Day 6 Experiencing the culture of New Mexico

Finally, a well needed "slower day" has arrived. We planned to tour the Santa Fe area with no scheduled commitments. Hooray! After 5 days, a little housekeeping is needed - laundry and cleaning out the car! Chris went off to hit some golf balls (in the brown grass), the girls played some mini tennis and I tried to get up to date with my journal.

We drove into Santa Fe and quickly noticed how different the homes/buildings are. Everything has the adobe style with the reddish clay color. Homes are clustered very close together. Fact for the day - Santa Fe, established in 1640,is the oldest capital and the highest in elevation (7,000 ft). It also seems like the smallest in square miles I have seen. It is very compact and you can walk basically everywhere. We went to the town plaza where local musicians were playing and artists were selling their goods. Jewelry, artwork and pottery are very prominent. We visited two old cathedrals - The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, where the oldest US statute of the Virgin Mary is displayed, and the Loretto Chapel, which is known for the miraculous spiral staircase. On the recommendation of Giada DeLaurentis of The Food Network,we went to Tia Sophias for some authentic New Mexican cuisine. The food was fabulous and unique. We sampled the red and green chiles, the local stew and Sappasillas - a lightly fried bread sprinkled with honey and cinnamon.

In order to spare Chris the agony of more shopping, we decided to start our journey to Cortez, CO. It was going to be a 5 hour drive - doesn't sound bad after just finishing two 10 hour drives. The thrill of driving has wore off today - the Barbies that we so heavily depended on to get us through some tough hours were starting WWIII. All three girls wanted the pregnant Barbie. I'll blame that on the Lewisboro Elementary environment where it seems like half the teachers will be delivering in the coming months. With some careful negotiating -Chris wanted them to be roadkill - the Barbies were saved and the girls were once again on neutral territory.

The topography west of Santa Fe was completely different than what we had seen the day before. We saw beautiful mountains and plateaus with a palate of green, brown and red colors. There were few towns and those we passed were very rundown. It took us 6 days before a directional mistake was made. Chris was so excited to see the metropolis of Durango, with its river and basin, that he missed a critical turn. The girls called this an MM (man mistake) which have been surprisingly sparse so far.

The hotel accommodations were surprisingly nice. We definitely didn't know what to expect in Cortez. We will be staying in Cortez for 2 nights as we will spend a full day tomorrow at the Mesa Verde National Park exploring the cliff dwellings. It will be very refreshing not having to pack up the car tomorrow morning.

Thanks for traveling with us!
Debbi