New Mexico

I've been wanting to visit New Mexico ever since I first saw photos of White Sands National Park years ago, but finding out about Meow Wolf really pushed the state to US travel goal status. Both those spots were the highlights I expected them to be, but the trip was full of highlights! Between Breaking Bad, hot air balloons, and yurt camping, NM had even more than I expected, so here's a rundown of our weeklong road trip.

Day 1 El Paso-Las Cruces We flew into El Paso, a little airport with an old Texan feel. After picking up our rental car, we drove straight to Las Cruces an hour north and stopped for dinner at La Posta de Mesilla. This was easily the best Mexican food we had the whole trip (and most of our meals were Mexican). You could smell the restaurant in a whole block radius surrounding it.

The decor inside is so lively. The place is huge, but the rooms all have fairy lights, fake trees, fountains, and Mexican details like sombreros or virgin Marys. The lobby even has parrots (real ones!) - one of the African Greys was bobbing his head and posing for my photos every time the shutter clicked which was too cute.

I had my first green chile smothered dish (a chile relleno). I fully thought I would be having green chile every meal since this is New Mexico's thing - you can travel the green chile trail through the state - but I was burnt out on it after about three days of nonstop chile action. It was late, and we were tired out from a day of travel, so we just headed to our Air BnB to call it a night afterwards. Our casita was absolutely adorable.

Everything was colorful and patterned and there was so much attention to detail in the decor. Plus it was so spacious - two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and back patio. I was bummed we only had one night there!

Day 2 Las Cruces & White Sands National Park We started our day with breakfast outdoors at Bite of Belgium where I had a lavender lemonade mimosa and Christmas chile (red and green) on my veg eggs benny. The rest of our morning and early afternoon was spent walking around historic Mesilla where we bought way too many souvenirs (including our road trip mascot, Jesse the lizard) and had iced lattes at a cute local cafe.

It's an hour from Las Cruces to White Sands National Park, and I was very confused when we had to pull over at our first border checkpoint. I was fairly sure my directional sense was decent enough to know that we had been driving east - not south to the Mexican border - but I found out that they have checkpoints set up all around New Mexico to check people's documents at random. It's some bullshit (but this is not the time for a rant on our immigration policies). They checked Lewis's passport when we said he wasn't a citizen, but since we aren't ICE's target demographic, they didn't seem too bothered with us at either of the two checkpoints we went through on our trip. White Sands is also a missile range for the military, and we passed a lot of government signs about it on the way. They recommend you check before visiting to make sure there isn't testing going on that shuts the park down. We stopped in the visitor center to watch the short movie there. You can also buy sleds if you feel like doing some dune sledding while you're out. You've got one road to drive through the park with a variety of offshoot trails marked on the map. The first lot we pulled over into was the start of the wildlife trail which had placards all along the way describing the different creatures that inhabit the area. The route here didn't really look like what I was expecting from White Sands - lots of grassy patches and the dunes weren't as sprawling. Still took a good hundred photos though.

Where you do want to go is all the way to the end of the road, last stop on the map. The vista here is incredible, just rolling white sand dunes for miles. It's nice walking around barefoot as well - the sand isn't that hot, even in the sun. We did visit in early October, and a local or two mentioned that temperatures in general over the summer are pretty scorching.

The nearest city is Alamogordo, so we drove up there for dinner at DH Lescombes winery. They have a few locations around New Mexico, and the few wines we sampled were all good quality. It was a two hour drive back west to reach Truth or Consequences, our stop for the next two nights. Our AirBnB-booked yurt was located at an RV campground, and although we didn't get there til 9 or 10 PM, the hippie hosts, Rome and Stephanie, stayed up to wait for us and show us what we could see of the site in the dark.

Day 3 Truth or Consequences I was obsessed with this yurt that we stayed in! The decor was so pretty, we had a mini fridge and lamps, coffee/tea and kettle, and tables and chairs outside on the deck. The communal bathrooms in the middle of the lot were nice, private ones, and there were three steel thermal tubs on the property (although we went to another hot springs area so didn't use them).

