Magellan 2013: Santa Fe

Currently listening to: Your Love Is A Song-Switchfoot
Current location: Santa Fe, NM
Miles Traveled: 1934.2

I'm really liking this car.  Seriously.  Every time I walk up to it in a parking lot, I think "dang, that's a nice car."

Spinach Feta Croissant at the market

Apparently every Saturday in Santa Fe, the farmer's market happens.  I love farmer's markets and the food that they bring.  This one, however, puts both the Middleburg and Washington markets to shame.  So much food.  I bought honey.  I don't know why, but I did.  Probably some leftover sentiment from freshman year when all I wanted to do was become a beekeeper... No one can judge anything that happens freshman year of college because it's freshman year of college, so it's all good.  Anyway. Farmer's Market.  Good food.  Lots of people.  One lady was poking holes in my three foot American bubble when she literally sat down half on my lap at a picnic table.  I was like...lady.  There are five feet on the other side of you, and you want to share my little space.  I'm eating, and therefore not in the mood to make friends.  In case you were worried, I got over it.

Black Canyon Trail

I started walking around the city a little bit after that, and I got more accustomed to where things were located.  I wanted to check out the national forest outside of Santa Fe, so I drove there and spent most of the day hiking in the woods.  On the one trail, Black Canyon Trail, I stopped, went off-roading, pulled out my multi-purpose Army poncho and took a long nap under a tree.  It was blissful.  I need to start incorporating naps into my schedule this next year.  I've been missing out.

When I was in between hikes, an older lady in a long yellow sundress and white hat came up to me and started talking.  She asked where I was from and what I was doing, etc.  She followed me around for a while, and I didn't know what else to say to her, so I just kept walking.  She just kept following.  She heard a hummingbird and got really excited, so I pointed out where it was to her, and she started talking to it.  She just stood there, having a conversation with the bird.  Finally, she thanked it -for what, I don't know- and we kept walking.

Camp area - National Forest

Later, I met the park director.  Her name is Diane, and she's my friend now.  I am going back to the park tomorrow and going Rambo style in the woods.  Diane said she will show me the good places to camp.  I'm tired of motels.  I even bought a tent, because I neglected to bring one.  The cost of the tent was less than one night's stay in a motel, which makes the stingy Amish blood in me very happy.

Some kind of food.  Salvadoran. Papusas.  Yes.

I came back to the city in the evening and walked around until I found a restaurant.  I have absolutely no idea what I ate there, and I don't care too much.  It was amazing.  I don't even know what the restaurant was called, now that I think about it... oh well.  Details.  I realized it was eight o'clock by the time I finished dinner, and my first thought was that it was too late for me to be out.  This makes me very sad.  I'm a college student, not a responsible adult.  Army has ruined me.  I need to work on this. Also, at the restaurant, I drank Mexican beer, which made me miss Connor.

That was pretty much it.  I did some other stuff in there, but I'm half asleep as I'm writing this, as you many be able to tell, and I can't even remember what I did ten minutes ago.  Goodnight.

Emily Kauffman.

<--I bought a tent.  I made sure it worked.  It does, despite the fact that I have the cover on both backwards and probably inside out.  Remember I said I was tired?  Yeah.  Buenas noches.