Sometimes you just need to get away.
January was a big month. Every year, I think that there is limitless time in January. It’s after the holidays. the rush is over. It’s cold and snowy, and everyone wants to stay indoors. So I signed up for three classes (intro to climbing at the climbing gym here, and two online classes on writing and photography) , an art show, and designed a new jewelry collection in January. And by the end was feeling just a tad burnt out. Soni was in a similar boat, with a lot of writing deadlines on her calendar, so over the weekend we decided last minute to go away for a day. I left my camera at home, but brought my notebook and laptop so we could have a writing morning at the hotel.
Having been a big fan of the tv series Longmire, and extremely sad that they stopped filming basically when we moved to New Mexico, we’ve always wanted to visit Las Vegas, New Mexico. We heard that there is still a door to the fictional sheriff’s office on the main plaza, and the hotel that featured in many a scene is still around. So we booked a night at the Plaza Hotel, and made the hour long drive to Las Vegas on Saturday evening. We got into the plaza right as the sun was going down. The light was beautiful on the square. When we checked in, the hotel attendant asked if it was our first time, and with our yes, upgraded our room to one with a view of the plaza. The hotel was a lot bigger than I thought it was, spanning two buildings, with very high ceilings and probably the biggest and tallest king size bed we’ve ever slept in. The windows were huge, going up almost to the ceiling. The view of the plaza was very nice, and familiar from so many episodes of Longmire. We dropped our stuff off, and went for a quick walk before dinner.
We ate at the hotel restaurant, and then headed to the bar down the street that had been recommended to us when we were checking in. If you ever go to Las Vegas, you have to go to Borracho’s. It was awesome. When we walked in and saw that we weren’t the only queer couple in the bar, we almost high fived. The cocktail list was great, and it was packed, so we sat at the bar and chatted with the bartender, before calling an early night and heading back to the Plaza Hotel.
The famed door from Longmire
You can’t see from this photo, but there were lots of ducks in the pond, clustered together for shelter from the wind.
About a twenty minute drive away is the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge. The area was fairly marshy, with lots of small ponds, so it’s no surprise that it’s popular with the birds. There’s a long loop that we drove along, stopping at a few of the lookout spots, and then went for a walk on the Gallinas Nature Trail. It was sunny and fairly warm for the first weekend in February, but it was also a super windy day, so we bundled up as much as we could for the walk. It was a really lovely spot, I’d love to see it in the Spring when everything is becoming green again. The mountains were beautiful in the distance.
Soni at the preserve
Till next time, Las Vegas.