We arrived in Santa Fe yesterday about 3:00 pm, and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening proving a fundamental rule about travel with Jeff: If you decide to march across town in search of rainwear, do not think you will have an ounce of energy left to spend getting to dinner.
In fact we should have skipped dinner and merely taken advantage of what nibblings we could wrangle up in the Inn on the Alameda, our 2-night Santa Fe home. It was a 15 minute walk from the Inn to El Farol (the oldest restaurant and cantina in Santa Fe) where we ordered wine and tapas, but Jeff's disorientation grew exponentially by each step, and I was carefully keeping him from walking into sign-posts (without 100% success) by the time we arrived at the restaurant. But we ate, and it was good. He will remember zero of it, as he was in the twilight zone.
Usually, when we walk, (especially in unfamiliar territory,) I try to stay on Jeff's left where there's a functioning ear and none of the hemi-neglect which occurs on his right. I either hold his hand or his arm. When the going gets tough, it's more like I'm clutching his elbow. I can gauge with a high degree of sensitivity how tired he is growing by how tightly I must clutch, and how difficult the walking becomes.
You know how it is when you end up with a grocery cart with one front wheel that only wants to roll east, and one rear wheel that insists on a counter-clockwise arc? That's what it's like to keep Jeff moving in the desired direction at anything approaching a walking pace. I end up as tired and in need of retreat as he does, with the difference that I still know where I am and why I'm there.
I like Santa Fe. Ok, I'm not completely overwhelmed by it like I thought I was supposed to be. Probably I need to see a lot more of the surroundings and natural beauty to grow a full appreciation. Certainly the architecture was novel compared with other places I've been. I like it. I just don't like it better than plenty of other places. Somewhat ironically, the only shopping we've done here is microlight stashable jackets from the local REI (we needed them for today's unfortunate weather,) and, from Whole Foods Market, fair-trade warm hats and a few apples. Well, not quite all...I bought earrings for the girls from a shop selling native made jewelry on Canyon Road, a linear enclave of artists' studios.
Despite today's being our only full day here, I've gotten a good feel for our limits, and we took the day on with little to no agenda. That worked. By 7:30 pm Jeff was well ready to hit the sack. Tomorrow: Back on the Southwest Chief, for a daytime-only ride to Flagstaff. But the morning agenda will be a jaunt to the closest drugstore to get some liquid bandage for the finger cracks this otherwise-welcome dry air is exacerbating!
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