| Destination: |  On
our early summer '03 trek across the country, we stopped for four
days in Santa
Fe, NM. Located a couple of hours north of Albuquerque, Santa
Fe is called "The City Different." There's a great mix
of Spanish, Anglo and Indian cultures in Santa Fe, and what was
once a stop on the cross country trails, is now an upscale tourist
and arts center in one of the most beautiful places in the country.
Physically comfortable, Santa Fe's high desert location creates
a very mild summer climate. We found Santa Fe to be a great place
to visit and explore. |
| SANTA FE, NM | |
| Rancheros de Santa Fe Campground |
|
| 736 Old Las Vegas Hwy | |
| Santa Fe, NM 87505-1409 | |
| Res: (800) 426-9259 | |
| Tel: (505) 466-3482 | |
| www.rancheros.com | |
| About: |
The park is very comfortable, and some of the sites are pretty secluded, although not that level. It's a very woodsy area with hiking trails from the campground. There's a pool and laundry facilities, and once a week they have a pancake breakfast (which we did miss, I have to admit). The biggest drawback for us, is that our Sprint phone service literally cut off about one hundred yards from the campground entrance. This meant that we couldn't work from the rig, but had to find a place to work from in town. Maybe, someday, Sprint will rectify this situation, but as of now, beware! |
| Nearby amenities: |
The
Old Town part of Santa Fe has an abundance of good restaurants,
stores, museums and galleries. |
| Local haunts: | There's
a restaurant right near the park called Bobcat Bite on Old Las Vegas
Highway. Unfortunately, we were cashless the night we tried to eat
there, and they only accept cash. The green chili cheeseburger is
highly recommended. In town, there are many good restaurants to
choose from. |
| Where for art thou WIFI?: |
Santa Fe Baking Co. (504 W. Cordova Rd., Phone: (505) 988-4292) has free WIFI, great food and coffee. We felt really comfortable sitting there for an extended period of time and eating their natural/organic treats. |
| Gyms: | There
are no chain gyms that I could find in Santa Fe. I tried to get
into a couple of resort fitness clubs, but they wouldn't accept
walk-ins. I was finally referred to the Genova Chavez Community
Center (505-955-4001/4002), which was great! For only $4.00 a visit,
you get the use of the gym, the indoor track, several pools, classes
and an indoor skating rink! It was great, cheap, and very convenient. |
There
are a couple of parks in the Santa Fe area, but we chose the 
Santa
Fe has most everything you'll need since it's a fairly large city.
The park is about 15 minutes away from a mall that has lots of
stores including a large Borders.
Since
our Sprint service did not reach the campground, we had to find
a place where we could sit and work for awhile. There are several
places that have WIFI in Santa Fe, and so many downtown that we
were walking around with our computers open searching for signals
on the street. Yes, we were quite sight, but we're doing the research
so you won't have to look like fools in the future.