Meow Wolf and the Pino Trail: A Very Artistic Adventure

Hey everyone! Here is a recap of my past week:

I ventured out to the Sandia Mountains to take on the Pino Trail. (I also learned that Pino is Pine in English...feel like I shouldn't have had to translate that one). I had to maneuver getting out there, and after 3 hours of taking 4 different transportation routes, I finally got to the trail head around 9:15 am. I thought it was decently early to begin my hike, but it was already hot out and it was only going to get hotter from there. I went about 9 miles roundtrip in total and about 1200 ft of elevation- I was super proud of myself. Lessons learned though: don't try out hiking shoes for the first time on an extensive hike, BRING ENOUGH WATER, and check under benches for rattlesnakes before you pop a squat. 🤠

The following day I got up bright and early to catch a train to Santa Fe. I actually intended to not absolutely exhaust myself by going to Santa Fe the week after that hike, but time here is going slow and flying by in a way that I could not comprehend a calendar when I was booking reservations. So, anyway, I hopped on the Rail Runner (small train running through NM) and had a beautiful ride to Santa Fe. The first day, I strolled through the Plaza/Downtown area, which was honestly full of very expensive hand-made objects (but still very cool!)

I spent day 2 visiting Meow Wolf, which is considered an "immersive art experience and haunted house." I personally would consider it to be a combination between Coraline and Stranger Things. The experience began walking through a house full of clues to an eerie story, basically about a family accessing a different dimension of time and space and all, but also very creepy and trippy. Anyway, there are multiple ways to enter the separate, wonderfully artistic world that is past the house, which include walking through a refrigerator, fireplace, and closet. It. Was. Awesome.

After Meow Wolf, I grabbed some empanadas at a cute place called Cafecito, walked back to the train station and rode the train back to Albuquerque (below is the train stations and view from the train!). Since I hadn't given much time to do my school work that week, I decided to spend the rest of my week catching up on episodes of New Girl and doing assignments during my binge watch breaks. Just kidding! Kind of.

This is my last week of class and I will be finishing up my time in ABQ very soon! I am road tripping around the area for about a week next week, and then I will be on my way back to the Carolinas! 🤩