SANTA FE: CHIMAYO and LAS VEGAS

Today we were off to Chimayo and then onto Las Vegas. N.M. We drove through some very beautiful high country with beautiful ranch lands, and small towns. Chimayo is the home of Santuario de Chimayo which is known as a healing site. The Chapel is small but full of history. 

Chapel Entrance

Chapel Detail

The Pilgrim

The Chapel

The town is also known for the Ortega Weaving Company which has been run by the same family for nine generations. Their woven rugs, coats, vest, etc. are beautiful.  If I had not purchased a wool vest at Mule Days this year, I would have been strongly tempted to get one at the Ortega Weaving Shop.

A Storm is Brewing

After a delightful lunch at the Rancho Chimayo Restaurant, we pressed on through the countryside to the small town of Las Vegas. 

The town of Las Vegas has a College, New Mexico Highlands University, and a Junior College. It is also the home of the Rough Rider Museum dedicated to the history of the Rough Riders led by Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War of 1898.

A Word of Warning

 

Art in The Park

George and Friend with Plaza Hotel in Background

Above the Desk at Plaza Hotel

Tin Chandelier in Plaza Hotel

Located in the town square is a plaque with the proclamation of General Stephen Kearny taking possession of the State of New Mexico for the United States. It really is an interesting read….

We visited the partially restored Plaza Hotel and drove by the  which is a Harvey House Hotel located next to the railroad station. 
 

Las Vegas, N.M. Railroad Station

The people who restored La Posada, own and are restoring the Plaza Hotel, and will be restoring the Castaneda Hotel.

There is a lot of work to be done, and I am sure it will be a couple of years before it is open for business.

Having had a late but delicious lunch we opted to call it a day when we returned to Santa Fe close to sunset.

SANTA FE AND AREA

We were off to Santa Fe on Saturday morning. 7/26. We headed East on I-8 for a smooth drive to La Posada Hotel located in Winslow, AZ.

The drive went well though the country side East of Yuma was flat and dry with little variety. The landscape improved once we were North of Phoenix. As we climbed toward Flagstaff, at an elevation of 7000+ feet the ponderosa forest took hold and the temperatures dropped. We got to Winslow in the middle of the afternoon, and after checking in, went for a walk to the “Corner of Winslow, AZ” and beyond.

We met up with our friends, Janeane and Pat, about 1800 and enjoyed a refreshing drink in the shade of the Hotel before going to dinner. The dinner was delicious as usual and we enjoyed catching up with news from our friends.

Sunday we headed to Santa Fe. This drive was shorter and through some

beautiful country. Getting to the Hotel, a Hampton Inn, was a bit of a trial as the off-ramp was supposedly closed. Thanks to my GPS, I was able to navigate to the Hotel in a large circle which would have been more cumbersome without the aid of the GPS! We were based here for the remainder of the week. In the evening we went to the Plaza area of Santa Fe, and dined at the Guadalupe Pink Adobe. We all thought that the dinner was excellent. 

(Sorry no Pictures as I was doing a lot of the driving. :-))

MONDAY – BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT

This was a new National Monument for us to visit. It is located near Los Alamos, and is a gorge with a number of archaeology findings. We visited Frijoles Canyon with it's Tyonyi Pueblo, cliff dwellings and large Kiva. On our return to the V. C. we saw some deer, and the destruction from major flooding of Frijoles Creek a couple of years ago. 

North Side of Canyon

Canyon Monolith

Road into Canyon in the Distance

Tyonyi Pueblo

 

Ladder to Cliff Dwelling

Cliff Dwelling with Petroglyphs above

Deer along Nature Trail

Prairie Dog

It is a small world. While there I recalled the name of a couple who had been Campground Hosts at the North Rim. I asked a Bandolier Bookstore employee if she knew them. Well, low and behold George and Shirley were hosting at the Campground as we spoke. So off we went to see them and say hello. They enjoy the cooler climate of Bandelier than the heat of Phoenix in the summer time. They also take in the Opera once or twice during the summer. It was great touching bases with them once again.

TERNS AND SKIMMERS, ETC

Last week a group of photographers made the trip to Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve located in Huntington Beach, CA. We carpooled for the 100 mile drive and timed our visit to the afternoon around the high tide. This gives you a great feeding time for birds near the flood gate for the estuary.

We had clear sunny weather and the birds were cooperative. We saw four kinds of terns: Elegant, Royal, Forester, Caspian, and Least; as well as great egrets, great blue herons, osprey, a long-billed curlew,  marbled godwit, willet, and skimmers. There were probably a couple of other birds which I did not try to identify as I was busy taking pictures of terns and skimmers mostly.

There is a reason the tern has it's name. It can turn "on a dime", dive, etc. Here are the results of an afternoon of photography. I took over 1400 pictures and have narrowed the number to about 330. I also had to discern the differences in the Elegant, Royal, Forester,and Caspian terns. They can be quite subtle.

Please enjoy  --

Elegant Tern with Fish

Elegant Tern with Lunch

Elegant Tern on Approach

Elegant Tern with Dinner

Diving Elegant Tern

Black Skimmer

Elegant Tern Looking

Starting to Skim

Skimming Black Skimmer

Oops

Black Skimmer Skimming

Elegant Tern after a Dive

Black Skimmer on Approach

Black Skimmer

SPRINGTIME IN THE LOCAL MOUNTAINS

A week ago I recruited my two friends, Chris and Myrna, to join me on a drive to Mount Laguna and then through Cuyamaca State Park. We had a nice spring day with light winds, and sunny skies.

The purpose of the drive was for me to become more comfortable with my new car, a 2015 Subaru Forester:

PROUD NEW OWNER

and to experience it out in the back country. We stopped on the way up Mount Laguna, which is located about 60 miles East of San Diego, to take in the view to the East in the mountains. Of course we had to take a couple of advertising type photos.

HIKING BUDDIES

After visiting the Mt. Laguna Store we returned to the Wooded Hill

trail for a leisurely walk in the woods. We hiked a 1.5 mile trail where we saw about 25 different flowers in bloom. Here are some of my favorites –

BABY BLUE EYES -

CHECKER BLOOM - 

DIAMOND CLARKIA -

PINE INDIAN PAINTBRUSH -

LITTLE MONARDELLA  -

CALIFORNIA THISTLE - 

YELLOW PINCUSHION  - 

WILD ONION -

GOLDEN YARROW W/BUG - 

 BLACK OAK  -

SHINY-LEAF YERBA SANTA

Then of course there were some nice black oaks, laurel sumac, Manzanita, chamise, and pine trees.

We enjoyed a late lunch at Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant and Store where the French fries melted in your mouth and the pies were very tempting but as we had only hiked about two miles total, we passed on the pie.

It was fun and relaxing day in the “back country”.