Santa Fe, NM

Daddio was keen to drive us through Colorado, so we met him on Sunday afternoon in Colorado Springs. He recently retired from the post office, giving him lots of time to drive strangers around on random interstate road trips. We met up, filled up and headed south.

Daddio is an easy going grandfather who loves hot springs and prospecting. That’s right prospecting, as in gold prospecting. He doesn’t really fit the image of some rambling old man with a pick ax on his shoulder and a lantern in his hand, but that may be for the better. I don't think they are good at driving cars, only mules. He is part of gold prospecting clubs and has several land claims throughout the Rocky Mountains. He hauls a good amount of gold out of the ground too. It’s good to know the old days of prospecting are alive and well. Daddio is also a hot springs fan. He travels around the states finding new hot springs and hangs out there, for a while. Sounds like some pretty cool retirement projects to us.

Daddio took us from the mountains of Colorado into the vast open deserts of New Mexico. We got some authentic New Mexican green chili along the way and cruised into Santa Fe. After continuing the tradition of getting lost, we rolled up to the capitol building to meet Jim and get some photos.


Jim, or Dr. Jim we should say lives just north of Santa Fe in Los Alamos the birthplace of the atomic bomb. He’s a nuclear engineer with a great sense of humor. It came through right away when I asked him what he does in Los Alamos, he replied “I design what makes the rest of the world shiver”. Pretty intense stuff, but he’s a cool guy, and they don’t even make nukes there anymore.

He took us back to his place in Los Alamos for the night. We got to meet his mom, Mary and see the biggest TV ever, in his living room. That’s just how Jim rolls.