| s/y Nine of Cups New Mexico Summer 2010 |
| New Mexico Facts... Capital: Santa Fe Area: 121,593sq mi - 5th biggest state Population: ~ 2 million High Point: Wheeler Peak - 13,161' Low Point: Red Bluff Lake - 2,817' State Nickname: Land of Enchantment State Flower: Yucca State Bird: Roadrunner New Mexico was the 47th state in the USA, entering the Union on January 6, 1912. Its name was originally "Nuevo Mexico". |
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| The province that was once Spanish New Mexico included all of present day New Mexico, most of Colorado and Arizona, and slices of Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming. The Original American Territory of New Mexico that congress created in 1850 included all of New Mexico and Arizona plus parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. The boundaries of present day New Mexico were drawn by congress in 1863, but New Mexico didn't become a state until 1912. |
| Each October Albuquerque hosts the world's largest international hot air balloon fiesta. |
| We drove from Denver to Santa Fe, considered by us, one America's most romantic cities. Above, Kokopelli, the flute player, venerated by many Native American cultures in the Southwest. |
| Santa Fe is the highest capital city in the United States at 7,000 feet above sea level. New Mexico's capital city Santa Fe is the ending point of the 800 mile Santa Fe Trail. |
| The Palace of Governors now used by artisans, forms one side of the traditional Spanish plaza in old downtown Santa Fe and is the oldest government building in the United States. |
| Architecture in downtown Santa Fe is primarily pueblo revival style and quite appealing. This style is a regional architectural style very specific to the Southwest and New Mexico in particular and draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions. |
| St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral Basilica...the original congregation was established in 1610 as a Spanish mission. The present church was built in 1886. The church was beautiful with striking stenciled decoration, vivid stained glass windows and historic statuary. |
| The church gift store offered lots of religious and philosophical books, but the one we liked the best was "Cooking with the Saints"!. |
| After a delightful dinner and evening in Santa Fe, we headed the hour's ride south to Albuquerque to meet up with niece, Gentry, her husband, Eric and their family. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with Eric's folks, Cheryl & Andy. They watched the girls while Gentry, Eric and we enjoyed ourselves in Albuquerque. |
| First stop was old downtown Albuquerque. We wandered through the traditional Spanish plaza, browsed in shops (they bought Mexican jumping beans for the girls) and checked out San Felipi de Neri church constructed in 1793. A leisurely lunch at the Church Street Cafe afforded us lots of time for chat and catching up. |
| Since Petroglyph National Monument was right in Albuquerque, we couldn't resist a visit and short hike. |
| This national monument boasts more than 20,000 images etched in stone estimated to have been made 400-700 years ago. |
| Eric identified this one as a harmless bull snake (aka gopher snake) and was intrigued with it...Marcie and Gentry were not. |
| We wandered along the Boca Negra Canyon trails in awe of so many ancient glyphs, trying to decipher their meanings. |
| Now then, after you see a few of these signs, you figure they might be serious about snakes here. I told Eric I'd like to get a good snake photo and within minutes...voila... |
| Thank goodness for telephoto lenses, because, no way was Marcie getting that close...with or without rattles. |
| Another oddity of this desert area was the blister beetle (aka desert spider beetle) with its iridescent blue body. |
| There were lots of wildflowers including the broom dalea above aka purple sage. |
| This beautiful whiptail lizard was one of many we saw. We had seen similar species in Bonaire. |
| Our beautiful grand-nieces...Jada Rachel and Macy Jane...and they are indeed, grand! |
| Bull snakes are constrictors and often exceed 8' in length (2.4M) making them one of the largest snakes in North America. Our boy was only about 4' long so he still had some growing to do. |
| What a wonderful time we had visiting, getting to know Eric's parents and Jada and Macy. Though we enjoyed old town Albuquerque and Petroglyph National Monument, we all agreed later that we could have been sitting in a basement somewhere and would have been just as happy...chatting and spending time together. All too soon, it was time to leave. Always in the back of our minds the projects that David had promised to complete in Las Vegas before we left for New Zealand again in September. And, of course, knowing that something would distract us along the way.... |
| Well, it didn't take long. David remembered visiting Sky City 35 years ago and wanted to stop to visit this ancient Acoma Indian city in the sky. |
| Look carefully at the houses on the top of the escarpment above. Sky City sits about 300' above the desert floor and has served as the spiritual and physical home of the Acoma (AH-ko-muh) people for nearly two millenia. |
| The adobe and white sandstone buildings are still inhabited by the Acoma people today and we were allowed to share some of their culture with them. |
| We took a tour, guided by a young Acoma man, who led us through the dusty streets of the small pueblo. |
| Ladders are used to climb to the top floor of the houses and then down to access the kivas, special places to talk and hold ceremonies. |
| House maintenance and repair is universal. Above, some local men repair the stucco on one of the houses. |
| This lone cottonwood is the only tree on the mesa...the Acoma Forest! |
| We rode up to Sky City in a small van, but opted to walk back to the Visitor Center via the steep trail through the rocks. Yikes! Above, a brick adobe house with skins drying on the crude fence posts. |
| My favorite character...the Storyteller... always represented as an older man or woman with children crawling all over them and impressing the importance of oral traditions in handing down the stories of the People. |
| Another National Monument? Yes, but it was closing, so only a brief stop. "Malpais" (mahl-pie-ees)...the Badlands! Nestled between the reservation lands of the Zuni, Ramah Navajo, Laguna and Acoma people, this wild area is known for its lava flows, caves and lava tubes. We'll come back some day with our headlamps and spelunking gear. |
| Though El Malpais was near to closing time, El Morro stayed open later and since it wasn't far, we stopped. Time for a stretch and a walk and a little exploring anyway. |
| We had seen many "el morros" in our travels through South America..it means headland or escarpment. |
| The park has several trails laid out to take advantage of panoramic views. The fields of sunflowers in bloom were spectacular and stretched for miles. |
| A small, beautiful pool lies at the base of El Morro and has provided refreshment to weary travellers for centuries along this ancient road. |
| Travellers have left their marks on "Inscription Rock" for centuries as well. Above petroglyphs of sheep predating the Spanish arrival. |
| Some inscriptions were crude, others quite ornate. Above, one from 1866, but the Spanish started "scribing" here as early as 1605. Native peoples, Spanish conquistadors and pioneers travelling west, all made their marks. |
| We made it to Gallup, NM for the night. A crossroads and trading center amongst the native peoples for centuries, it still functions as a center for native American activities. There are more trading posts here per capita than anywhere we've ever been. We stayed no longer than a night, but got a flavor for the place just driving past the trading posts and Indian jewelry and souvenir shops. New Mexico lived up to its name. It was enchanting and most enjoyable. We were nearly in Arizona now...the home stretch to Vegas. Come on...the fun's not over yet! |