Your Chance to Taste $1000 Salsa

The highly popular “Homemade Salsa Competition” will be the focus of this year's Old Town Salsa Fiesta. Contestants will present mouth-scorching, tummy-tingling recipes for the competition, which is judged entirely by you!

In addition to the competition, this event has something for everyone - live music and dance, a wine tasting featuring local wines, chile-inspired lectures in the "Hot Ideas" tent, and storytelling for the kids.

When: Saturday, August 15 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Old Town
Price: $4 to judge in the salsa competition, and $4 for the wine tasting, or $6 for both activities. All other events are free!

I've always wanted to visit the Southwest, a seemingly ideal mix of geography and culture, so Albuquerque is the perfect starting point for our trip. We fly in this afternoon, and the Route 66 Adventure begins!