174.4 RV miles today, 7,558 total

Santa Fe is recognized as one of the most intriguing cities in the nation & earned the nickname “The City Different” due to its unique architecture, as well as for its long and varied history. The name Santa Fe means “holy faith” in Spanish. It was voted the fourth most popular travel destination in the U.S.  At 7000 feet above sea level, it is the highest state capital in the US. The meshing of many cultures have given Santa Fe a distinct and beautiful appearance, and much of Santa Fe’s attractiveness arises from its setting in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Thirteen years before Plymouth Colony was settled by the Mayflower Pilgrims, Santa Fe, New Mexico, was established in 1610, making it the oldest colonial city in the U.S. The San Miguel Mission is the nation’s oldest church, established in 1610, and the Palace of the Governors is the nation’s oldest public building continually in use, built in 1619. After lunch, we walked around the Plaza & found an inlaid stone necklace from Adam (aka “Six-Five”) to remember our adventure. We visited the Loretto Chapel famous for its “miraculous staircase.” We then headed up the winding road through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the High Road to Taos Scenic Byway passing through high desert, mountains, forests, small farms, and tiny Spanish Land Grant villages, Pueblo Indian villages & even a Family Dollar Store in the oblivious town of Panasco!?

Taos is nicknamed “Soul of the Southwest” & is a historic art colony and world-class recreational mecca. We visited Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited community in the US tracing back thousands of years. The existing sacred village structures are well over 1000 years old.  We drove 10 miles north to walk the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. At 565 feet (172 m) above the Rio Grande, it is the second highest cantilever bridge in the U.S, the tenth highest bridge in the United States, & the 82nd highest bridge in the world. After picking up a mocha Frappe at McDonald’s, we drove past Eagle’s Nest to Cimarron for the evening. From New Mexico, Land of Enchantment, m, b & t

“In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico, one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly and the old world gave way to the new.” — D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930, English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist)

“We have lived upon this land from days beyond history’s records, far past any living memory, deep into the time of legend. The story of my people & the story of this place are one single story…”–Tribal Manifesto of Taos Pueblo”

“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” –Warren E. Buffett (American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century)

 

 

236.2 RV miles today, 7,383.6 total

We left the Newmans at Rehoboth for Albuquerque to drop Shelby off at the airport to fly back to Fayetteville, NC (She arrived safely this night). Then we went by the Mercedes Benz dealership to go ahead & get “Thumper’s” 10,000 mile check-up a little early.  We drove up I-25 to settle in Rancheros de Santa Fe RV Campground at the #1 site. Toby loves to travel as you can see in his perched photo!?!  We went into town around the Plaza for a cursory scouting report traveling on the original Old Santa Fe Trail, the 19th century roadway to the west that tamed the priarie, before having another delicious dinner at Harry’s Roadhouse Diner. From the “City Different,” m, b & t

“So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
Cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go.”–John Denver, Lyrics written 1966

The Santa Fe Trail
(James Grafton Rogers, 1911)

"Say, pard have ye sighted a schooner
A-hittin' the Santa Fe Trail?
They made it here Monday or sooner
With a water keg roped on the rail,
With Daddy and Ma on the mule-seat
And somewhere around on the way
A tow-headed gal on a pony
A-janglin' for old Santa Fe
   Oh -- Ah - Oh --
A-janglin' for old Santa Fe..."

149 miles today, 2,513.7 miles total

We headed west from Albuquerque in gusty winds 20-30 MPH & stopped by El Malpais National Monument to see the ancient lava flows from multiple volcanoes erupting in the ancient past. You can see one of the black lava fields in our m, b & t picture. We made a picnic lunch at the continental divide…7,275 feet…next to a low-tech covered wagon adjacent to ours!?! We arrived to visit Jonathan & Anna Newman, teachers at Rehoboth Christian School, elevation 6,500 feet, established ~ 1903. There is a tribute there to the Navajo Code Talkers, who literally turned the tide of World War II. The Navajo language remained an undecipherable code of an unwritten language of extreme compexity.  We have had wonderful fellowship with Jonathan & Anna hiking Pyramid Rock and enjoying her homecooked dinner. They were gracious to put us up for the night. m, b & t (aka the NewMillermans)

I have been to the end of the earth, I have been to the end of the waters, I have been to the end of the sky, I have been to the end of the mountains, I have found none that are not my friends.”–Navajo Proverb

“In the American Southwest, I began a lifelong love affair with a pile of rock.” — Edward Abbey

The Navajo Beauty Way Ceremony