New Mexico, July 2011

After a much-needed week of slowing up the pace and enjoying the local flavours in San Francisco, we headed for New Mexico - but not before an overnight greyhound to Los Angeles, and a sunny day there with the lovely Natsuko and Amy Jo. Amity reuniting with her old sisterhood was a sight to behold and doubtless as if a day hadn't passed since they were fairy Princesses in Seattle...

Out of L.A. - we'd return soon enough - and onto the Amtrack, which would eventually deliver us to New Mexico; but not before the best part of a full day on board, which (relatively speaking) was blissful luxury and then some. We finally cracked (or decided to proactively rescue our collective sanity, depending on how you look at it), and blew a couple of hundred dollars on train tickets, and thank the gods we did.....

.... comfort, periods of sleep, working air-con, no especially overpowering aromas, space to walk around, a cafe car - none of which turned out to be hallucinations. Better still, ringside seats through the wilds of California, Arizona and NM from the sci-fi observation carriage, from where we watched the golden sunset and sunrise over the desert and steppe. Truly beautiful.

For the next week, we enjoyed a perfect mix of the best of the state, courtesy of our fine hosts Charlie and Alice. Based at their place in Eldorado - in the semi-desert about 15 km south of Santa Fe - we ventured near and far, although to have stayed within walking distance of the back door still would've made the trip worthwhile.

Plenty of time was spent in nearby Santa Fe, a wonderful city (with arguably the planet's greatest cuisine), and here's hoping we've good reason to return before too long; otherwise, we visited Native American historical sites, indoor and outdoor museums, local sites of natural beauty (not hard to come by), long drives along the Rio Grande, up into the mountains of the north, the badlands of the west, and plenty more besides.

more birds and wildlife from New Mexico can be found here