{new mexico}
I crossed back into New Mexico in the late afternoon, too late to visit the tourist info centre & late enough to call it a night in the first town, Gallup. I found a little asian restaurant for some well-cooked stir-fry, then found myself parking spot for a quiet night of Walmart camping. Well, I think it was quiet - I was dead to the world thanks to the pain killers from the dentist...
 |
| Welcome (back) to New Mexico! |
As I was driving up to Albuquerque the next morning, the radio revealed that according to recent statistics, Gallup is the 15th most dangerous city for violent crime in the US.. fabulous. It wasn't a place you'd choose to spend a lot of time, either way.
It was a couple hours from Gallup up to Albuquerque, where I headed to the old town district for a look around the historic square. There was a wide selection of galleries and shops featuring native art, an old church & lots of adobe buildings with chile pepper strands hanging from them.
 |
| Albuquerque Old Town Square & San Felipe de Neri Church |
 |
| Adobe, bold colors & chile peppers |
After a look around, I got back on the main street, which is historic Route 66, and followed it to the east side of town. There are a couple retro diners, some antique shops and several fantastic murals along the way. Once I was out of the city, Route 66 is supposed to 'play' the star spangled banner if you drive the speed limit. It definitely did a couple of notes, but it didn't work for long for me. It's pretty cool though - whoever came up with the idea had some imagination!
 |
| Route 66 |
For dinner that night I went to Golden Crown Panaderia, which is a traditional New Mexican style bakery featuring biscochito's and green chile bread. I had wood fired pizza, which came with the option of blue corn, new mexican green chile, or peasant crust.. it was delicious!
 |
| Biscochito & pizza! |
The next morning I set off on the Piedras-Lisa Trail, which had been recommended to me & climbs a mountain overlooking Albuquerque. I probably should have started earlier than I did, as it got quite hot by the time I finished. It was a long way up, but the views were great & I was glad I did it!
 |
| Piedras-Lisa trail views |
 |
| Overlooking Albuquerque from the Piedras-Lisa trail |
After my hike I left the city and headed northeast to Santa Fe. Partway up I took a detour over to tent rocks to check out the Kaska-Katuwe National Monument. I was under the impression that it was a lookout and didn't realize that it was another hike, so arriving mid-day was not ideal. The hike follows a groomed trail for almost a mile, then enters a slot canyon, and then climbs steeply up the side of a canyon with wonderful views of the tent rocks and surrounding landscape. I was glad I did it even though it was a very hot hike without much shade, after i'd already done a tiring hike.. the makings of a well justified afternoon nap!
 |
| Slot canyon to tent rocks |
 |
| Overlooking tent rocks |
After my visit to tent rocks, I continued on to Santa Fe where my first stop was the Railyard District. Most of the galleries were closed, but a couple of the small boutiques were open. It would be a neat spot to see on market day when there's more going on. I spent the evening again at the local Walmart, where I was treated to a spectacular parking-lot sunset & met some fellow van-lifers - a family of 5 travelling in a sprinter van!
 |
| Railcard district; Santa Fe |
I had plans to meet Rachel the next morning for a hike in the National Forest, which was supposed to offer "Santa Fe valley views", but only offered forested valley views. It was a great hike, and I was glad to have the company as I would have been lacking the motivation on my own. After our hike we had tea at a local cafe, then I headed off to explore old town Santa Fe. I started at the Capitol building, which is pretty quiet and doesn't have much to offer aside from it's extensive art collection. I enjoyed browsing the artwork, then headed to the old town. Santa Fe has a historic square much like Albuquerque, with boutiques and galleries surrounding it. Along one side of the square native artists display their jewelry and artwork along the sidewalk, and the other 3 sides are shops. Some of the shops were quite high end, but I enjoyed window shopping and got a good eye-roll out of a $1260 ragged denim skirt.
 |
| Highlight of the Capitol Art Collection |
 |
| Historic adobe hotel, old town Santa Fe |
 |
| Claiming the title for "oldest house in North America" |
Aside from the visual feast of the adobe buildings, colorful geometric tribal designs and chile pepper strands, a highlight for me was a local loose leaf tea shop where I found a raspberry orange green tea!
I'd been invited to have dinner with Clyde & Gwen, Rachel & Fay, so I headed to their home after my afternoon downtown. Clyde enjoys fishing and was preparing some fish he had caught for a New Mexican dinner. As soon as I walked in the house my eyes started to water from all the chile and pepper, so I knew it was going to be spicy! He blackened the fish in a spicy jerk seasoning and served it with sweet potato (with red chile), cornbread (with green chile), and the saving grace/fire extinguisher - peas and rice. As spicy as it was, I actually quite enjoyed the meal and it was a real treat to have something local! I'm slowly learning that when New Mexicans say they put chile in everything, they actually mean everything!
I spent the night parked at Clyde & Gwen's and had breakfast with them, then did some quick van repairs; my LED light strips were not staying glued to the textured vinyl, so I added some straps to hold them in place. With my repairs done, I headed north out of town and stopped briefly in Chimayo at a historic church and a traditional weaving shop.
 |
| El Santuario de Chimayo |
 |
| Looms in a traditional weaving shop |
From Chimayo it was a short drive up to Ojo Caliente, where I spent the majority of my day at the mineral hot springs. They have several different pools of varying temperatures which are all meant to cure you of different ailments. There is the lithia spring (depression & digestion), iron spring (blood & immune system), soda spring (digestions & arthritis), arsenic spring (arthritis & skin conditions) and a mud bath where you can cover yourself with a full-body clay mask. There were also several hammocks and lounge chairs to complete the experience. It was a fantastic day of relaxing!
 |
| Hammock views of Ojo Cliente |
 |
| Hot mineral springs at Ojo Caliente |
From Ojo Caliente, I headed north and crossed the Colorado state line for the night there!
J.
Comments
Post a Comment