The Land of Enchantment, Nov 24-28
Mum and Dad arrived for their fifth Chicago holiday in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with us in our new flat. The following day we headed to the state of New Mexico, nicknamed "the Land of Enchantment".
DAY 1: ALBUQUERQUE TO FARMINGTON, NM
Our first glimpses of the desert landscape as we drove west out of Albuquerque along legendary Route 66 to Grants, where we had our first Navajo Taco, and then north to Farmington, the largest city in the Four Corners region, where we spent the night.
DAY 2: FARMINGTON TO TAOS, NM
This was the closest we got to Ship Rock, a 1,700 ft geological monument so named by early white settlers because of its resemblance to an old windjammer under full sail. There are numerous Navajo legends about the rock they call Tsé Bit'a'i ('the winged rock') because its 'fins' of igneous rock running north and south resemble wings.
We passed more incredible rock formations on our way to the remote Four Corners Monument, marking the quadripoint where the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet.
This four-corner intersection is the only place in the US common to four state corners. Run by the Navajo Nation, the landmark abuts a Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado.
We think this was Chimney Rock in southwest Colorado.
After stopping for lunch in tiny Cuba, the scenery took a dramatic change as we meandered past 11,000 ft peaks, ponderosa pines and patches of snow along the steep unpaved road through Santa Fe National Forest.
The Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains.
We were all fascinated by the history of Los Alamos and wish we could have stayed longer. The city is home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the largest institution and largest employer in northern New Mexico, which was founded during World War II as a secret facility to coordinate the scientific research of the Manhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapons.
Inside the Bradbury Science Museum Mike mimicked American theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer - known as "the father of the atomic bomb", he was Scientific Director of the Manhattan Project and first director of the laboratory - and in that shirt Dad just had to be Norris Bradbury, the second director after whom the museum was named.
It was dark by the time we arrived in Taos so couldn't do much apart from sample the margaritas at the Taos Inn, the beer at Eske's Microbrewery and the Country & Western band at our inn.
DAY 3: TAOS TO SANTA FE, NM
Views from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge about 12 miles northwest of Taos. It is the second highest suspension bridge in the US, spanning 500 ft across the gorge and 650 ft above the river.
Chile is New Mexico's most important harvest. After ordering in a restaurant you will be asked "Red or green?" (the Official State Question), to which the reply is "Which is hotter today?".
The village of Taos Pueblo is the most northerly of all the Rio Grande pueblos and is an authentic example of the survival of Pueblo Indian life, unchanged since 1540 when the first Spanish explorers arrived and saw buildings and customs closely resembling those seen today.
This multi-storied adobe building has been inhabited for over 1000 years. It and a similar structure to the south are considered to be the USA's oldest continuously inhabited communities.
Traditions dictate that no electricity or running water be allowed within the Pueblo walls. Drinking water comes from this stream which flows down from the sacred Blue Lake.
Approximately 150 people live inside the Pueblo full-time; most members live in conventional homes outside the village walls, but occupy their Pueblo houses for ceremonials.
The Pueblo's original church, first built in 1619 and seen here in ruins, was destroyed by the US Army in the War with Mexico in 1847.
Back in Taos, this is Hotel La Fonda on the Plaza.
Cafe Tazza at the end of our walking tour, which took us past museums and galleries - many artists have been drawn to Taos by the quality of the light; the village also attracts art collectors.
We took the picturesque 'High Road' to Espanola and then on to Santa Fe, America's oldest capital city, nestled at 7,000 ft in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Founded as a capital city in 1607 by Spanish explorers, it was ceded by the Mexican Federation to the US in 1846.
Loretto Chapel (left), constructed in the 1870s, is believed to be the first Gothic structure built west of the Mississippi and served as the Loretto Academy, operated by the Sisters of Loretto. St Francis Cathedral (right), dedicated in 1886, is a blend of adobe, French-Romanesque and modern architectural styles, and was the sixth church built on the site. Its design is in sharp contrast to the adobe pueblo-style architecture that defines Santa Fe and all of the southwest.
The Plaza has been the heart of the city since 1610, and many of the buildings surrounding the central park stand just as they did during Spanish colonial times.
Margaritas at the Dragon Room before feasting on curry at a southern Indian restaurant.
DAY 4: SANTA FE, NM TO COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
Burro Alley was once Santa Fe's bawdy nightlife district; the tiny street is named after the burros that carried firewood to be sold there.
The Santuario de Guadalupe, built 1781, is the oldest shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe in the US.
The lobby of Hotel La Fonda, built in 1922 on the site of earlier hotels at the end of the Santa Fe Trail, is a great place to chill out awhile and has interesting old photographs on the walls.
Loretto Chapel's Miracle Staircase: The story goes that, needing a way to get up to the choir loft, the nuns prayed for St Joseph's intercession for nine straight days. The day after their novena ended a stranger appeared at their door, locked himself in the chapel for three months and, using a small number of primitive tools, constructed a spiral staircase entirely of non-native wood. As soon as the staircase was finished he was gone. Many feel it was a miraculous occurrence.
The neighbouring Loretto Inn is architecturally-based on the dwellings at Taos Pueblo.
San Miguel Mission is "the Oldest Church in the United States". Built by Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico in the early 1600s, the roof was burned and destroyed during the Pueblo Indian rebellion of 1680. In 1694 General de Vargas had a new roof constructed; repairs continued until 1710.
Over the road is "the Oldest House in the United States" with an authentic adobe construction.
Walking along the Old Santa Fe Trail past the Inn of the Five Graces, a boutique hotel set in stone and adobe buildings from the 1600s.
Santa Fe ('Holy Faith' in Spanish) is the third largest city in New Mexico.
When we took a coffee-break in Las Vegas, we found a pleasant city laid out in the traditional Spanish colonial style (a central plaza surrounded by buildings). Situated on a plateau with the high peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west and broad, flat plains to the east, Las Vegas prospered as a stop on the Santa Fe Trail and then boomed during the railroad era, quickly becoming one of the largest cities in the southwest. Las Vegas is home to over 900 historical structures (mostly railroad-era houses and commercial buildings) listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although the ones we saw were in varying states of deterioration.
En route to Colorado we stopped for gas in Wagon Mound, first settled in the early 1860s by settlers trekking across the from the west at the same time as Santa Fe Trail pioneers came from the war-torn eastern states. After crossing the Raton Pass, the settlers observed in the distance a giant volcanic rock which resembled a wagon; the area's lush green grass and abundant water supply meant that Wagon Mound became a rest stop for travelers along the Santa Fe Trail.
DAY 5: COLORADO SPRINGS TO DENVER, CO
After a night in Colorado Springs - founded in 1871 as a Victorian spa resort and now the state's second largest city - we headed to Manitou Springs, a lovely mountain town with nine mineral springs fed by the snows of Pikes Peak, "America's most famous mountain". Manitou is a Native American word for 'spirit', and the natives have long considered this area sacred.
In 1879 Charles Perkins, a railroad owner, purchased 240 acres in the 'Garden of the Gods' - a beautiful area of giant red rock formations - for a summer home; he later added to the property but never built on the site, preferring to leave it in its natural state for the enjoyment of the public. After he died in 1907 his 480 acres were conveyed to the City of Colorado Springs, and the park has remained free to the public ever since.
This formation is named the 'Three Sisters'.
You can travel to the top of Pikes Peak (elevation 14,110 ft) on the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway. This is one of my favourite pictures ever!
