Do You Know The Way To Santa Fe?

After a trucker somewhere in the middle of the desert begged to purchase our dedicated and loved road dog at a seedy truck stop, we made it to Santa Fe, NM. No worries - Chloe is our daughter and we made it quite clear that she most certainly was not for sale. Needless to say, I was especially happy to arrive at our Comfort Inn because I drove for a long leg, under the guidance of our road trip mascot, S-TURT (short for sea turtle) and with the loving patience of our precious Chloe. We reached our 1,000 mile mark on this stretch. In what visually appeared to be a larger version of Ojai, in the land of peppers, turquoise and heat, the four of us set out to find a salsa worthy enough to label hot and a turquoise necklace to add to my collection. We were successful on both accounts! After a wonderful day of walking around the historic section of Santa Fe, Brooks bought me an early birthday present, a turquoise pendant from a local artist who was one of multiple lining the park ready to sell to a passerby. (He has created a tradition of buying me jewelry every time he travels and I am so lucky to have some gorgeous authentic turquoise to add to my collection). Soon after, we found our way to a church labeled appropriately for its “miraculous staircase”. The church of the miraculous staircase gained public interest when a craftsman constructed a stunning wooden spiral staircase from the pews to the choir loft that has left engineers baffled to date. The staircase was carved and built without nuts, bolts, or nails and seemingly appears to also lack any type of load-bearing pole at all; yet it still stands today to be admired by all. With a taste for beauty and talented craftsmanship still lingering on our tongues, we found ourselves drawn to a photo gallery where original prints by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, and Annie Lebowitz left Brooks ogling. If only we had $18,000 to purchase one. All of this excitement worked up a masochistic hunger for salsa, for I have been on a life-long journey to find a salsa hot enough to satiate my desire to burn my mouth and taste buds. If any place is equipped to face this challenge, I believed that Santa Fe was. And I was right. Baffled employees at the Chile Store asked me for my name and handshake after reaching into their vault to retrieve the hottest stuff I have ever consumed – “Famous last words, XXX chile sauce”. They couldn’t believe that I was able to consume it. In fact, many of the employees had never even gone near it. Because I had an empty stomach I was left with a bit of an upset tummy, but I have finally met my match. Hooray for Santa Fe.