Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 9th

PULLED INTO SANTA FE around 9p after spending all morning and a big chunk of the afternoon at the aforementioned El Paso Starbucks. It was way later into the evening than I had planned (Robert departed for Santa Fe earlier with no self-imposed speed limit like me and arrived a lot sooner). I had told myself I wasn't gonna drive at night because I was pulling a trailer, but I wasn't tired and the trailer was pulling nicely and I said what the hell and pushed all the way here. After navigating the charming, quaint and narrow streets (reminiscent of old Mexico), I found my brothers cute house and sidled my trusty Forester and companion ATXBreeze snugly against the tiny sidewalk.

The inside of Robert's house is being actively remodeled, but it's easy to imagine how great it's gonna look when the remodel is complete. I noshed on my typical evening din of chicharrones, cheese and wine while we chatted. But the toll of a long day wound us down to half speed in no time and after that, it was time for our goodnights. Will pick up tomorrow. Good night to you, too :)

Next day, November 10th. After getting up early, we headed right for Roberts favorite coffee shop, Downtown Subscription, to tank up on espresso and get online with our laptops. Robert to do some school work, me to dope off on the interwebs, my numerous websites, and loquacious journaling. I met many of Roberts coffee shop friends, all nice, most longtime Santa Fe residents. Robert told me that he and Stephen had been coming to Santa Fe for nearly 30 years, which was something I didn't know. No wonder they finally bought a place here :)

(side note: I'd first been to Santa Fe in the 80s while working on one of the many terrible movies I was a part of when being a part of terrible cinema was a large part of my career. And what I noticed then is what I immediately detected when I got here. If Austin "keeps it weird," Santa Fe keeps it SouthWesterny, and with a dash of the old Shaman for mystical good measure. Eckhart Tolle would approve of this lovely place and probably salute it with a deep bow and a lighting and flamboyant waving of the sage. A town's personality invariably imprints itself on its residents, this is a truism of folks here, and can be observed everywhere, especially in the following cities: Los Angeles, New York, and Laredo)

Back to the coffee shop. I would estimate we spent close to 10 hours there! We took a brief lunch break, but all we did was buy food at a grocery store (I grabbed some cheese and egg salad) and take it back to the coffee shop. Tonight, we're going out to dinner, on which I'll report to lateron. (REPORT!) We dined at Santa Fe Bar & Grill! I had a shot of tequila, Robert had a rib-eye steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli :)

November 10th

NEXT MORN, back at the Downtown Subscription coffee shop. I must say, it's a super popular hangout, see and be seen is my cynical sense, but solid coffee and satisfactorily warm (35 degrees outside with light snow flurries). AND BY THE WAY, when I first arrived at Robert's place, it was so damn cold I proceeded to get inside the casita pronto. But haste has never failed to made waste! In my hurry to get all my stuff inside, bags, electronics, grub from the ATX, I left my car lights ON. Next day when I went to open the Forester, the battery was Stone-Cold-Dead :( BUT, this morning, when I went to get the car ready so Robert could gimme a jump, ANOTHER Robert, a kind gentleman in a brand new truck, beat brother Robert to the do-gooder punch! Fired the Forester right up, got on the highway to properly charge the battery and drove on to meet Robert (the brudda) for lots and lots of cawfee you know where. Robert The Do-Gooder, who was on his way to church, said he keep me in his prayers. And damn, it sounded like he really meant it. It was nice of him. Tonight, if I can remember, I'll do the same. Except I'll humbly ask Fat Buddha to watch over Robert-the-do-gooder, who gave me a jump when he didn't have to.

Returned home from the coffee shop and napped a good chunk of the afternoon. Downtown Subscription shuts down early on Sunday, so after rousing ourselves, we headed to a nearby Starbucks (Roberts emergency number 2 Net & Coffee retreat), and drank plenty of their solid brew and surfed until they they threw us out when they closed. It's located in the same mall as the Santa Fe Bar & Grill, the same joint we visited the night before, so we moseyed on over cuz R was peckish. Robert had the fish and veg and a brownie topper with tea. I sipped at cold Starbucks coffee. Robert's writing a script titled TENT, which he told me all about (very interesting). And outside, the snow was really coming down.

Back home now. Was gonna head to Phoenix tomorrow, but Roberts decided to stay another day and I think I'll do the same. Ate and drank precisely as the night before for my at-home din, yum! (see previous :) Creature of habit over here - I know what I like. They say it's the simple things in life... they may be right. Buenas noches amigos y amigas.

November 11th

UP EARLY, 6a. Snowed hard all night. Equaled winter wonderland outside today (see gallery). Got to work with the sefie-stick, looked like a freakin' postcard in every direction. And cold - cold as a well diggers ass. 22 degrees today, never got above 25, supposed to dip to 11 tonight! Unfazed locals rocked along, walked the dog, jogged, shopped, but Robert and I took hasty refuge at the coffee and wi-fi spot of choice, Downtown Subscription. Went home for a while lateron and I went to grab something from my Forester and damn, THE BATTERY WAS DEAD AGAIN. The reason? The battery really WAS dead. As in I needed a new battery all along. Brother Robert jumped me this time, engine cranked, and I zipped on over to O'Reilly's Auto Parts where I bought and installed a brand new one right in the parking lot :) As many of you may already know, cold, especially extreme cold, will zap an old battery into submission. Permanently. At the auto parts store there was a STACK of old batteries. People had been buying new batteries all day. Just like me. Kudos to the staff at O'Reilly's. They loaned me whatever tool I happened to need to get the job done.

Tomorrow morning Robert and me are gonna rise especially early and leave good old Santa Fe. My next point of destination will be Phoenix, AZ. Robert's driving to his other home, back to El Paso, back to work. He has a 1pm class to teach. And me, I'm just gonna be breezin' on down the road. Later. On. Y'all :)

November 13th

ROBERT AND I LEFT SANTA FE VERY EARLY THIS MORNING AT THE SAME TIME. It was freezing (11-DEE-GREES)! But the Forester, with it's new battery started right up (relief, yay, happy symbol :) That last photo is me following Robert (in his Mini Cooper) out of town, through scrapped out, just enough room to see, windshield. Hundred of miles out of Santa Fe, the snow and ice was still all over Forester.

I'm in a Tempe AZ Starbucks right now, where they charge EXTRA for heavy whipping cream :( Anyhoos - will report back in tomorrow. Buenas! - Max

(distance, time covered:328 miles, 5hrs.)