Santa Fe

     Well our plan worked. After the madness downtown Saturday, we went to Taos on Sunday. Part two of our grand plan was to arrive early Monday morning and secure a parking spot. Worked like a charm and we had off street parking near the plaza and museums we wanted to visit. If you have never been here, parking is at a premium and hard to find. As expected the lot was full when it came time to leave.

 First stop was the Lorretto Chapel, a place we have visited before. More about it can be found HERE. Seems we learn something new on each visit, today no exception. Having beat the crowds getting the desired photos easier.

The staircase is a stunning piece of craftmanship, the fact it was done so long ago does make it miraculous. It and the rest of the sanctuary came close to being destroyed. What a terrible loss that would have been.

    Next up on the list was the New Mexico history museum. This included the Governors palace. More details HERE. 

A very informative visit with exhibits on a variety of topics.

Of course no visit to Santa Fe would be complete without some views of the iconic plaza.

Today concludes our exploration of New Mexico. Tomorrow we make the drive to Amarillo. Nothing really on the schedule for there just food and a bed. After on night in Amarillo, we make our return to the Settles hotel in Big Spring. One night there then back to home on Thursday. On a positive note I scored some great southwest themed fabric for a quilt I have planned.

gather ye rosebuds while ye may.

Taos

 On todays agenda was a trip to Taos, about 70 miles north. Think adobe, think arts, that pretty much sums up Taos.

 

  As luck would have it, construction on the plaza square interfered with my photo taking. Kit Carson spent a lot of time here and his former home is a historic site. Memory fail you ?More HERE .

  To the west ofTaos is high desert plain bisected by the Rio Grande, yes That Rio Grande of Texas fame. The river cut a deep gorge in the plain. Thus the bridge crossing it is quite high. Details HERE

Between Santa Fe and Taos a roadside attraction has existed for years. Info can be found HERE. Sadly lost it's nose recently.

Current view, nose to right of Mary's left shoulder.

nose piece in center

 Museums, Lorreto Chapel and more tomorrow.

carpe diem

Art and culture

 If you know us, you should know we like historical sites and museums. So knowing that, explanation of the title should not be necessary.  We have been to Santa Fe several times prior, however we failed to visit of the many museums. Our bad. In order to correct our sinful ways, we headed out to museum hill. First stop was the Museum of Indian cultures, details HERE

 It is a museum well worth your time and effort, if such things appeal to you.

 Our visit got started with a unity dance. See if you recognize  any of the dancers.You can enlarge the video by clicking in bottom right corner.

 First stop was a sculpture garden.

  The galleries inside had wonderful displays of ancient art as well as modern, many mediums. The following is a feeble attempt at showing you some wonderful displays.

pieces dating from 936.

Not all pottery designs are same. This room show pottery from many different tribes/pueblos/bands of indigenous people.

    We started with a dance, might just as well end with one. Remember click bottom right corner of video to see full screen.

    

    A special celebration down on the square this weekend making traffic exponentially worse (ask how we know!). So change of plans takes us to Taos tomorrow.

carpe diem

 

 

Fort Stanton, Lincoln

   Today was a full day of playing tourist. We had last visited the following site in May of 2007. A lot has changed in those nineteen years and all for the better. First up what was a merchant marine cemetery. In 2007 it was a tad overgrown and looked forgotten. Now it is a state veterans cemetery with a lot of improvements.

The grounds are well kept and nice new facilities. There are many graves here and a lot came from Fort Stanton which you will  learn more about soon.

 Now on to Fort Stanton which has a long history. Read more about it HERE. When we last were in this area there was no visitor center. Happily there is now. Always enjoy learning about history.

 They have many buildings and exhibits covering the many years and usages of the fort.

The fort played a role in the next stop on our historical journey. If you are not familiar with the Lincoln County wars, watch the old John Wayne movie "Chisum" or if seek reality, not Hollywood go HERE.

 At any rate the town has been preserved pretty as it was in those days. A lot to see and learn about a turbulent time in New Mexico history.

 Now we move up the road to Capitan New Mexico. Still on a historical theme. Those of a certain age remember Smokey the Bear. Star of many commercials about fire safety years ago. The original Smokey was found outside Capitan after a fire. Upon his death he came home. More details HERE. The facilities are vastly improved since our last visit, but for the better.

And on that same historical theme, a blast from the past, circa 2007.

on to Santa Fe tomorrow in search of rosebuds...