Santa Fe, New Mexico - October 5th to 6th, 2023
Santa Fe was not on our original itinerary. Unfortunately, we had to cut almost two weeks out of our plans to drive to Ohio for a memorial service. On the way back, we stayed a couple of nights in Santa Fe before resuming our itinerary at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We’ve been to Santa Fe a few times before, so this was a rather relaxing stay. In addition to Santa Fe, we’ve included a few interesting things we encountered on our way to and from Ohio.
The first day, we drove from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to a KOA in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We stopped at the Texaco in the town of Why. The Why Not Travel Stop was cute.
We passed by a border patrol inspection station on the east side of Tohino O’Odham reservation, but we didn’t have to stop. We remember seeing one between Why and Ajo where they were stopping everyone, but it was only those heading north and we were heading south to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. There was also one south of Marathon, Texas along US 385 before we entered Big Bend National Park (Big Bend National Park: Chisos Basin, Texas - July 24th to 27th, 2023), but again, it was for people heading north in the opposite direction, so again, we didn’t have to stop. The second day of driving was from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Dodge City, Kansas. There was another border patrol inspection station as we approached White Sands National Park. We had to stop, but all they did was ask us if we were US citizens and if we were the only two people in the vehicle.
As we were approaching Dalhart, Texas, our friends, Dave & Sandy, sent us a picture of Clayton, New Mexico. Just as Ann was looking at the picture, she looked up to see a sign indicating the next left turn headed towards Clayton. Wait! Where is Clayton? It was just an hour north of where we were. Where were our friends currently? A hasty exchange of text messages confirmed that they were in Dalhart and we were just 40 minutes away. We had already picked out an ice cream place in Dalhart to stop at, so our friends headed over there to wait for us. They were heading southeast on US 87. We were heading northeast on US 54. The two highways cross in Dalhart. What are the chances of us crossing paths like that, within an hour from each other?
We spent about an hour at Galiz Ice Cream & Snacks while we enjoyed our treats. Ann tried a dip of pistachio and a dip of wild pine nut in a waffle cone. Keith had a cherry & lime fresh fruit drink. Ann liked the ice cream, but Keith thought his drink was just OK. We would have lingered longer, but we both had quite a bit more driving to do.
For dinner, we parked in front of Dorothy’s House in Liberal, Kansas. The house was closed, but there were picnic tables outside to sit and eat at.
It was dark by the time we reached the Dodge City KOA. A group of intense thunderstorms were in the distance, giving us a light show against the dark skies. We managed to skirt the heavy rains and strong winds and only drove through a little bit of rain.
The third day, we picked up a relative in the Kansas City area and stayed in hotels the rest of the time until we returned to Kansas City about a week later. Our overnight stops were in Effingham, Illinois, both ways, in addition to staying in Kansas City. There was an interesting place to eat in Effingham, called Firefly Grill, but we didn’t go as it looked a little pricey. We’ve added that to our future ideas list for the next time we are passing through the area.
While we were in Ohio, of course we paid a visit to Skyline Chili and Whit’s Frozen Custard, as has become our tradition. When we returned to Kansas City, our relatives took us out to Dewey’s Pizza. OMG! The best pizza we’ve ever had! The crispy, yet chewy, hand-tossed New York style crust was exactly how we like it. Along with locations in Kansas City and St. Louis, there are lots of them in Ohio including Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, where they are based. Unfortunately, there are no stores in Colorado. Why have we never eaten at a Dewey’s Pizza before? We’ll have to add that to our restaurant traditions when we visit Ohio.
From Kansa City, we returned to Dodge City. Dinner was at the Central Station Bar & Grill. The atmosphere was a sports bar feel, but the food was just OK. Ann had a burger while Keith had the salmon, which was a nice change. Then we went for a quick stroll around town to stretch our legs.
Thursday was our last long drive for a while, six and a half hours to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had been driving almost every day for over a week. We were looking forward to sitting in the same place for eight nights at the Balloon Fiesta.
As we drove through Clayton, New Mexico, we had to stop, as our friends Dave and Sandy had sparked our curiosity about the town with their pictures. We enjoyed drinks and sweat treats from Mock’s Crossroads Coffee Mill. It was definitely a worthwhile stop.
The Santa Fe KOA is cute, nicely decorated. We arrived in time to do our laundry. It was actually nice to cook dinner for a change. Eating out all the time gets a little old. We have a tendency to overeat and not eat as healthy when we’re at a restaurant.
Friday we drove into town for lunch. A friend recommended Tomasita’s near the train depot. The family-run New Mexican restaurant, which opened in 1974, moved to the old red brick Guadalupe Station building in 1979. The Guadalupe Station was constructed in 1904 and served as the last stop on the Chile Line, from Antonito to Santa Fe.
We arrived just before noon and had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. Signs were posted saying their chile was hot. Ann asked our waitress which chile was hotter, red or green. She said they are about the same, depending on the day and the person eating it. She recommended getting the chile on the side so we could control the heat. So Ann ordered “Christmas on the side” (both the red and green chile) with her trio of enchiladas while Keith ordered the combination plate. He went for it and had them put the chile right on top of his food. Yes, the chile was hot. We would recommend getting it on the side and adding a little at a time until you get the desired heat. Luckily they didn’t put a lot of green chile on Keith’s food, so he was able to enjoy it. The food was fantastic. They serve sopaipillas with every meal along with their house-made honey butter. We didn’t try the honey butter and went with just honey on ours. Very delicious. By the end of our meal, we were too full to try any of the desserts.
From the Railyard, we drove over to the Visitor Center near the state capitol building. From previous visits, we knew there were a few RV parking spots over there. However, when we arrived, the RV spots were all taken, including one spot taken by a passenger car. There are signs posted everywhere that the lot is for government employees and others may be towed. There were some parking spots with signs indicating they were for visitor center guests, but limited to 30 minutes. We pulled into a normal parking spot anyway and walked into the visitor center to ask where we could park. She assured us that we could park in the lot all day, even though it was a weekday.
We strolled from the visitor center down to the Plaza and around a couple of more blocks. We passed by San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the United States, and the Loretto Chapel with the Miraculous Staircase. We’ve been to Santa Fe several times before, so we didn’t go inside. We love strolling the streets, admiring the adobe architecture, and getting some steps in after so many long days of driving. However, we didn’t seem to be in the mood for exploring much, so our walk was pretty brief. There were crowds of people on the streets, with lots of street vendors along with all the restaurants, hotels, museums, art galleries, and shops. We’re not big fans of crowds, don’t really care to spend much time in museums, and are not really shoppers. So we called it a day and headed back to Red Tail (our Winnebago EKKO).
It was a cool day, but we were a little warm from our stroll. Ice cream sounded good, so we drove over to the Shake Foundation. We went there during one of our previous Santa Fe visits. We didn’t remember what the ice cream was like and we found out why. It was nothing special, but it was cool and refreshing. Then we headed back to the campground. When dinner time rolled around, we were not very hungry. Instead of cooking, we just munched on cucumbers, hummus, and tortillas.
Even though the trip to Ohio and back was not planned and the reason for the trip was not pleasant, we seemed to make the best of it. Santa Fe was a pleasant and beautiful place to stroll, relax, and regroup.
Check out our related video: Santa Fe, New Mexico
(Ann)