For our group trip this year, we decided to go to northern New Mexico for all the fun outdoorsy activities that were available. We first landed in Albuquerque and then drove about two hours to reach Santa Fe.
If you ever find yourself in Santa Fe, you must hike the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. The hike isn't too strenuous and you get a gorgeous view with lots of picture opportunities!
That Kyle, such a rebel.
The perfect blue sky.
The weather was pretty perfect, the highs being in the 70s and lows in the 40s. You wouldn't think so, but it was actually still cold enough where there was snow on some of the mountains.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of these flowers. Love the contrast of red-orange against the earth tones.
At the top of the hike, you can see all the "tent rocks" and mountains.
Afterwards, we had lunch at Tune-Up Cafe. We tried to research all the restaurants we wanted to visit beforehand and this place was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.
Good job Guy, those papusas were pretty darn delicious! (Papusa: fried cornmeal pancakes stuffed with steak and corn; served with salsa.)
I know. I know, it's unbelievable right? This is the house we stayed in for the rest of the trip. It was built by an artist, sculptor, and architect who later decided to sell it to our renters.
The incredible view from our back porch.
The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. It took a lot of courage (that only lasted about five minutes) for me to get close enough to the edge of the bridge to take this picture. My legs felt like they were crumbling every time a semi drove across the bridge.
But it was definitely worth it.
We spent most of the next morning white-water-rafting. Towards the end, they decided to let us ride up one of the big rapids just for fun. As we were waiting for our turn, we watch our other friends (in a different raft) climb up the rapid and suddenly one of them had disappeared. The next thing I know, I see his head bobbing around the water as the guide quickly grabs him. Suffice to say, he said it was the most fun he has ever had and couldn't stop laughing.
There's that snow I was telling you about.
We were hoping to hike Williams Lake Trail but as you can see, there was still a lot of snow and slush. As we were walking back to our car, a man randomly (and out of no where!) skied down next to us and yelled "there's a lot of snow up there!"
The scenery was still mesmerizing despite not being able to hike.
We spent our last night around a fire and watching the stars.
Before we left for the airport, we had lunch at The Grove. If you're a fan of Breaking Bad, you'll recognize this as the place where Walt and Lydia (ugh, Lydia!) would meet.
Red Velvet Cupcake and Hazelnut Chocolate Macarons
He said, "OMG...this is the best Italian sandwich I've ever had!"
And finally, the "Grove Pancakes" and Croque Madame.