New Mexico – Land of Enchantment – Santa Fe, Taos and Bandelier

We left Trinidad, Colorado on October 12^th and arrived in New Mexico, our 32nd state!  Living in Tucson, we vacationed in New Mexico a few times and we were happy to visit again.  Our stay in this amazing state included new adventures and revisiting some of our favorite places.  The approach to Santa Fe on I25 is dramatic after the low grass plains we had been seeing.  We drove along the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (named by the Spanish conquistadors – The Blood of Christ).  The beautiful landscapes around us distracted us from the gusty winds that pummeled us.

As you get close to Santa Fe, the overpasses are decorated with ancient symbols and are labeled in the language of the Tewa people:  K’uuyemugeh – deer (depicted with a line seemingly outlining its digestive system – prompting someone to call it the “digestive deer”.  Po’suwaegeh – blue corn.  The Nambe (meaning “rounded”) Owingeh pueblo still exists along this road and has been inhabited since the 14h century.

Our first stop was at the Rancheros de Santa Fe Campground.  This was a convenient place to stay but there were a few things we felt could be improved.  The campground roads were rutted and needed major repairs – we experienced some scary bumps and dips as we tried to get in.  The site we were assigned was impossible for us – trees too close to extend our sides; ruts too deep to level our rig.  We moved two sites away and while we were able to put our slides out, we gave up trying to get us level.  After moving around, putting us up on boards, and doing what we could to make us safe and comfortable, we settled in and adjusted to having our last step way too high.  But the staff, the laundry and the campground itself was really a nice place to stay.

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Santa Fe

On October 13^th, our 21 month anniversary in the RV, we headed out to Old Town Santa Fe.  We loved walking around the familiar plaza in the center of town.  The plaza was hopping with vendors selling food, jewelry, Native American drums and art work.  We sat on a bench and ate our lunch and listened to a talented couple singing, playing a guitar and drums.  Good food, good music and lots of people-watching.  The highlight of our plaza-walking tour included the beautiful old church – St. Francis Cathedral.  We lit a candle, said some prayers for our families and quietly enjoyed the peace and spirit of this ancient sacred spot.

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Balloon Fiesta

And then our favorite adventure began!  The Balloon Fiesta!  This was one thing we often talked about but never got around to doing.  So we made sure we did it on this trip.  The Fiesta takes place in Albuquerque and we were 75 miles away in Santa Fe with only 2 more days left of the 9 day festival.  So we got up at 3:30 am on Saturday; dressed in layers, and drove from our campground into the Railroad District of Santa Fe.  There we caught the Rail Runner commuter train to Albuquerque.  This fast, efficient, clean and pleasant train ride took about an hour.  The round trip fare of $25 each included the $10 each admission to the Balloon Fiesta.  It also included the free shuttle from the train depot directly into the fairgrounds.  This shuttle was amazing!  Plenty of school buses were lined up when we got there and they had a special lane on the highway to bypass the thousands of cars trying to get into the fairgrounds.  We felt lucky as we passed by lines and lines of stopped cars – and simply walked off the bus and through the gate.  It was still very dark so we followed the crowds in front of us who seemed to know where they were going.

This year the Fiesta had great weather and the estimate of the crowd on that perfect Saturday was 80,000!  We all gathered on a big field – even in the dark we could see some large shapes around us.  Up in the sky, a few balloons had risen in the Dawn Patrol to check out the winds.  When the balloon pilots opened up the flames the entire balloons would light up.  This is called the Morning Glow.  It was amazing to look up and see these first balloons glowing and gently moving right above us.

  

But then it got really exciting!  As the sun started to rise over the Sandia Mountains and the sky got a little lighter, we watched more and more balloons inflate – then rise – then float.  Incredible!  Hundreds of these beautiful silky shapes were in the sky at the same time.  We were so lucky to be there that day!  It was the perfect weather for the perfect Mass Ascension.  Each balloon was amazing in its own way – some of the older traditional oval and round shapes in bright colors, with local logos were rising along with newer balloons.  The Special Shapes were really fun to watch.  At first you could only guess at the final shape as gases were pumped in.  The balloon crews were adept at filling their balloons and keeping them tethered until the moment of ascent.  And they do this with the crowds so close they are touching the silk as it sits on the ground.  And then, while the crowd cheers, the crew releases the final rope and the balloon rises.  One magnificent creation after another!

The Special Shapes were pretty cool – a giant baby in a stroller, Angry Birds, Penguins, Yoda, an enormous Wells Fargo stagecoach, a winged pig, a pink elephant, Humpty Dumpty, Count Dracula, Smokey the Bear, and an assortment of huge animals,   Our favorites were the family of three bumble bees who started out velcroed together at their hands and then they drifted apart, only to eventually land near each other after executing their graceful dance in the sky.  Many of the balloons were sponsored by local and national companies and organizations.  We cheered the Donate Life, Breast Cancer Awareness, and POW balloons and, of course, the elegant black Dos Equis balloon.

The prettiest site was gazing up as the sun crested the mountain and brightly lit the balloons drifting peacefully above us.  You could take (and we did) a hundred photos and still not quite catch the marvel of this event.  It is the most photographed event in this country.  And yet, how do you film the dance of giant balloons in the bright blue sky?  We were thrilled to be a witness to this event.   And, as it turned out, we picked the best day to be there.  Although this year was a really good weather year, with Mass Ascensions happening every day of the nine days of festival except the last day.  It was disappointing for the huge crowds to be there on that Sunday, when the winds did not cooperate.  We watched on television, as a few balloons inflated in place but were not able to ascend.  Such a contrast from just the day before.

