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Long day...
Oct. 8th, 2005 09:34 pmGetting my luggage was a snap yesterday, but Galina didn't show up to pick me up until nearly 11 pm. She apparently got a late start out of Pagosa, and hadn't had the time to pick up any packaging materials from our Albuquerque supplier and more important, hadn't been able to check into a hotel. When she picked me up, she said she had been directed to wait at some other part of the airport, which clearly was bum scoop.
The Motel 6 at which we stayed when I was outbound had upped its nightly rate by $20 (or more than 50%), which mystified me until I realized we were in Albuquerque for the final weekend of the annual balloon festival (and the Motel 6 is pretty much ringside for balloon activities). I figured we'd be hard pressed to find anything at a reasonable price (or any vacancy at all) in Albuquerque at nearly midnight on Friday night of the last balloon festival weekend, so we took off up Interstate 25 toward Santa Fe.
All along the way, the hotels and motels were full. Finally, we found a room at something called a "Budget Inn" in Santa Fe, for $60. This, at 1:30 am (Mountain Time), after having stopped at several other places in town, which were full as well.
Consequently, we got a late start this morning, but just in time to get us into the Sam's Club in Santa Fe, after which we went and got the oil changed in our Ford, visited a couple of discount places, bought some supplies at an Office Depot, bought a quarter bushel of roasted green peppers, and eventually found ourselves on Highway 84 headed north, toward home.
A casual remark about the flea market north of Santa Fe got us to thinking that we always seem to gravitate toward doing the same thing with little or no variety, and that - for example - we'd never been to Taos since moving to Colorado, despite having heard so much about the place. So, instead of hanging a left at Española, we continued straight, up Highway 68 toward Taos.
Tomorrow, when I am less tired, I have to tell you about the Taos adventure. It's a fascinating place. We finally got home a few minutes ago, driving through a pretty spectacular set of thunderstorms for most of the way back, and I am truly beat.
Cheers...
The Motel 6 at which we stayed when I was outbound had upped its nightly rate by $20 (or more than 50%), which mystified me until I realized we were in Albuquerque for the final weekend of the annual balloon festival (and the Motel 6 is pretty much ringside for balloon activities). I figured we'd be hard pressed to find anything at a reasonable price (or any vacancy at all) in Albuquerque at nearly midnight on Friday night of the last balloon festival weekend, so we took off up Interstate 25 toward Santa Fe.
All along the way, the hotels and motels were full. Finally, we found a room at something called a "Budget Inn" in Santa Fe, for $60. This, at 1:30 am (Mountain Time), after having stopped at several other places in town, which were full as well.
Consequently, we got a late start this morning, but just in time to get us into the Sam's Club in Santa Fe, after which we went and got the oil changed in our Ford, visited a couple of discount places, bought some supplies at an Office Depot, bought a quarter bushel of roasted green peppers, and eventually found ourselves on Highway 84 headed north, toward home.
A casual remark about the flea market north of Santa Fe got us to thinking that we always seem to gravitate toward doing the same thing with little or no variety, and that - for example - we'd never been to Taos since moving to Colorado, despite having heard so much about the place. So, instead of hanging a left at Española, we continued straight, up Highway 68 toward Taos.
Tomorrow, when I am less tired, I have to tell you about the Taos adventure. It's a fascinating place. We finally got home a few minutes ago, driving through a pretty spectacular set of thunderstorms for most of the way back, and I am truly beat.
Cheers...