Truth or Consequences itself is tiny. You can walk 5 minutes down the empty streets from the center and reach anything in town. It reminded me a lot of the backwater Marlborough where I lived in Australia for four months (although T or C had significantly more to offer, and that's saying a lot about Marlborough).

Most of the restaurants are closed on Wednesdays since there's so little tourist traffic in the middle of the week, which was unfortunate for us who were there on a Wednesday. We ended up at a diner called El Faro for breakfast which felt very much like the kind of spot retired townies come to dine every morning (except that the menu is burritos and chilaquiles instead of eggs and bacon). Elephant Butte State Park is only a 10 minute drive from town, so we went to check it out in the afternoon and promptly embedded our uninsured rental car right into the sand (Lewis). We could not get it out despite digging efforts, and spinning the wheels just mired us further in.

Thankfully, this absolute saint of a man, Ron, was fishing nearby and came over to check on us. He told us he'd walk home to get his truck and be back in about 40 minutes. Once he returned, this 70-80 something year old was then lying down on his back to attach rope to the bottom of our car and joining us in tugging that rope free once we finally pulled our car out, sending him and Lewis flying onto their backs. And he wouldn't even take our money ("I want you to know we're not all like Trump," were his words). What a hero. And his appearance was an absolute mystery since he was wearing a full face mask and bucket hat the whole time. Thanks, Ron! Touched my cold little heart. I did wander the park a bit while we were waiting. There's a lake. Some weird rock shapes. Decent overlook we stopped by after. Not bad. Not worth potential car damage.

We had a booking at 4 PM for a private pool sesh at Riverbend Hot Springs, about a 5 minute walk from our yurt. T or C is known for hot springs (it was literally called Hot Springs, NM before it changed its name for a game show), and Riverbend is the most highly rated of them. They had a handful of clothing-optional private pools to choose from, and I went with the Tierra, a square stone tub on a private deck overlooking the Rio Grande.

It was nice, although if I went back, I'd choose one of the deluxe tubs instead. The only negative was that the water was so scorching in already 77 degree weather that it hurt to touch. They did have a cool shower over the tub and a cool mist dial which helped slightly. We had 50 minutes to enjoy here, then we paid for an hour at the public pools.

I preferred the public pools, actually, for reasons starting with them being a tolerable temperature. There were a few small pools, a big tub a bit back from the river, and a larger stone-rimmed pool at the edge of the Rio Grande with hammock swings. They were also playing this awesome zen music, so I spent most of the time swinging through the water just vibing.

As if the visit hadn't already been an all-around success, I also met a cat on the way out who had made himself comfortable in a potted plant.

Again, we didn't have many food options on a Wednesday, but the A&B Drive-In was open and better than I expected it to be. It's a walk-up window with mostly Mexican fare, and their tater tots covered in chile sauce were the best. Instead of eating at the picnic tables, we took our food over to the Truth or Consequences Brewery to order off their surprisingly good IPA selection and eat there. I was drained, so we went back to crash afterwards, but I don't think we missed any wild nightlife in T or C . Day 4 T or C to Albuquerque Luckily, a few cafes were open on Thursday mornings, so we went to Passion Pie for breakfast (although had to eat outside since their indoor area was still closed due to Covid). The egg croissant with chopped green chiles inside was so good! We bought some glamp camp merch back at the campsite before saying goodbye to our yurt and driving the hour up to Albuquerque. I loved ABQ! It did not have a big city feel at all. Nowhere did I see skyscrapers, most of the low buildings were adobe, traffic was minimal, and even the downtown center felt communal and safe.

