Cacti and quails and snakes, oh my!

Staying in Tessa's home set the bar high. Their backyard offered an array of Arizona wildlife including quails and woodpeckers scampering about. We were generously offered an amazing stir-fry dinner with a fruit platter for dessert (or should we say desert...) until our stomachs would not accept any more food. A lost snake even wandered up onto Tessa's driveway, allowing us to poke and prod its slithery scales- don't worry, we were prreeettty sure it wasn't poisonous. The night ended with wonderful conversations over wine and a warm snuggly bed that Tessa offered us.
Yesterday we awoke at a respectable 9:30 am, filled up with coffee, and said goodbye to Tessa and her extremely adorable and super accommodating family (thank you again if you are reading this!!). It was very hard to leave that house, but alas, we had a very exciting next stop: Santa Fe, New Mexico! Our drive totaled about 8 hours and offered a variety of intriguing landscapes: Swarrow cacti freckled all over rolling hills, tall green trees in Tonto National Park, and even empty brown expanses.
We stopped for a quick lunch at the Knotty Pine Cafe. It is a kitchy little place with very standard American lunch options. It was perfect and right next door to the Rock Shop. The Rainbow Rock Shop may be the most bizarre thing we have encountered thus far. Dinosaurs tower over the little brown building that sells rocks and giant hunks of glass by the pound. Turns out that the town of Holbrook Arizona is home to fossil and geode discoveries that have resulted in massive hand painted dinosaurs scattered all along the 101. One sign even promised meteorites!

We continues on our way and eventually found route 40 which would bring us to New Mexico. Minutes before arriving in Santa Fe around 7:45, Lara Bache called to open up her home to her two favorite wanderers. Although not home herself, we were very warmly welcomed by her Mom and Step-Dad. The undeniably best view from this southwestern style house is from their bathtub, which is surrounded by giant glass windows overlooking the beautiful forest that stretches for miles beyond their house. If you are ever as lucky as us to stay at Lara's house, you should request a bath.
After getting settled we headed off to dinner at Tomasita's, which Lara recommended. Tomasita's is south western in the best way possible. Some funky decor, family style seating, and massive south western dishes that leave you uncomfortably full. We ended the night visiting some local bars and challenging Santa Fe Natives to some Pool. I know it's surprising, but we got skill.
Headed out to explore SF for the day and then off to Ojo Caliente to experience some natural hot springs.