Day 34-35: Santa Fe Highlights

Have you ever traveled for days on end, and started to feel tired? Since leaving San Francisco, it’s been go, go go nonstop–always on the road, and headed somewhere new. So today was more of a rest day, hanging out at Black Mesa Casino for as long as we could to catch up on things, before eventually leaving for Santa Fe. 

Meow Wolf

Our only plan for today was to check out the Meow Wolf, which has immersive art installations with multimedia elements. It was hands-down one of the most unique and incredible immersive art places we have ever been to! It’s highly interactive, and there’s a mysterious narrative underpinning the whole place–without giving too much away, it centers around a fictional family who disappear after experimenting with interdimensional travel, leaving behind this maze-like exhibit. You could go into a room that had a dinosaur skeleton and be able to play its bones like a xylophone. Then you could find yourself in a kitchen, open the fridge door, and be able to walk through it to get to another room. Then you could wind up in a room that’s playing disco funk with bold disco prints on the wall. And that is barely scratching the surface of what you encounter! 

We’re not sure we could have come up with anything that could be as enigmatic as it was bold, as entertaining as it was creepy, or as mind-bending as it was curious even on an acid trip! There are also special events there, and since it was a Friday night there was a hip hop show that evening for an additional ticket–we heard the act warming up and it sounded fun, but didn’t stick around to see it. That night, we parked a short distance away from Meow Wolf, in a somewhat quiet street (except for the man virtually yelling into his phone to have a conversation late at night before he got back into his car and drove off)!

Yoga and Baked Breakfast Treats

Before this trip, Lisette had envisioned setting up some kind of regular morning routine that involved doing some yoga after waking up. Of course, in the first month of traveling it’s hard to establish habits, when there’s so much that is new to get used to! Maybe she’ll establish this morning routine at some point and find a way to stretch even if that means making some adjustments (because the yoga mat won’t roll out fully in the RV), but also allowing for some days to be skipped, especially if we’ve had a poor night’s sleep! 

In any case, Lisette had been missing her dancing and yoga classes, and right near Meow Wolf there was a yoga studio, Santa Fe Community Yoga, a mere 5 minutes walk away, with a Saturday morning class at  8.15am-9.30am. Lisette loved the class, and would definitely be a regular if we lived here–the teacher, Mariela, focused on incorporating her joint mobility expertise to the class which made it fun and different to the vinyasa style that Lisette is trained in, everyone was welcoming, and the studio itself was warm and clean. 

Not far from the studio was a family-run bakery, Wild Leaven, that specializes in sourdough and artisan bread and pastries. Lisette bought a green chile cheese croissant (gotta still get all the chile fixes in New Mexico), and a local raspberry danish for Michael–both were absolutely delicious and a welcome morning treat! 

On our way to Old Town Santa Fe we had a pit stop to see Ethyl the Whale, which holds the Guinness world record for the largest recycled plastic sculpture, and was named for its polyethylene body. Coincidentally, Ethyl is from San Francisco–two artists created it to bring awareness of the negative consequences of plastic on the environment. Meow Wolf subsequently bought it and brought Ethyl to New Mexico. 

Old Town Santa Fe

It was a short drive to Old Town Santa Fe, but a difficult one for our RV, as the streets are narrow, which made it a bit stressful and difficult to drive through. Fortunately as it was a Saturday, we were able to park in a big lot, taking up multiple spaces, near Kakawa Chocolate House, which was a planned stop anyway (thanks to Lisette’s friend Kelly for the recommendation!). It’s an artisanal chocolate shop from New Mexico, which sells truffles, chocolate elixirs, chocolate bars, baked goods, ice cream, and drinks. We sampled the hot chocolate and since it was a bit chilly, had a warm cup of hot chocolate each–Michael had the Kakawa American (70% chocolate, organic almond milk and vanilla), while Lisette had this mixed with New Mexican chili. We also bought a chocolate bar and some truffles, including distinctive flavors like goat cheese & sage, cherry chili, prickly pear, and biscochito (a traditional New Mexican cookie). This was definitely a bit of a splurge, but we devoured everything quickly! 

Santa Fe’s old town is the second oldest in the United States (fun fact: the oldest is St. Augustine in Florida, founded in 1565). In Santa Fe we visited San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church, with construction beginning for the adobe church around 1610. The present building dates from 1710. Inside the church and at the front by the altar, you can step up to the top step and see the original chapel steps through the floor from around 1610, and the Native dwelling foundation from the 1300s. 

Right next to the oldest church is the oldest house in the country, De Vargas Street House, which is also believed to have been around the Spanish colonial period. Like the Chapel, it’s also made of adobe, and while the house was built around 1646, it was also reportedly built on the remains of a pre-Columbian house dating to 1200. Inside the house there’s a small museum and gift shop. 

One of the most famous American painters–and personalities connected to New Mexico–is Georgia O’Keefe, a modernist painter whose career spanned over 70 years and who died in 1986 at the ripe old age of 98. Born in Wisconsin, she moved to New York but fell in love with New Mexico, and many of her paintings show the influence the state had on her work, including skull and desert motifs and landscapes. We spent some time at The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to see her work and learn more about her life. There’s an audio guide that is free with the ticket price (bring headphones). 

We enjoyed walking around the Old Town, checking out the beautiful and varied art galleries, shops selling souvenirs like cow skulls and chili ristras (strings or even wreaths of dried red chile peppers, often used for decoration or cooking), and cute little cafes and restaurants. For anyone who appreciates art, a stroll down Canyon Road near the center of the Old Town is a must-do! It’s the most densely populated for art galleries, spanning half a mile. We loved walking along the road and seeing the different styles of art all compactly placed in this stretch of road.  

Santa Fe Outskirts: Molecule, Camel Rock

Outside of the Old Town, we stopped to check out a huge sculpture called “Cognition Enhancer.” A departure from the Native American and Spanish art and architecture we’d spent a lot of time seeing, this outdoor sculpture stands out. Created in 1999 by artist Steve Kline for Daylight Chemical Information Systems, it’s a scientifically accurate model blown up to a mind-boggling trillion times its actual size. The drug never got approved, so it never earned a real name, but Daylight, known for its software that visualizes chemical structures, commissioned the piece as a bold nod to its mission. 

From man-made sculpture to natural formation, our last attraction for the day was Camel Rock, made of pink sandstone and measuring about 12 meters (40 feet) high by 30 meters (100 feet) long. And yep! It got its name because it looks like a camel! Our final stop for the day was at Buffalo Thunder Resort Casino, part of the Hilton.

Route Map