When we retired, we decided that we wanted to spend a few months in New Mexico to help Graham at NOSA, his restaurant and inn that he opened one year prior, located about 45 min north of Santa Fe, near Ojo Caliente. So after spending three weeks in CO and WY visiting friends, we drove to NM for our 'apprenticeship'! Keith joked that he negotiated a lucrative salary of $0 per hour but in exchange, we gave ourselves fancy titles of Chief Marketing and Finance Officers during the week and Sous Chef and Maitre'D during the weekends!!
 |
| NOSA |
Our accommodation
Graham's landlord recommended that we stay in a casita that is owned by one of their friends, only 2 miles down the road from NOSA. So Graham went to check it out for us before we came out to make sure it would work for us. The casita worked out great - it had a bedroom with a king bed, a bathroom and an open kitchen/living room. And we paid $1500 a month including utilities which we thought was a great deal! We set it up as if it was our own - bringing cooking equipment, our nice wine glasses (a MUST), bedding (it was so nice to sleep in our own bedding again), Apple TV, Sonos speakers and of course Keith's large monitor! While it did not have AC, there were fans and a swamp cooler and the evenings were cool enough that we could sleep with the windows open. We also installed our 'spinny' thing and a hummingbird feeder out back.
 |
| Front of our casita |
 |
| Living room and kitchen |
 |
| View from back patio |
The work
Our duties at NOSA ranged from driving to Santa Fe to pick up groceries and other items for the place, helping Graham in the kitchen with prep, waiting tables, cleaning dishes, fixing up things around the place, calling around to get quotes for things that were needed and overall marketing and finance. Our first week was mostly learning the ropes and observing - we had two very long days the first weekend, working both Friday and Saturday shifts about 8-9 hours each day. We were quite pleased that our help allowed Graham to get all of the plates served under 2.5 hours which was a goal of his, as well as leave ~10pm rather than the usual 12-1am.
 |
| First weekend working at NOSA |
Our second weekend was also successful in terms of service and we had a great showing of customers as well. Shawna was able to do a dish - she made the shells for the cannolis which took quite some time! And given the success, Graham had her making desserts on several occasions!
 |
| "Shawna's Shells" as dubbed on the menu |
After this weekend, we started to pivot on the long list of other activities - things that needed to be fixed around the property as well as more strategic items like finance and marketing. We painted, put up a fence, added blinds, chopped wood, pulled weeds, updated content on listing sights, sent emails to customers to write reviews, and put together a marketing plan!
Towards the end, Shawna was away for 1.5 weeks to take care of her mom who had surgery. During this time, Keith worked all shifts at the restaurant and helped with two events: a private event at NOSA for a wedding party and a lunch at the Chile and Wine Festival.
Visitors
John and JoAnna
Our first set of visitors were John and JoAnna who came to spend Labor Day weekend with us. We picked them up at the Albuquerque airport on Friday midday after getting a pedicure in town and then drove into Santa Fe where we spent one night there at the Hilton near the plaza on points. We wanted to take them to our favorite food truck (Many's Tortas) for lunch but for some reason it was closed so instead we had Fusion Tacos and a few beers at Santa Fe Brewing Company (see below). We then checked into our hotel and walked over to Desert Dogs (see below) for another beer and had a nap back at the hotel.
 |
| Drinks at Desert Dogs |
We went to dinner at Casa Chimayo (see below) and then went to the Zozobra Festival, an annual festival where people send in their 'miseries' to be burned in a giant monster. At the festival, we went to the beer garden and had some drinks while we waited out the main event. We then went to the main field to watch - there was a lot of build up to the burning and some great fireworks - overall was very interesting but no need to do it again!
 |
| Zozobra |
We woke up Saturday and walked over to Cafe Pasquals (see below - a JoAnna favorite) for breakfast. We called to put our names on the list so when we arrived, we only waited about 10-15 minutes before we were seated. We then checked out of our hotel and drove to our casita, stopping first to see Santuario de Chimayo which is a famous Catholic pilgrimage sight in the area.
 |
| Santuario de Chimayo |
At our casita, we had a few beers, did some trip planning for New Year's and took another nap. For dinner, we went over to NOSA (see below) to walk around and show them the place and then had a few drinks on the patio followed by an amazing meal. Keith knew Jud, a co-worker from LivCor, who was staying at NOSA so they joined us for drinks before and after dinner. It was nice to finally enjoy a meal there after working there for four weeks!
