New Mexico

We flew into Albuquerque, rented a car at the airport, and drove into the city. We didn't spend very much time in Albuquerque as we wanted to fit in a gondola ride up to Sandia Peak and still get to where we were staying in Santa Fe before very late.

Details are sketchy about this trip - I am, after all, writing this more than fifteen years after the fact. I remember driving through the suburbs and up into the hills. Paul and I agreed that the overpasses and signposts on the freeway were interestingly designed. As we ascended Sandia Peak in the cable car, we learned that it was (and still is, according to Wikipedia) one of the longest tramways in the world. The view from the car was extraordinary, from sweeping vistas of the plain below to the craggy ridges over which we passed. Once at the top, we walked out onto an observation deck and looked along the ridge. The exposed layers of rock in the cliff are at a strong angle - I remember having read that the area had been tilted upward by geological forces over the aeons.

It was late November and there were a couple of inches of snow in shady areas. Sandia has a ski area but it wasn't yet open, if memory serves. We walked along the hiking trails near the cable station and enjoyed the views on the side of the peak opposite the city. After enjoying the ride back down in the cable car, we set out for our hotel in Santa Fe, an hour or so to the north.

Santa Fe was our home base for the trip. We pulled into the courtyard parking area of our hotel at around sunset. The hotel was a motor-court style arrangement with the rooms in linear wings around the perimeter of the parking area. It was a nice place, designed in (I guess) an adobe style with wooden posts along the corridors and bunches of dried peppers hanging at intervals. Our room was very pleasant and had a lovely fireplace.

It may have been the first night that we had dinner at a brew pub in town - nice place - named "Catamount" or something like that. I looked it up on The Google but couldn't find it. On subsequent days, after our excursions, we walked along the streets and went into some of the shops and art galleries. On Thanksgiving Day we had dinner at La Fonda hotel which is a wonderful building with beautiful southwestern furnishings and interesting levels and spaces.

On one of our days in town we explored the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum which was pretty amazing. They (not surprisingly) have a huge number of her works - I was familiar with the style of many of them, particularly the ones from her New Mexico period with the rock formations, bones, and pueblo architecture. Her New York cityscapes were new to me. We walked around the city at sunset that evening - the contrast between the deep blue sky and the orange-lit architecture was astonishing.

One of our excursions took us to the Bandelier National Monument northwest of Santa Fe towards Los Alamos. There are two units of the park (at least, we visited two): Frijoles Canyon and the Tsankawi Unit. We explored the canyon first. Parking near the lodge, we got a printed guide and made our way along the trail into the canyon. The scenery was amazing - the reddish rocks of the ridge against the deep blue sky, stands of pine trees, purplish-grey brush. The canyon produces microclimates - there was ice on the pools of water at the floor of the canyon but the sun-warmed ledges higher up were very much warmer. We walked along the trail past the ruins of a small city - low rock walls, circular kiva pits, and areas up against the wall of the cliff where holes in the rock face remained from where floor and roof beams of multi-story dwellings were anchored. The trail snaked along the base of the cliff where there were many intriguing clefts and alcoves in the rock.

Further along the trail we went through a small forest in the floor of the canyon with the aforementioned frozen pools and stream. To reach the Ceremonial Cave, we climbed a series of wooden ladders. The cave is a large alcove about halfway up the cliff face - it contains a kiva which has had a reproduction roof and ladder installed. We were able to climb down the ladder and experience that mysterious space below ground, far above ground. It's a magical space, that cave. The semicircular, arched opening frames an amazing view of the canyon.

Deciding that we had enough time before we needed to get back on the road to Santa Fe, we visited the Tsankawi Unit of the park where one can follow the footworn rock trails of the Anasazi along a beautiful ridge. Evidence of human habitation is less obvious than in the canyon - we found several openings in the rock which had been enlarged into small dwellings and there were a number of petroglyphs visible - spirals and what might have been human figures. Paul and I enjoyed the sweeping views from the rocky shelves at the edge of the ridge.

Taos is where Paul and I skiied together for the first time. Paul would have preferred to snowboard, but on arrival we learned that snowboarding wasn't permitted there. We had a great time. I remember particularly enjoying our lunch at a mid-mountain lodge. From the order of the photos I took, I know that our skiing must have happened the last full day we were there. I remember a twilight drive back to Santa Fe during which we were enthralled by the quality of late evening light on the landscape.