Albuquerque: Settling In and Driving the Turquoise Trail

After five days in Colorado, we flew to Albuquerque, where we spent the second half of our vacation.

If you missed any of my Colorado posts, check them out first:
- A Day at the Pack Burro Races in Leadville, Colorado
- Exploring Colorado's Great Outdoors + Is the Dwight Howard?
- Colorado Gold Rush Towns: Georgetown, Central City and Black Hawk
- Denver Trip Report: Art Museums, Botanic Gardens and a Phoenix Concert  

We arrived in the late afternoon and checked into the house we rented for the duration of our stay. The house was amazing! I loved it so much. It was the perfect size, in a great location and had everything we could ask for, except for a good internet connection. It was spotty, but that was seriously my only complaint. 

We spent some time watching tv in the living room and cooking lots of meals at home. We don't have cable at home home, so it was a treat for us to be able to watch all the American Pickers episodes we wanted! 

We enjoyed our meals at this beautiful wooden table or outside on the patio. Every morning and around dusk we would have a ton of hummingbird friends visiting us outside. It was so serene.

The bedroom was comfy with lots of storage space so we could unpack and feel at home, plus there was lots of natural light.

The updated bathroom was a calming blue and had a beautiful clawfoot bathtub. 

On our first night in Albuquerque, we took it easy. We bought groceries for the next few days and made ourselves some marinated chicken strips and roasted asparagus for dinner. 

The next morning, we prepared some breakfast burritos at the house. I couldn't believe how pleasant the weather was. I guess I never knew what "high desert" meant because I assumed the weather would be like Joshua Tree or Phoenix, but nope, it was so comfortable and sunny every day.

Our plan for the day was to take the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway, which is along NM Highway 14, to Santa Fe, where we would spend the majority of the day.

We stopped in the town of Madrid, which is a now recovered ghost town with lots of galleries and cafes. We walked around the main drag and visited some of the shops. One of my favorites was Cowgirl Red, a store that specializes in vintage cowboy boots.

One of Cowgirl Red's doggies

We stopped for an early lunch at The Hollar. 

Both Raisin Bread and I ordered buffalo burgers. I had mine with a side of spicy cole slaw. Um, this burger was soooo delicious. It was one of the juiciest I've ever had.

We wanted to continue on to...

so we had to say good bye to Madrid!

It was around another 40 minutes before we would reach Santa Fe. The Turquoise Trail is the scenic route and this landscape is the reason why we chose to drive this way. 

Next up: Our day in Santa Fe! 

The Hollar
2849 New Mexico 14
Madrid, NM 87010