Second To The Last Day

The last post, even though it was dated Thursday, was actually for the activities on Wednesday.  Below is a diatribe of what we did yesterday, Thursday, August 25.

The Turquoise Trail is a scenic byway leaving south out of Santa Fe.  The towns were once meccas for those seeking their fortune by digging in the rocky hills for turquoise, gold, silver, and other minerals.  The Native Americans were the first to dig here for pure veins, but others followed 150 years later.  The names of these towns are almost poetic; Cerrillos (meaning little hills), Madrid, Galisteo, and Tijeras.  Most are now practically ghost towns with the exception of Madrid, which is a community of galleries, tourist traps, and some really quirky, eclectic shops.  Most towns have a lovely old church, which usually gets my attention.

At the "top" of the trail is a little adobe cafe where peacocks and turkeys have run of the yard.  We met here for breakfast.  After my unfortunate episode last evening I had only one scrambled egg, some fruit from Steve's plate, and the homemade bread they serve with breakfast, which strangely enough, is garlic bread.  Quite unexpected.  But I will eat garlic bread ANY time !    It is no fun having a tummy ache when you're in a town known for the gastronomical adventures ! 

The two Steves left for the golf course located at the southernmost end of the trail, while I collected feathers from the yard, with permission, of course.   Then Ty and I drove to the far end also just to do in reverse what we did two years ago.  We stopped at an old adobe church to take a photo but there is now a gate which was not there before, and it was locked.  Because we were at the bottom of the hill we could not see the little chapel.   I did take a picture of the remains of some old buildings which were across the road.  I just LOVE old stuff !  A construction worker saw me, then flagged us down when we left.  He gave us directions down a few of the roads nearby where he said were old barns, farm equipment...all kinds of old things.   We drove for miles, seeing very little, except for what was left of an old log cabin.  Driving back to the main road we did see another old place that we missed when we first passed it, so I dutifully took a photo of that, too.  

 Our next destination was the Henderson Store, owned by an elderly man (Bill Henderson) and his daughter Desiree, and her husband.  Two years ago Desiree helped us when our tire was low and she had all the gadgets to get us back on the road safely.  We made a point to go see them again.  It didn't hurt that she has THE best prices on Native American hand crafted jewelry.   You bet I bought some ! 

We made our way back to Madrid (pronounced MAH-drid).  Brightly painted buildings lined both sides of the narrow road and I think we went into most of them.   Part of the movie Wild Hogs was filmed here.  A really cute movie if you ever get a chance to watch it.  Anyway, Ty and I split a wonderful turkey croissant sandwich at the soda fountain to fortify us for further shopping.  We had a good time looking at everything from "romantic" (read "expensive") clothes to some of the best repurposed items I've ever seen.  Something here for everyone, believe me.

We tried to reach the boys, but we had no phone service in the hills.  You had to wonder...what happens if you break down ?   There's no way to contact AAA.   Almost home to our trailer we finally had a signal and reached the guys to find out what we wanted to do for dinner.   They were 45 minutes behind us so we snuck up the road to Newman's Nursery to see if I could find some more succulents for my friend, Ragna.  No luck. 

Back at the trailer, the boys dragged in hot and sunburned.  Steve and Ty returned to their condo to clean up, then we would all meet at Steaksmith.   It was good to look forward to something other than Mexican food again.    We drove just out of town to a lovely place on a hill, spotting double rainbows to the south.  A good omen !  Once there, we had reservations, so we were seated promptly.   I started out with a lovely cabernet and the others had their own favorite cocktails.   My friend Ty and I shared a petite sirloin since neither of us could eat a huge plate alone.  The Two Steves each had identical meals of prime rib.  We all had a wonderful fresh salad to begin our meal; it was topped with pinon seeds and jicama.  A really good restaurant !  They had a four-person team to attend to our every whim.  My friend's husband and I each finished off the meal with a kahlua coffee.   So nice !   We parted ways in the parking lot, wishing each a safe journey home.   They live in Fort Worth, and it seems that we see them more often when they meet us in Santa Fe. 

We had a short quiet trip back to our trailer, sated by wonderful food and the best company.  We look forward to spending our last day together tomorrow (Friday).  But it's time to think about leaving.   I will write about our day today when we get to Fort Stockton on Saturday afternoon.  Not much to do there but count horned lizards.   :-)