 |
| Before dinner at NOSA |
On Sunday, we slept in a bit and had avocado toast for breakfast. We then went for an hour walk along the river starting on the dam side. After another nap (our number of naps since retirement tripled during their visit!), we then drove into Santa Fe and had a drink at Secreto Lounge followed by dinner at Joseph's Culinary Pub (see below) with Rak who flew in for the evening to be with us. After dinner, we (along with Graham) saw Lyle Lovett and the Santa Fe Orchestra play at the Santa Fe Opera House - we really wanted to see something here as the place is well known. The concert was great! We drove back to the casita and crashed. The next morning, we drove back to Santa Fe and dropped them off at Rak's hotel who then drove them to Albuquerque to fly home as his flight was at the same time!
 |
| Drinks at Secreto Lounge |
 |
| Lyle Lovett at Santa Fe Opera House |
Martin and Michelle
Martin and Michelle drove in from Denver to spend a few days with us and to try out Graham's place. We met them in Taos after driving down from the Great Sand Dunes and had dinner with them there at the Stakeout (details below), a place they had recommended to us. We stayed the night at the Hampton Inn in Taos since the dinner included a wine tasting! The next morning, we went into Taos and walked around a few of the shops and went to their favorite gallery, Jones Walker of Taos, where we met the owners and chatted for a bit - they were a hoot! We sat outside and had coffee and lunch in the square, delicious tacos at Bomb Street.
 |
| Dinner at The Stakeout |
We then drove into Santa Fe where we spent one more night - we stayed at the Old Sante Fe Inn, a cute place just off the square where breakfast is included. We walked around the square and then did a sparkling wine tasting at Gruet where this time we got to sit outside on the patio. That evening, we had dinner at Zacatlan (details below).
 |
| Wine tasting at Gruet |
On Friday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and went for a walk along the river in Santa Fe. We then drove back so we can get to work at NOSA while Martin and Michelle stayed in Santa Fe a few more hours, arriving at NOSA around 2:30. We showed them around and then Graham took us to one of the carved caves which was really cool to see. That evening, Martin and Michelle ate at NOSA and then we joined them for dessert and wine at the end.
 |
| Caves near NOSA |
On Saturday morning, we joined them for breakfast at NOSA which was our first time eating breakfast there - Graham made some steel cut oats with huckleberry, banana split (yogurt, bananas and berries) and chilaquiles - we sat outside and enjoyed the views and food! After this, they then left to drive back to CO and we returned to our routine! So great to spend these few days with them.
Dawn and Stuart
Our British friends doing a stint in Denver also made it down the weekend of Oct 6-8. Sadly, Shawna was in Louisiana at this time so they had to put up with Keith as the only host. They arrived at about 11pm on the Friday, so only had time for a glass of wine before they crashed on our air mattress.
Saturday was a jammed day. We drove to Santa Fe for a 3-hour walk at Atalaya Mountain via Atalaya Trail and Dale Ball Trails Loop (see details below for the first time we did this hike). Lunch was to be at Manny's Tortas, but yet again they were not open. So, we tried the taco truck in there same parking lot and it was pretty darn good. Next stop was Santa Fe Plaza. We walked the plaza, hit the church with the spiral staircase, walked Canyon Road to see the art boutiques, and wrapped it all up with an ice cream on the plaza. We then drove back to the casita to clean up for our dinner at NOSA - which was delicious, of course.
 |
| Kitchen Mesa Hike with Dawn and Stuart |
Sunday was quick - the three of us drove up to Ghost Ranch to hike around the red rocks along Kitchen Mesa Trail (see details below on the first time we did this hike). Then, back to the casita for Dawn and Stuart to head home via Colorado Sand Dunes and Keith to help the lunch shift before driving to Santa Fe Airport to pick up Shawna after her trip to Louisiana.
