Day 1 - Santa Fe

 So we're off on our journey! We left from Philadelphia on time Friday morning (after waking up at 4am!) and took the best Southwest flight any of us had ever experienced. If anyone chooses to fly Southwest and has questions about Early Bird Check-In, DO IT. We had plenty of leg room and despite a 7 hour flight (which included stops in Pittsburgh and Chicago with no plane changes), had an incredibly wonderful flight crew. Their wit and jokes kept us laughing and our minds off the long flight time. After having arrived in Albuquerque, the guys went and got the RV while the ladies were tasked with luggage pickup. We looked like fools, but we got it all!!

After waiting for a bit in the airport, we were all joined together with our home for the next week.

We got ourselves situated (and most importantly, our luggage), and headed off to Walmart. The ladies were tasked with getting supplies for 6 people for the next 4 days and this was definitely an adventure. Among other things, we were able to find a tabletop charcoal grill and snacks galore. We are planning to cook at our sites as much as possible, so we needed to outfit ourselves.

After this trip of insanity, we headed to Santa Fe from Albuquerque. The landscape was the first thing we all noticed - especially the lack of clouds! It's incredible to see how flat and elevated the terrain is at the same time. I made the comment that terra cotta is the color of the week - even the buildings and highways are covered in it.

Chris has been taking the role of navigator by using Microsoft Streets and Trips 2011 and we've been doing well so far. We'll see when we head out on the older route how well the directions go...especially when Chris is asleep at the job ;)

We made it to older Santa Fe, which provided problems with navigating through smaller roads and residential areas with our 30' beast. Our first stop was dinner at Bert's Burger Bowl - featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Some of had a try of the "infamous" green chili cheeseburger while other were not so adventurous (me) and just settled with a BBQ Cheeseburger. Definitely recommended - small place but be sure to arrive earlier since it closes at 6:45pm (not sure if that's seasonal or not).

After enduring our food comas, we decided to skip the rest of Santa Fe (since we had all been up for multiple hours without sleep) and head to our camp site for the night. We maneuvered the RV out of older Santa Fe and got to the Santa Fe Skies RV Park. After the long flight and driving around, we were ready to relax! And we definitely had a view to relax with.

Santa Fe was a great time - relaxing and we really absorbed the Southwestern culture and slower moving lifestyle. Onto Albuquerque and then the REAL start to the historic Route 66 tomorrow! :)