Lewis and I are both big Breaking Bad fans, so we set out to hit some major landmarks from the show during our stay. The first of these was Java Joe's cafe, the site of Tuco's office (where Walt blows out the windows with his fake meth crystal like a badass mf), then we killed some additional time at Marble Brewery until we were able to check in to our Air BnB at 2. I hate to be self-congratulatory (that's a boldfaced lie), but I killed it with accommodation this trip. This house was gorgeous! It had felt risky to book since the last reviews of the place were from years ago, but it so paid off. The hosts, Neema and her mother Brenda, were beyond hospitable, and the whole interior was beautifully decorated in an African aesthetic.

Our room had its own balcony, a huge king bed, a massage area to the side (they run a spa but we didn't have time to book a session), and an impressive stone walk-in shower that I was excited to use until I found out that the water pressure was irreversibly set to 'torture'. Felt like standing in a hail storm.

The backyard had a school bus, garden, and goats, and they host campers out there. Brenda even left me a container full of pellets to go out and feed the goats after I enthused over them upon check-in.

We had dinner that evening at a vegetarian spot called Annapurna with a cute patio, then we hit Old Town to walk around a bit before dark. Shops were closing but the gazebo and fairy lights were very pretty.

I'd made 8 PM reservations at Vernon's Speakeasy. It was hidden in a residential area shopping square, and we parked near the back where we just so happened to pull up right in front of a random-ass memorial plaque for Walter White. It was on such a nondescript stretch of building that I was amazed we'd stumbled upon it. It even had its own geolocation (Walter White's Headstone) on Snapchat and Insta. However, Walter White has been dead to me since the moment he killed Mike Ehrmentraut.

I texted the speakeasy when we arrived, and they texted back when we could knock on the steel door. A little slat opened and a guy with a heavy New York accent asked us for the password we'd been sent earlier that day, then asked whether we were cops and threatened to frisk us before he let us in. He was in a full suit and fedora, and we entered into a little office room with baseball bats on the wall (plus a hall of fame photo wall full of famous visitors).

We were given a very Prohibition mob boss intro spiel, then a woman came to show us to our table through the maze of a restaurant. I doubt we even saw half of it, but we walked through a long bar room with a piano, some small rooms with cozy chairs, and then were seated in the Al Capone room with black walls and Capone murals. Their cocktails and food were fantastic (we had some whiskeys, a tiki rum special, and incredible bruschetta and mac n cheese), and I'd highly recommend making a booking if you're in Albuquerque.

Day 5 Albuquerque We kicked off the day at the Indian Pueblo Center where they have exhibits displaying artwork, pottery, and the history of the Pueblos in New Mexico. Tribes were performing dances in the courtyard the whole time we were there, and Pueblo vendors lined the perimeter selling some cool souvenirs.

There's a restaurant inside called the Indian Pueblo Kitchen, and it was worth the hour wait for a table. The tower of blue corn onion rings were some of the best onion rings I've ever had, and I got a cactus caprese salad to go with it. Afterwards, we did a proper daytime exploration of Old Town, hopping into shops, checking out the adobe church, and watching dancers perform in the gazebo.

We also dipped into the Breaking Bad shop, by which I mean spent over an hour inside like fangirls. Not only was it awesome for the merch - I walked out with a Chili P shaker, Jesse 'Let's Cook Bitch' apron, and Mike Ehrmentraut prayer candle - but it had a whole photo area with props and backdrops for pictures.

We posed at Saul's desk and on his bus stop bench, rang the bell on Hector's wheelchair, put on Los Pollos uniforms and worked the counter, and more. They had a bunch of actual props from the show displayed as well, and the Breaking Bad music was on over the speakers the whole time. Highlight of the day.

We also drove to the actual Los Pollos Hermanos filming location, a Mexican fast food restaurant called Twisters (there are a few in ABQ so look up the address for the right one). The Los Pollos logo is still on the wall inside as well as some other Breaking Bad displays. The blue meth rock candy Lewis bought at the BB store came well in handy for photos. Also, Twisters food = pretty decent!

