Alamogordo to Phoenix

After saying adios to White Sands, we swung back through Alamogordo and got a bite to east at the most hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant we could find. Got really good fajitas and horchata for lunch. From there, we decided to drive up to a ski resort in the nearby mountains to see some snow. It was about a 40 minute drive up to the little resort town of Ruidoso, and it was packed with apre-ski pedestrians. Looked like a cute little ski town though with lots of small boutiques. Bad traffic with people coming off the mountain. In fact, the road up to the ski resort was closed, as all the traffic was downhill and rated to dangerous to drive uphill. So we pressed on.

We drove out of the mountains and on north, sticking to the backcountry 2 lane roads that stretched across the open plains and by the tiny towns in the middle of nowhere. I enjoyed driving across this countrside. On a high pass, we stopped for a break and watched a herd of deer across a field.

We stopped for some food at Cline's Corner, where the road north instersected the 40. I've been to that rest stop at least three or four times now, but not in a long time. This was where our family would stop on our way from Albuquerque to Oklahoma. We grabbed some subway there and continued on to Santa Fe.

In Santa Fe we arrived late and consequently just decided to grab a Best Western hotel. Expensive. $50 a night for a room. And the owner cut us a deal too. Cleaner and more modern with nicer towels, but I still prefer quirky motels for road trips. We drove around the middle of town in the dark to get a feel for the place. Saori had been there before, but it was my first trip to Santa Fe.

In the morning, we got up and drove into downtown Santa Fe, the tourist district. We parked in a public lot and got an all day parking pass. I enjoyed the town. It was more than a little touristy, but fun, and definately New Mexican. We saw the square and the native jewelers, spent some time in the fine art museum, got coffee and ice cream off the main square, and delicious fajitas and tamales from a corner vendor on the square. We took in the St. Francis cathedral and the old St.Michaels mission church. We picked up about ten maps of downtown too. I ended up buying a coarse-woven Mexican blanket, completely Mexican, but its colors and texture reminded me of the place. We walked all over the downtown area, from little bookstores to this really cool shop called "Two Hands" across from the old mission chruch. Sold eclectic goods, paper, and handmade sketchbooks. Cheap ones from cardboard covers and pulp brown paper, to the really beautiful leatherbound volumes with creamy handmade paper.
The only negative was that I started sneezing constantly all day, and my nose ran like the Rio Grande. I can only assume allergies were kicking up.

In the late afternoon, we waited for traffic to clear and journaled sitting in front of the main cathedral. I thought it was ugly inside. The interior was a bad mix of modern and reniassance fair and byzantine. The older church was much more interesting, beautiful, and of course, was built on top of the old kiva of the original natives who lived there. Religious architecture spreads almost parasitically, building on top of what it already sacred to the locals. History is full of it- Islam adopted the Hajj and Mecca from an ancient, preexisting religion, Christians patterned thier churches on Roman courts and made a Monotheon out of the Pantheon, Muslims changed the Hagia Sophia church into a mosque, and in Spain the Catholics built a cathedral smack in the center of a mosque.

Anyway, it was wednesday evening, so we decided to just head out and start the drive back to Phoenix early rather than spend another night in Santa Fe. We drove out of town, grabbing a bite in Albuquerque and continuing on. It was getting late on the road and we were worried about check-in time, so we took the Grants exit. We had a coupon for $30 a night at the South West Motel, so thats where we went. It was right across the street from the train tracks, and was a typical u-shaped motel. The sign was a huge rising sun with neon flames coming off of it. Grants by the way is a tiny tiny town which mostly streches along the strip coming off the freeway. It had an autozone, but that was the extent of its high retail. Behind the desk was an old Korean guy who was watching Korean TV via satellite cable. He was the owner and gave us our key. The room was clean but old. The microwave was used as a lamp stand, and there was a closet/niche about 18 inches wide beside the door to the bathroom. The toilet had it's "Santized for your Protection" bands on it. We thought it was hilarious.

In the morning, I asked the Korean owner a good place to eat in town. He recommended Grants Cafe, which was literally next door. We took his suggestion. It was a small restaurant with cheap tables and chairs, and a lot of older locals, where everyone knew the waitress and she knew everyone. Brought us some coffee. They actually had a jukebox in the corner. We ordered french toast and pancakes for breakfast. Really good stuff. Took awhile, but it was good anyway. We decided, since we were already on the way back, to take a detour to see an ice cave and volcano outside of Grants. Took about half an hour to get out, out of the grassy plains and up more in the mountains. Lavafields everywhere and a smattering of old volcanos dotting the landscape.

The ice cave was ok, not as cool as the lava tubes near Flagstaff, though the volcano was fun. We continued on the back road into Arizona, passing through the Zuni reservation, before popping back up north to Flagstaff. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch (no snow at all, dissapointingly) and then swung south for the run to Phoenix. The only place we stopped was at Monteczuma's castle.

It was to close in 30 minutes, so we rushed in for free and got to walk around a bit before hopping back in the van. We pulled into phoenix around 6:30 and that was the end of our trip.