Day 1 Tuesday, May 27th

Kayaks with Sean's help in Denver

Although we got a late start (mainly because of the problem of mounting the kayaks on the top of the van--one fell off twice and put dents in the side of the van), we made decent time. We also decided to stop early in Santa Fe because if we went straight for Denver, we would not get a chance to see Sean and Chanelle since they'd be sleeping at 11:45 PM, our arrival ETA.

It wasn't long before we had traveled along I 17 in Phoenix when another driver gesticulated wildly to the roof of our car. YUP!! We were losing the kayaks. Poor Bob. I ranted about that for the rest of the morning. He had a lot of trouble securing them because it was hard to reach them on the rooftop and Bob's arthritis prevents him from being his old limber self. I fumed most of the way and worried about the kayaks falling off the roof.

Santa Fe

We arrived at a hotel in Santa Fe called the Santa Fe Sage Inn. It wasn't much to look at from the outside, but the rooms were all decorated a la Santa Fe southwestern and were adorable. We were starving so we asked the reservation clerk for a place that was fun, close, and had a menu that was pretty extensive.

C

Cowgirl BBQ

Cowgirl Barbecue Patio

The Corn Chowder

When she said, "The Cowgirl Bar," I knew that it was the same restaurant we had enjoyed during a previous trip to Santa Fe, when we couch-surfed at an EMT instructor's adobe home. Once we got there, we knew that we had been there before. We ordered starters: Corn chowder (with shredded chicken, corn, carrots, green chiles, potatoes, and scallions--it was amazingly delicious), a Caesar's salad, a lamb slider with lemon aioli, a Hatch chile quesadilla and a pork belly taco. Both of us had beer and were entertained by a guitar player/singer on the colorful and fun patio.

The hotel was darling, the bed comfortable, and the bathroom clean. So we had a good night's sleep.

Santa Fe Sage Inn