Peacocks, Coyotes & Tarantulas- OH MY!

Wednesday Susan & Tina went to their Garden Club meeting so George took me on another joy ride on the Turquoise Trail. We drove north towards Santa Fe then hung a right & drove behind the mountain through the desert area. It was beautiful!
We had brunch at the San Marcos cafe, a quaint little place that had peacocks running around outside & a pen with chickens, pigeons & geese. My eggs benedict was awesome! We walked around after we ate to get pics of the peacocks-my favorite! They didn't have nice tail feathers though at this time of year. They still looked amazing though!
We continued on to the town of Madrid next (that's MA-drid, not like the one in Spain) where the film Wild Hogs was shot at Maggie's Diner. It was a tiny little town with gift shops. Believe it or not, I didn't buy anything! It was a neat place to walk around. I found some things to keep in mind for the next time I may be out there.
George was a great tour guide telling me all about the land just like he did on our trip through the Jemez reservation/pueblo. As we're driving along, I spot something crawling across the road...a tarantula!!!! A real, live tarantula! He swerved to miss it as I was freaking out in excitement since I've never seen one in real life before. I remember petting one when I was a kid but that was through a zoo or something like that of course. Not a minute or 2 later, we see another one! George steps on the brakes, pulls off on the shoulder, puts it in reverse & backs up down the shoulder for me to get out & take pictures! I was SOOO excited! It was like my own New Mexico safari. Ü George starts poking at it with a stick to get it to rear up on its hindlegs. Then it started to take off after us! AGH! I ran. That sucker was pretty fast.
Then we stopped at a trading post that George & Susan have been going to for 40 years. He said it's never changed in all that time. It's the greatest, cheapest place to go for jewelry & other Native American stuff. He introduced me to the owners who were very nice. I got a turquoise wrap bracelet & nice earrings for $30.

When we got back to the house, Tina's husband Tom, arrived. We had some time to chat before we all went out to eat at Blaze. Tom & Tina are going to Paris soon so we got to talk about that & other travel stories. I had a bit of time to catch up on some reading too which was nice. I heard some coyotes near the house screeching & barking. I heard them too the other day in the middle of the night. Good grief! They are noisy things. I wish I would have seen them though. That would be cool.

I realized that this was the first day that I felt fine! No headache or neck tension. Maybe it was altitude sickness affecting me. Now just when I'm getting used to it, I have to leave. :(

We met up with more friends at Blaze- Jerry & Sharon. We all had a great time chatting & eating. It was a super nice restaurant & cozy atmosphere. I had some terrific trout & caprese salad. Susan & George are social butterflies with great friends!

My last day was great. Time to pack-BOOHOO!