Most couples follow-up their marriage ceremony with a honeymoon. Essentially a holiday to take a break from all the stress that followed them for all the months up to the D-day. Some time off to get to know each other, more intimately, and enjoy one of the biggest life decisions made.
But that was not the case for us. We knew each other for three years and had hit it off right from the beginning. So, when we got married in the sultry humid summer month of June in India, we chose to spend the precious 12 remaining holidays with our families & friends. We didn’t have any idea when we will be back again. Instead, we made a promise to each other – we will take a break when we can. But it was just not the right time. Not right after our marriage. We had a lot on our plate. And even though we packed up our small carry-ons way too often, never once was it for a honeymoon or mini-moon.
Finally, we got that break in our schedules, when we had the time for just the two of us. We went a bit big and crazy about it, and I am going to just tell you how and why 😊
On the day of our seven-month wedding anniversary, we set out in the dead of the night to Albuquerque. By flight of course. Didn’t have enough holidays to cover the drive there, otherwise, we just might have done that too. Thankfully we both love traveling. Driving through the United States can be exciting and exhilarating.
Honeymoon – the term and phase deluded us for long. What does it mean? Why is it so short-lived? Or why do people think it is so short-lived? Drinking mead as we shared our first moon after marriage was not an option for us, neither was the idea of being in love just for a short time – after all, we had decided to spend our lives together. “Is this our honeymoon?” SG smiled, as we boarded our 6 am flight. I laughed, “Is it? I don’t see what it means or how does it matter. But sure, why not! Let this be our honeymoon.” After all, even after seven months, we are still in love, alive and kicking! Perhaps they got the meaning all wrong. And then began our four and a half days of adventures 😉
Day one: We landed in Albuquerque around 11:30 am, got our rental and quickly drove up to the hotel we booked close to the airport. I must mention that ABQ by then had shot up on the list of places with the friendliest people. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. Right from the smiling rental shuttle driver, to the rental car manager with his big jolly voice, to the rental car second manager (I don’t know what you call him) who gave us a choice of cars to choose from and even explained the features, to the old man who was at the exit gate and stopped to wish us a pleasant trip and gave us details on the rental company. Amazing! Won over.
Unfortunately, the first hiccup came in the form of the hotel being unavailable till 3 pm. We had 3 hours to kill, we were hungry, tired and definitely in need of a shower. But the food first. We decided to head to the Frontier Restaurant located right in front of the University of New Mexico. If you are ever in ABQ, this is a must-try place.
By now you may be asking though – why ABQ, what’s there?
Well, this was where SG landed about 10 years ago, as a 20 something, bright-eyed Indian boy, come for his Masters at the University of New Mexico. He had a nostalgic take on his UNM memories right from the beginning of our relationship. It was always like, “When I was in UNM or ABQ…” So, you see, coming down south required a stop in this city.
While for me the seemingly arid land, covered in red soil, small houses, almost zero vegetation, and miles of nothing but land, land, and land, was a weird feeling, SG smiled from ear to ear. I realized, for him, this was home. For me, the mountains and greenery of upstate NY will always be home. But I could get used to this dry desert. If for nothing else, for the mere fact that they have the cheapest and freshest food served at Frontier’s and the people in ABQ were always so nice.
We quickly wrapped up a lunch of two breakfast burritos, freshly squeezed OJ and the largest butter-oozing cinnamon bun. To walk it all off, we decided to tour the UNM campus. We had 2 hours to go before 3 pm. A vast campus with barely any car traffic – it was a Friday and therefore relatively empty – filled with trees and spaces for students to walk around and relax when not working on some or the other projects. SG took a walk down memory lane. He stopped and pointed out all the significant places from his time there. But I won’t go into those details here. Somethings had best be kept to ourselves.
By the end of our tour, we realized it was 30 minutes past 3, and we had not yet received the requested phone call from the hotel. On following up with the hotel, we were told that apparently there was no booking. “Wait, what!” I know, we had the same reaction. No booking? We had just been in that same lobby 3 hours earlier and were confirmed of our booking. We decided to rush back. On our way to the hotel which was just a 10-minute drive from the UNM campus, we heard a loud hushing noise. We rolled down our windows, the noise seemed to travel with us. Then it stopped. When we were almost at the hotel, the car’s computer informed us, we had a flat tire.
The adventure has begun. We were to take this car on a drive through Grand Canyon, stop at various places, drive some 1000 miles over the next 3 days, and we already had a flat tire. Both of us were freaking out. Add to that the hotel fiasco. We decided to take the problems one at a time.
On getting to the hotel, we were told by (presumably) the manager, that we had already checked in. “How’s that possible? We are standing right in front of you!”
“Maybe, you have one of the keys?”
“NO! We came in the morning; the room wasn’t ready. We were asked to come back at 3 pm by the receptionist. Please check your records.”
“Look, your booking sheet. You already signed in.”
We looked at the booking sheet. “But that’s not our signature or our name at the bottom. Someone else is signed into our booking.”
Puzzled look on the manager’s face.
Puzzled expression exchange between the manager and the second receptionist standing at the desk.
Puzzled expression exchange among all four of us.
“Wait, so someone else is in your room? Then who’s in that person’s room.”
A quick check of records. The booking made by ‘stranger in our room’ was located. Even that room was signed in. “Huh? What has she done?” The manager at this point was exasperated and unable to comprehend what and how this mess occurred. The second receptionist was sent upstairs to check if there was someone in ‘our room.’ Apparently, yes, but that someone was not responding to the knocks or phone calls.
“We will provide you with another room. Don’t worry. You will love this room.”
Matter resolved after 15 minutes, we walked up to a room which was literally like a small apartment. Complete with two rooms, one living and one bedroom, one bathroom, and a small open kitchen. But the best bit? The views. On one side it was the Sandia Mountains, and on the other side was the ABQ downtown. Sadly, we were just there for the night. Not even a whole day.
According to our ideal plan, we should have checked in at 12 pm, toured UNM campus by 3 pm, gone for the Sandia tram ride a 45 minutes’ drive from UNM by 4 pm, left for Santa Fe by 5pm, another hour drive, and returned to ABQ by 8pm to hit the showers and then bed. Ideally, we would have been able to achieve it all.
But the reality is not ideal. We were cruelly reminded of that. We saw the sun set over the Sandia Mountains as we remained on hold with the emergency helpline of the car rental for over an hour. Finally, we managed to get hold of the Airport branch of the rental car company, all kudos to SG, and we were given a new car after another 30 minutes. A bigger, better and heavier sedan.
We ended up doing a quiet dinner at Frontier again (trust me, it’s all worth it. Just try to avoid the washrooms), followed up with a drive through the ABQ downtown and a quick stop to pick up water and basic food for the rest of the road trip. By 8 pm, we were washed out and ready to hit the bed. And thus, ended our Day One.
Some of you may be thinking, “OMG! Such an awful start to the trip.” We thought the same too, initially. But then, we chose to look on the brighter side. Realistically, we were too tired for a trip to Santa Fe. Being up since 2 am would have taken a toll. But thanks to the hotel room mix-up we got this beautiful room with a view of the Sandia. At least we got to see the sunset that turned the Sandia mountains fiery red and yet so gorgeous. Thanks to the flat tire, we ended up with a heavier car that would prove to be a boon later in the trip.
We hugged and fell into a deep sleep soon after. All’s well that ends well. Our honeymoon was turning out to be an adventure moon, but we are still not complaining. Not yet at least.
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