Day 9 - Santa Rosa to Santa Fe - Part 1

K is having a little nap so I thought that I would get a head start on this but because we havent finished today yet I will update and add mileage and pictures later.

We woke up in Santa Rosa quite early because of the time zone change yesterday so we lay about and watched tv for a while. Then we checked out and bought a pint of milk (more on this later) and hit the road.

Today was a chilled day driving wise so we headed up to Santa Fe, we stopped at a rest point high in the hills overlooking the desert and had some cereal (hence the milk), you can buy cereal here in little tubs that you just add milk to.

Our first stop was Las Vegas, New Mexico which is very different from its Nevada namesake. We stopped in at this cute cafe for some iced tea to sip as we walked round town and chatted to this really cute old woman. She had just got her first guestbook for the cafe and we were the first people to ever sign it (we have signed a lot of these!). The town was really cute and old fashioned, its claim to fame is that Butch Cassidy and Doc Holliday both lived there.

Back on the road we just enjoyed the scenery until we got to Pecos where we went a hike round an old indian Pueblo complete with Franciscan Mission from when the Spanish arrived and converted them. It was a nice walk but there was signs everywhere saying watch out for rattlesnakes so I was pretty scared. Mostly it was just wall outlines that were left except the Mission cos it was a lot newer.

Our next stop was in Santa Fe where we are staying tonight, it is at an altitude of 7000ft so the air is pretty thin, the guest book recommends taking a couple of days to get use to it before doing anything! It also very hot, very very hot. We strolled about town for a while looking at all the mexican and indian trinkets. The building styles are really mixed too with quite a lot being in the traditional adobe style which we arent used to seeing. We went for lunch in the Plaza Restraunt right on the main Plaza. It was really nice, K had nachos and I had a chicken breast in a tortilla with guacamole, yum-o.

We have now checked into our motel which is called the Cottonwood Court and we have 2 bedrooms with an ajoining bathroom, fancy! (and it was only $48)

K is napping which I think is because she has got too much sun, she has sun burn and i dont, will wonders ever cease!?

Anyway, I am off to have a pre dinner shower to cool down and I will update the rest later.