Santa Fe: June 28-29th. Supremely Strange, Slightly Scary.

Ah, Santa Fe.  Brace yourselves, this one is a doozy.

We went to Santa Fe almost as a fluke. We weren't certain until last minute if we’d go through more cities in Arizona or see more of New Mexico and the decision was made on a whim. Furthermore, we were quite close to skipping Santa Fe entirely even after we decided to go through New Mexico – we figured Albuquerque would be a bigger city that may offer more of the same. On our way to Albuquerque (we had planned to go there first and decide if we’d make a jaunt over to the other locale depending on circumstances…) we say a mile marker indicating it would take exactly the same amount of time to go to Santa Fe. So, we decided if we were interested it would make more sense to go straight there. We went for it. The first night we arrived after bed time, so went straight to our bedroom (Walmart).

The next morning we went straight to a diner the internet told us was delicious, and it was. From there we went to the nearest mechanic, recommended by our waiter. Only one of the employees spoke English well and after another fellow looked over the coolant issue area he told us we simply needed to fill the radiator with coolant (when it was cool of course) first, and then fill the reservoir. There were no leaks, they said. We asked how much, they said nothing. A sigh of relief.  He told us to drive it around, let it sit and ensure the reservoir wasn't low again… but he saw no reason that should happen. We gave a small tip to the gentleman who had inspected it and we were on our way to explore the city with a renewed sense of confidence.

We arrived downtown and instantly found it quite charming. The consistent pueblo style adobe architecture was quite appealing and there were galleries and cafes at every turn - after the drive through the flat dusty section of the vast open desert, this quaint little town was a welcome sight.

We wandered through a park outside of the main cathedral downtown and as I snapped this shot of KG in front of the fountain:

We were approached by a gracious looking older gentleman who offered to take one of the two of us together. We agreed to this offer and after this happened:   

We got to talking. He was traveling with his wife on their way to Austin (where we had recently been) because their daughter was attending school there. They decided to take a break from their Santa Barbara life and rent a house in Austin temporarily to be close to her. We told him the things we like about Austin and a bit about our traveling story, and he told us a bit about southern California (where we were headed). Eventually he asked how we were able to afford our journey and what line of work we were both in, and my voice acting experience came up. He apparently knows many people “in the industry” and creates websites and other services for creative artists. His wife also was friends with a famous voice over actor… as he put it: “His last name is Anderson, and he has a son who has done a lot of directing. Can’t remember his name though, and I’m not sure you’d know him.” To which we replied: “Not PT Anderson?” Yes. That’s it. Only one of both of our all time favorite directors. Anyhow, we told him about our band and he gave us his card – this was one of the only times I didn't have one of our CDs or business cards on me, so I promised to email him our information. We parted ways and headed on through the town. Soon enough, we ran into him and his wife outside of the cathedral and exchanged more pleasantries. This was to happen 3 more times throughout the day (it’s a small place) and by the end of it we were nodding somewhat awkwardly at each other from across the street. There are only so many times you can say hello and goodbye to a stranger/friend.

More downtown snaps:

 

 

While exploring we discovered we had arrived on the perfect day! All of the museums were free after 5pm on Fridays AND all the galleries had free openings with wine and cheese at 8! What luck! This stop was MEANT TO BE. We figured we should check on the car, because why not? To our dismay, we found the coolant reservoir was yet again low. We carried the laptop to a beautiful (but soon-to-be-discovered horrendously over priced) café garden and researched mechanics. 
 
It was getting to be closing time on a Friday, but luckily we called and found a well reviewed one that said they could fit us in. Good thing too, because all the mechanics seemed to be closed through the weekend. We went straight there and after a thorough inspection the no-smoke-up-your-bum type owner gave it to us straight: “OK listen. I don’t know your plans with this van but it’s one of those Midwest vehicles that things rust on and it could be any number of things that should be replaced. You've got a potential leak behind your water hose and if we go in and mess with that it would be most practical to replace [fill in the blank… about all of it]. That’s gonna run ya, with labor, about $1200. Now that’ll keep this thing going a good number of years still, but if you’re just gonna sell it I wouldn't do that.” We told him about our journey and plans to drive a LOT soon, and then sell. He said he wouldn't pressure us to put the money into it. He could recommend a friend in town that would give us a great trade in, but that would be up to us. When we told him the problem began after driving through Texas where the speed limit was 80 mph and the temperature was 110, he told us you can’t run your A/C when it’s over 95 out. That would have been good to know. He said if it gets that hot and your temp starts to climb, you gotta run the heat instead. Alrighty then. We mentioned we’d be heading to the Grand Canyon soon, which we’d heard was currently experiencing record highs. His no frills response was “Oh, Man! Why would you DO that? Don’t do that. Don’t go there now. It’s too hot. Go to an island near Seattle instead, that area’s beautiful. Don’t go there.” I asked him if I should mention the work he recommended on the van when I sell it, to which he replied “Don’t tell them shit! But next time you get a car, do me a favor… don’t get one in the Midwest. Go south where they don’t use salt. You gotta. Are you married?” No. “Me and my hunny either, but we work together and figure things out as a team. You’ll figure it all out. And if you ever want advice or the van gives you trouble or you take it in somewhere and you feel like they aren’t being straight with you, just give me a call.” We liked him.

