Road Trip - Day Seven

We left Carlsbad this morning at 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Santa Fe around 12:30 p.m. We passed through Roswell, NM and fortunately did not see any aliens. We did see an interesting sign at a rest stop. It said “Watch for rattlesnakes”. Once again, we were glad we did not see any. The drive up from Carlsbad was over some very stark countryside. For miles we could see nothing but very flat prairie lands. As we got closer to Santa Fe, the mountains began to appear with some having snow on top.

In Santa Fe we visited a number of shops which, as you might expect, featured native Indian items. These included turquoise and silver jewelry, pottery, clothing and hats. This is the slow season and there was hardly anyone in the stores. Outside the Palace of the Governor’s, local Indians had their wares for sale. They placed their items for sale on blankets which were laid on the sidewalk. We also visited St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral. It houses the La Conquistadora chapel which has the oldest Madonna dating back to 1625. St. Francis is the first church in New Mexico to obtain the status of Cathedral. We next visited San Miguel Mission Church. It is one of the country’s oldest churches that has been in continual use.

We left Santa Fe and drove one hour South to Albuquerque. We checked into our hotel and then visited an area called Old Town. This is a district of the city that is 300 years old and features shopping much like what we saw in Santa Fe. Comparing the two cities, the shops in Santa Fe were more upscale. We had a Mexican dinner at High Noon a local restaurant. Built in 1785, it is said to have housed both a gambling casino and a popular brothel. Other than paying for our dinner, we did not use or dollars for gambling or any other vice.

Tomorrow we plan on taking a ride on the Sandia Mountain Tram. At 2.7 miles, the tram is the longest in the world. The panoramic view of the area should be spectacular. Afterwards, we hope to take our first bike ride on a trail that runs through the city along the Rio Grande River.

Here is a link to some pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/SantaFe?feat=directlink

More later . . .