May/June 2014 Hello Santa Fe, New Mexico

May 31-June 7, 2014  
Today is Saturday May 31st. This morning after breakfast we depart from the Cactus RV park & leave behind the forgotten town of Tucumcari, NM victim of the interstate. Makes you wonder if progress is always a plus???? This was our last one night stop. Our next destination is Santa Fe, NM where we will be staying a week! I'm glad of that cause when you're traveling, until you actually get some where & take in the sites....you're still, just traveling! It's not a far drive from Tucumcari to Santa Fe. One thing I noticed since leaving the flat lands of Oklahoma & Texas, our driving scenery is starting to get much more scenic!

.

Before lunch we arrive at our destination of Los Suenos RV Park. It would be easy to miss the RV park, it's located behind a little business mall!?!

            We learned later, that where the RV park is now situated, was once the local Drive-In theater!

When we check in, we were asked how big our dog was. We were thinking maybe there's a size fee? But noooooo, when we told them Otis was small to medium in size, we were told to keep an eye on him as a coyote had been spotted outside the perimeter of the RV park! YIKES, Otis can you run real fast!?!

                                                 After Len got the outside RV stuff set up

              & I got the inside set up, it was indeed lunch time & we had our first picnic.... right at our campsite!

.

After lunch, we took Otis for a nice walk, looking for that coyote....NOT! There was a nice afternoon breeze blowing. Perfect afternoon to relax! I was loom knitting a hat, & Lennie was.......well you see what Lennie was doing!?!

& Otis must have gotten tired or watching Lennie nap & joined him!?!

. I guess it was a hard first day for my boys, I hope they can handle tomorrow! I'm glad Lennie got his nap in....it gave him the energy to put pork chops on the grill!

Today is Sunday June 1st, we thought a good day just to relax, maybe drive around Santa Fe a little bit. Remember in Tucumcari we could walk to both uptown & downtown Tucumcari. Santa Fe is the capital & it's a very large city! No walking to town for us! We start the day by going to Walmart for a few things. All the stores & different businesses have that Santa Fe Adobe style motif! Pretty cool looking, I never saw a Walmart Adobe style!?!

Another thing, this Walmart had ONLY paper bags, no plastic bags at all!?!

But Walmart isn't our sightseeing destination! After putting the things away, we have a quick lunch, then take Otis with us. Not knowing what the day has to offer, we head out for we don't know, but at least a scenic drive???We wind up in a plaza type area of unique shops. Would be fun to walk around, but we have Otis??? Lennie spied a park, looked like the center of the plaza, he also spied another couple with a dog, so the park must be dog friendly!?! Now to find a parking space!!!!! Okay, time for a little history lesson! After we park & walk back to this unique part of town, I learn that we are at Palace of the Governors. This was built in the 1600's by the Spanish government.It is the oldest continuously used public building in the US.It is famous for its long covered porch where Native Americans sell & display their art & handcrafted wares.

They had some beautiful piece of jewelry!

Across from the Palace of the Governors, was the park. More vendors lined the perimeter of the park. Lennie & Otis went to find a shady bench in the park,

while I went & checked out people's wares!

Who knows.....I might be looking for a ring for "Somebody"!?!

.

I didn't want to leave Lennie & Otis in the park by themselves too long (yeah right!?!) so I just "quickly" scanned all the vendors, just looked in a few shops & thought this would be a fun place to come back to, without Otis!?!

 We drive to the top of a hill to an area called Fort Marcy.Unfortunately there is nothing left to Fort Marcy, even the ruins have withered away. It was easy to see why this location was chosen as the Fort site, you could view the whole city below.

 From up on the hilltop, 

              we thought we could see the capital building,

but when we drove back down the hilltop & into the city....we're not so sure that is the capital building??? We're going to have to check that out to be  sure! I guess it's time to head back to the RV. Lennie is putting shrimp & scallops on the grill tonight. I don't want to miss that!!!! After dinner Lennie plans tomorrow's agenda. Hmmmmmm, I wonder what we'll be doing!?!

Today is Monday June 2nd.  We have a busy day ahead of us, the kind of sightseeing that will be hard on a dog. After breakfast, I pack us a picnic lunch while Lennie potties Otis. When they get back, Otis gets back into bed!?! I don't think he wants to go with us!?!That solves that problem!?!

