yes, it snows in santa fe!

The photos in this post are for all the folks that envision Will and I moving to the desert, surrounded by saguaro cactus and palm trees! There are many people who think that Santa Fe has a hot, dry desert climate all-year round, an easy assumption to make considering the Southwest's reputation of having abundant sunshine. Santa Fe does have approximately 300 days of sunshine per year (a far cry from the 165 that Pittsburgh supposedly averages), but since it is at 7,000 feet above sea level, and nestled in the mountains, Santa Fe sees some snow too. The temperatures are rarely extremely high or low, but this past winter was the worst New Mexico has seen in a very long time.



My Dad took the above photo last December, when they got 3 feet of snow! 3 feet! I don't remember having snow like in Santa Fe since I was a kid. I remember piles and piles of snow in our driveway.



I liked to build families of snow people and go tobogganing down the hills near our house. I had a bright orange toboggan with a seat, a place for my feet and a yellow cord to hang onto. My brother had a similar green one. Such fun! We also used to sled down the road, but that was always a bit risky as there was a curve at the bottom.

Summers usually aren't too bad in Santa Fe. The heat is dry and for me, more tolerable than the humid heat we get here. The sun feels scorching hot, but step into the shade and relief can be found. But because of the infrequent rainfall, Santa Fe experiences drought conditions. I know that when it gets really bad, residents are not allowed to water their yards and get fined if water usage is too high. Pittsburgh has its three rivers; Santa Fe has one. And it rarely has water in it. (So all the snow this winter is actually a really good thing as it means that the water reservoirs wouldn't be totally dry.)

A little bit more about Santa Fe:

Santa Fe has a population around 70,000, about 1/5 the population of the City of Pittsburgh. It's the oldest capital city in America, founded in 1607 by Spanish explorers. It's also home to America's third largest art market (behind New York and Los Angeles). And there are over 200 restaurants in Santa Fe! Quite a few for a small city. There are also a vast amount of hiking opportunities in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas. I cannot wait to hit them all. (Seriously!)

I can't believe that we have less than two months until we move! Ack!