travel1971

Hi,

I'm supposed to fly into ABQ Friday, Dec. 2, arriving at 10:45 am. I see there's a big winter storm arriving in Northern NM today or tomorrow. I had been planning on going to Chimayo/Taos on Saturday and Los Alamos/Bandelier on Sunday. Does it sound like I will have to scrap those plans? I am not experienced in driving in snow and ice and my rental car will not have snow tires or chains.

Naturally, it appears weather has been really great in the weeks leading up to my eagerly anticipated trip. I sure hope I'm not stuck in a hotel all weekend. How good a job does the city/county/state do in removing snow in Santa Fe? I'll be staying in a hotel in the 3000 block of Cerrillos. I'd really like to putter around in the center of the historic area if I can't take my fields trips to the areas mentioned above.

My airline is not offering free changes, so if I wanted to move my trip to another weekend, I would be hit with increased fare, plus, the same thing could happen again next week or in the next couple of months of winter.

Any advice would be appreciated!

DebitNM

This is being touted heavily on the local channels. High winds [they are experiencing them in CA today]. We always think they tend to overstate things, but not sure on this one.

I hate to ruin you plans, but IF you are not experienced in driving in snowy conditions, I would not try driving out of town.

You are staying out of the downtown area, but you should be able to drive into the Plaza area with not too much difficulty. The roads are flat and should be pretty well maintained.

You could take a bus to Museum Hill and spend a day there, looking at some wonderful exhibits. http://www.museumhill.org/

It the Plaza area, you could visit:

http://www.nmartmuseum.org/

http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/

http://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/

http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/index.php

You could walk to Canyon Road and wander among all the shops.

Go to the farmer's market and Railyard:

http://www.santafefarmersmarket.com/

Catch a performance of The Nutcracker at the Lensic:
http://www.lensic.org/event_calendar/
You should be a-ok. Lots to still see and great food to eat.

DebitNM

Great calendar of events:

http://www.santafean.com/calendar.html

Others -

http://santafe.org/Calendar/#top

http://www.santafe.com/calendar/

joannay

I suggest you not get a car and take a shuttle into Santa Fe. There are worse things than being "stuck" in such an entertaining place for a few days. If you could change your hotel to one in the plaza area (preferably to one with a beehive fireplace!) that would be even better but I have no doubt you'll get around in any case, walking or by taxi or local bus.

When traveling in winter, or anytime I think, one needs to be flexible with the definition of a great trip. I prefer not having to bother with a rental car whenever possible which is almost all the time and I'd personally love to be stuck in Santa Fe on a snowy weekend. Some of the best times are when we least expect them.

DebitNM

The drive from the airport to Santa Fe should be perfectly ok. It may be easier and cheaper to do the car rental than take the shuttle both ways. This way, IF they are wrong about the weather, the OP still has a car to take her side trips.

She may not be able to change her hotel to plaza area, just a day out.

So far it's sunny but the wind is picking up. That is going to be a for sure thing for the next few days. 40 mph with gusts up to 60 or 70 possible!

joannay

If it were me I'd see how it goes, get the car if the roads are still dry although there is the return trip to consider too, take a shuttle if they aren't. She/he doesn't need to decide in advance, a few dollars difference is no reason to drive in conditions with which you have no experience and on the spot is always the place to make a decision when you can. We all have our own ways of coping and that's mine. Maybe she can't change hotels but maybe she can, no harm in considering all the possibilities. Hence my use of "flexible".

I've lived in snowy places and still hate to drive in the stuff. I'm sitting now in a cottage on the coast in California having successfully dodged 2 storms through N. AZ and the Sierras to get here. I use weather.com and take alternate routes and push driving days up or back when necessary. It worked perfectly. However she(or he) won't have that sort of luxury on a weekend flying in. So I repeat, postpone the decision for as long as possible and even then one could get a surprise. But no reason to worry unnecessarily, if it's a rental agency with a location in Santa Fe the car could be returned there too and a shuttle back to the airport and paying a fee is better than terrified behind the wheel (I think).

travel1971

Thanks for the input. I will stick with my car reservation in case things work out for some outings. I'm not too worried about the commute between ABQ and Santa Fe. As for changing my hotel reservation, I am on a tight budget and there's a big difference in prices between Cerrillos Road and hotels within walking distance of downtown. I keep checking just in case rates drop, but they haven't. If it comes down to it, I can ride the bus as joannay suggests. I will go with the flow and try not to be too disappointed about my field trips.

DebitNM

FYI - As of right now, no snow from here to Santa Fe. 7:30 am

DebitNM

But they are still predicting snow.

joannay

Travel1971 -

How did the trip go and how did you like Santa Fe?