Finding America

Day 13

This morning we packed up and took the Turquoise Trail (Hwy 14) up to Santa Fe. It is a meandering path through the hills, sagebrush and arroyos of this fascinating land.

About half way to Satana Fe we stopped in Madrid, NM which had it’s 15 minutes of fame recently as the setting for the ‘Wild Hogs’. The town was cute and we got out and walked around this little artist enclave. We stopped in some of the galleries and then popped into the Java Junction café for a cup-a and then got back on the road.

The road continues on through Cerrillos as it approaches Santa Fe and our RV park was just off the road as we came into the city. We parked Kodi at the Sant Fe Skies RV Park and then drove into the city center to spend the afternoon walking around this interesting town.

The architecture was so different from anything I had ever seen before. Everything from the local McDonalds to the churches were made of adobe. I felt like my head was on a spindle everything was new and exciting. Albuquerque which is not even an hour a way captures some of this style but not the immersion of adobe/pueblo style that permeates every inch of Santa Fe.

The city center is occupied by little plazas, churches, Native American ar galleries, boutiques and restaurants. By chance we stumbled into the Loretto Church home of a spiral staircase. As the story goes this former girls school and nunnery had a balcony in the church but no way to get up there besides a ladder. Being that ladder climbing was un-lady-like a call went out for a carpenter to construct another means for the sisters to ascend to the balcony.

A lone carpenter answered the call and within 3 months alone with his hammer, level, saw and water basin for turning the wood he constructed a magnificent spiral staircase with no nails, glue or anchors and just as miraculously vanished without leaving an invoice for is masterfull work. While the staircase has now been reinforced with guardrails and supports to preserve it, one can still see how masterfully the stairs were constructed and why today tourists flock to this amazing creation.

We walked through a little breezeway nearby into a charming courtyard and walked up to the Casa Sena and made reservations for tomorrow night at their Cantina with their singing servers.

We picked up the local free paper and read that a acoustic duo was playing at the nearby Second Street Brewery. We stopped in sat on the back porch. It was a gorgeous afternoon and there were quite a few folks enjoying the afternoon and good tunes along with us. Michael Sheppard and Eric Carlson were the duo in charge of entertaining us and boy did they. With slide guitar and acoustic guitar battling it out over the guys vocals we all just kind of mellowed out.

As dinner approached we regrettably left for Tomasitas. This restaurant was suggested to us by a gentleman at the RV park. Boy were we glad we took his word for it. The food was great and the chili was hot hot hot. They serve both roast red salsa as well as cold green chili salsa here in this part of New Mexico and if you want both just tell them you’d like the Christmas blend. The food really was excellent and well worth the wait. The restaurant also occupies an old rail station and has quite a unique look and atmosphere. This place is certainly worth a stop if you are ever in the area.

Well fed and tired we returned to Kodi and dreamed about the adventures that were to come.