We drove 700 miles on 13 April 2023 to get most of the way to Albuquerque. We got there early afternoon on the 14th and what beautiful weather we've had. Daytime temps reaching mid to high 70's and nights getting down into the 40's and even mid 30's!
15 April 2023 we walked around Old Town Albuquerque for a few hours and learned a little about green and red Chile peppers from the Hatch area. We went through most of the Albuquerque Museum and learned quite a bit about the melting pot that Albuquerque is, with influences from Spanish, Native American and Mexican cultures. We also learned about how the city got the nickname of "Duke City".
Albuquerque, AKA Duke City
Sculpture outside Albuquerque Museum
Across the street from Albuquerque Museum
We saw quite a few hanging Chiles during our walking around Old Town
The day we were walking around Old Town we noticed young women in long dresses, then young men dressed formally too, and it turned out to be 5 local high schools' prom that night. While walking around we noticed this one building with wooden drain spouts and gutters.
Wooden gutters and drain spouts
San Felipe Catholic Church (Oldest active church in NM 1706) with Sister Blandina Convent
Before heading home, we had dinner at the Church Steet Café, which we’d highly recommend if you’re ever here. From Church Steet Café website: Casa de Ruiz, which literally translates to "the house of Ruiz", has a long and distinctive history. Unfortunately much of this history has been lost with the passage of time and that which remains is at best uncertain. The house was built during the founding of Albuquerque sometime aroumd1706. This would make Casa de Ruiz the oldest residence in Albuquerque and one of the oldest structures in the state of New Mexico.
The property was originally a residence built by the Ruiz family in the early 1700's. It remained a residence until the last inhabitant, Rufina G. Ruiz died in 1991 at the age of 91. The house had never been sold and had remained in the Ruiz family since the early 18th century. The family can be traced back to Julianna Lucero and Francisco Ruiz both born around 1834. No record of their ancestors has been found but it is quite possible the dwelling was several generations old by this time. Their daughter Sarah Ruiz, born on February 22, 1880, was Rufina's mother.
Church Street Cafe 15 April 2023
16 April we attended 11am mass at San Felipe Catholic Church in Old Town Albuquerque, which we had found the night before. Description of church from their website: For more than 300 years, San Felipe de Neri Parish has been the spiritual heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico. That heart is still beating strong, offering liturgical, pastoral, and educational services to parishioners and visitors. The present church building, constructed in 1793, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Our community worships in this "crown Jewel" of New Mexico each day and invites visitors to join us, especially in the celebration of the Mass. All are welcome!
San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church Devine Mercy Sunday 2023
On our walk back to the truck after mass we saw this people-powered tour vehicle, the Duke City Pedaler. Ten people pedal to provide the power for the tour vehicle to move. The tour guide does not have pedals, but does all the talking.
Neither Steve nor Anita had seen this before...
On Monday 17 April, we went to Petroglyph National Monument and after watching a short video about the petroglyphs' origin, we went on a good hike. Anita calls it a "good hike" because we were both tired after and felt like we'd done something. The petroglyphs were a form of communication for Pueblo travelers through the mountains. There were different clans and sometimes the pictures were of the clan's symbol and an arrow to indicate which way they were traveling.
We saw hundreds of rocks like this ranging from simple to more complex petroglyphs
The petroglyphs were interesting, but there are a couple thousand of them where we were hiking. We looked around and noticed lizards, rock squirrels, and even Road Runners! The Road Runners were walking along the crest of the hill and later on our way back when we were walking on the crest, one of them came close enough to get a picture! This was very exciting! Anita admits that she thought road runners were fictitious and only in the cartoon teasing the coyote. It was especially exciting for her to get the picture. At the time that the picture was taken, we had crossed paths with a lady hiking alone. She is a traveling nurse who lives in Florida, but is originally from Iowa. She and Steve knew a few of the same places in Iowa. This lady actually helped us get back to the parking lot, as she had just come from there and we could see it but couldn't see the way to the parking lot.
Beep Beep a Road Runner!
After the good hike at the Petroglyph National Monument we went to the Rio Grande Nature Center in hopes of seeing birds. Steve was excited to see another life bird, the Spotted Towhee. Steve's phone was dead, so the picture is from Anita's phone and cropped.
Spotted Towhee
On Tuesday 18 Apr we went to Santa Fe in the morning, and then on to Taos in the afternoon.
Santa Fe had lots to see! The oldest house in the US is there, 1646, along with lots of other adobe built houses with walls two feet thick. The oldest church in the US, San Miguel's Mission, dating to early1600, is also in Santa Fe right next to the oldest house.
The volunteer at the Santa Fe visitor's center told us about the Pueblo people's history with them having a hard time surviving in the terrain there. They wanted to grow their clans, so they tried to have baby boys, but when babies were born girls they ate them for survival. When Spanish immigrants came to Santa Fe, they tried to convert the Pueblo people to Christianity, specifically Catholicism.