.

Today we are going to visit Bandelier National Park, only here instead of calling it a National Park, they call it a National Monument??? At any rate, Lennie's National Park pass get us in the park.

                                                A scenic ride on the way to see more scenery!

We thought we could just drive to Bandelier, but before arriving we to the park we noticed a shuttle station for Bandelier National Monument, set up at the Visitors Center.We parked, went in to get information on the shuttle & the park, only to learn the shuttle was taking off in 6 minutes! 

Once on the bus, we learned the reason for the shuttle ride.

The driver explained to us that in 2011, Bandelier suffered the worse national forest fire ever recorded. They lost 2/3s of their forest. Including the much needed foliage around the water shed. A lot of the park was still closed including parking lots.Therefore the shuttles make it easier for guests to be able to see & enjoy the park without having to worry about parking...or lack of parking.It was about a 20 minute drive from the shuttle station to Bandelier National Monument.

Where we met our tour guide, a part time volunteer, Mr. Len Scheel. Mr Len first introduced himself, & told us he was a retired Biology teacher at Crystal Lake High School in Crystal Lake Illinois!!! He & his wife both retired, 30 years ago & both volunteered here at the Bandelier Park.

.

Mr Len was a wealth of information! He truly enjoyed his volunteer position at the park! We spent the next hour with Mr Len as he told us the history of the Canyon & Mesa country & the Ancestral Pueblo people.It is documented that Bandelier National Monument dates back more than 10,000 years.To think it all started with 2 violent volcano eruptions more than one million years ago. How do they know all that stuff!?! Okay Mr Len....lead on!

.

The Pueblo people were cliff dwellers. Separate from their homes were the underground structures called  a KIVA. Kivas are a ceremonial structure, not necessarily just for religious activities, could also be for education, or any kind of decision making. They varied in room sizes, this particular kiva Mr Len was pointing out to us, is one of the largest recorded in history.

Mr Len is about to leave the group & we are allowed to hike up the the cliff dwellings.Here he's pointing out the yellow flowers(they looked kind of like a daisy) that were just everywhere! I forget the correct name, but their common name was Indian Blanket.

.

And now we're on our own. There's a hundred stair steps involved in viewing the cliff dwellings. Not in succession but still 100 steps! I wonder if it's too late to turn back!?!

This is the same KIVA we were looking at with Mr Len, this view is taken from up on the cliffs. Look how many rooms you can see, & that's only part of the Kiva!

I made it!!!!

I bet there were no fat Cliff Dwellers!?! How could there be with such an effort to get to their homes???

I did the 100 steps but I didn't do the ladders! I'm afraid of ladders, not the going up, but the coming down! I didn't want to hold up the group by going up the ladder, then being afraid to come back down!!!!

The horrific fire wasn't the only tragedy Bandelier park endured. On September 13,2013<-that was a Friday.....a flash flood came racing through the park.With so much of the forest gone from the fire, there was no foliage to divert the rushing waters. Today they have double rows of sandbags stacked on top of concrete barriers, in hope of diverting any future flood waters. The forest that was lost, if it had been a "normal" forest fire, in 2-3 years regrowth would appear. This fire was so intense, they fear even the roots of the trees were burnt. So far no noticeable regrowth is presence.....

We came to the end of the self guided tour of Bandelier. It's time for a water & M&N break(I don't know which one we needed more!?!) while we wait for the shuttle to take us back to our car.

.

Now it's time for that picnic lunch I packed this morning! There's one element missing from this picnic....OTIS!

.

As long as we don't have Otis with us(SOB,SNIFF!) let's check out some more scenery before we head back to the RV!

 This is the Rio Grande River!

.

                                                 And...there's more scenery to be seen!!!

<-this may not be scenic but photo worthy! Hard to zoom in on these Elk with my camera, but with our binoculars, we could see 100's of Elk in this open meadow area!

Another Kodak moment were these Red Rock cliffs!

.

One more scenic stop, then back to the RV. I think Otis TEXT Lennie for us to come home!?! We are at the Gilman Tunnels. these amazing tunnels were blasted through solid rock mountain in the 1920s to construct a rail line for hauling logs out of the mountains.The narrow road to Gilman Tunnels follows Guadalupe River. 

