Before the pandemic absolutely wrecked havoc with travel plans in no 2020, I reserved a 3 bedroom luxury adobe style home through VRBO in Sante Fe, New Mexico for October, 2020. My hopes were that two couples from the San Diego, CA area would meet us there for a five day stay.
It’s funny how memory works. If it weren’t for my travel diary, I would have completely forgotten the nightmare traveling had become by summer of 2020. Masking rules were bad enough but it was the ever changing individual state quarantine mandates which became my most challenging angst.
For US travelers in September 2020, your pre-departure task included searching online the differing quarantine rules mandated by individual states. By October 21st, 2020; California was dropped from New Mexico’s mandatory quarantine list. Unfortunately Pennsylvania's Covid cases were up and the state was added. Technically all Pennsylvanians needed to self quarantine for 14 days upon entering New Mexico.
What to do? Cancel the entire trip? Go anyway and pray neither one of us would get caught and fined or worse, get sick while visiting New Mexico?
Pete and I rolled the dice and decided to make the trip. One California couple backed out but the four of us looked forward to being together, and planned outdoor activities.
For the record, flying in 2020 couldn’t have been nicer. Planes remained virtually empty and most airlines kept the middle seats open as a part of Covid precautions. Of course, masking was required.
Pete and I arrived without incident. We eagerly set off for our first night’s stop, Albuquerque.
Poor Albuquerque. No joke, Old Town was a veritable ghost town. We saw maybe five people all afternoon while strolling around (we dared not go into the shops as we technically were supposed to be quarantining). To add to the spookiness, we were the only guests at our bed and breakfast where we were asked to stay outside on the lawn at all times except when sleeping or relaxing in our room. Reluctantly, our innkeeper did serve us breakfast indoors. She practically tossed our plates onto our dining table before scurrying back to the safety of her kitchen.
With time on our hands and nothing open, Pete and I drove a short piece of Route 66. Before this trip, I had dreamt of doing the entire highway from St. Louis to California. Thirty miles of dusty roads and dilapidated buildings however, cured me of this desire.
Santa Fe's Galleries Are Unlike Any Others
Friends Cate and Arny met us at our VRBO called Two Casitas on the afternoon of October 22nd. We spent the next two days walking the sidewalks of Santa Fe, exploring the amazing Bandelier National Monument, and doing something new advertised as “Covid Safe” - glass blowing.
What, No Safety Harness???
Traveler’s Tip; Bandelier is worth seeing! Even if ladder climbing isn’t your thing, the history of the park’s caves date back thousands of years. In this region of the US you can also see Abert’s squirrels - the most charming rodent I’ve ever laid eyes upon (see magnet).
Because California was lifted from New Mexico’s quarantine list, Cate and Arny enjoyed time in the art galleries and dined indoors for lunches in downtown Sante Fe. Pete and I happily hid out in our charming “home” featuring large living spaces and indoor and outdoor fireplaces.
You Actually Get to Do the Glass Blowing at Prairie Dog
Our experience while glass blowing at Prairie Dog Glass remains a highlight of this trip. Again, because we were basically the only tourists in the Sante Fe area that month, we had the whole place to ourselves. Each of us made something to take home as a keepsake. I made a vase. Pete created a beer glass - well, let’s just say, it’s a beer glass for the really thirsty that doubles as a vase.
World's Biggest Beer Glass - Handmade by Pete
Traveler’s Tip: If you do get the opportunity to make your own glass keepsake, keep it to something the glass craftsman is familiar with. Our glass blower had no idea what Pete meant when he asked to make a “beer glass”.
New Mexico’s weather can change on a dime and it did just that the latter part of our stay. Watching the weather, the four of us decided to leave a day early to get closer to Albuquerque’s airport. T’was a good thing.
Leaving Santa Fe at 2 pm, it took Pete and me 3 ½ hours to traverse 60 long miles of Interstate 25 due to increasingly snowy and icy conditions. Our drive to Albequerque’s airport ranks as one of the most perilous journeys we have ever experienced. Passing many cars stuck on even the slightest hill, we literally slid into the airport’s Hampton Inn’s parking lot the evening before our morning flight home.
A Sheet of Ice Underneath the Snow
The four of us made it home to our respective states with no accident, incident, and thankfully, no Covid.
Travelers Tip: If connecting at another airport, stay alert to conditions at that second airport. Pete saw online that our scheduled connecting flight to Philadelphia out of Atlanta was delayed. With Delta Airlines customer service rep Travis’ help, we were able to make a better connection going through Minneapolis.
New Mexico went into a complete lockdown on November 16, 2020, three weeks after we left. With this being the last of the trips I had booked pre-Covid, I knew that there would be no more traveling until something drastically changed.
Little did I know, this would happen just eight weeks later.
Nice TR - we love Bandelier National Monument - have visited several times. The ladders leading up to the Alcove House are great! If you didn't get a chance to visit Los Alamos I would put it on the agenda for a next visit to NM. My husband's brother lives there, and we visit at least once a year. Los Alamos has lots of hiking as well as historical buildings to tour and learn lots about Oppenheimer.