A trip to the State Capital… Santa Fe!

Judy and I decided to spend an extra day in Albuquerque, as there was simply too much to see, and we were having too much fun.  Besides, the weather has been, and will be spectacular for the next week or so, so why not enjoy it!

It is about a 1 hour drive up the Highway 25 to Santa Fe.

We walked from the Jeep towards the downtown area, and found these nice trees in Bloom on Church Property, in a Prayer Garden…

Santa Fe is really neat… it is all done in Pueblo type architecture… we love it! 

Below is looking down one of the main streets, toward the City Square…

I mentioned the Church… St. Francis of Assisi… St. Francis being the Patron Saint of Animals!

This is part of the Town Square below… it was pretty active with a lot of people… we were here in the morning….

All the locals sell their wares at the Town Square…

A lot of homemade jewellery was for sale, along with other things…

Judy made it all the way to the end, and then decided to buy a nice turquois stone ring from this lady.   Turquois is very popular in this area, and there are many mines.

The Square also has many high end Jewellery Stores, like this one below… big business here.

It is a beautiful place to walk around in… we enjoyed lunch on a second story restaurant… it was good.

After touring Santa Fe, we decided to head north and take in the Pecos National Historical Park!

Michael and Dee from Gone RVing!  recently did this very same tour, and I know they did, as when I signed into the Guest Register at the Park, their name was about 10 names above ours! 

The Guest Centre was very well done, along with a great video on the Pecos People.

Between the Sangre de Christo Mountains, and the Glorieta Pass, is the Pecos Valley.  This are was originally settled around the year 800.  In the year 1100, the first Puebloans began to build the buildings, that are still here today!  This location was very strategic, as to the west was the Rio Grande River, and the farmers, and to the east was the Great Planes.  You had to come through this pass if you were travelling.  They conducted lots of trade at this Pueblo. 

The fence was sort of a border, to let people know where the boundary was… there was eventually over 2,000 people living here!  It was also used for defense of the Pueblo.

 

There was over 700 rooms in this Pueblo at it’s prime, and it would be up to 4 story’s high!

Below is sort of what the Pueblo would look like, including a Kiva in the foreground.

 

Below Judy is climbing down into a Kiva… it was used for many purposes… shelter, special ceremonies… etc.

It was real neat in the Kiva… yes, that is a fireplace, that burned through the opening above it!

 

Below is another Kiva with no roof…

Around the year 1530 or so, the Spanish showed up… wanting to take over the world!  This land was part of Mexico then… The Spanish found the People living in the Pueblo, and thought they were in need of having their soul’s saved, so built a big Cathedral!   About a hundred years later, they chased the Spanish out and knocked down the Church.  So, about 30 or 40 years later, the Spanish came back and re-built it!  The remains still stand today!

The remains…

 

Judy is indicating where the Alter was located…

Below is looking out the front doors… what a view!

They also have a small museum, with some found articles… these little bowls below came out of a Kiva!

The Pueblo might of looked like this below…

We enjoyed the visit, even if it did rain a bit, and we got a free shower…  after we left, we headed back to Albuquerque along Highway 14, also know at the Turquois Trail… it is very scenic, and has a couple old mine Towns to explore along the way.  One point of interest was the Town of Madrid.  It is an old mining Town, but is also famous… well, almost famous anyways… if you have every watched the Movie… “Wild Hogs”, staring John Travolta and Tim Allen, part of the movie was shot here in Madrid.  This first building below was used as the Service Station.

This one below was used as the restaurant…  the Town’s big claim to fame!

 

Phew… that brings you right up to date with all our travels folks… other than today!  We simply left Albuquerque this morning, and spent 1/2 an hour at the biggest Camping World Store in the World, and then motored!  We are in Amarillo, Texas tonight, watching the Pens and the Flyers…

Till tomorrow…