Roaming Boomers Log – Santa Fe and Taos Adventure – Day #2.
Today we determined to spend a fair amount of the day enjoying the amenities of the Encantado Resort.
After doing some writing, some on-line research, and breakfast in our room, we donned our work-out clothes and headed for the spa complex.
We both spent 45 minutes running nearly 4 miles on the Precor elliptical machines (which provided us with a beautiful vista of the Rio Grande Valley), and then went into our respective spa areas.
I love to steam after my workout, so that is the first place I headed.
Off with my sweaty workout clothing, into the comfy robe, and outside to the private men’s relaxation area, which consisted of 6 reclining lounge chairs, a bubbling jet tub, and another doorway into the steam room.
As this is the shoulder season for Santa Fe, I was able to enjoy the steam bath all to myself. After 20 minutes of steaming, and now somewhat resembling a cooked lobster, I headed for the showers to clean up for the day ahead.
What a wonderful way to start the day.
Next, we climbed into the car, made the short drive back into Santa Fe, and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at The Plaza Cafe. The Plaza Cafe is a Santa Fe landmark that has been here since 1905. Here you can enjoy burgers, sandwiches, and typical diner fare, but I recommend the authentic Mexican cuisine prepared by the proprietors: Andy and Don Razatos.
Now that we had calmed the rumbling of our hungry stomachs, we make the short walk over to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum.
This small museum contains a wonderful collection of O’Keefe’s paintings, offered three short videos describing her life and art, and presents a wonderful homage to this famous hometown artist.
It’s now nearly 5:30, and time for our reservations at Restaurant Martín. We like to use the James Beard Awards as our guideposts to restaurants, and Chef Martín Rios has just earned himself a semi-finalist spot in the best new restaurant category.
Carol greatly enjoyed a pork rib chop, and I feasted on a wonderful piece of fresh Halibut. We highly recommend a visit to Restaurant Martín!
After our wonderful dinner, we traipsed back to Encantado Resort, and enjoyed a nice Pinot Noir as we watched the sun set from the resort’s lounge. We then headed back to our casita to enjoy a wood burning fire as we watched the remains of the sunset flow into darkeness with distant coyotes howling at the night-time skies.
Set against the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Encantado is an oasis of serenity, privacy and luxury. Designed to be a destination of wellness and rejuvenation, tapping into the mystic energies for which the New Mexico desert is famous. The resort masterfully complements the breathtaking northern New Mexico landscape with the tranquility of 65 elegantly designed casitas, renowned spa and fine dining, creating an amazing and unique experience that could only come from an Auberge Resort.
Located in the heart of the Tonto National Forest, only 45 minutes northeast of Phoenix, lies Bartlett Lake Marina on the stunningly beautiful Bartlett Reservoir in the Verde River system.
The drive to Bartlett Lake, all by itself, for many is reason enough to make the venture. But trust me, once you see this beautiful lake, you too will want to captain a water going vessel so that you can explore this beautiful place.
I must admit, I felt a little intimidated as I considered driving a pontoon boat around the lake. I didn’t have any experience doing such things, and a little voice in my head wondered how wise this decision might be.
Thankfully, the very friendly Bartlett Lake Marina staff gave us a thorough review of the boat, its operation, its safety gear, and equally important, an understanding of basic boating laws.
Armed with this information, and now feeling much more comfortable, we put the pontoon boat into reverse, and with our good friends Dave and Donna Otto (pictured above) proceeded out of the marina.
After leaving the marina, leaving no wake behind of course, we turned right and made the Bartlett Dam our first destination.
The Bartlett Dam was built in the late 1930’s, has created a lake which is 12 miles long, and at it deepest point is 174 feet deep. This reservoir is one of the water sources for the Greater Phoenix area, and contrary to the drought of the last decade, is now completely full from massive snow run-off from higher elevations.
As we began to motor our way around the lake, in the prescribed counter-clockwise fashion, the first thing that comes to your mind is the disconnect with being on a beautiful lake, and a mountainous, saguaro fulled shoreline.
After 90 minutes of awestruck wonder, we found ourselves a quiet little cove, and pulled in to enjoy the lunch that Carol had prepared. We enjoyed chicken salad on croissant, fresh California strawberries, crackers and cheese, fresh vegetables, but wouldn’t you know it, we forgot the cork screw, so we drank water from plastic bottles.
While we were enjoying our lunch, enjoying the quiet of the scene around us, which was only pierced by the songs of nearby birds, and the rhythmic lapping of gentle waves on the shore, we also found ourselves curiously looking through the binoculars for the lake’s resident eagles.
Just as we were about to take the last bites of our wonderful lunch, we heard this mysterious rumbling coming from behind the mountain that we were anchored near. We all looked at each other wondering what on earth that sound might be. But before any of us could get the question out of our mouths, a fighter jet, presumably from nearby Luke Air Force Base, thundered right over our heads.
Needless to say, this wasn’t in our paradigm, and I think we all had to quickly squeeze to keep from wetting ourselves a bit.
During our visit we enjoyed perhaps six of these jets, flying no more than 100 feet over the lake, noisily screaming by, making quick maneuvers as they jetted down the length of the lake. Because we were deep in the surrounding mountains, I was unable to get any photographs. It seemed as though they would only fly by when I put my camera down.
After all the excitement of the fighter jets, we pulled anchor and made our 90 minute journey back to the marina to complete what was a most serene, and wondrous adventure.
We will most certainly be back to do this again. Next time, we will come later in the season, after the water warms up a bit, bring our swimming suits, and make a whole day of it.
If you are visiting the Greater Phoenix area, or perhaps you live in the area, and have never boated on Bartlett Lake, words can’t express how beautiful this place is.
We can highly recommend this adventure, and were greatly pleased with our experience with the folks at Bartlett Lake Marina.
Disclosure: this wonderful experience was provided by the fine folks at Bartlett Lake Marina.
We will soon be shooting some video, and photography in the Heard Museum, which is world famous for its extensive collections of American Indian cultural art and fine art, unique exhibits, special events and innovative programming.