Travels Through the Southwest, Part I
My trip to New Mexico was well worth it, despite the long drive there and back. The drive to Albuquerque was uneventful aside from the good news that someone wanted to talk to me about my job application. I made very good time and got to Albuquerque expecting that I’d be able to get a key to the room and wait for Kathy there. Well, the lady at the front desk said there wasn’t a key for me and that without talking to Kathy she couldn’t give me a key. I knew Kathy had left a key for me earlier that day, but the lady couldn’t seem to figure out where it was. Kathy was making her way down Sandia Peak with a couple of other people and didn’t hear her phone ring, so I waited for her in the lobby of the hotel. Luckily I had a book and found a plush chair to read in till Kathy got my message and let the person at the front desk know I really was supposed to have a key. Unfortunately by then there was no time for the nap I’d been hoping to take.
That night we went to the botanical garden where they were having a dinner for the conference participants. It was already dark by the time we got done eating but we wandered around the grounds of the botanical garden for a while. The next day Kathy went off to the conference and I went to the Old Town section of Albuquerque. It was a 2 mile walk from downtown, and even in the morning it was almost too hot to walk. But I walked anyway. I went to the art and history museum, which had works by New Mexico artists as well as an exhibit on the history of Albuquerque. I enjoyed the museum and then found myself a late lunch. Afterwards I wandered around a bit more and then figured out how to take the bus toward downtown so I wouldn’t get even more dehydrated in the sun.
When Kathy got out of the sessions she’d been attending we met up with a couple of other physicists and drove off to Tent Rocks. The plan was to hike the trail there and head to Santa Fe for dinner. We got to Tent Rocks after 6 pm and the place technically closes at 7. We figured the car wouldn’t get towed, and off we went on the trail. We’d read that flash floods are possible there, since there is a slot canyon, and while the sky was cloudy, the forecast said there was only a slight chance of rain in the area. That was good enough for us. Tent Rocks is named for the unusual tent-shaped rocks which are the result of different episodes of volcanic activity millions of years ago. The area has also been shaped by wind and water erosion, forming the slot canyon and other features. I’d never seen anything quite like this before and I feel I need to learn more about geology to better understand how places like Tent Rocks have formed. The more we climbed, the better the views got. But even before we started climbing and were walking through the slot canyon, the place just looked so cool! The rock is soft and there are many small holes that we later saw made perfect homes for small birds. In addition to the birds, which we couldn’t identify, we saw a variety of interesting beetles (which we also couldn’t identify!)
It took us about 2 hours to get to the top and back down again, and from there we still had to drive to Santa Fe (about 40 miles away) for dinner, not really knowing where we’d end up eating. The two physicists we’d brought along, Oliver and Gary, went through some information we’d brought with us, selected a restaurant called Santa Café, and called to see if they’d seat us if we arrived after 9 pm. They said yes, and we made it just in time. Luckily it was already dark outside, and we were seated at one of the tables in the courtyard. Otherwise they would have seen just how dusty we were. We did get a few Looks from some of the other restaurant patrons who noticed our shorts and hiking footwear, but we didn’t care. We were just glad to be there, and the restaurant turned out to be excellent. We had some unusual appetizers, including some spring rolls filled with cactus, and as a main course I had a delicious poblano filled with quinoa and mushrooms with a chipotle cream sauce. I would definitely go there again.
That night we went to the botanical garden where they were having a dinner for the conference participants. It was already dark by the time we got done eating but we wandered around the grounds of the botanical garden for a while. The next day Kathy went off to the conference and I went to the Old Town section of Albuquerque. It was a 2 mile walk from downtown, and even in the morning it was almost too hot to walk. But I walked anyway. I went to the art and history museum, which had works by New Mexico artists as well as an exhibit on the history of Albuquerque. I enjoyed the museum and then found myself a late lunch. Afterwards I wandered around a bit more and then figured out how to take the bus toward downtown so I wouldn’t get even more dehydrated in the sun.
When Kathy got out of the sessions she’d been attending we met up with a couple of other physicists and drove off to Tent Rocks. The plan was to hike the trail there and head to Santa Fe for dinner. We got to Tent Rocks after 6 pm and the place technically closes at 7. We figured the car wouldn’t get towed, and off we went on the trail. We’d read that flash floods are possible there, since there is a slot canyon, and while the sky was cloudy, the forecast said there was only a slight chance of rain in the area. That was good enough for us. Tent Rocks is named for the unusual tent-shaped rocks which are the result of different episodes of volcanic activity millions of years ago. The area has also been shaped by wind and water erosion, forming the slot canyon and other features. I’d never seen anything quite like this before and I feel I need to learn more about geology to better understand how places like Tent Rocks have formed. The more we climbed, the better the views got. But even before we started climbing and were walking through the slot canyon, the place just looked so cool! The rock is soft and there are many small holes that we later saw made perfect homes for small birds. In addition to the birds, which we couldn’t identify, we saw a variety of interesting beetles (which we also couldn’t identify!)
It took us about 2 hours to get to the top and back down again, and from there we still had to drive to Santa Fe (about 40 miles away) for dinner, not really knowing where we’d end up eating. The two physicists we’d brought along, Oliver and Gary, went through some information we’d brought with us, selected a restaurant called Santa Café, and called to see if they’d seat us if we arrived after 9 pm. They said yes, and we made it just in time. Luckily it was already dark outside, and we were seated at one of the tables in the courtyard. Otherwise they would have seen just how dusty we were. We did get a few Looks from some of the other restaurant patrons who noticed our shorts and hiking footwear, but we didn’t care. We were just glad to be there, and the restaurant turned out to be excellent. We had some unusual appetizers, including some spring rolls filled with cactus, and as a main course I had a delicious poblano filled with quinoa and mushrooms with a chipotle cream sauce. I would definitely go there again.
posted by Ana at 21:17
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