The adventures have begun!
After several months of anticipation, I’m finally on my way to Taos! I’m a little nervous but mostly excited about speaking German for 4 1 /2 weeks. I’ll be wandering around beautiful New Mexico for a few days and then I’m off to Taos. I can’t wait!
My parents and I left Austin yesterday with plans to stay in Lubbock overnight. The drive was not as bad as I remembered, and I got to see part of the Germany/Greece game when we stopped for lunch, so I was happy. But when we arrived in Lubbock at 5:00, all the hotel rooms were booked for Texas Tech orientation. (Do the freshmen take their extended family or something?) So, we decided to drive all the way through to Albuquerque since there isn’t really much in between Lubbock and Albuquerque/Santa Fe. The sunset was incredible driving through New Mexico, and I hope I get to see more of those while I’m here. After that, though, it was pitch black—they don’t light the highway to Albuquerque! Definitely an interesting drive.
Today we took the Turquoise Trail up to Santa Fe, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. It exceeded my expectations; the scenery was wonderful! We went to Cibola National Forest and drove to the top of Sandia Crest (an elevation of 10,600 feet.) Apparently the last time I was anyplace with that kind of elevation, I was less than a year old, so the view was literally breathtaking. On a clear day, you can see for 100 miles! I’m going to post some pictures in the gallery, because it wouldn’t be good enough to describe it, and even the pictures can’t do justice to the real thing. (I tried!) We ate a picnic lunch up there too. I’ve heard Taos is even more beautiful, and if it is, I don’t think I’ll ever want to leave.
Afterwards we stopped in Madrid, a small town whose claim to fame is that Wild Hogs was filmed there. (Which, to be fair, is better than Fort Sumner, where they’re far too proud to have killed Billy the Kid way back in the 1880’s.) Everyone there seems to make their living off selling local art and attracting large groups of motorcyclists. Dogs walk through the street all the time; nobody hurts them and nobody cares.
Well, after a long two days I’m finally in Santa Fe. And I somehow managed to get a sunburn right away. Ouch!