From there we went back downtown, just in time to hit up the nice lookin’ free museums! But the sky hinted towards ominous things… and it meant it. When we got there, we found the perfect spot in front of the cathedral across from one of the museums. And then the storm hit. Darkness spread over the land and the rain came down. It found us again, in the desert. Better yet…. All the power went right out. After a dark meal in a middle eastern restaurant that still wanted to serve (we were the only ones there) we wandered the streets hoping to find a museum that miraculously still had lights. No such luck. So we sat outside a building with public restrooms that had a covered area where we could watch the wet tourists trot past as we thought about what to do. It was only 5 after all. A bearded man came out and asked us if his smoking a cigarette would bother us. We said no. A tourist walked by and asked him directions to a restaurant and he said he didn’t know… then muttering: “Sorry… I’m a little busy being homeless right now to know where your restaurant is.” He then sat on the ground across from us and began telling us about his discoveries of other planets and how they and meteors headed toward earth connect to the David and Goliath story. I noticed the crazy would be ongoing and tried to prod K to move along, but he was fairly engaged in the crazy conversation. These connections with characters (however brief or long) are part of what this journey is about, after all. After a time, two other characters entered the scene and seemed far more “with it”. We started to converse with them and as we transitioned our initial bearded friend disappeared as quickly as he’d entered. These fellas were living in tents in the mountain and telling us about the beautiful places to camp in the area and around where they’d been in the country. An interesting and topical conversation for us, especially compared to the previous one.  Although they were tent folk, they seemed friendly enough and who were we to judge? We are van folk, after all! We tried to stay open minded to creating temporary friendships with all kinds… while still keeping a keen gut instinct, of course. 
They asked if we had any plans and we replied we were simply wandering and checking out the area. They said follow us, we’ll show you around. So I looked at K and said, well? And he said, Sure! So we did.
When he mentioned everyone knows him in this town, it suddenly hit me! When we were walking through the town square that morning (which already felt like days ago) I had seen him myself! He mentioned for "work" he sets up the kiosks in the park, and asked if we'd noticed the kettle corn one. That morning I noticed a truck with the back open and peering in as I strolled by I noticed an ornery looking bearded man muttering angrily to himself as he unloaded the kettle corn station. It was HIM!
It was time to start kicking K about helping me make an exit.This is something we're both absurdly bad at.
The other tent man Tall Baldie seemed quite nice. He even told us a fascinating story about noticing Paul McCartney across the street strolling through the town some months back. We were quite impressed, of course. We seem to be following in his footsteps -- I overheard in Louisville Mr. McCartney had just been in Memphis and gone to Graceland... this being fairly soon before we were in Memphis ourselves. But I digress. Let's get back to the scary guy.
They walked us around town, eventually ending up under a bridge by the river. Maybe being open to all types of people is turning into being stupid, I thought.
We sat (on cardboard) and chatted, and The Short Bearded one ( the other is Tall and Bald) started to display his angst and disgust towards most everyone in existence (other than us and Tall Baldie, so it seemed). He saw a woman walking her dog above on the bridge and stopped his angry rant to say: "Wait for it.... wait for it.... 3...2...1.... she's seen us -- Absolute Disgust. See?"
He hated people with money, “yuppies”, people with “day jobs”… the natives in the area were “not real natives”… the Mexicans tried to attack him, but he beats them up good and everyone knows him now. He mentions a transgender Ms. New Mexico being on the front page of the newspaper instead of the current wildfire not yet under control and makes a homosexual slur. He also mentioned (while bashing Mexicans I believe) a woman who was murdered and thrown into the river we now sat gazing at. The river he kept telling us was "full of yuppie filth". I am now having zero fun and hate this angry beard oh-so-much.
By the time he mentioned how much he hated everyone, I had kicked KG a fairly obscene amount and he knew it was time for us to devise an escape plan. Can you guess what his idea is?