Steve
Steve came to visit us our last week in NM, arriving into Albuquerque on Monday after having run the marathon in Chicago the day before. We picked him up at the airport and stayed in Albuquerque two nights for free at the Fairfield Inn and Suites. After we checked in, we went for a short, 4 mile, 1200 ft elevation gain hike in the foothills that took 2 hours - Embudito Canyon Loop. The hike was moderate but had nice views. That evening, we had a beer at Steel Bender Brewyard (a large brewery/restaurant with outside seating) and then grabbed dinner at Tin Can Alley, a shipping container space with multiple restaurants - we shared a Cuban plate while Steve had the most ginormous bowl of ramen!
 |
| Steve with his "American" sized ramen at Tin Can Alley |
On Tuesday, we hiked Pino Trail, a 9 mile, 2800 feet elevation gain hike in the Sandia Mountains - really pretty hike with nice views, especially with all the trees turning colors for Fall. We grabbed a quick lunch at Pacific Rim Food Park, a food truck park that was not busy at all - we had yummy Indian tacos from one of the food trucks. We then went to the Sandia Peak Tramway to ride the tram to the top - we had to wait in line for an hour each way and the actual tram ride was only 15 minutes - but it was well worth it to see the views. At the top, we had a beer at Ten3, the new (and very nice) restaurant. We quickly showered at the hotel before heading out for dinner (see below).
 |
| Pino Trail Hike |
 |
| View from Sandra Peak Tramway |
On Wednesday, we got up super early and went to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, arriving at 5am. This was a bucket list item for Shawna who was super excited to see all of the balloons. We bought Chaser Club tickets which got us access to a tent with food and bathrooms and while we did eat breakfast there and used the restrooms, we spent the majority of our time out on the field, wondering among the ballots - so if we go again, we would just get General Admission tickets. It was chilly so we dressed in layers but didn't feel too cold. It was really cool to watch the balloons go up in waves, with a few hundred ultimately going up in the Mass Ascent!
 |
| Albuquerque Balloon Festival |
We then drove to Santa Fe to hike Deception Peak a second time (see notes below on first hike) - this time we beat our time by doing it in just under 4 hours. It was very windy at the top so we did not linger for long. After the hike, Steve and Keith did a very quick tour of Santa Fe, walking along Canyon Road and around the plaza while Shawna got groceries. We drove back to our casita, arriving home around 5:30 PM. We had some cheese and crackers for a snack and then Shawna made spinach salad with salmon for dinner.
 |
| Deception Peak Hike |
On Thursday, we hiked the Rim Vista Trail just north of Ghost Ranch - this was 6 mile, 1300 feet elevation gain hike that took 2 hours and 15 minutes. The hike exceeded our expectations with excellent views of the red rocks in the surrounding area. Back at the casita, we had some cheese and crackers for lunch and then relaxed before having Ruth and Scott (and their friend Kathy) over for a few drinks - they were on their way back to TX from their trip to Montana and Washington, stopping for a couple of nights in Santa Fe to have dinner at NOSA. After they left, Shawna made a curry ramen for dinner.
 |
| Rim Vista Trail |
On Friday, we did our final walk along the Chama river which is the walk we did every day near our casita. We had lunch again at the casita - cheese/crackers and salad and then packed up everything. Keith and Steve went into Espanola to pick up the UHaul trailer while Shawna did some of the packing. We made a run over to NOSA to bring quite a few items to Graham that we did not want to take back to TX. We finished just in time to shower and head back to NOSA for our final dinner. This time we sat in the Juniper Room and really enjoyed every dish! We started with a bottle of sparkling wine and then shared a bottle of white. We also got to see Christina and Heidi one last time!
 |
| View from our daily walk along Chama River |
 |
| Dinner at NOSA |
On Saturday, we got up very early at 2:30 AM to do the final packing up and left the house at 3:30 AM so we can drop off Steve at the Albuquerque airport where he flew to Houston and then back to England. We then continued on to drive back to Texas, arriving around 4PM.
Hikes and other activities we did (not mentioned above in Visitor section)
On our work days, we stuck to paths near the house/inn. The ones we enjoyed the most were Joseph's Mine Trail near the Ojo Caliente Spa & Resort and a flat walk along the Rio Chama in Abiquiu.
 |
| Walk along Rio Chama |
On non-work days, we tried longer hikes in the Santa Fe and Taos areas, including:
- Nambe Lake - A 7 mile, 2K elevation hike near Santa Fe ski area that takes about 4 hours. Steep hike that follows a stream up to a lake. Mostly shaded with trees. We really like this one.
 |
| Nambe Lake |
- Devisadero Peak - A 5.5 mile, 1.3K elevation loop hike near Taos that takes about 2.5 hours. Moderate uphill with nice views of Taos below. However, not the most scenic hike.
