We stopped outside Amarillo for an old fashioned picnic just like the ones we had with our parents. This was one of the nicest rest stops I've ever seen. It had a really nice pavilion type building that had really clean restrooms. After a relaxing lunch and a nice rest, we got back on the road and headed for Santa Fe.
Once we crossed into New Mexico, the landscaped changed a bit. There were more mountains. The scenery was beautiful! Onward. We hit Santa Fe later in the evening and checked in to the Courtyard by Marriott. They had a really nice indoor pool that we had all to ourselves. It was a nice relaxing swim after a long drive. The next day we took a city tour around downtown Santa Fe.
This is in the Plaza. It's the Palace of Governors, the oldest consecutive use government owned building in the U.S. To sell their goods, the people must be Native Indians and their goods must be made by them or someone in their family. They draw lots daily for a spot. There are 69 spots and 300 families.
This is St Francis of Assisi Cathedral. The Cathedral was built in the 1800s by Archbishop Lemy. No building in Santa Fe can be taller than this building.
Along Canyon Rd are lots of statues like this. This particular one can be had for a mere $125,000.
This one was really cool. It's a person that looks like they are soaking in a tub and that tub is the cement sidewalk.
They had lots of these fences. It's a coyote fence. It's made of pinon logs that have thorns and it keeps the coyotes out.
This was the coolest story. This is in the Loretto Chapel, which was patterned after Sainte Chappelle in Paris. It was built in 1873 as a chapel for the Sisters of Loretto. Note - this spiral staircase does two complete 360 degree turns with no visible support. So the story is - they were nearly finished in 1878 when they realized the stairs to the choir loft wouldn't fit. the sisters made a novena to St. Joseph. They were rewarded when a mysterious carpenter appeared astride a donkey and offered to build a staircase. Armed with only a hammer, saw and a T-square, he constructed the staircase by soaking the slats of wood to curve them and held them together with pegs. Then he disappeared without collecting his fee.
After Santa Fe, we headed out on back roads to Taos. Check out the mountains. That's snow! The mountain range is Sangre de Cristos. We drove through Kit Carson National Forest as well. That was really pretty.
There wasn't really a whole lot to Taos if you weren't a skier. We got there around 3-ish and checked into our hotel. (The Best Western - which was small but nice and clean.) We noticed that there were some housing developments going up so we drove around looking at houses. By 8:30 pm, the town was closed. Shops were closed, eating establishments (outside of Pizza Hut or KFC) were closed. We finally found this diner that looked a little scroungy but they were hopping. The food was good as well. I had a chili burger - it was green chili like the peppers they use in relleno. Yummy!We only stayed one night in Taos. The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel - which was really good, especially since it was free. Then we headed out to Colorado.
Here we are leaving New Mexico....
and entering Colorado.Our first stop in Colorado was Manitou Springs. My gift to J for his birthday was the train ride up to the top of Pike's Peak.
We took the cog railway up the mountain (the railway was built in 1889). It's one of the few remaining in the U.S. At the top of the mountain, it was 20 degrees. That's actual snow behind J. The views from the top were just amazing. It was so cold that we had to go in to the gift shop and get a coffee to warm up. That was a really long line. We were at 14,000 feet - well above the tree line.
America the Beautiful was written by a teacher - inspired by her trip up the mountain to Pike's Peak.
This is the trip down the mountain. We just came from around that curve. The drop offs were amazing and scary! We passed a depot looking building at 10,012 feet. It's a shelter from which they pick up hikers. Towards the bottom, where the tracks separate, there used to be a hotel but it burned down. That was a very cool experience.We headed on to Denver and checked into the Embassy Suites. We love this hotel. You get TWO rooms! We have separation. Don't get me wrong, we love one another but after 7 days in a car together, it's nice to have a little alone time. While in Denver, we drove out to Estes Park. Until my Uncle mentioned it, I'd never heard of it.
It was BEAUTIFUL! Estes Park is at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park. This is also the location for the Stanley Hotel, which is the hotel in which the Shining was shot.
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."What was really a let down was that there was a Taco Bell right in front of it. (we ate lunch there.)
So we drove up into Rocky Mountain National Park. These are two of the most amazing views.
Doesn't it look like a post card?
So that's snow blowing off the mountain tops. Amazing!
This is me & my cousin. He goes to school here at Regis University. That was one of the other reasons we chose to stop in Denver. He showed us around the campus - which was very nice. He was there on scholarship for playing soccer.The next day it was time to head home. We drove from Colorado East through Kansas. There is nothing in Kansas but wheat.
Seriously - this is Kansas. Miles and miles of this. We spent the night in some town. I wanted to drive down to Dodge City but by the time we'd have gotten there, we wouldn't have had time to do anything. Maybe another time.The next day was "going home" day. Here we are crossing the state line from Kansas in to Oklahoma.
And then, we cross into Texas. Home again, home again jiggety jig.
That was a nice vacation. There's no better way to see the country than to drive. It's really nice when you have the time to pull over and take it all in. While we definitely enjoyed ourselves, we were glad to be home.
No comments:
Post a Comment