Now, Albuquerque has an annual huge deal event called the International Balloon Fiesta where balloonists from all around the country come to spend a week flying and showing off their hot air balloons in a field outside the city. There are food and shop stalls set up and events scheduled through the day. There are two sessions a day with separate admission for morning and evening, no need to buy tickets in advance.

I was planning this trip having never even heard of this festival, but as I was researching ABQ, it kept coming up on lists of best things to do in the area. Did a quick Google on the dates for 2021, and WHAT ARE THE CHANCES, we were going to be traveling at that exact time! Such a fantastic coincidence.

I'd wanted to do a back-to-back evening/morning session, but I failed pretty spectacularly on the former. The night glow was supposed to happen around 7-7:30 PM, so I planned on us arriving about 6:30. Did not anticipate the traffic. It took us about an extra half hour past projected arrival time to actually get to the park, then we were corralled into a $20 parking lot so far back that it took us 20 minutes to walk to the entrance gate. We were waved through for free, but that was because at this point, the main festivities had all ended. We walked in just in time to watch the final balloon deflate for the night. I was in a major mood, mainly because I'd rather have been soaking in a hot bath at the AirBnB than wasting our time on disappointment, but we got to see the fireworks, so, consolation prize, I guess. Day 6 ABQ Balloon Fiesta to Santa Fe I had swiped a schedule at our failed evening expedition and seen that there was, in fact, a morning glow as well, so that cheered me greatly. The downside was that the festival page recommended arriving around 4/4:30 AM because of crowds. This meant we were miserably waking up at 3 in the dead of night to shower and drive the empty roads out to the balloon field. Traffic picked up as we got closer since we were not the only dedicated balloon enthusiasts in town. We got charged for entry this time (and parking again), but at least we made it for the actual events. Stopped for a coffee with plenty of spare time, then we joined people in the field where a handful of balloons were already inflated.

The glow started at 6:30 AM with the balloons taking turns igniting their burners and lighting up, and at intervals, the announcer would call for an 'all-glow' where the balloons would all glow up at once after a countdown. Very pretty.

The sun started coming up around 7, and more and more hot air balloons were inflating all over the field to join the glow. At one point, a bunch of fighter planes went flying overhead while every basket in the field (whether or not their balloon was inflated above) shot flames into the air. There had been a mass ascension scheduled for the morning, but they cancelled it due to weather conditions. Instead, every balloon in the park inflated. Just hundreds of hot air balloons all through the field.

The Dark Side balloon was my favorite, but there were some serious contenders, including my runners-up of the jester and the jack-o-lantern. Every balloon had its own trading card as well which you could collect from the person handing it out near its basket. I have a whole array of balloon cards, each with a picture and balloon name.

We wandered the whole place until the balloons started to deflate. Such a unique and fun experience! After a two hour nap back at the Air BnB, we checked out at noon and drove the hour up to Santa Fe. Since the city had been pretty booked when I was looking for accommodation, and we'd already stayed at some impressive spots in New Mexico, I opted for cheap. Basic room in the upstairs of a family home with key pad entry. Served its purpose. I had expected to really love Santa Fe, but honestly, I much preferred Albuquerque. Santa Fe, despite being the state capital, had real small-town vibes and not a whole lot to see. Also, it was cold! Pants and jacket in early October were very necessary.

We had dinner the first evening at an African restaurant called Jambo Cafe which I definitely recommend. I had ginger lemonade, a jerk tofu pita, and these absolutely fabulous harissa lemon fries, plus a hummus starter to share. It was Saturday night and we headed over to the old part of the city, but the streets were really quiet and dead. We had a quick drink at the Dragon Room where we sat in the cute courtyard, and I warmed up with a hot toddy.

Day 7 Santa Fe The old town center was much more lively in the daytime, so crowded that the restaurants all had about an hour wait for brunch both this day and the next (to be fair, that Monday was a holiday). We killed some time at a bookstore with coffee, then went back to Pasqual's when our table was ready. It was a real cute little spot with chili peppers and fairy lights hanging from the ceiling. I had vegetarian posole and a tofu chorizo quesadilla.

