Santa Fe, New Mexico

We made it to Santa Fe and have been here the last 3 days. It's a very nice place. Even though it's the capital of the state, it doesn't seem to be out of control. You can get around the place easily. It's just a little expensive to live here.

We went to 3 brew pubs while we've been here. And 2 wineries. The first winery was the Santa Fe Winery. The wines were OK, but the guy who was pouring had no personality and it seemed like they didn't do wine tastings very often. They have another tasting room downtown in a gallery and I have a feeling we should have gone there instead. The winery itself is in Espanola, and that's where we went. We were served our samples in plastic cups. It didn't give a great first impression of New Mexico wineries. But then we went further north to Black Mesa Winery. Now THIS is a winery. They had great wines, and the gal who poured was very knowledgeable and helpful. We even got to take our tasting glasses. One of the wines they have here is called Santa Fest and they serve it warm with cinnamon sticks. Talk about the best winter drink! And their signature wine is Coyote. It's a red wine that even Bill liked.

We're heading to Albuquerque today. But we're only going to be there one day. Then it's off to Socorro and the main reason for being here. The Festival of the Cranes!! Expect lots of pictures. Then it's off to the East coast for Christmas. We're still not exactly sure what we're doing for Thanksgiving. It's going to depend on where we are and what the weather is like. Hopefully it will only take us 5 to 7 days to get there. All I can say is that the first place we hit had better have a bath tub, because that's where I'll be for a couple of days.

I'll post from the Festival of the Cranes.