2014-28 Santa Fe New Mexico

2014-28

Campground:  Cochiti Lake Corp park.  $10 senior rate.  Water/Elect.  Paved sites.  Close to Santa Fe. 40+ over air tv stations.  Good 4g cellphone service.

Cochiti Lake
Santa Fe

three views leading to Cochiti Lake 

If you’ve never visited New Mexico may I mention that it is a very diverse state.  I’m in the northern portion of the state and it’s filled with higher elevations, the mesa’s look more like chopped off mountain tops.  All covered with cedar trees and pines at the higher elevations.  Even the butte’s those rounded flat topped cone shapes are covered with cedars.  The further one drives south through the state and you’ll see more of the desert type landscapes.  But for now, I’m surrounded by mountain ranges, mesa’s and buttes giving a great western landscape that pretty much keeps a smile on my face.

road to Cochiti Gulf Coarse 

Whew, what a day.  I drove into Santa Fe to get some chores done, the first was to go to one of two Wal-Mart’s to get an oil and filter change on my truck.  No go.  Both Wal-Mart’s here do not have an auto service department.  next stop get a flu shot at Walgreens.  They now provide a super duper booster flu shot for seniors.  Got the shot.  next it was a drive to the used book store.  After a few runarounds, I went back to the first one that didn’t open till 11:00.  They had what I was looking for and more.  Spent over $45 on used paperbacks.  I’m set for a whole year.  Got back to the campground and started to feel funny.  Yuck, was I coming down with food poisoning?  Finally figured out it was probably a bad reaction to the big dose of the flu shot.  Fever and sick feeling all evening and into the night.

one of many art shows in Santa Fe

made out of cork

made out of cork

Ginny the artist/potter and Lynn

Ginny latest art work

a new artist in town

The next morning, it dawned on me, that without a spleen, my body couldn‘t start building the white cells fast enough to work with the flu shot.  Guess I’ll never take the super duper dose again.  A day of rest and I then went back to Santa Fe to visit a couple good friends and have lunch at the La Fonda, an historical hotel in the heart of Santa Fe.  By the way, they’ve closed off 3 sides of the center square in town making it much more pedestrian friendly.  Though you’ll still have to search for a parking spot and plan on having lots of quarters for the parking meters which are everywhere.  Santa Fe is one giant artist colony so if you love art, this is the place to explore.

look pretty doesn't it... Chamisa and I have allergies from it

I’m struggling a bit with allergies this time of year out west, as the Chamisa bush/shrub is in full bloom and apparently I’m sensitive to it’s pollen.  So be forewarned, you might need to take some antihistamines while out here in the fall.  At least it’s really pretty to look at.

It’s day three or four now and feeling lots of aches and pain from it all.  Hate to take too much pain medications, so wait until I can’t stand it any longer and usually only take one pill, not the recommended two.  I’m sure my body will be cleansed of all this stuff soon.

Ahhhhh, and yet a few days later and I feel “normal” again.  It was pretty yucky, I didn’t even care for anything I was eating.  Visited with Lynn in Albuquerque and didn’t even eat half my lunch.  But we had a great visit as Lynn is the ambassador for this town and has so much to share about the area.

And I only have a day or so to decide which direction I'll be heading too next.... it'll be a surprise for both you and me.