Adios, ABQ

Albuquerque's plaza, which is at lower elevation, was not as far into fall, so there were still leaves on the trees.
I was impressed with the terra cotta and turquoise freeway ramps.



Some interesting graffiti on the freight train next to my Amtrak car. It was a great trip. It was really amazing spending time with Diver again. In most ways, we fell right back into our old, important friendship like no time had passed at all.

What else did I learn from this trip? After weeks and weeks of relying upon spell checker, I now know how to spell Albuquerque.

Ancient Party Rat!

Later that day, we visited Petroglyph National Monument. That's a pack of Cub Scouts going up the hill ahead of us.


Lots of people have been interpreting these petroglyphs for a lot of years. But you tell me... does this look like a rat with a maraca or what?


An excited cat.


An excited pregnant woman.


Not everyone was excited. This bird, for instance, seems calm. They call it a Macaw, but the interpretive sign was pretty faded so I'm not sure why.


Sundry makes a glyph with her hand.

Ha, ha.

Funny Sundry.

Sandia Peak - Albuquerque

We bid Santa Fe a fond farewell early Sunday morning and drove back to Albuquerque. First stop, the Sandia Peak Tram. You go up 2.7 miles and about 4,000 feet in about 20 minutes. That's Albuquerque in the background.



Part of the trail at the top.



Diver on the trail.


We spent about an hour at the top. This is the view back toward Santa Fe and Taos. You can also see Los Alamos from here.

I wonder if it glows in the dark?



Our chariot arrives. Pretty cool trip. I'd like to come back and talk Hydra into tramming it up and hiking it down. (Trust me, he'd rather hike than ride at these heights.)

Taos Plaza and Forbidden Art!

Diver called her husband from Taos Plaza while I ducked into Hotel La Fonda to see the forbidden D.H. Lawrence paintings. Who knew D.H. painted? And that they caused such a stir that they were banned in London and confiscated!?

They only show them at certain hours of the day, and even though I was 15 minutes late, the guy at the desk happily took my $3 and ushered me into the room for the viewing.

All very impressive: they're kept behind a curtain which he pulled open for me. The paintings are, of course, nothing to blink at today.


On the recommendation of some people we chatted with in a shop, we went to Doc Martin's restaurant, which is located inside the Taos Inn. Apparently, the good doctor was instrumental in welcoming artists and artisans to the Taos area. He was really a doctor, but he saw a need for a hotel, and turned his old offices into what became the Taos Inn.



View from the dining room.


A pretty door with a ristra--the hanging collection of dried chilies that you see around this part of New Mexico.



I really liked this guy!


Stopped by a nature center on the Rio Grande and enjoyed the view. This is what the ranger looks at out his window every day. And to think I settle for a leafy tree with red berries and birds. (Hmm, mine's not bad for Burbank!)

Taos Pueblo

The three greeter dogs outside the entrance to Taos Pueblo are our first indication that life is good for pooches on The Rez.




Taos Pueblo has been continuously occupied by the Red Willow band of the Pueblos for over 900 years!



I didn't even notice until I looked at a larger version of this photo that the stone at the bottom right has a petroglyph etched into it.

We had interesting chats with the vendors who have shops inside doors like these. Everything from native New Mexican herb teas, to jewelry to clothing is available. I bought a pair of coral earrings from a woman named Cornflower Blossom.


The sign by the door invites us to come inside for fried bread.



We learned that we should stack the wood vertically to get it to burn properly in the kiva fireplace. I told the man who advised us that I now know how to make 4 kinds of fires: in a kiva, in a flat fireplace, at a campsite, in a cast iron stove.

He said, "Now you have to learn like this," and demonstrated rolling a stick between his fingers, Boy Scout style.

We laughed. I said, "That's next! Maybe I can count starting a fire with a magnifying glass the fifth kind?"

He said I could!



We chatted with this woman while she made us fried bread. (That's her fireplace in the photo above this one.)

She had honey, powdered sugar, and cinnamon & sugar for toppings. We opted to try it all, so she put honey on half, and the other two toppings on the remaining quarters.


One of the larger buildings on the plaza.


A young man waits near the graveyard.


Like I said, great place to be a dog. This is the reservation's Catholic church. Something like 95% of the Pueblos are said to be followers of the faith.


Kind of impressive!

This was probably my favorite thing we did during our New Mexico adventure.

Getting There is Half the Fun

Even though I sat up till after midnight talking with the woman from Santa Fe, I woke up in time to see the blood red sunrise. Had breakfast with fellow travelers in the dining car and then settled into the observation car to watch the scenery roll by. Called Hydra and Kitty from here. The train tracks parallel highway 40 most of the way through Arizona and New Mexico, so there's cell reception. (Better than at my house!)



Roadside attraction, some where between Flagstaff and Albuquerque.


Some people like to live in really remote places!



I split a cab to the Albuquerque airport with the Sound Healing conventioneer. She was catching a shuttle to Santa Fe. I was meeting Diver at the rental car place.

She arrived soon after I did and we headed for Santa Fe. Funny, our hair is about the same length, and we have jackets that look so much alike that I grabbed hers one day by accident.

Click on the photo for my TripAdvisor review
(I'm CoyoteCousin over there.)

Our home away from home for three nights: Dunshee's B&B. Very well located near Canyon Road art galleries in one direction and Museum Hill in the other direction. Finding it the first time was a bit of a challenge, but it's well worth it to stay in a residential neighborhood.

I love the way the houses are all basically the same color and style, but are adorned with painted flourishes, metal details and lovely unique doors. I took lots of pictures of doors.

We took Susan's (the B&B operator) advise and went to the nearby El Farol for dinner. What a great way to start our Santa Fe experience. We indulged in a meal of tapas, trying 8 different small dishes. Yum. I think our favorite was the parmesan encrusted roasted artichoke hearts that came on the ceasar salad. Mmmm.


My lovely room! There's a sink in the corner and a skylight overhead. I wonder if this was used as an artist's studio at some point. There was a nearly full moon, and a shaft of moonlight stretched across the bed in the middle of the night.


Diver's room. The door leads out to an enclosed patio. It was a bit too cool to sit and enjoy that, but it looks lovely for another time of year.

We hit the hay fairly early. Yay, we're on the same internal clock!