We took a short road trip Northeast of Albuquerque to the State Capital of Santa Fe. We chose to use Hwy 14 instead of the Interstate which proved to be very scenic and hardly any traffic.
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| Highway 14 is nicknamed the Turquoise Trail. I assume because of the gem found in the hills we pass through, however coal seems to have been the most common thing to come out of the ground around here. |
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| Fabulous views |
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| Lots of hills. |
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| Santa Fe was always a railroad hub. Surplus rail cars are re-purposed....some into homes like this one. |
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| 'Drive slow - Critters on the Road' |
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| Crossing under I 25 at Santa Fe |
Santa Fe is a city of only about 70,000 people and is the state capital of New Mexico. The city is acyually 400 years old even though the State only joined the union in 1912. Santa Fe was established by the Spanish in 1598 and became a provincial headquarters in 1610. Puebloan revolts and other strife has been a part of the early history of the city but several structures have survived such as two churches, the San Miguel Chapel and the Loretto Chapel. A couple of hundred years newer is the very impressive Basilica of St Francis of Assisi.
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| Baptismal fountain in the senter of the church |
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| Very ornate |
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| The carved Bishops chair. |
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| Beautiful stained glass. |
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| The front doors |
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| Next was the Loretto Chapel. Built in 1873. |
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| The famous spiral staircase for access to the choir loft. Built in 1879 by a mysterious carpenter using mysterious construction methods. |
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| Originally the stairs had no banisters. They were installed ....at the Sisters request. That would have been a scary climb.....up and down! |
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| The rest of the church is very impressive. |
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| Very impressive! |
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| Lastly we visited San Miguel Church. The original was built in c.1610. |
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| Well restored and looked after. The church has undergone some changes in its life. The bell tower has been re-done at least three times. |
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| This original bell is nearly pure copper. It sounds very nice. |
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| The makeup of the bell. |
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| Front of the church. |
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| A sample of the wall interior. Stone and mud. |
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| The main beam holding the loft. Beautifully carved and dated 1710. Placed after on e of the rebuilds. |
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| Alter |
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| This is very interesting. Not only the original foundation of the alter but it turns out the church was built on the site of an old Indian dwelling dated to c.1300. |
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| Rear of the church. |
A town square is in the middle of the Old Town. On one side is the old government offices and the other side is the area with churches. Very typical of planned cities in the early days.
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| Lots of sculptures and statues around town. |
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| Interesting vines in this little square. |
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| Palace of the Governors was the head of government offices in Santa Fe in the early days. |
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| Today, the Palace is the site of many vendors. |
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| These pepper strings are called Ristras. These sun dried chiles are said to bring good luck and ward off evil. You see them everywhere. |
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| New Mexico Art Museum. Most structures in Santa Fe are limited in height and must conform to the old adobe style of building. |
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| Town clock. |
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| Town Square. |
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| Colorful shops. |
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| The New Mexico Capital building. A round structure. |
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| The rotunda. |
We headed home on the same Hwy 14 and enjoyed the views from the other direction that we had from this morning. We stopped in the little town of Madrid for a bite to eat at The Holler. The town is a bit of a tourist trap. Lots of gift shops. The biggest draw is likely the site of the diner in the movie 'Wild Hogs' with Tim Allen. Maggies Diner is actually a gift store now but was a purpose-built diner for the movie.
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| Old Route 66 came through here. Some of the motels still sport their old signs. 'Color Cable Television' was a big draw! |
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| On the way home through the hills. |
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| Some eclectic communities along the way. |
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| Maggies Diner from the Wild Hogs movie. In Madrid, NM. |
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| We had a bite to eat here. |
It was a wonderful day to explore the New Mexico capital and the surrounding area. I just wish it was a bit warmer. We haven't had the water hooked up to the trailer at night for over a week now. Record low temps are coming before it gets warmer later this week.
Wednesday, October 30
Too cold to go far today. Just not fun walking around. I guess it's laundry day today!
.....and that was Our View From Here!
