Into the Southwest

On Friday, May 31st, we arose early, packed up, bid Will and Kat farewell, and hit the road. Our next destination was Tim and Belynda, Faith’s aunt and uncle, who live in Albuquerque, NM. The drive was an easy 11 hours through the prettiest parts of the country… who am I kidding? It was an incredibly monotonous drive through the flattest and most featureless places that I have ever been. Southwest Kansas, western Oklahoma, northwestern Texas, and eastern New Mexico were bland as could be. They were hot, dusty, intensely sunny, and so devoid of any hill or undulation that the speed limits hit 75 mph on two-lane roads. On the bright side, this area did have decent cell service, so I was able to get some solid work done while Faith drove. We switched off when a nap attack neared and Faith clocked out of consciousness for a while. As we got into New Mexico, the land slowly gained features and became much more interesting. We passed through Tucumcari and hopped onto I-40 towards ABQ where we encountered some spotty thunderstorms that buffeted us with wind and the sporadic downpour. We got through them quickly and made our way down the mountains towards Tim and Belynda’s home where we were welcomed with a beautiful evening, local pizza, and a lovely glass of wine. We stayed up chatting with them about anything and everything until late in the night after which we jumped into bed and fell asleep immediately.

The next day, we got up and had a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs along with some New Mexico green chilis. If you didn’t know, New Mexican cuisine uses a lot of green and red chilis. They are not different kinds of chilis: the chilis start green and turn red as they ripen under the desert sun and their flavor intensifies. When serving their cuisine, New Mexicans ask “red, green, or Christmas?”, meaning “do you want red chiles, green chiles, or a mixture of both?”. Although chili season isn’t until the end of summer/early fall, the chilis we had throughout our visit were extremely good.

At breakfast we met up with the rest of Tim and Belynda’s kids and grandkids then left to go to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, a kind of art museum that one has to experience to fully understand. If I tried to describe it, you’d probably think I was either nuts or high. That being said, it was a super cool experience that we both would highly recommend doing if you find yourself near one of their locations. After making our way through the exhibits, we went out for lunch where I had sopaipillas with Christmas chilis, what I was told is a classic New Mexican dish. Faith had blue corn enchiladas which were very blue. We both enjoyed our food, saved the leftovers, and continued on with our local guides to old town Santa Fe. Santa Fe was founded in 1610 and is therefore older than the United States and most of the places in it. Old town Santa Fe is home to the Palace of Governors, the oldest public building in the United States. While in the old town, we stopped by the numerous Native American jewelry vendors, stopped into the old cathedral, and saw art at a local festival. Back in Albuquerque, we once again enjoyed a beautiful evening, fellowship, and leftovers from lunch before heading to bed.

On Sunday, we got up, had breakfast, and went to church with Tim and Belynda. We enjoyed the service but unfortunately did not get to hear the head pastor speak. This has been a common theme for Faith and I: almost every time we visit a church we find that some guest pastor is speaking instead of the main guy. While not bad at all, it has been a bit of an impediment to finding a pastor whose teaching we enjoy and are nourished by. After church, Tim and Belynda made some incredible carne asada with salsa, roasted green chilis, and corn salad. We only had a little down time to allow our full stomachs to settle before we went to a birthday for Belynda’s nephew. We all met at a park and celebrated with more food and a water balloon fight that was very welcome under the hot sun. Once we dried off, we bid farewell and headed north to Aztec Ruins National Monument. We weren’t going to make it there before dark, so we found a small road off the main highway in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and parked for the night, our first night sleeping in our completed van!

Animals Seen

• Turkey vultures
• Lots of little lizards

Stats

• ~950 miles of driving
• Not nearly enough red and green chilis