March 27, 2021
Oops! I forgot to post a trip report from two weeks ago! Grrr….
While Brandy was out of town over the weekend of March 27-29, I decided to grab Jarrod and head north for a stop on the Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail. It turned into so much more though.
Pre-Trip
After dropping Brandy at the airport at 7:00 Saturday morning, I went back home and did some chores before leaving for the remainder of the day.
First stop was the car wash. Brandy’s Lexus was filthy from the last several trips out we had made, and I wanted a relatively fresh ride in which to go up to Santa Fe.
Before long, I was on the road to Rio Rancho. I made my way up the same way I usually do, up Rio Grande Blvd through Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, to Alameda. Normally, I’d take Alameda up to Hwy 528 into Rio Rancho, but I diverted when I realized I was going to be there pretty early. Instead, I hung a right on Corrales Blvd and took that all the way up to its outlet onto Hwy 528 in northern Rio Rancho.
On to Santa Fe
I had killed just enough time, so I headed down and was at Jarrod’s place to pick him up at 12:30. We landed at Atrisco Cafe & Bar around 2:00, not realizing this restaurant is inside a mall. They had an outward facing door, but we had to almost go into the mall to get to their front door.
We were seated and, since we both knew what we wanted, we quickly ordered: green chile cheeseburgers, no tomatoes on mine, add bacon to his. The food came quickly and was delicious, more so than the burger I had in Carlsbad. The fries were well done and we ordered a pair of sopaipillas to finish off the meal.
These were some of the best sopaipillas I’ve ever had. A light crispiness to them, still tender on the inside and the honey perfectly accentuated the taste. Five star meal, for sure! The total bill after tax and tip was under $35 for the two of us.
A Lovely Drive
We left the restaurant and headed north to the Santa Fe National Forest Scenic Byway. The road was lined with a nice mix of rock mountain sides and trees. It was warm enough at the bottom of the trail, but as we climbed, it got colder and colder, seeing more and more snow along the way.
We made the 15 mile trip up the byway stopping periodically to take pictures, and wound up at the ski basin at about 4:00. There was plenty of snow, so there were plenty of people skiing. We drove through the small, plowed parking lot and headed back down the hill for a short stroll through the plaza in downtown Santa Fe.
Santa Fe Plaza
We found some inexpensive parking just outside the plaza square and made our way in to its interior. There was a demonstration of some Native American dancing in the square but had just ended as we approached. No pictures of that, sorry. 🙁
We continued around, past the cathedral, through shops, around the plaza, and past museums, snapping pictures all the way. Both Jarrod and I found it rather odd that they still had Christmas decorations up… at the end of March…
We stopped at the Starbucks on the plaza so I could get a coffee and shortly decided to call it a day. Jarrod had worked all morning, so I respected that. We headed back to the car and went home.
End of the Road
It was nice having the day with my son. I’m glad he was so amenable to taking the trip with me. I’d like to do more with him, especially with what’s coming on the horizon…
As always, stay tuned for more, and be sure to take a peek at the pictures from this trip in my Photo Diary!
“Travel as much as you can. As far as you can. As long as you can. Life’s not meant to be lived in one place.”
unknown
-Phil