 We had to YIELD to this guy!!!

 There were people playing in the Guadalupe River while we were there, didn't look inviting to me???

Now we're home where "Poor Otis" has been waiting patiently for our return. His patience was rewarded with his favorite treat! A McDoubles from McDonalds!!!

.

But after eating his treat, he still must have been mad at us & took out his aggression on his toys!!!

Crazy dog....guess he showed us! Maybe we'll take him with us tomorrow.....we'll see!?!

Today is Tuesday June 3rd. We have another day of sight seeing ahead of us, we won't be gone as long as yesterday, sorry Mr Otis you're NOT going with & your NOT getting a McDoubles either!!! After breakfast Lennie & I leave. I did NOT have to pack a picnic lunch!!!!

First we go to downtown Santa Fe to an area called the RAIL YARD, & yes it's by the train tracks. They have the coolest commuter train, I hope I get the chance to get a picture of it. the Rail Yard is an area that has restaurants, unique shops,Farmer's Market, entertainment, & more!We actually went there, just to find the location cause on Thursday they're holding a FREE concert down there! But now that we've found the Rail Yard....we may as well look around!

                                            See Otis, we wanted to bring you but......

                              We know where to come now on Thursday night, so on to our sightseeing!

Here we go!

We are on our way to see Santuario de Chimayo, a church known for its "healing dirt" built in 1813.It is a pilgrimage site for people seeking healing for themselves or loved ones.Inside the church, in the side chapel is the el pocito, or little well, of blessed earth. You are welcome to take a little scoop of the blessed earth....

.

The grounds outside the church

Inside the church....

Our next stop is lunch!!!! We are going to Rancho de Chimayo. this is an old family restaurant that has been in the Jaramillo family for 40 years.

We placed our order, now just enjoying the chips & salsa while we wait!

I really enjoyed my lunch!!!

Who needs dinner after this wonderful lunch!?!

Time to head back to the RV, if we stay gone too long, Otis will expect a McDoubles!?!

We get back to the RV early enough that I have the opportunity to do my favorite job, LAUNDRY!!! Usually Lennie helps me with the laundry, but this time I was on my own because the washing machines

are in the BATHROOM!?!

They're in the men's bathroom too, so I guess, I could have had Len wash & dry his clothes & I do my own!?! That would never happen!!! There was a lady just finishing up her laundry when I went in there, just to make conversation I told her I had never seen the washer & dryers inside the bathrooms? She told me she sees them that way everywhere she camps???? I don't know where she's been camping, I've been in RV parks in 49 states & this was the FIRST time I've ever seen the washer & dryers inside the bathroom!?! They were the most reasonable to use, only $1.25 to wash & $1.00 to dry. I may have to go in the bathroom to wash & dry one more time before we leave!!!

I wonder if Lennie has dinner ready!?! I have everything on a low flame, he's "watching" everything while I finish folding our clothes!

After dinner, we take Otis for a walk around the RV park. the sun is setting & it is just beautiful, but.....next to our RV park is an apartment complex called the Lofts, & they block out so much of this beautiful sunset.I still tried for a sunset shot.....

Tomorrow is another long day of sightseeing & Mr Otis does get to come along!!! Lucky Dog!!!!

Today is Wednesday June 4th. Every morning before breakfast Lennie goes for a walk while Otis & I sleep in a little. Well surprise Mr Otis....this morning while Lennie was out walking I was giving Otis a bath. Our campsite is all gravel & Otis just loves to lay in the dirt. then he likes to ride on my lap & since today he going with us.....he's having a bath. Lennie gets back from his walk just in time to hear Otis' whimpers of desperation !?! The coffee is started while I finish Otis. Each night Lennie reviews our trip agenda, today when we leave we are taking the High Road to Taos! With breakfast out of the way & our picnic lunch packed....we're off!

I love the scenery out here!

Yes, that's snow on the mountains!!!

