After, that Hotel in Abilene, I wanted to see something beautiful. Santa Fe is just that. I’ve been to Santa Fe, NM a few times. It’s a beautiful area and reminds me of Bend, Oregon but with more Adobe buildings. Look, I’ll gladly drive six and a half hours there to get the memory of that shit hole hotel out of my mind. After I get to the Super 8 I booked, I get some Taco bell (Yeah, with all the food there, it’s dumb but it’s quick, consistent and it’ll come into play after) and I relax at the hotel and walk Furi for a bit. I also contemplate how I load my personal gear. I’m always reorganizing things, packing and unpacking trying to find the most efficient way to store my gear. I’m packed one way for camping and a few ways for hotel stays. Hotels can be tricky; I have a lot of gear in my rig and I’d prefer not to have it broken into. If someone is going to steal something and they are determined, I’m fucked but I’m sure as shit not going to make it easy for them. When I stay at hotels, I prefer to be able to park in front of the door but obviously some places aren’t like that. I also have a few things that I don’t or rarely use, like an XBOX system, some important papers, CPAP machine (uses too much electricity) and it drives me nuts because of the waste of space but the things get stored deep behind stuff. Anyway, I need a bag to store stuff more efficiently. So, I’ll head to Recreational Equipment, Inc. or REI tomorrow.
I awoke the next day to snow but fuck it, I’m going shopping. I confess, I’m a REI addict. I could wander the store endlessly like a Zombie with no real direction or purpose plus the bathrooms are usually clean. Today I had a purpose and I picked up the Big Haul 60 in Kabocha Orange. It’s a gear bag that you can switch to a backpack. After my purchase, I walked Furi around the Area. It’s the old Santa Fe rail yard and has many stores, restaurants and cool places. I was tempted to go into a Comic book store but Furi was a bit too rambunctious and previously wasn’t happy about being in the car while I ran into REI.
Furi can be a handful sometimes. I wanted a cattle dog to keep me busy and she does….non-stop. The best thing for her is swimming and the next best is a big dog park. Santa Fe had one of the best ones I’ve seen. It was called It was massive and they served morning coffee on Saturday. We hiked without a leash for an hour. Threw the ball a few times also but it’s better when she plays with other dogs. Strange thing I noticed at the park was there were three, three-legged dogs! I also was screwing around with my solar panel at the dog park, it’s not giving me good amperage.
I went back to the hotel and outfitted the new bag, walked Furi and got some excellent street tacos (I had to compare them to Toxic Hell aka Taco Bell) and settled in for the night.
I’m checking the weather and there’s a cold front heading towards New Mexico, I need to head south to warmer climate. This isn’t working…
Alamogordo, NM up next.
My three day stay 