A Day in Santa Fe

Hi all, Dianne here.  We've moved to another Corps of Engineers campground, Cochiti Lake, which is located between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  This will be our home base for visiting this area.


 So far since we've been here, we've seen our first jack rabbits, a large coyote, and Roger saw a tarantula as large as his hand crossing the road.  It must have been really big, if he was able to see it that well from the car.   Hopefully we'll have the camera handy if we see these critters again.  Still in rattlesnake country, but I hope they stay hidden from view!

Yesterday we left our menagerie behind to mind the motor home and went into Santa Fe to do some touring.  Our plan was to take the open trolley guided tour to get the lay of the land first.  We just missed one tour, and had time to kill before going on the next.  We used that time very wisely, and had a delicious breakfast in the plaza at La Fonda Hotel.  The restaurant had been recommended to us by locals we met camping at Abiquiu, and we were not disappointed.   This was one hot and spicy breakfast!

The architecture here is very unique; no buildings are allowed to be taller than this church, so it is mainly low adobe structures. 

I did a double-take when I realized this lovely building is a parking garage!


Santa Fe is a shopper's paradise -- Roger is very lucky that I don't particularly like to shop.  Traveling in a motor home saves lots of money, because there's no room for souvineers!

If you're not into shopping, there are dozens of museums and art galleries.  The best part of our guided tour was that our guide was an art lover, and made sure we saw his favorites.  The statuary all over town is amazing.

  

Check out the detail on this statue, particulary the individual hairs in his "do."  

This very large statue grouping depicts the end of the Santa Fe trail.

Here's another amazing statue; check out her quilt:

I had heard of the mysterious, miraculous staircase in the Loretto Chapel, but didn't realize it was located in the middle of Santa Fe.  We paid $3 each admission, and went in to view the chapel.  Here's a link if you want to learn more about it:  http://www.lorettochapel.com/staircase.html 

Next to the staircase was a large photo showing how it looked before the bannisters were added to it.  That would have been one scary climb!  


We're here until October 1, so we'll update soon with our other adventures in this area.