Well, I survived my first week of work! Two days of online orientation and I have no idea how people work from home. It’s really nice in the morning but the rest of the day sucks. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday saw me enjoying my backroad commute in my new ride I picked up Tuesday evening with the pleasantry of a heated steering wheel…I didn’t even know such a thing existed! I’m typically one to ask for a decent car that won’t break down and forego fun things I’d love to have like a sunroom. Well, I went big this time. I got the hybrid AWD with sunroof and heated seats and heated steering wheel and mud mats…who am I?! I always said if I ever got the opportunity to move back out west I’d get an appropriate car and I guess I did. When I lived in Nevada there were a lot of places I couldn’t get to because I always have little dinky cars and I’ve been known to have to flag down strangers in the middle of nowhere to get towed out in order to avoid the long trek to the next nearest town with a signal. So safety-wise, I’m happy with this decision. They also took back my leased little car that had a dent in the side, multiple cracks in the windshield, a dirty inside, the original tires which have been patched multiple times, and a 1+ year expired registration no questions asked. So thankful I don’t have to deal with that Allstate lady in Alabama anymore, so thankful. So, I packed my cooler with vittles and set out on the first adventure with my new ride to Valles Caldera National Preserve.
What a wonderful place! Taken from a postcard I purchased: About 1.25 million years ago, a spectacular volcanic eruption created the 13-mile wide circular depression now known as the Valles Caldera My coworker recommended it but didn’t mention it was a National Preserve which was great to check another one off the list, get my souvenir coin, and get my friend her Passport stamp. The drive up there through the Jemez Mountains was a nonstop, jaw dropping adventure.
The volunteer ranger at the park was top notch; she knew every in and out of the park and was so friendly. She told me about Abiquiu which is going on a soon to-do list; what a stunner from a quick internet search!
I decided to do the South Mountain Trail as it was 8 miles and lead to a summit. Naturally, I wasn’t sure I was on the trail which is usually OK but since I’m still acclimating I didn’t really have miles to spare. The service road I was running down didn’t seem right based on the elevation gain of the trail so I turned around at a mile…turns out the service road goes for 1.75miles and I was on the right track but now I know for next time!
I saw the most beautiful blue birds on the trail and when I got back to the car decided to grab my camera and head back out .5mile but of course the birds did not reveal themselves. 3 miles total on this section and I then headed to the Coyote Calls trail because another ranger heard me ask about wildlife/birds and said that yesterday someone saw a nuthatch (…nuthatch…nutcracker…I don’t remember) on the trail which he has never seen in the park.
I trudged along the trail still frustrated from this acclimation thing and at 1.5 miles had 450ft of elevation logged. Good lord. But then there were birds and a squirrel (above because i put those photos in the wrong spot🤷♀️). Of course they were all in the pine trees so I couldn’t get a good photo but I like to think the birds were the nuthatch/cracker the ranger spoke of.
Eventually the trail leveled out and there were two trails. It was marked but obviously I went on the trail without the blaze and ended up in Bandalier which was pretty fun. I went just for .3miles before turning around…maybe it was all the grass that seemed like the donald’s hair and I had visions of millions of him sprouting from the ground like little oompah loompahs. Yikes.
3.30 more miles on this trail and while I feel like I can go further and faster, my recovery time is still not ideal so I ended my adventures and headed back in my ride who still needs to be named. Any ideas?!
And after that amazing day I came home to this amazing sunset. Land of Enchantment indeed😍
half marathoning my way through grad school 