 |
| Devisadero Peak |
- Rio Grande Gorge West Rim Trail - We were supposed to do a peak in Taos this day but that trail was closed so we did this one instead. No elevation gain but you can walk quite far - we did about 2.5 hours in total. Really pretty views of the Gorge.
 |
| Rio Grande Gorge West Rim Trail |
- Atalaya Mountain - A 5.5 miles, 1.7K elevation gain hike near Santa Fe that took 3 hours. Nice uphill and views. It was mostly shaded as well. We really like this hike.
 |
| Atalaya Mountain Hike |
- Dale Ball Central Loop - A 6 mile, 0.8K elevation gain hike near Santa Fe that took 2 hours and 20 minutes. Not much elevation but nice undulating hills and mostly shaded.
- Deception Peak - A 6.6 mile, 2.5K elevation gain hike near Santa Fe that took a little over 4 hours. This is definitely one of our favorite hikes. We did not make it to Lake Peak (the trail looked sketchy) but did make it to Deception Peak. Very hard hike but views were totally worth it!
 |
| Deception Peak |
- Big Tesuque - A 9 mile, 2K elevation gain hike near Santa Fe that took 3 hours and 45 minutes. We were supposed to try the big hike in Taos this day but weather was not favorable so did this hike instead. It was a moderate hike with gradual elevation but we pushed ourselves by walking fast. Nicely shaded but not really good views.
- Kitchen Mesa Trail (Ghost Ranch) - A 4 mile, 630 feet elevation gain hike in Ghost Ranch that took 1.5 hours to complete. You have to pay for a day pass to hike the trails in Ghost Ranch. This was a beautiful hike that got to the top of a mesa. The last little bit requires some rock scrambling so Shawna waited while Keith went to the top.
 |
| Kitchen Mesa Trail |
- Wine Tasting - We went to three of the most reviewed places near Dixon (about 30 minutes away from the casita) to see if any would be good for a partnership with NOSA. We went to Vivac which has a nice tasting area outside with nice views, La Chiripada which is the oldest winery in NM and does not have a place to sit but the tastings are free, and Black Mesa which has several places to sit inside and out - the guy pouring here was the most fun to talk to. At each, we tried a few whites (not really good) and a few reds (some of which were good). We got a bottle of Cab at La Chiripada and a bottle each of Barbara and Sherry at Black Mesa.
 |
| Wine tasting |
- Farmers Market - Santa Fe has a nice Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the rail yard. We went there on a Tuesday and checked it out - lots of great produce.
- Wine Tasting - We were supposed to spend the afternoon in Santa Fe with a spa and sitting by the pool at our hotel (Eldorado) but our spa was canceled and the weather was not great. So instead, we did some tasting at Gruet - they have a nice tasting room near the plaza. We tried a few sparkling and still wines and really liked their brut sparkling. We went back here with Martin and Michelle to do another tasting, this time sitting outside on their patio.
 |
| Wine tasting at Gruet |
- Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - We drove up to Antonito and did the one way full day train ride to Chama on the highest and longest narrow gauge railway in the Americas. The scenery was beautiful. We were in the car where we had our own table and there was a server who brought us a few free snacks and then we were able to buy beer or wine. At the half way point, we stopped and had a BBQ lunch in the dining hall - while it was a buffet, it exceeded our expectations. Once at Chama, we took a bus ride back to the beginning. Very worth it! That evening, we stayed the night at the Fairfield Inn in Alamosa which was a newer hotel - very clean and decent breakfast.
 |
| Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad |
- Great Sand Dunes National Park - We slept in as Shawna had to do a call with her mother's doctor. We then drove to the park and hiked up the High Dune which took 1.5 hours. So cool to see this vast sand dunes at the base of the Sangre de Christo mountains. Shawna had been here as a kid in 1984 and had fond memories. After this, we did a quick hike (half a mile) to the Zapata Falls which are located right outside the park - very cool waterfall in a canyon.
 |
| Great Sand Dunes National Park |
- Dinner at Rakesh's house in Santa Fe - Rak and Ria were in town one weekend so we had dinner at their house and stayed the night. Rak made a yummy chicken dinner and we had a few bottles of wine while catching up. We had not seen Ria in three years so was so great to see her.
