Seconds With Steff

The room alarm went off at 6 AM… Need I even say more?

So with an extra early start Hunter and I got ready and headed out to Las Vegas… No not that Las Vegas… Las Vegas, New Mexico!

We took the pre-1937 route 66 option known also as the Santa Fe Loop. We drove from Santa Rosa to Las Vegas then onto Santa Fe ending in Albuquerque.

Las Vegas was adorable and Santa Fe (yes…Rent’s Santa Fe was blaring from my car as we entered the town) reminded me of an adobe version of Carmel by the Sea.

In Santa Fe, Hunter and I saw the oldest inn, church, and house in America as well as the Loretto Chapel.

We dropped down immediately into Albuquerque to go to the ABQ BioPark. Then under threatening skies and really kind of terrifying lightning, we made our way to the Petroglyph National Monument. And after three tries, we finally found where I was trying to get. It was there that the rearview mirror fell into my lap… again.

So like the calm totally collected human I am, I called the rental agency and told them they needed to supply me with a new car and bring it to my hotel. They said I could go to the airport to trade it in. With no other choice I complied, but I made it very very clear that I wasn’t paying for the half empty gas tank and it needed to be a very fast exchange. And it would’ve been fast except the Apple CarPlay would not hook up to my phone so two cars later instead of having a Nissan Versa (Save the Cheerleader…Save the World), I have a Ford Explorer just like I drive at home. I left the rental car agency with the Apple CarPlay still not working but wanting to get Hunter his stamp for his passport. I tried Hunter’s phone and it worked just fine, so what was wrong with mine? I drove to the RV Park for the stamp and sat in the parking lot. I drew on my time working IT in college…turn it off/turn it on/see if it works and VIOLA! everything was right with the world.

Back in business, we drove to The DogHouse for dinner and then to the Madonna of the Trails.

We are now happily ensconced in another motel off of Route 66 that has just been renovated and is actually quite lovely.