Doing the Unexpected

In the morning, as we are leaving the parking lot and continue our road trip on the interstate, we realize that we have truly entered the "Land of Enchantment", as promised by the state's motto. Surrounded by New Mexico's beautiful landscape, we pass Santa Rosa and choose to leave the freeway to follow the "pre-historic" Route 66 up north, heading for Las Vegas, not to be mistaken for its infamous sister city in Nevada. (Just a little side remark, Rte 66 changed between 1928 and 1936, with the newer one cutting out about 120 miles, albeit some of the most fascinating to the modern traveler). At last, we are able to imagine the loneliness and get a glimpse of the "real" Route 66 feeling. Just before Las Vegas, the pre-historic Rte 66 leads us along the Santa Fe Trail and into the heart of New Mexico. Driving by the Pecos National Historic Park, we spontaneously decide to make use of our National Parks Pass again and to learn about the life and history of the earliest inhabitants of the high desert. In the beautiful old town of Santa Fe, we find a cosy Mexican restaurant, where we are having the best enchilada and spicy stew of our lives, finishing off with an absolutely delicious Spanish Flan. Sorry, Sanj, this one was even way better than your usual treat at Que Pasa's. ;-)
After lunch, we walk a bit through Santa Fe, where we are pleased to see that all newly erected shops and buildings have apparently been built abiding by strict regulation so that they fit right in, preserving the town's original flair. However, after strolling around for the better part of an hour also this time-out inevitably comes to an end, and we start to make our way back to the interstate, which we finally hit in Albuquerque. Unfortunately, it has already gotten late again, so we postpone our planned visit to the Petrified Forest National Park to the following day and put on some more miles on the odometer. We end up staying for the night in Holbrook, Arizona, only 20 miles west from our next attraction.