Today we spent the day enjoying the town of Santa Fe. While I have been here in the small packed city of Santa Fe I have heard several locals call this place the fun nickname “Fanta Se.” I had an interesting evening in this city…Barry, Jim and Robin had booked a room and it had two double beds. I love my dad, but sharing a bed and then sharing a room is a lot to ask someone like me who is secretly an introvert. So, here I am, crammed in a room with my personal friends (who are also HOG members and clients) and my dad. We have to share the bathroom and all I am the world’s lightest sleeper. Let’s just say I didn’t get too much sleep.

We eventually all woke up and I attempted to secretly shower as best I could, and we all shared the space to get ready. We decided to take it pretty easy today. We saw that the HOG rally had a “rider meeting” at the dealership at 11 so we headed there. We met up with some of Jim and Robin’s friends from the Glendale, CA chapter and hung out around the shop. I chatted with David the owner of the dealership about my CVO, because they have a customer that wants my color of bike by the 30th. So we worked on a deal so he could come buy the CVO in Mesa. If not, I will still likely sell the bike when I get to AZ.

We decided after the dealership we would head downtown to where I was yesterday, and check out the other church down there. The Loretto Chapel has been around since 1878. When they constructed the church, the architect died suddenly, and they needed someone to construct a stairway to the choir loft. The legend of the miracle goes, that they prayed for help from God and a carpenter they did not know said he would build a staircase. He was a traveler, and only had very basic tools. The entire staircase was built without nails and fasteners and was completely out of wood. Some say St. Joseph built it himself. The staircase is 20′ in height and makes two complete turns. It was held completely by the central spiral with no support beam or outside supports. It is pretty amazing to see even now after they have added a staircase so the sisters could safely and easily get to the top. Check it out online if you want some more info!

We wandered around downtown to look for a belt for Barry. It had been quite a challenge to find a parking spot downtown so we stayed down there for a bit. I found Barry a birthday present, a cool belt since he had been looking for one and Robin found me the most awesome French Bulldog socks ever! So it was a score. We stopped back by the church I had been at yesterday and the crew got ice cream and coffee then when headed back to our hotel for “happy hour.”

When we got here we realized that happy hour was only early (3pm) yesterday with food for the HOG Rally. Normally they only open at 4pm. Luckily, the bar tender is awesome and let us in early. We grabbed a drink and I checked some email from work. Jim, Robin and Barry wanted to go to the dealership for the opening ceremony so I stayed behind to catch up on some work. I was going to get dinner, but then I realized I promised David, the dealer that we would discuss price a little further if his customer was serious about buying my bike, so I headed over there. After I spoke with him I went to The Ranch House and had a nice salad for dinner. We rode back to the hotel, the long way, but less traffic! Tomorrow the HOG Rally goes to Durango, CO so I will be going there and then from there I will be heading to Mesa. What a great ride this has been!