweet woman in an art-glass shop told us that they depend on the Balloon Fest crowd to buy art and get them all the way thru the Spring - but that so far this year, things were so depressed that they hadn't even sold enough to cover one weeks' expenses. She really didn't know *what* was going to happen: perhaps lose the house and shop. Quite a stark reminder of how we're all interconnected in the economy: if you don't have a job, you can't buy what I'm selling so *I* don't have a job - and it snowballs.


Nice folx. I wish them well. But I wish us *all* well, and I don't think that wishing is going to do it...


Anyway... on up the road to Santa Fe and the Red Roof Inn that Kathy had selected online. The front-desk clerk turned out to be a GREAT guy and a real asset for us: he is an enthusiastic Santa Fe supporter and was always ready with suggestions on what to do and how to make our Santa Fe visit even better. Thanks, Randy! He suggested that we quick jump back into the car and drive up to the ski resort just 30 minutes out of town - to ride the tram to the top of the mountain. So we did.

We just asked Leila to find it, then followed her directions up "Cerrillos" road - and we instantly found ourselves comfortable and "at home" in Santa Fe. All of the familiar "necessities of life" were there: Home Depot, WalMart, etc - and then we got into the older section of Santa Fe and things got really pretty. They've done a really good job of keeping buildings looking like they belong together - while still allowing variations on the adobe theme. We passed one building on the way and the afternoon sun had just lit it up SO beautifully:

On up the winding, climbing road out of town to the Ski Resort - and we found the same *brilliantly* yellow Aspen leaves we'd seen in Colorado. Glowing in the afternoon sun - just beautiful. I rather hurried Kathy past many beautiful views since we were trying to get to the Ski resort in time to ride the ski-lift to the top - and it closed soon. So we hurried up the mountain and got to the lift - and put on our heavy winter coats and gloves since it was *cold* at 10,000 feet - something in the 40's. We puffed up the trail - and found out that the same high winds which had cancelled the Balloon Fest - had shut down the chair lift, so we didn't get to ride up the mountain. But it was beautiful nonetheless.

So. We headed Monroe back down the mountain and took our time taking pictures of the Aspens. And they were stunning:

It just made us feel even-more fond of Santa Fe - so as we made our way back into town - and we saw signs to an Open House - we decided to follow the signs and find out what it would take to live there. We wound around and were impressed with the views from the houses in this neighborhood:

... and we went thru the house - to find out that it was over 4000 square feet - in the main house - plus a whole separate guest house - and that the asking price was a mere $1.8 Million. (cough cough). Oh. OoooKay. Turns out that Santa Fe is really popular with retirees and celebrities and high-income people - for their *second* homes (or third or fourth...). We did some more checking around of Real Estate while there and concluded that we still love the city and would like to consider living there - but that it is probably twice the cost of Melbourne where we now live. Ouch.

Anyway. Back into town. Down the major road - and we found the following that we just had to take a picture of:

We found a great Indian restaurant for dinner, brought the extras back to our room, then drove down to the "Plaza" area of Santa Fe: the "Old Santa Fe". WOW! Oh WOW! OK. It was beautiful and just *stuffed* with art galleries, old churches, adobe enchantment and charm. We see why people love Santa Fe - and we've got a couple more days planned here to get a better idea. By the time we got there, it was getting rather late, so shops were closing, but we knew we'd come back.

Good times in New Mexico.

3796 miles.