Drive to Santa Fe

Around 7:30 am, I woke up at the Cracker Barrel and packed up the inside of the car. Once completed, I stepped out to pack the remaining items, and realized that my cooler and water jug behind the car were missing. I normally put a lock on them but for some reason I didn’t last night. I informed the Cracker Barrel manager and she told me they do have surveillance video but she could only show it to the police. I contacted the Albuquerque, New Mexico Police and they told me how to file a report online. As I understand, a supervisor will need to review the claim and that could take up to 10 days. By then the video will probably have recycled. So, I don’t expect to hear anything positive.

I stopped at Starbucks for coffee and a bagel and then went for gas. I left for the Vista Grande Public Library near Santa Fe to plan the next few days. The library was quiet and they had ethernet outlets in the wall for high speed Internet connectivity. There was a KOA campground nearby and I decided to reserve five nights and explore the area.

While I was setting up at the KOA, a woman (Alex) with her dog (Bagel) stopped and said “Your from Connecticut? That’s a long way”. We talked for a while and it turns out she is from Maine. I said, your even farther away. As it started to get dark, she said, I should let you get setup.

I got the tent setup and went to setup the kitchen. There was a sign on the new tables that said, “No Cooking On Tables”. I’ve seen such a restriction. I wasn’t going to set the stove on the ground. The campground had an area setup with propane grills for cooking meals. This made no sense to me. I’d have to walk everything over to the grills, cook and then walk everything back. I decided to forego cooking at the campground.

Temperatures were dropping pretty quickly as I pulled the sleeping back up. The wi-fi signal was also pretty bad, so I used the phone as a hot spot and watched something on YouTube.