Afterwards, we took a walk around the outside of the Francis of Assisi church, then paid to go into the San Loretto Chapel and see its famous miracle staircase. Apparently, back when it was built in the late 1800s, carpenters were struggling to figure out a way to build stairs to reach the choir loft with the limitations of the chapel size and whatnot. After weeks of prayer, this mysterious carpenter suddenly shows up for a visit, builds a gorgeous spiral staircase that to this day defies explanation in its construction for that time, and then disappears without payment. Kind of cool.

We hit up Canyon Road next, lined with art galleries you can walk through. I liked some of the outdoor structures, but neither of us are big art people, so 4-5 galleries were more than enough for us.

I say that despite the fact that my main goal in Santa Fe was to visit Meow Wolf... also an art installation. But, a trippy, interactive art installation. An overall experience, really.

It's been on my bucket list for years! Although they also have locations in Vegas and Denver, Santa Fe is the original (and the newer two weren't yet built when I visited their respective cities), and all three are different.

Tip: Make sure to buy the 3D glasses in the lobby if you want your psychedelic experience extra psychedelic.

Santa Fe's theme is House of Eternal Return, where you enter through an old Victorian house lit by streetlamps. There's a story you can follow if you are so inclined and able through notes, creepy journals, and voice recordings around the exhibit.

The basic premise is that one of the kids who lived in the house discovered portals all over to other dimensions. You can crawl through the fireplace, disappear through the stairwell cupboard, open the fridge into a blinding white portal, dip through the closet in the master bedroom, open the bookcase, and slide through the twinkling laundry machine.

Past the rooms of the house is another world. There are over 70 rooms in this place, and the music in each adds so much to the experience, so I cannot in any way do it justice through description, but some of my favorites included:

the black and white cartoon kitchen...

the funky 70s room...

glowing geometric button room that felt like a personal rave...

a blacklight arcade (actually functional if you trade your human money for tokens)...

the pure white android-led travel agency hub with a voice repeating 'You are okay'...

the creepy cult room fashioned like a church that changed colors...

the circus room made out of recyclables with clowns dancing hypnotically on the video screens...

...and the desert RV with Christmas lights inside that felt like a nice sanctuary towards the end.

Everything was amazing.

Out in the blacklight lobby, there's also a bar and a gift shop. We didn't buy any drinks, but the merchandise was exactly as weird you would expect. We took home the Meow Wolf wolf/cat hybrid plushie.

Must visit in Santa Fe. And I must now visit the other two locations.

Day 8 Santa Fe, Chimayo, & Albuquerque We went back to the old town for breakfast at the Shed, although after an hour wait for a table and an hour or more waiting for our food and bill, we were running a bit behind schedule on our last day. We had to have the rental car back in Albuquerque by 5, so all we had time for was driving 40 minutes up north to El Sanctuario de Chimayo, a historic Catholic pilgrimage site.

It was very pretty! I loved the view from the gateway. Really rustic interior, and in a small room to the side, the spot where a Guatemalan crucifix was discovered in the early 1800s, is a hole filled with holy dirt that has supposed healing properties (I indulged in a light restorative dirt bath). There are also a few statues and worship areas outdoors down some steps out back, including a Native American chapel. I was happy we made the drive.

Stayed in the Super 8 near the ABQ airport that night which was great for the price. We only left once to walk down to the 377 Brewery for a couple beers and takeaway dinner.

Did not anticipate the difficulty of ordering an uber Tuesday morning, so we ended up walking to the airport for our 8 AM flight - which, despite only being a 15-20 minute walk, was a struggle with our suitcases and the lack of sidewalks as we got close. What a great week though! And if you have even longer, you can visit the Carslbad Caverns and the aliens in Roswell. Enjoy NM!