Day 27

The days are starting to blur together; going in around 5pm, and getting home past midnight.

Saturday was a day off for me, and even though I didn't do much, i'm going to tell you about my trip to the southern part of Santa Fe, which I did Thursday or Friday.

There's only so much to do within reasonable walking distance of the Axton Apartments (reasonable for me is a mile and a half / 30 minutes away). I say reasonable because i'm usually carrying something with me to or from, like groceries, and 30 minutes lugging 30 pounds of groceries gets lame after a while. Within walking distance is the Plaza (the 'heart' of Santa Fe, while it's a shopping district, 90% of the stores are tourist traps selling lame little trinkets), a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and some other chain stores. Most of the big box stores like Target, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc are in what i'm now classifying as the "Shopping District", which is down by the Santa Fe Airport.

Honestly, when you're not working, there isn't much to do other than shop, go running, read, cook or sleep. Since this was right after payday, I decided to shop a little. I checked the bus maps and timetables, and headed out to the new Whole Foods (formerly Wild Oats Market) where the #2 Bus stopped. The trip to the Shopping District was about 30 minutes, down Cerrillos Rd (which I call Santa Fe's "Broadway", not for any other reason then it's a major road that slashes through Santa Fe, like Broadway in New York). I hopped off the bus just short of Santa Fe Place (the mall) at a Target.

Ah, Target. Home of all the 'normal' stuff that Trader Joe's or Whole Foods won't carry. Like trash bags, and Zip-Loc containers, and everything else. Honestly, I've been spoiled to have so many Target's at home. Hell, i'm spoiled to have a CAR at home. Back in Hershey last summer, two of my bandmates didn't have a car, and they lived on the other side of Hershey from us. They had to borrow a car to do everything, and I totally feel their pain right now.

My original plan for this trip was to get some sunglasses, because the ones I brought with me are MIA. There's apparently a Sunglass Hut in Santa Fe Place, but I figured i'd check Target first. Inside, I just started wandering around, looking for things that I didn't know I needed. I found plenty, but didn't want to splurge yet. I headed for the sunglasses, and found a pair that I liked (polarized, too!). I also headed to the kitchen section to find a potato masher, so I could mash the avocados for guacamole. I also poked through the Electronics section, and found a great iPhone armband for $20 (for running, that's a story for later).

I checked out, and headed down to the Mall. The mall itself was okay, about the size of White Marsh Mall with only one floor. It was kinda empty and quiet, but I also had gone on a weekday during the day. Not a whole lot to see or enjoy in the mall. I left there and stopped by the Harley-Davidson dealership next to the mall. It, too, was kind of barren. I inquired if they did rentals, and they said no, the closest place that does rentals was in Albuquerque.

Lame.

It took a while for me to figure out where the bus stop going BACK was (since I got off the bus early and it looped back in some weird way). It's $2 to ride the bus all day, a great deal!

Next: Running at 7,000 feet