"Well, I gotta go find a bathroom."
Them: "Why don't you just pee over there?"
KG: "It's not to pee."
He thought to himself, surely they won't follow us while we look for a place to defacate. Brilliant.
Them: "We'll find you a nice bathroom. We know this town."
So, we follow them around some more. Eventually we get to a bathroom in a building that also holds an art gallery opening party apparently thrown for a law firm. KG goes into the restroom and washes his hands while glancing at his watch, trying to decide how long he should pretend to be "going."
As he comes out, the Angry Beardy fellow looks in at the lawyer party and says: "Look at those %#$^#$ing Liars. Enjoy your life full of LIES!!" Ho boy.
He then turns to KG and says: "Do you like burgers?"
KG: "I love burgers."
Ugh.
Them: "Let's go get burgers!"
Me: "I don't eat burgers... and actually I'm not really hungry."
Them: "How about a drink?"
Ok.... well.... maybe we can go to a nice public place for a cheap beer and then ditch Mr. Grumps.
Us: You know of a place nearby to grab a quick drink?
Them: Oh yeah, there's a perfect place really close we can take you to. Albertson's.
Sounds ok.... [IF YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING AND THINK WE'RE STUPID: please remember, we're from the midwest. We're not familiar with certain places in other parts of the country. NOW we are.]
So, we continue to follow them. The walk feels longer than I want it to. We're getting further from the car, and though I always trust KG's birdie like sense of direction I'm beginning to fear we're straying more than we should.
We arrive at.... ALBERTSON'S. The SUPERMARKET. Ah. We see where this is going. Someplace illegal and scary with angry hobos and the sun is about to go down. Nope.
We walk into the grocery store and they seperate, grabbing things to either buy or steal (we're not sure which. The Angry One did flash a wad of cash at KG at one point to impress him with how he gets by "just by helping people" so who knows).
We are in an aisle on our own and I am getting upset. 
"Listen. We need to get away from these guys. I am NOT drinking beer under the bridge with the hobo community of Santa Fe. We have to go tell them we're tired and have to go." 
K: "I don't want to do that either, but we don't have to go confront them.... we can lose them in here and run away!"  
Me: "No! What if they see us and get upset we're ditching them? Plus they know this little city way better than we do and they'll find us or beat us back downtown before we get to the car.... let's just go say we have to leave."
During this conversation K is walking us rapidly towards the front door.
K: [after looking around] "They won't see us.... GO GO GO!!!"
And with that he runs away. The cashiers stare as if he himself were the town thief. Not seeing another option, I run after him and promptly have an asthma attack as we run through the strip mall parking lot.
After stopping to wheeze a while I express my unhappy panic with his decision to flee. What if they see us? I can't run. This guy is crazy and potentially violent. We were in good, now we're in bad.
KG says he made a mistake. Let's go back.
NO! That's even WORSE! Then we deliver ourselves back into their midst, K admitting that he would then politely explain away our exit and continue to socialize with his new friends with no new exit plan. We must continue on. At least we're free. 
So we walk as briskly as I can handle through the darkness back to the car. And yes, we do get a bit lost. KG assures me this will be funny soon. I'm not yet laughing.

Don't judge us too harshly for our lack of exiting skills... it really is an intense flaw we both have. I do try to make up for the fact I know K can't, but at times when someone latches on and K seems especially social and receptive to them, it's hard for me to be the bold one and tear him away from somewhat aggressive seeming new friends (even if I know that's what he wants). We both try to be kind to all people, but we promise to be less open to following hobos around in the future.
We finally arrive at the car, and although we are constantly glancing over our shoulders the hobos are nowhere in sight. Also, know that we never felt any aggression towards us. It only got socially uncomfortable. Our gut never hinted towards real danger. They thought we were cool Van folk, and they were (probably) harmless enough.

 We were planning on returning to Santa Fe for breakfast, but this is indeed too small of a city for that. This hobo community is everywhere at all times.
So again, we run away. We sleep at the Walmart (it's a 20 minute drive and they clearly are without wheels) and roll on to 'querque in the morning. So long, Santa Fe. You were so beautiful... and strange.