New Mexico Mystique

New Mexico…what a beautiful experience…it will take months for us to process everything we experienced.

 

We flew home the Saturday before Labor Day… a poignant close to summer.

 

Closing photos of the New Mexico Mystique:

 

 

 

 

 

Jemez Pueblo & Jemez Springs

 

 

 

Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico)

Bandelier National Monument…one of the prettiest places in New Mexico.

 

 

Chaco Culture National Historical Park (New Mexico)

The best way into Chaco Canyon is to take a rough 21-mile road via 7900.  The last 18 miles are wash-board dirt roads.  The scenery is out-of-this world.  Cattle, goats and sheep roam freely.  Prairie dogs occasionally pop up their heads to take a look at curious tourists. 

 

Chaco… an amazing World Heritage site.

 

 

Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)

View from our balcony at Far View Lodge:

 

This colt was with a group of wild horses on top of the mesa:

 

View from room at Far View Lodge:

 

Photos of Cliff Palace:

 

Photos of Balcony House:

 

 

 

Sunrise/Moonrise over Mesa Verde:

Taos Pueblo

As we were leaving Taos, New Mexico on our way to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, we stopped at the Taos Pueblo.  Here are photos of the Pueblo:

 

 

 

 

 

Doc Martins Restaurant and the Adobe Bar

Our last night in Taos…we had dinner at Doc Martin’s.  I tried a Buddha Cowboy margarita on for size.

The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway

North from Taos, our first stop on the Enchanted Circle is near San Cristobal:  the Kiowa Ranch (aka The Lawrence Ranch)…now owned by The University of New Mexico.  Here, D. H. Lawrence’s ashes are purported to have been mixed in the mortar of his memorial chapel (shrine).   His wife Frieda is buried here as well.  

 

 

Photos of the “Enchanted Forest.”

 

We stopped in Eagle Nest where Hugh bought some rough stones for jewelry making.  Then it was on to Arroyo Seco where we had lunch at the Taos Cow and shopped at Firenza where I bought Lisa Law’s autographed copy of “Flashing on the Sixties” and a “Taos Summer of Love” t-shirt.  

Georgia O’Keeffe country: Abiquiu & Ghost Ranch

In Georgia O’Keeffe territory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Francisco de Asis Church

Four miles south of Taos is “The Ranchos Church.”  It is the most frequently painted and photographed church in America and was built somewhere between 1776-1813.  The back of the church is as interesting as the front.  (Note: I shot these photos on two different days… in different light.)