The farmer’s market at Santa Fe’s Railyard district was fun – especially seeing the different types of beans and chili powders. Finished off the New Mexico History Museum at Governor’s Palace.
Sunday took us to Albuquerque to the Indian Cultural Center to see some native dances and view other exhibits, plus have a delicious lunch at their cafe and bakery.
Monday we took to the hiking trails in the mountains north of Santa Fe searching for some geocaches – success 3/3!!!
This is such a manageable city and we are lucky to have bicycles provided at our casita, so we can avoid paying for parking and cycle to the shuttle or into town and do the rest on foot. There are so many interesting museums that we’re going to buy a pass for four of them – to start with. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at La Taberna Boca, but unfortunately I broke a filling on a piece of hidden crab shell! Which means a visit to the dentist tomorrow – ugh!
photos from a quick visit to The Railyard district which is close to home.
The Cathedral Place area, St. Francis Cathedral, and Loretto Chapel with its “miraculous” staircase. The statue of the lovely Indian lady is of Katerina Tekakwitha, 1656-1680, first Indian of North America to be promoted a saint.
Views from Fort Marcy park.
An easy drive from Payson to Santa Fe and we were excited to see our little casita, get unpacked and go eat some good Mexican food (at Cafe Castro).
We have been here before, but wanted to return to these beautiful surroundings. These were rooms with a (spectacular) view!
Friday was a full-day with a long walk with Lucy to a geocache site – and she all dressed up in her “little black dress”!!
While we were out walking, Jack and DaNeil prepped the 4-wheelers and packed a picnic. Off we went on a 25 mile ride up into the Sierra Ancha mountains with our end destination being a huge cave and site of an Indian village. It was a fun and exhilarating and bumpy day!!
… And then on the way back down, we spotted a snake in the road. It’s head was crushed and rattlers removed, but it was still wriggling – obviously some kind of  final reflexes! Poor thing! But the first rattle snake I’ve seen in the wild.
DaNeil and Jack renewed their vows recently and she was telling me about her beautiful gown. We had no sooner ended our conversation, than I was out of my clothes and  slipping into something I had never worn the likes of in my life!!! Fun, fun! And Dennis’s ensemble matched mine (uh not so) perfectly!!!!
We are so lucky! this is the second time that we could see Dale Chihuly’s magnificent  glass works installed at the Desert Botanical Gardens here in Phoenix. Last time we went in the evening, but this time we opted for early morning which gave us a different perspective with the lighting.
There is a section of Saudi Arabia called “the empty quarter” and we discovered a very similar area on our drive through south eastern Arizona – a loop detour we made on our way to Phoenix.
3,530 miles!
We made stops at Lowell and Bisbee – two former copper mining towns.
I remember my first impression – 32 years ago – of the southwestern USA and thinking back to watching “The Lone Ranger” and other such westerns as a kid. The  impression that cowboys or indians could be lurking behind craggy rocks still stays with me.
We took Route 90 (rather than I10) from San Antonio. The drive was very easy on ramrod straight roads with virtually no traffic. We saw antelope grazing, sheep and cattle; bright  blue skies with some whispy clouds. Very few people inhabit this part of Texas and one wonders what those few do. We were very close to the Mexican border at times and I couldn’t help but think about those attempts to cross the Rio Grande and the border.
We came across a beautiful reservoir and the Pecos River.
We arrived at our destination of Alpine, Texas and were amused to see that the local newspaper is named “Alpine Avalanche” – I don’t think there have been too many avalanches around here! The town is a veritable cultural oasis in these parts with a lively downtown and a university campus. Our overnight accommodation was at the quaint and cute Maverick Inn. What a delight! so truly texan looking with cactus, cart wheels, adobe buildings and more. We loved it!
We had dinner in town at The Century Bar & Grill  – recommended by both TripAdvisor and the inn staff. It was delicious and the menu was much more upscale than I would have imagined.
From Alpine we had just a short drive to Marfa, a little town I’ve heard and read about. Unfortunately there wasn’t much activity there – we forgot that today was a Holiday. Nonetheless, we walked around the downtown area and had the place to ourselves.
And onward to I10 where the speed limit is 80mph! Woohoo! not since Germany have we done this.
A short distance from San Antonio are two lovely little German settlements – Gruene (evidently pronounced Green – the translation of gruene) and New Braunfels. We spent the morning browsing around an arts market in Gruene and strolling around town and then a  walk around the center New Braunfels.