Restaurants we tried
Artesian Restaurant - Located at the Ojo Caliente and Hot Springs, we went here with Graham the first night we arrived into NM, using it as an excuse to scope out the competition and to discuss with Graham the general things he wanted us to focus on while we were here. Turns out the meal was not that great - food was just blah and the service was nothing special either.
Fusion Taco - There are several food truck locations in Santa Fe. We tried the one downtown and had tacos and a burrito bowl while sitting out on the picnic tables. Food was tasty. We also ate at the location at the Santa Fe Brewing Company with John and JoAnna.
Many's Tortas - Another food truck in Santa Fe - this one located on Airport Road where there are many food trucks. We tried the al pastor torta - split it as it was quite huge - it was so tasty. We loved this place so much that we went back a few more times!
 |
| Many's Tortas |
Restaurant Martin - Our first fine dining experience since we have been in the area. This one is located in Santa Fe and the chef is a 10 time James Beard nominee (but never won). We sat outside on their nice patio and had an asparagus salad (which was light but not very tasty), beef cheek (which was slammin') and duck breast (which was good but not amazing). We started with a cocktail and got a bottle of Malbec. Overall, we would say the meal was good but expected more.
 |
| Dinner at Restaurant Martin |
Taos Inn - We stopped here for a drink in the lobby before dinner. Service was painfully slow and our drinks (margaritas) were terrible. Only positive is that there was fun live music playing.
Lambert's of Taos - We had dinner here and stayed the night in Taos. Restaurant is very cute with quaint rooms to sit in. Service was great. Food was pretty good - we shared the bison relleno for an appetizer, lamb loin for entree and a dessert. We also had a great Malbec - Susana Balbo.
Radish & Rye - We had dinner here in Santa Fe with Graham after running some errands in town. We shared the ribs and fried green tomatoes for an appetizer, the bison for entree and a few sides for the table (green Chile corn cake, cornbread waffles and duck fat potatoes) and then shared the pecan pie and bourbon butter cake for dessert. Everything was delicious.
El Chile Toreado - Rated one of the best food trucks in Santa Fe so we had to try it. They have tacos and burritos. We got two types of pork tacos and there was a 'fixings' bar where you can choose your toppings. The tacos were delicious and spicy!
 |
| Yummy tacos at El Chile Toreado |
Santa Fe Brewing Company - Brewery located in Santa Fe with two locations. We went to the one outside of town with John and JoAnna and sat outside enjoying a few beers and some tacos from Fusion Tacos.
Desert Dogs - Brewery located in Santa Fe near the square. We sat on the small balcony and had a few beers.
Casa Chimayo - Restaurant close to the square in Santa Fe known for their traditional Mexican dishes. We went here for dinner with John and JoAnna and shared a few appetizers for the table and then the duck confit for our entree. Food was pretty good.
Cafe Pasquals - Located in Santa Fe near the square. We had breakfast here with John and JoAnna sharing the Huevos Barbacoa and the Granola Bowl - both very tasty.
 |
| Cafe Pasquals |
NOSA - Located near Ojo Caliente and owned by Graham, Keith's brother and the place where we worked for two months! We had dinner here with John and JoAnna and truly enjoyed every dish! We also had dessert here when Martin and Michelle visited and Keith had dinner here with Dawn and Stuart when they visited. We also had our last dinner here with Steve the night before we left for TX.
 |
| NOSA - Dinner with John and JoAnna |
Joseph's Culinary Pub - Located in Santa Fe. We had dinner here with John, JoAnna and Rak before the Lyle Lovett concert. We shared a few apps for the table (duck fat fries, sashimi, and roasted peach and arugula salad) and we shared the roast duck for entree. Food was pretty good - we were a bit disappointed in the duck which was dry.
Bo's Authentic Thai - A food truck in Santa Fe. We decided to try something not Mexican and that is where we went wrong. We shared a shumai, stir fry and a mango sticky rice. Only the mango sticky rice was good.
The Shed - A famous, long standing restaurant in Santa Fe near the plaza. They don't take reservations so we had not attempted this place in the past. We needed a lunch spot on a Tuesday so gave it a try - put our names down and only had to wait about 10 minutes. While there were many things on the menu we wanted to try, we opted to be good since we are doing a fancy dinner that evening. So we shared a tamale appetizer, a Chile posole and a salad. Food was pretty good. |
| Lunch at The Shed |
 |
| The Stakeout |
