What was going to be an ‘avoid July 4th Day’ turned into a fairly full on July 4th day. But it really was fun. We set off from the mad lady’s house, happy to say good riddance. Not to Santa Fe, a most lovely town, but definitely to the nutty woman, particularly after we’d been deluged by texts and emails about check out in the previous 24 hours. All in capitals and exclamation marks.
We went to the lovely French cafe for coffee and a treat. It was buzzing with “Happy 4th’s”. Everyone says ‘Happy 4th’ to each other. Strange lot this lot. Then we set off on the Torquoise Route to Albuquerque. The first port of call was Los Cerillos. An old adobe village that reeked of the wild west. It’s hard to explain but it really did have “that” feel to it. It is an old Torquoise mining town.
We found the old Trading Post and Museum. A dusty cluttered place with a really rather nasty, extremely grumpy man behind the counter. But on the wall was a photo of Joe Leaphorn saying that Dark Winds was filmed here. So I asked about that and yes, they have just finished filming Series 4. The whole crew comes into town and Grumpy man gets $18,000 day for every day they film. His kitchen is Joe’s Father’s house. I asked if I could take a photo and he said only if you buy something. OK…I’ll put my mind to that!! His shop was full of torquoise ‘stuff’. Norjie was looking at it and he was really so rude to her that I had to say hang on mate. Anyway we looked around his museum where some of the filming is done. Suffice to say I did buy something (I’ll probably never be able to pack it properly) and I got to go into his kitchen and take photos of where some of Dark Winds was filmed. My own form of a thrill!!
We headed out of Los Cerillos, and on to the next town, Madrid, just as a 4th July parade was starting. By some miracle we were able to park the car and head down the main street. Again, luckily, a little group of women had put seats out and they invited us to join them. They gave us a flag and an american fan and there we were, part of the crowd. It was a dinky little parade but very local and full of fun. Lots of “Happy 4ths” going down there. After the parade we headed down the main street to soak up the vibe, had an iced coffee, and headed back to the car and onward to Alb. A lovely town is Madrid. It was also a mining town that has turned into a bit of an artists colony with lots of galleries etc. Hard to explore with the streets filled with merrymakers.
I drove into Alb. A bit nerve-wracking when we hit the big highways with roads going everywhere. Anyway, we made it to the Monterey Motel on Route 66. An achievement.
The Motel is heaven. It is a renovated old Route 66 Motel. It has everything you want including a free drink on arrival. A Margarita each, of course, what else do you drink in this part of the world. It’s hotter once again down here but it was lovely sitting outside sipping on a lovely Margarita. I had a second which was very greedy. The check in guy, Alonso, is a total treat and he sent us off to the Sawmill Market for dinner. It is a large, upmarket food hall where you can get all sorts of food. I had a pasta…I was looking for comfort food and Pasta it was.
We’ve really only got tomorrow here but it looks like a great town with lots to do tomorrow. Happy 4th everyone. Hopefully that’s over for another year!! We’re debating whether to go for a swim now or not. The pool has had gorgeous (with red, white and blue cowboy hats) bodies in it until now when it is free and looks inviting.