Santa Fe with the Fam (cont.)

Breaking Bad in Albuquerque!

Day 6

When we decided as a family that we'd vacation in Santa Fe, hubs (a HUGE Breaking Bad fan) had one ask - that we go to Albuquerque and take a Breaking Bad tour. I agreed, and booked a top-rated one that toured you around the film sites in a Bounder RV. (Then cut to me, who had never seen a single episode, frantically bingeing five seasons of this show so that I'd have some idea what I was looking at! I managed to watch the finale TWO DAYS before we took this tour, so the whole series was completely fresh in my mind.) 

That Thursday, we woke up early, had breakfast at the rental, and made the gorgeous 1-hour drive to Albuquerque. (The Sandia Mountains just spread out before you. Unbelievable.) We parked in a paid lot near the tour start, and pretty soon, we were tooling around town to all kinds of sites used for the series - Jessie's house, Walt's house, the car wash, Los Pollos Hermanos (where we stopped for a bathroom break and some breakfast burritos), the laundry that hid Walt's superlab, Jane and Jessie's duplex, the Crossroads Motel (poor Wendy), and more.

Have an A-1 Day!

The tour guides worked as extras on the show, and during the tour, they showed clips and ran us through our paces with Breaking Bad trivia. If you got the answers right, they gave you little prizes - fake IDs from the characters on the show and tiny bags of candy that looked like blue meth.  

Murals in Old Town

After the tour was over, we'd planned to take a sunset hot air balloon ride with Rainbow Ryders. However, they'd called an hour or two before to let us know that they were cancelling that evening's flight due to high winds. (Sadness. I've been in a hot air balloon before, but I had been excited to take hubs and Clay on their first flight!) So, we found ourselves with a few extra free hours in Albuquerque. How to fill them?

First, we strolled Old Town Alburquerque a bit. They have a lovely square, tons of shops and restaurants, and a beautiful old church. The weather was gorgeous, and the leaves were turning. We bought a couple of souvenirs and had a decorative clay pot shipped home. 

Then, it was on to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History (which, incidentally, was also a filming site for Breaking Bad). This place was so cool! You learned all about the nuclear arms race, the development of the Manhattan Project out at Los Alamos, the testing of the "Gadget" being the focus of the Trinity project, and more. They had tons of aircraft and other military heavy equipment out back, too. All in all, we loved our visit here. 

Lots of learning at the National Museum 
of Nuclear Science and History!

Once we were finished at the museum, we were starving. We had a list of likely restaurants that we'd
researched earlier, and we ended up at Padilla's New Mexican Kitchen. This no-frills spot sits in an obscure strip mall and is completely full of locals. And no wonder - these folks know what they're doing. I got the combination platter - a taco, a cheese enchilada (with onion), a tamale, rice, beans, and sopapillas. I got the green chile sauce on the side, but Lord, I could eat that stuff on everything. In fact, I've never been a cheese enchilada fan, but with the onions and the green chiles, it was nothing short of amazing. (And you know a place is good when they leave a big squeeze bottle of honey on the table for the sopapillas.) Not only that, service was adorable and prices were cheap. This place was fantastic, and I highly recommend it. 

After eating, we headed back to Santa Fe, the sun casting long, golden shadows on the mountains. 

Day 7

On our last full day in town, I had a couple of hikes I wanted to cross off my list before leaving the area. The day I'd gone out to Pecos, I'd tried to get by Grasshopper Canyon to hike, but I didn't want to have to beat the sunset to do it, so I bagged it. But, as Friday morning was clear and not too cold, I put some gas in the rental car and navigated to the trailhead. This is a great, three-mile, out-and-back trail that runs along the bottom of the canyon, along a little creek. Though the creek was mostly dry (which made all of the crossings really easy, tbh), the rock formations that rise on either side of the trail were dramatic, and you can scramble up some boulders at the end of the hike for elevated views of the canyon. (I left a cairn up there for the next hiker!) 

Grasshopper Canyon

After my morning hike, I stopped back by the rental for lunch and a rest. Then, I headed out for Hike #2! I had wanted to get by the Petroglyph National Monument when we were in Albuquerque, but we hadn't been able to. No matter. There are tons of glyphs for those who look in Santa Fe - at the La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs site. The site is located a few miles from the Santa Fe airport, and it's completely free to access. Park at the trailhead, and then just flow the trail to your left. 

After a bit of walking, you'll see an opening in the fence through which you'll walk towards the mesa, where the glyphs are. The trail markers will point you to walk to the top of the mesa (and you should definitely do that, because the views from up there are expansive). However, that's not where the glyphs are. The glyphs are on the face of the rocks right below the top of the mesa. So, as you approach the top of the mesa, look for paths to your left that route you just below the top. 

And then, your glyph treasure hunt begins! You'll find hundreds of them - people, deer, stars, lizards, hands, swirls, all kinds of things. It's unreal to think that these designs have been etched into these rocks for thousands of years. All those years ago, someone put those designs here, just under the top of that great mesa. And now, thousands of years later, I stood in front of those designs, recognizing birds, the sun, a dancing man. I received the message that someone left there for me. And it made me remember that art has always been, and always will be, about connection. 

I loved this hike. 

Hundred of glyphs

Afterwards, I headed back to the rental to clean up before dinner. For our last meal in Santa Fe, we had a dinner reservation at Estevan, near the plaza. We arrived and were seated near the cozy upstairs fireplace (perfect, as the night was cold). I ordered a glass of red wine and a medium-rare ribeye steak, served with fingerling potatoes and sautéed vegetables. Hubs got enchiladas (excellent), and Clay ordered a rich, meaty pasta bolognese. We finished up with homemade ice cream (vanilla, cherry/pinyon) and almond cake. The food was so delicious here, and the service was knowledgable and prompt. We very much enjoyed our last dinner in town!

The next morning, it was an EARLY wake-up, pack-up, boarding to get on the plane home. Two flights later, we were snug at home! We loved our trip to Santa Fe and felt like we really got a chance to explore the city. I adored the food, the hiking, the culture, and the history. An enchanting place, indeed.