One place Lennie researched was a little restaurant called Sugar Nymphs'. they rave about their signature chocolate pecan pie & their chocolate cake, a tower of deliciousness, making any one's trip worthwhile!!! Besides the sweet treats....they are also known for their homemade soups, burgers,& pizza making this off the beaten trail bistro a perfect late lunch stop.(Key word there LATE)

We were thinking about getting a piece of pie to go, for our picnic lunch later, we arrived here about 10:30am only to see this....

Grrrrrrrr the restaurant didn't open till 11:00am! 

I could already taste the chocolate pecan pie!!!! We leave that tourist sight unhappy!

This is an area of small villages along the winding roads. Many of them small land farmers & a lot of artisans.It was an interesting place to drive to, would have been more enjoyable with a piece of pie to go with our lunch!!!

We saw a lot of what look like private cemeteries, we were really impressed with how much they decorate their cemeteries. I think these are probably Indian Cemeteries?????

.

Our next point of interest is in Angel Fire, NM.It is the Vietnam Veteran Memorial State Park. The first & only state park in the US dedicated exclusively to Vietnam Veterans.

In 1960 Dr. Victor Westphall & his wife Jeanne, purchased the 800 acre Val Verde Ranch with the intention of building a resort.On May 22,1968, their son,David was killed in Vietnam. Jeanne suggested building a chapel to honor him, & in Sept. 1968 the construction began.Over the years the project that started out to be just a chapel has grown & been renovated several times.All but 5 acres of the ranch was sold to finance the project.On Veterans Day 2005 the site became Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park. It is the only state park that does not charge a fee. The chapel remains open 24 hours a day.....

Remembering his days in Vietnam

amphitheater outside the chapel

A glimpse of the museum inside.

The Memorial Chapel

Our next point of interest is just as awesome as the Chapel at Angel Fire, only in a difference sense of the word. It is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge on US 64 just west of Taos.

What a bridge....what a view!!!

Let's go back.....it's kind of shaky up here!?!

We better get back in the car, I think I hear ice cream in Taos calling our name!?!

He really is looking for ice cream!

Lennie & Otis waited while I went in & got us ice cream!

Otis didn't want to lick what was left!!!!

We're heading back to the RV, I hope this ice cream didn't ruin our dinner!(That never happens!!)

                                              Tomorrow another adventure????

Today is Thursday June 5th. Tonight is the FREE concert down at the Rail Yard. Today we aren't doing anything until we go to the concert because Lennie doesn't want to leave Otis by himself for so long! Wait a minute.....isn't Otis the family dog!?! He is, but he's sooooo spoiled! Just for Otis we added a new purchase to our set up!?!

Lennie bought a  mat so Otis doesn't get so dirty!

Is that spoiled or what!?!

I said we did  nothing today, but that wasn't exactly true! I cleaned the RV & Lennie installed a fog light that had fallen out. I guess the only one who didn't do anything was OTIS!!!! We had both breakfast & lunch at the RV. I finished another hat!!! We started getting ready to go to the concert when Lennie got involved with a long phone call to Verizon trying to set up our MiFi. 

The concert was suppose to start at 6:00pm, we left the RV park a little after 5:00pm. We only had a 15 minute drive but a FREE Concert & we're on our way to see JIMMY VAUGHN,  parking could be a problem! We had no problem parking! We get to the concert sight, it's about 45 minutes till the concert & we're surprised to see only 3 other people at the concert site!?! We've been to Blues Concerts before where a "Nobody" is playing & 45 minutes before the show it's packed??? We did have some entertainment while waiting for the concert! A food truck was going to back into a spot & set up for concert business. The poor guy trying to back into the spot just couldn't do it, he had EVERYONE trying to help him???? Finally a GAL told HIM to get out of the truck & SHE backed it into the spot on her first try!!!!Everyone clapped when she stepped back out of the truck!!!

 It took a WOMAN Driver!?!

.

By now people are started to filter in. The pre-show didn't start at 6:00! But when they did, they were pretty good for a local band. Then there was a 30 minute break before Jimmy Vaughn took stage & by now the place is PACKED!!!

I want to try to take a few pictures of Jimmy Vaughn on stage, I can't find a gap between people, I decide to TRY & walk in between the crowd just to get one picture!

 Jimmy Vaughn

& The Texas Tilterwhirls!!!

