Santa Fe Part II

Sante Fe Part II

We woke up on Wednesday, 8/3, to a beautiful, humidity free morning!  After some breakfast at the campsite and letting Chewy play a bit in the campground’s dog park, we were off to check out the area between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  The mild temps and lack of humidity were a big relief!

Our first stop was Tent Rocks (SP or National Monument?).  A visit here was suggested by the nice folks in the campsite next to us.  As we rolled up to the entrance, the first thing we saw was a big sign saying “No Dogs Allowed”…not even in the car.  Well…piss on you Tent Rocks.  How about a “No Kids Allowed” park, eh?   

We turned around and headed towards Albuquerque.  Not too far down the road we came across a fella selling roasted pine nuts and beef jerky alongside the road.   Loaded up with pine nuts and some jerky, along with some good info from the fella, Richard, we kick back off down the highway.  

Our first stop in Albuquerque was the petroglyph park on the west side of town.  It was interesting as the park situated among a residential neighborhood.  The nice folks at the visitor’s center recommended we check out the Piedras Marcadas Canyon hike.  It was the shortest hike with the petroglyphs starting just a few hundred yards from the parking lot.  There was a big change in temps from when we left the campsite to the time we made it to the park.  It was the middle of the day and by now quite warm.   We were able to check out the first several sets of petroglyphs before needing to head back to the car due to an overheated bull dog.  The petroglyphs were cool to see.  

After the park, we headed into Albuquerque to do some shopping.  Once we had everything, we headed east of town to take the Turquoise Trail back to Santa Fe.  Several folks and articles had touted the Turquoise Trail to be an amazing, must-see attraction.  Sadly, we failed to be impressed???  It was an OK drive and we weren’t disappointed to have taken that route, but for us it didn’t live up to the hype. 

The rest of the evening was uneventful…some take-out Mexican food enjoyed at the campsite as we planned the next few days and caught up around the campsite.  Tomorrow we were headed out to Taos!