I'm SO mad....

We packed a lunch and headed north west to Bandelier National Monument.  Water, camera, binoculars, sunscreen, hiking shoes, check.  We drove about an hour and arrived at the shuttle bus depot.  The National Monument  had a terrible fire and consequent flash flood that necessitated a ban on all cars into the area, so we took the shuttle bus in.  The reason for the bus only entry is so the Park service can manage who is where in the event of another flash flood.  (the ranger told us that the probability is 100 percent)  Last year this time, the parking lot was under 8 - 10 feet of water from 1/2 inch of rain up canyon.

It is beyond beautiful.  We took a hike through the valley (at 8022 feet above sea level) and followed the trail up and up past the ancient kivas and toward the cliff dwellings carved into the sheer volcanic walls.

My camera stopped.....battery dead.  I was SO mad.  Every turn of the path revealed something breathtaking.  Frijoles canyon went on and on, the bosque was so green, the cliffs so sheer and pockmarked with dwellings...D amn!

These pictures are all I was able to get before the camera went black....

Ready for a hike

these cliffs are made of  volcanic ash compressed over eons

sweet girl quietly watching us pass

remains of a kiva

one of the many  cavates carved out of the volcanic tuff.  We climbed the time worn ladders to  these snug chambers 

I'm not very good at retelling history. I'm often so overwhelmed  by the sights, sounds, and smells of an area that I don't listen to its story.     I need to experience a place, then read about its history and people later, after I've digested my impressions. So,  read about this amazing area for yourself and then insert these pictures into the story.....Thats what I'll do tonight.

These two are necessary parts of our dry western climate survival kit.....

This guy obviously didn't have access to the moisture saving products above...

Santa Fe, day 7

Last night was windy.  Really windy.  Gusts clocked at 50 mph between 1 and 2 a.m.  We didn't sleep well once the gusts started, worried about window awnings and outside chairs and all  the worries that slink into the half asleep brain. All our windows were open to capture the lovely cool night air, but they allowed us to hear the neighbors things blowing around and to hear the distant thunder.   Dave got up in the middle of the night and brought in awnings and put away chairs, then couldn't really get back to sleep, so we were tired today.  No rain from the storms, but the cloud formations today were more beautiful than usual.

After lunch we drove into the old town and took a little trolley tour of the area to cover what we hadn't seen before.  It was pleasant and took us to some areas we overlooked.  

Ristras 

We visited a few churches, each very different.  this one had a simple quiet beauty

This  carved stone altar screen from the early 1700's was in the church above.  Quite a surprise for us.

In another chapel, the Loretto Chapel, we marveled at this staircase, with no visible support.  It is called the "Miracle Staircase".  I don't know about that, but it certainly was amazing!

A large red maple tree decorated with rosaries was at the entrance to the Loretta Chapel

As I mentioned before, this is a city where art is everywhere.  Not all is for sale, we were impressed by the variety of public art displayed for the enjoyment of all

Life's Journey

a fountain in park next to the Basilica of St. Francis of Assesi

I'm not sure which was more interesting, the sculpture or its shadow!

These two pictures are of an installation called Santa Fe Current.  They are huge granite fish swimming in a river of gravel....

The contrast between the stone figures and the cascading bits of fabric was interesting to me

this kinetic sculpture was one of many at the Farmer's Market

Again, the shadows were as interesting as the sculptures.


























Tomorrow we're planning on taking an hour's drive north to see the ancient cliff dwellings at Bandolier National Monument.  I've heard that much has been damaged by a fairly recent fire, so I hope we can still hike the ruins.  If we can get our act together before noon that is!  This travel stuff is tiring.

Fires

In case you are hearing about the fires in New Mexico...we are all fine here.  New blazes broke out this afternoon, but they are south of us in the bosque just north of Albuquerque.  As we were driving home this afternoon we noticed some very odd looking clouds to the south and when we turned the tv on we discovered that those clouds were smoke from those new fires.  It is very dry, very crunchy, very dusty, very windy...a recipe for bad fires I'm afraid.

Santa Fe - art

This is an art town.  Public art, private art, galleries, Indian art - traditional and modern - its almost overwhelming.  The setting of the city is art in the purest sense.  Today we walked down Canyon Rd., lined with galleries.  The only reason we stopped our tour was the temperature.

most of the pieces outside of the galleries were bronze.  This  girl and her innertube were "floating" on the sidewalk outside one of the first shops we checked out.

All these pieces were moving slowly in the breeze

Great bronze crows, eh Robin?

Can't you just see Dave an I sitting on these cool stone "conversation" chairs on the dock...They were so comfortable.

Do you think this stone fountain came from Vince's quarry?

I wasn't comfortable taking pictures inside the galleries, so you are only seeing the bronze and stone sculptures in the gardens.  The painting and ceramics were so colorful and creative.

As we drove home, we were reminded, at every turn, that no matter how vibrant the art scene is and how sophisticated the  city is, Santa Fe is still very much a western town.

the Rodeo is in town

We drove in the back gate to the rodeo to take a picture of the livestock and were "confronted" by three large men who informed us that this was not allowed.  However, they did let me take a quick shot of one of the bulls that would star in this evenings performance.  Thanks guys.

Santa Fe farmer's market morning

Breakfast pastries and coffee at the farmer's market today.  We missed Saturday's market, which is much larger, but enjoyed the more intimate atmosphere of Tuesday market.  We bought a bouquet of multicolored radishes, some tiny potatoes, english peas and fresh cherries.  Mmmm.

After the market we headed to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, a must see in this museum filled city.  After an enjoyable visit we strolled the surrounding neighborhoods, loving the warm air and blue skies.

Dave still smells every rose he passes

Not far from the Museum we were drawn to a beautiful Porcelain Gallery and when we went in we discovered it was owned by a good friend of a good friend of ours (Sandra!).  Her name is Heidi Loewen and she went to the Harley School with Sandra.  The "its a small world" vibe continued when we found out she graduated from Skidmore Collge, Jesse's alma mater, and that her dad worked for Bausch and Lomb and still lives in Rochester.  She is an internationally known porcelain artist specializing in wheel thrown porcelain vessels.  We had a ball talking with her and seeing her work.

the sun light on this piece was like a beacon....

Heidi

We spent so much time talking that we never took any pictures of her wonderful creations, but you can see them on her website HeidiLoewen.com.  


 The breakfast pastries were long gone by then, so we asked her for a local restaurant recommendation. We wanted a light lunch and she recommended a winner....Bumble Bee.

such a nice day we chose to sit outside

Cool white wine, shrimp taco and salad, just enough

A nice quiet lunch guest joined us

On our way back to the car, we passed the huge old cottonwood tree I showed you in yesterday's post.  We approached it from the other direction today, and look what was hiding in the trunk on this side.  There must be a story...