Time to catch up!

As I left folks praying for rain in Texas, I crossed the New Mexico border in a torrential downpour. Because the state is so flat, I could see bolts of lighting miles and miles away. From the border to Santa Fe took about three hours, and every mile I was amazed as mountains grew out of nowhere. Santa Fe is surrounded with amazing mountains, giving it a very unique climate. I was pleasantly surprised to leave heat wave temperatures, for a comfortable 60 degree evening.
While here I’m staying with my friend Rob who works for the Santa Fe Opera House. I was lucky enough to get snuck into last nights performance of La Boheme by wearing a headset & pretending I was part of the crew. First of all, the SFO is an open air theater, so the breeze blew through all evening. The wall-less stage overlooks all of Santa Fe below, with the sun setting on mountains in the background. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, there was a lightening storm off in the distance, so streaks of lightening illuminated the sky. I am no where near eloquent enough to describe how amazing this theater is, but when I arrived to find theater-goers “tail gaiting” with wooden chairs, linens and wine in the parking lot, I knew I was in for something special. The performance left me speechless, as it was my first real opera, and I even understood it thanks to the optional captions they have in front of every seat. All I have to say is, if you are ever in Santa Fe, GO.

Saturday in Santa Fe I was on my own, but had heard recommendations to check out the plaza. I quickly realized Santa Fe is an art lovers dream city. Free sidewalk art shows, museums, studios, murals, espresso galleries... culture oozing out of every adobe structure. I shopped and had an amazing lunch at the Blue Corn Cafe. Later that night I saw another amazing performance at the SFO, this time it was the opening of The Last Savage so I got to indulge at the after party.

Sunday I took a short drive up to Taos to explore pueblos. They don't allow you to take photographs there, but it was certainly an experience I will never forget. I also drove around the Carson National Forest and saw some of the tragic impact forest fires have had there. New Mexico is absolutely amazing. On to Arizona!