Santa Fe, NM

SUN., JULY 24, 2022 thru SUN., JULY 31, 2022

We had a short 25 mile drive to Santa Fe Skies RV Park. Nice campground on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Sites are fairly close together but the walking path with vintage farm equipment on display, sculptures for sale created by the owner’s father, and lots of sunflowers more than make up for it! We are here for 8 nights. 

On Monday, July 25th, our family pod of 5 (Andy remained behind) visited Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos, NM. Words can’t describe how special this place is! Located on 33,000+ acres this area was home to Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellers who lived here between 500 and 700 years ago. Mind boggling! We did a 1.4 mile loop trail that enabled us to visit the Ancestral Pueblo village of Tyuonyi (QU-weh-nee) which at one time had over 400 rooms in ground dwellings and stood 1-2 stories high. Think apartment dwelling. About 100 people lived here in the ground dwellings (kivas) with another 400 residing in the cliff dwellings. Remnants remain of the ground dwellings, and we were able to climb ladders into the cavates (human-excavated caves) of Frijoles Canyon where families lived. We also saw remnants of petroglyphs carved into the canyon walls. Just a remarkable experience to witness this piece of history. We were all in awe. One of the top experiences we’ve had on this journey. 

After Bandelier, we headed to White Rock Overlook. Located in White Rock, NM, we were treated to a 270-degree view of the Rio Grande River as it runs along the Jemez Mountains. Unfortunately there were biting flies which were incredibly annoying! We took our photos and boogied out of there! 

Then we visited historic Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos. Built in 1928 using 700 Ponderosa pines in its construction, it started out as the dining hall and staff quarters for the Los Alamos Ranch School, which was a private ranch school for boys. Popular at the time as a way to educate children who lived on ranches in remote and rural areas. Then in 1942, the school and surrounding land of Los Alamos were purchased by the U.S. Government for use in the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort to develop the first atomic bomb. Fuller Lodge became housing for visiting scientists. There are over a dozen sites all over downtown Los Alamos that were part of the Manhattan Project. It was a joint military and civilian operation headed by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer as Laboratory Director at the Los Alamos Laboratory (1942 – 1945) and General Leslie R. Groves, Commanding General, Manhattan Engineer District (1942 – 1946). “In a mere 28 months, the men and women of Los Alamos had conceived, designed, developed, built, tested, and fielded the world’s first atomic bombs.” There’s information throughout this area on the Manhattan Project. 

To finish our very full day, Cheryl prepared a great dinner for us all! 

Tuesday, July 26th, we started with Bloody Mary’s and Mimosas outside at Andy & Linda’s tiny home. Only one alcoholic beverage per customer! Then our 6-member family pod headed into downtown Santa Fe. It’s the oldest capitol city in North America as well as the highest in altitude at almost 7,200 ft above sea level. There are 250 galleries located in a 2 sq. mile area, and they are amazing! 

First we visited The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, which is one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever been in. While we visited the cathedral, teenagers were practicing playing, what appeared to be, wooden vibraphones. What a treat! One of the teen’s moms is the church Choir Director and is a member of the Santa Fe Orchestra. According to one of the docents, the church has access to some amazing musicians and musical instruments. 

Afterwards Cheryl & I stopped into Lorreto Chapel to see the world-famous spiral staircase which was built without nails or visible support. They charged a $5 fee, a bit of a ripoff. It was a private enterprise. No longer a church. Afterwards we headed to the 400-year old Plaza. A lovely part of the city with adobe architecture, incredible galleries, eateries, and street vendors. Some of the gallery pieces ranged in the 6 figure price range. We saw a sculpture for $130,000. Not a piece I want to accidentally hit with my purse and have it fall off its pedestal. That would be a very expensive oops! We also saw the Palace of the Governors building, which is the oldest public building in the U.S.

We had ‘linner’ at Rooftop Pizza & Draft Station, and managed to get home before the rains came… it is Monsoon Season after all.

Wednesday, July 27th, the mini-pod visited the Santa Fe Railyard Arts District. Eight high-end contemporary art galleries have space here in renovated old warehouse structures. Very cool buildings. Artwork started at about $1,50O and went up to $90,000+. We only bought ice cream! 

There was also a collection of “electronic art” in a museum-setting, collected by a couple throughout their lifetime. Unusual… but interesting to see the metamorphosis of digital art throughout that time period. One piece incorporated 800 Google Street View images put together in a 65-minute continuous loop. Another piece incorporated trending Google and Twitter search words so that the images were constantly changing. Still another was an ever-changing still life of dozens of different objects. Weirdly fascinating. 

One large building had a mural painted on the side of the building that looked 3-D. So cool. 

Once again we managed to return to our tiny homes before the Monsoon rains hit with thunder, lightening, and over an inch of rain in a short period of time.

We’re getting our Art fix in Santa Fe. On Thursday, July 28th, Gary & I visited the State Capitol. It’s the only round State Capitol in the country, and gets its shape from the Zia (Pueblo) sun symbol. There is art and handcrafted furniture displayed on every wall and hallway in the building totaling about 600 pieces. It’s incredible! As one official said to us who was obviously giving a tour to family members, “just so you know, this is the best art museum in the state.” We totally agree! There was even a rotating art collection in the Governor’s Offices that you could wander thru that was associated with the Museum of Fine Art. The State Capitol collection is worth about $6 million and is almost entirely New Mexico artists. No big names i.e. no Georgia O’Keefe. Next to visiting Bandelier, so far this was our favorite thing to see in Santa Fe. Not to be missed!

In the evening we all sat outside on the patio at the campground listening to a singer and steel guitar player “Jennings & Keller” playing a variety of music including country, folk, and some easy rock. Very enjoyable! Cheryl & Joe danced a waltz for us to cap off our evening! 

On Friday, July 29th, the mini-pod (Cheryl, Joe, Gary & I) did one more museum visit while in Santa Fe… Georgia O’Keefe. I love her work and wanted to learn more about her. The museum was fairly small but well done. A staff member explained that when Georgia was 15, she decided she wasn’t going to sign her paintings on the front (and detract from her work)… just the back. She eventually stopped signing even the back of her paintings. She was “discovered” at an early age, lived in NY for many years then moved to New Mexico. She loved nature and particularly flowers. She found skulls more interesting to paint than live animals. A unique, strong lady. A nice visit even if hubby thought it was a bit of a ripoff at $18 per person. 

We walked around town a bit before returning home. Then headed out in the evening to celebrate Joe’s birthday with the entire pod at Gabriel’s, a Mexican restaurant, followed by Mexican train at our house and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Another fun day! 

Saturday & Sunday were chore days in prep for leaving Santa Fe on Monday…. but we did manage to finish our Mexican Train game on Saturday night that we started the night before. Andy was the big winner! Plus we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on Sunday night. Next stop? Taos with our traveling family!