We found the hostel that we planned to stay at in Santa Fe. Charismatic, slightly eccentric, Alexander greeted us at the front desk. He gave us a suggestion for dinner, Tune-up, a local favorite. All he could say, over and over again, was "it's delicious and fun." Pause. "Really delicious."
Dinner was amazingly fun and delicious. We shared mole enchiladas and nachos, and washed it all down with local beer. During dinner, we were discussing our possible route and debated how many hours it was from the Grand Canyon to LA, when all of a sudden a voice next to us says, "6 hours." We had a good laugh and quickly struck up a conversation with Max, sitting one table over, by himself, nursing a cup of coffee. Max, slightly mousy, with an infectious giggle-laugh, told us of many of the places he's been and had wonderful stories to share, but it took him awhile to volunteer any info. No problem for Courtney and I, as we both enjoy asking probing questions. As the conversation continued, we found out he used to go to school in Santa Fe, a liberal arts major, and is now just "bumming around, on my friend's couch". The friend in question was our waitress. We asked Max if he had a crush on her, and he replied shyly, "maybe a bit." We also learned that from graduation to present, he has lived in different parts of Oregon, California, Alaska, and New Mexico (to name a few), just traveling and living. He is also a horticulturist, specializing in chiles, which he dehydrates and creates his own chili powders and rubs.
We finished our dinner and decided to go to a local brewery up the road that Max suggested. At the very last second, we asked Max if he would join us, and lucky for us, he did.
We walked up the street, past the stucco homes with their wooden stick fences surrounding the yard. There was no grass, but an occasional cactus or tree, and still, it was strikingly beautiful. It was only 40 degrees. A little chilly for the thin jackets we had on, but it felt like a cool spring night compared to the weather we left behind.
Courtney and I shared a flight of beer, brewed by the Second Street bar, each one delicious. We chatted with Max awhile and thought about leaving because it was 9:45 and we had to be checked into the hostel by 10:30.
"Can I ask where you are headed?" asks another Santa Fe eavesdropper. And so began the meeting of our next Santa Fe friend.
We told Jacob, the artist/mountain man, where we came from and where we hoped to go. He immediately began telling us everything he knew about the Grand Canyon, about how sad he was that we only had one day to experience New Mexico, and he also told us why the Teton mountains were named such. He was hyper-verbal and so excited to share his knowledge and stories with us. We were so sad to leave such great conversation, but we had to make it to the hostel. Regretfully, we told him we couldn't stay for another beer even though we would love to learn more about the Grand Canyons first explorers, limestone layers, & waterfalls. We hurriedly left the bar, walked down the street to the Subaru, and bid Max adieu.
Back at the hostel, who do we find at the front desk, but Alexander again. Alexander is wearing a plaid shirt, faded jeans, glasses, and no shoes. We talk at the front desk for nearly 40 minutes, even though the front desk is closed. We learn that Alexander was hitch hiking his way back to California (another avid road traveler) and he ended up at the hostel 5 months ago, and here he remains. Every person we talked to, warned us that we would be back in Santa Fe, if we didn't end up staying long term this time. "People always come back. Ask anyone."
He told us that the hostel is more of a commune, that occasionally hosts travelers. Each person who stays long term at the hostel, works a few shifts a week at the front desk, or performs some other odd job. All of them live for free and eat for free. The food that the hostel provides to its workers and the travelers is donated by Whole Foods every Sunday.
At some point during the conversation, I asked to see the quarters, meaning the room. Everyone was confused why I wanted to see coins. Once we were all on the same page, we laughed and the three of us, newly met, but feeling like old friends, had an inside joke.
The next morning, we did our chores (everyone who stayed had 10-15 minutes of pitching in to do). We again began chatting with Alexander, about anything and everything. Favorite movies and books, travel, etc. Before we knew it, we met Hannah, another hostel resident, and she joined in, and Brad, who we met the night before, also joined us. After a bit longer and some suggestions for breakfast and directions for a hike later in the day, we were off. We hugged everyone goodbye, and Hannah said, "oh, they're huggers, just like me!"
This post about Santa Fe was in the hope of capturing the magic of some of the people we met there. It's not adequate, though. Just like taking a photo of the beautiful sites we saw on this trip. We could never capture the view like we saw it through our own eyes.
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