It’s hard to follow an act like a perfect Mass Ascension, but there was still plenty to do and see on the fair grounds.  We saw lots of folks collecting cards and pins from their favorite balloon crews and the surrounding tents sold vintage and collectible pins and other Fiesta memorabilia.  Most of the food vendors did their biggest business selling coffee, donuts and breakfast burritos in the early morning hours.  Pinon Coffee, a New Mexico favorite, seemed to do the most business, warning up the crowd in the early chill of dawn.  But then the vendors switched to tacos and burgers for the lunch crowd.  By 10 am, the sun was bright and the day quickly warmed up, so we went looking for cold lemonade.

We wandered the fairgrounds for a few hours, checking out the tents and listening to a New Mexico Native American group of singers and dancers.  We hung around and then walked to our shuttle pick up point, where we immediately climbed aboard another school bus.  Our luck held (and good planning) and we only waited a few minutes for the Rail Runner back to Santa Fe.  The train ride back was more interesting since we now could see the countryside we were passing.  With just a short ride back to our campground, our amazing day was complete!  We have experienced the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!!

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Taos

Our fun in the Santa Fe area was only just beginning!  On Tuesday, October 17^th, we drove the scenic road to Taos along the Rio Grande Gorge.  This drive is dramatic – the muddy brown Rio Grande winding through the Jemez Mountains with the flashy yellow cottonwoods outlining the banks of the river.  This is such a beautiful road to travel.

Taos, like most Spanish-Mexican influenced towns, also has a central plaza.  We found Taos to be more authentic and quaint than the larger cities.  We went in and out of many of the shops and galleries surrounding the plaza.  We saw Kit Carson’s home and museum along Kit Carson Street.  Sweet little town!

We spent the afternoon of this pretty day at the Taos Pueblo.  Our guide Lewis walked us around the historic community which has been continually lived in for hundreds of years.  We started in the church, a Catholic church, which is still in everyday use by the approximately 150 current pueblo dwellers.  Then we walked to the ruins of the original church and its graveyard.  Lewis gave us a great overview of the history and culture of his people – the Red Willow people.  Then he invited us to wander through the grounds and visit with the community.  We were encouraged to enter any of the homes that had an open sign by their doors.  It was hot in the dirt covered plaza so we went looking for cold drinks.  A nice man, who was feeding his neighbor a bowl of stew, had a cooler of water and soda for us.  We paid a small amount for this and he suggested we write our names in his guest book so that he could pray for us.  We walked in and out of many of the tiny ancient homes and saw the people living pretty much the same as they had for generations.  I couldn’t resist some fry bread (made in the home’s own horno oven) and Doug had some sugared pecans.  We stayed for a while, enjoying the peacefulness of this community who welcomed us with great hospitality.

On the way back through Taos, we stopped at another church where we spent a few minutes looking at the painted walls and its simple structure was filled with a quiet, lovely peace.

Our ride back to our campground was just as beautiful as the drive to Taos.  The afternoon light made the Rio Grande shimmer alongside the road.  The sun made the yellow leaves of the cottonwoods glow. The mountains’ shadows were deep at this time of day.  We are so glad we took the time and made the long drive to experience Taos.

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Bandelier National Monument

We have been to Mesa Verde; we have seen ancient ruins all over Arizona from the White Mountains to Flagstaff; and we have visited the Romero Ruins in Catalina State Park many times.  So we were pretty excited to take a trip to Bandelier National Monument.

We hiked up to see the caves and structures that housed the ancients who resided here.  The trail was steep and I had to take my time to catch my breath and watch where I put my feet.  I am the world’s worst hiker – I lack balance; I have no idea where to put my feet to stay safe; I picture myself falling off the trail and bouncing along the rocks on the cliff; I fear being helicoptered off the trail with a broken leg or hip; I shudder with every loose piece of gravel under my feet; and all this fear makes my knees and hands shake plus I pant heavily as I go up in altitude.  But I love the idea of hiking and I really want to see ancient ruins and experience the history that goes along with these kinds of hikes.  So I tramped up the mountain to get up close to the cave homes.  I didn’t take the chance to enter the holes via ladders.  Doug did that.  It was amazing to be up there!  And with the technical assist of sitting on my butt sometimes, I managed to get down the mountain too!

We keep lucking out with the weather – so we took a few other shorter hikes along the more level paths.  Another wonderful day – hiking in nature, learning some history, absorbing new culture!  We are so grateful to be able to travel this country and live these experiences!

We finished this perfect day with an early dinner at one of our all time favorite restaurants – Gabriel’s.  Every time we have visited Santa Fe/Albuquerque we have stopped at this place.  We first were there in 1997 on our long pop-up trailer trip through the Southwest.  We ordered their table-prepared guacamole and fell in love!  On that trip and others, Amy and Julie were with us and, of course, we all shared that big bowl of guacamole.  This time, it was just me and Doug, and that guacamole was just as good as the first time and this time, we didn’t have to share it with two hungry kids.