That conversion was not easy. In 1680, the Pueblo Revolt began and it lasted 12 years. We saw the Cross of the Martyrs which commemorates the twenty-one Franciscan friars and approximately 380 Spanish colonists killed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
We walked around for hours in Santa Fe and we got this selfie on Burro Alley
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi Circa 1886
In Santa Fe, we saw the Loretto Chapel where the miraculous staircase is. The Internet describes Loretto Chapel as best known for its miraculous spiral staircase, which rises 20 feet (6.1 m) to the choir loft while making two full turns, all without the support of a newel or central pole. The staircase is built mostly out of wood and is held together by wooden pegs, with no glue, nails or other hardware used.
What we heard on the audio while inside the chapel: When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.
Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.
Loretto Chapel Miraculous Staircase 18 April 2023
While in Santa Fe, we drove out to the Santuario de Chimayo. The Internet gives the story we heard while there: Chimayo, a little adobe church in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico, is one of the most visited holy sites in America. It’s known for its holy dirt that’s said to have healing properties.
Chimayo’s fame spread to the larger world around the year 1810, when a local man saw a light springing from one of the hills near the Santa Cruz River. After following it to its source, he found in the earth a crucifix bearing a dark-skinned Jesus.
The local villagers paid homage to the relic and then took it to a church in nearby Santa Cruz. Mysteriously, during the night the crucifix returned to its original location. After this happened two more times, the locals built a small chapel to house the crucifix in Chimayo.
Through the years, the story of the crucifix became intertwined with earlier indigenous beliefs. While the hot springs had dried up, the earth they left behind was said to have healing properties.
This blending of traditions across time and cultures is common in many holy sites. Druid shrines became churches; altars to goddesses were re-dedicated to the Virgin Mary. I think the Spirit is not overly concerned with externals. What’s important is that pilgrims come to these places with open hearts.
Thousands of people make their way to Chimayo each year, coming from places around the world. Holy Week is a particularly popular time to make a pilgrimage to this healing shrine, with many people making the journey on foot from Santa Fe. The tradition was started after World War II by survivors of the Bataan Death March, who walked to the church in gratitude for their deliverance.
After site seeing in Santa Fe that morning, we drove to Taos to drive the Enchanted Circle. The Enchanted Circle has 23 points of interest. Driving through late in the afternoon, most places were closed, but we could see the charm of the small towns of Angel Fire, Eagle Nest (fishing community) and Red River. Then we happened upon a herd of Elk!
We were still talking about see a herd of elk, and how we were so looking for just one, never imagining that we'd see a herd, when we came upon another herd! This time it wasn't elk, but bighorn
sheep!
The elk had gotten skittish and started to run up the hill when we stopped to take the picture, but the bighorn sheep just kept walking along and didn't seem bothered at all by us. We were amazed that they stayed off the road and kept eating but stayed outside the lines of the road.
The last point of interest on the Enchanted Circle that we wanted to see was the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. We made it there with a bit of daylight left and got a couple of pictures of it and from it.
From the bridge with the sun starting to set
What a day! We had dinner in Taos at a place called 5 Star Burgers. We both agreed that the burgers we had were indeed five stars.
On Wednesday 19 April, we slept in a little after our long day on Tuesday. We drove up to Sandia Mountain Crest. That was beautiful as we experienced the temperature dropping as we ascended and saw patches of snow left on the mountain. We went all the way up to 10,678 feet and it was cold up there! The wind was blowing and sustaining about 30mph. We did a short hike in Cibola National Forest and were in awe of the quiet. We came upon this teepee looking gathering of logs and sticks. It looked like a shelter of some sort. Steve said jokingly that it could have been big foot's doing.
We were on Crest Trail No. 130 and we came to a fork in the trail with the option to see Travertine Waterfalls. We went that way, but found the falls to be dried up.
Sasquatch dwelling???
All the different backgrounds were from the same day! It's normal to wake up to temps in the mid 30's and to end the day close to 80.
On our last day of site seeing in Albuquerque, we went for a hike on the Volcano trails at another local Petroglyph National Monument. Anita was amazed at how pretty little flowers pop up amidst brown everywhere. After the volcano trails, we went to Boca Negra Canyon for an "easy" hike. Turned out to be less than a mile, but not "easy" to us.
It was cold when we got started early!
This was the "easy" hike...Yep, we went all the way to the top!
Another couple we met on the way down offered to take our picture and we returned the favor for them. Tomorrow (21 April) we're heading about 70 miles west to Grants New Mexico for a couple of days to see "Fire and Ice", the Ice Caves and Bandera Volcano. Then we'll keep driving and meander to Flagstaff Arizona by 25 April when we have reservations.
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