In the last random post from the road, I listed the animals we nearly hit while driving, and I’m excited (?) to report a new one – a vulture! There were a few huge vultures on the left side of the road working on some roadkill, and we were all so distracted by them that we didn’t notice the one on the right side of the road until it flew right past (and nearly into) our windshield. Wow, they are big!
I’m very happy to report that we haven’t spent EVERY hour in the car watching kids videos, as I feared we may have to do (though we have watched Space Jams A LOT!), we have also spent time listening to Magic Treehouse books on CD, and also, some very cool podcasts like But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids and Wow in the World (though does the girl in there really have to be so annoying??) and The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian. From an adult perspective, I have to say my favorite is But Why – lots of cool info in that one, but the boys are enjoying all of them.
At the last minute, we decided to get a Google Project Fi phone, which was delivered the day before we left, but without a USB charger or case, so we really needed to pick one up on the road. Of course the type of charger is a random USB C, which can’t be found in a Target store, so I ordered it from Amazon. And being amazing like Amazon is, they have Amazon Locker. So for those instances where you have no home address and are traveling the country like a vagabond, you can still pick up your amazon packages! Nothing to stop you from Prime-ing! Very cool. I’m anxiously awaiting the next big city so I can order more Amazon packages!
We spent a few days in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but didn’t really do anything fully warranting a blog post (a couple of hours at both the Sprint and AT&T store, a trip to Whole Foods, etc), and it was a pretty nice town, but I felt like it would be better suited to go without kids. It is apparently quite a town for foodies. It seemed to me that the town was full of yuppies, but older ones, like in their 50s (at which C said they can’t be yuppies by definition, so we will just agree they are grown up, empty-nester, former yuppies – that will give you the picture). Also, homeless people, but more like dreadlocked, 20-something homeless people.
A picture from the town square in Santa Fe
Really, the only point I wanted to make was that we went to the french bakery across the street from our hotel (which had very good reviews on TripAdvisor), and N wanted a croissant. Guess how much that croissant cost? I think in France, they would be less than $1, at the French bakery at home, maybe $1.50-2.00 range. At this place – $3.50! Crazy! I feel like there should be some sort of worldwide croissant price index (yes, I know they are cheaper in France because they originate there – but they still are way more expensive than even Atlanta!). So I will say – Santa Fe is rated “very expensive” on the croissant index. You’ve been warned!
Last note on Santa Fe – on our walk home from dinner one night, the boys were totally enthralled by a set of Russian nesting dolls in a shop window. A (former yuppie, empty-nester) guy walking by saw what they were looking at and said to C & I “you’ve got your very own set nesting dolls here!” And so we do!
Our nesting dolls looking at nesting dolls
Also – I’m a bit behind in my blog posts compared to where we are currently, but we spent a week in Colorado and loved it so much (more accurately, loved the weather there more than the 98+ degree forecast for our intended next stop of Moab, Utah), that we have decided to just swing through Utah (cause we have a non-refundable stop scheduled already in N Arizona), and head back to Colorado! So an extra week of Colorado to come! Stay tuned!
