Santa Fe, NM - Apr. 29 - May 18, 2009

When one arrives in Santa Fe one fully understands New Mexico's motto "Land of Enchantment".  Santa Fe is truly enchanting.

On April 29th we pulled into the very well maintained and friendly Santa Fe Skies RV Park on the southeast edge of town.  According to the other RVers we spoke with, Santa Fe Skies is about the best park in the area.  In addition to its lovely views and numerous birds and rabbits, it has a walking path that circles the entire park and can be extended to include a path linked to a housing development just down the hill - but watch out for snakes.

Conveniently, the park was a short distance from our Habitat for Humanity build site, scheduled to begin on May 19th.  We spent the intervening two-plus weeks exploring Santa Fe and its surrounding mountains and art communities. 

We took three very beautiful hikes.  Our first, and most remarkable hike was to Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks south of Santa Fe on the Cochiti Pueblo.  The trail took us through a slot-canyon before opening up to the spectacular coned-shaped rocks.  The trail then continued through the rocks and up a mesa for wonderful views of the rocks and the Rio Grande Valley.

Our next hike took us to the top of Atalaya Mountain with its wonderful views of Santa Fe and the surrounding Sangre de Cristo, Sandia and Jemez Mountains.  This wasn't a long hike, but climbing from 7,400 ft. to the 9,100 ft. top of Atalaya Mountain really kicked out butts.  Oxygen please.

We took our last hike in the area on May 18th.   The Hyde Memorial Loop trailhead is located on the very upscale Hyde Park Road that leads to Santa Fe Ski Basin.  The hike was lovely, but ended badly.   When we returned to the trailhead we discovered Kermit's passenger window was smashed out and Susan's purse was stolen.  After recovering from the shock of the intrusion we headed down the mountain to get cell phone reception so we could cancel our credit cards.  We later learned from several very sympathetic locals that trailheads are prime targets for thieves. 

Note to full-timers:  We carry full-timers insurance.  When we bought this coverage we were informed it is "just like homeowner's insurance".  Unfortunately, it is not.  It does not cover the contents of a towed vehicle when it is away from the campsite.  Since Susan's glasses, phone and cash were in her purse, the theft ended up being rather expensive.  Through this experience we learned that we could purchase additional, scheduled insurance for the car's contents.  'Scheduled' means you have to list exactly what you are insuring.  This means you have to anticipate what will be in the car when you have a break-in and your stuff is stolen.  Hmmm…  I suppose one would have to be clairvoyant.  Guess we'll have to break out our Tarot Cards and Ouija Board.

We also took an excursion into the Jemez Mountains to Bandelier National Monument in White Rock Canyon.  Here we hiked among the cliff and cave dwellings, and climbed a series of ladders that took us 140 feet up a cliff face to Alcove House and its kiva.  The house was interesting and the view impressive - but the fact that Susan actually climbed the ladders and lived to tell the story is most noteworthy.

After Bandelier we drove north to the attractive and somewhat infamous town of Los Alamos.   This is the only town we've visited that required us to pass through a security checkpoint before entering.  In spite of our lack of Ph.D.'s in nuclear physics they allowed us to enter.

We toured the Los Alamos National Laboratory Bradbury Science Museum which tells the story of the highly secretive Manhattan Project, the scientists that developed the atomic bomb and life in Los Alamos during WWII, and the Laboratory's current mission to ensure the security and efficacy of the our nuclear arsenal.  We recommend this informative, free museum to travelers in the area. 

Actually, Los Alamos itself is a rather pleasant town to visit.  It sits high in the mountains and retains the aura of a small 1950's college town.

We also spent several days wandering the historic streets of Santa Fe admiring the Spanish architecture and churches, and the numerous museums, art galleries, and sculpture gardens.  Our favorite was the International Museum of Folk Art.  The museum, which shares Museum Hill with three others, opened in 1953 and houses more than 135,000 artifacts representing over 100 countries. The displays were amazingly colorful and intricate.   Neither of us are fans of folk art, but we thoroughly enjoyed the collection.