The crowd was wild for Jimmy Vaughn! I really didn't want to go, as I've seen him before & didn't care for his type of BLUES, but tonight he was real mellow, I'm glad I went!!! Not only did the crowd cheer Jimmy Vaughn, but every time the commuter train went by (3 times during the concert) the crowd just cheered!!!                                                    They do have a cool looking commuter train!?!

.

We didn't get anything to eat at the concert. We decided to grab a sandwich on the way home & yes

                                                    Mr. McSpoiled got his McDouble!!!!

Today is Friday June 6th. this is our last day of hard sight seeing. Today's sight seeing doesn't allow a certain dog to join us!!!

After breakfast & our sad good-byes to Otis (yeah...right!?!) we head out to the street to catch the city bus to downtown Santa Fe!

It cost $1.00 apiece (Senior rate) to ride the bus all day long!!!

Our bus ride takes us to the downtown plaza where we catch a "Tour Bus" to see the sights of Santa Fe!

                                                                   We're ready to see the city!

Our Tour Guide has been running these tours for 17 years. She shows us Churches, Restaurants, Art Galleries, the State Capital, a day of Culture!

I can't believe I didn't buy this! $$$$

The foliage hides most the house, but our Tour Guide said this was a 3 MILLION dollar home!?!

This is the State Capital Building

                                                  After our tour, Lennie & I grabbed lunch 

Fish Tacos!

                                       Then we went back to see some of the sights on our own!

The story behind this awesome staircase is a real miracle!

The church no longer functions as a church, but can be rented out for weddings or other special occasions.

Looking pretty good to be the OLDEST house in the USA!

We went back to the State Capital building as our Tour guide said anyone was welcome to go inside. We were quite surprised how freely we could walk around inside.We didn't even have to walk through a metal detector??? The inside looked more like a Art Museum! There was all kinds of Art on display.

New Mexico's State Seal, done in Mosaic tiles

Looking up from the state seal, is the Capital Building's Dome!

We SHARED a piece of black forest cake

before hopping back on our bus to go back to the RV park.

This is Mykayla. She was on the bus when we got on. She & her brother chose to "entertain" the whole bus. Luckily we only rode one stop with them before they got off. As they got off with their family I was like,"Good-bye Mykayla....we're going to miss you!"

Home to Otis! Time to fix dinner, hurry & clean up because.....we're driving up to Camel Rock.......

to watch the sunset!!!

with no apartments blocking our view!

Starting to sink....

Going....

Going.....

Gone!!!!

AAAAH! We can go back to the RV now!!!

Today is Saturday June 7th. This is our last day to enjoy Santa Fe! We don't have a lot planned, since it is our last day, we will start to break up our site in preparation of leaving tomorrow. Yesterday on our Tour we saw the Cultural Santa Fe, today we are going to see how the other half lives!!!! We're going to the Flea Market!!!! After breakfast we head out, we leave Otis behind cause we know we won't be gone that long!(NO McDoubles!) We had a brochure on the Flea Market, aptly named, THE FLEA, it advertised 150 Vendors! Here we go!!!!!

The Flea was a big disappointment, but wait...

there's another Flea Market we saw on......Flea Market Road!

These people need to come to Florida & see what a REAL FLEA MARKET is!!!! Let's go home to Otis!!!

We're going to have lunch at the RV then let Otis join us as we take a drive up to Santa Fe's ski country!  On our way to our scenic drive.....Lennie spies a car wash & he wanted to get the car washed before he put the bra back on for travel. But this was no ordinary car wash....This was......

KIDS!!!!!!

The "Supervisor" approves!

It would take more than a week to see all that Santa Fe has to offer, but our time is up, we're moving on tomorrow. Heading back to the RV to start breaking down. Santa Fe, we have really enjoyed you!

Back at the RV Lennie starts putting some of the outside things away. He puts our bikes back on the bike rack, & Mr Otis sees Len outside the window!

We ate dinner to the backdrop of a storm including small hail. That night the weather man kept talking about the storms, including tornadoes!!!! Sometime after we went to bed, it really started raining, lightening, poor scared Otis!!!! He didn't even SNEAK he came racing back to our bed!!! I wished I had, had the camera in bed because that song, STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU was Otis theme song that night!!!

                                                                                                       Good Night Santa Fe!!!!!