Mountains, Art, and Sky - Santa Fe Part 1
The cycling at the RV park, however, was very comfortable.
After our trip across southern New Mexico through Las Cruces, Alamogordo, and Carlsbad, we had pretty low expectations for our return to the state. We knew little about Santa Fe itself, but it seemed like an appealing city - mountainous, smaller than Albuquerque, history of notable art. But all of it exceeded our expectations.
After a week in the ruler-flat Llano Estacado, the descent off it into hilly lands, and later in the day, the climb into the hills around Santa Fe, was quite striking. Santa Fe sits tucked into the Sangre de Cristo foothills, with mountains on 3 sides and hilly, desert country to the north. It has a distinct architectural style enforced by city code since 1957, which means all buildings must fit the Pueblo Revival style. The city has a uniformly brown, square, low look that blends naturally into the landscape. It's also an incredibly old city, with working buildings in continuous use since 1610 - a decade before the Mayflower even set sail.
Our park was pretty special, up on a bluff in the SW corner of town with views of the surrounding mountains. Most city RV parks aren't in the nice part of town, so it was a treat to be able to step outside and soak in the vistas of city and mountain all around. The views weren't all, however - like the city, the park itself had art all over the place, welded and metalwork creations of all kinds at the ends of the rows and elsewhere. Just a really nicely done place with lots of care put into making it work well.
The day after we arrived we headed south of the city to a nicely done mountain biking park for some more riding. We had such a good time with it in Palo Duro that the kids were ready for more. Unfortunately this park's idea of a beginner trail was quite a bit harder than we were ready for, so we turned around after much less riding than we had hoped. The views were wonderful but the trails tough as nails. So much for mountain biking New Mexico, at least for now.
As we settled into the city, though, we found it kept having more to offer. Kristin and Audrey got haircuts early in the stay (thank you Santafesinos for your excellent mask adherence) and their hairstylist, a local, had all kinds of good tips for sights and activities.
Among the sights we made a point to see was Loretto Chapel, home of a legendary... staircase. Yes, a staircase, a spiral one with no center column and, initially, not even a handrail, with a good story behind it about the old nuns who couldn't climb the ladder to the choir loft, their prayers for a staircase that could fit into their tiny chapel, and the mysterious carpenter who worked for months behind a curtain before revealing the incredible spiral stairs. The chapel is no longer a parish, rather more of a tourist and wedding destination, but it's beautifully restored and a cool thing to see.
We tried to eat the famous Frito Pie at the Five & Dime but they were closed. (We would later discover it had wheat in it, so we couldn't eat it anyway.) Also closed was the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public building in continuous use in the US. We’ll have to come back for that one. Eventually we drove to a good mexican place (another hair stylist recommendation) for takeout and ate at the crossroads playground, which was nice, but cold that evening.
One part of the playground with hammock-like cargo nets spread out.
So it was a light first week in Santa Fe, and tomorrow we'll be heading to the NW end of town to some USFS land to boondock for a week. Boondocking saves money, offers more privacy and usually better views, so it's a nice break from the crowded RV park - nice though this one is. This should be nice because it's a short drive to get there, too. Early in the morning I'll go scout it out and make sure the access is good, then I can head back to pick up the rig and set us up. This is a rare luxury, usually when you boondock you're there with the rig on dirt roads hoping you find a spot you fit in and can get turned around, and you're usually doing it after multiple hours of travel. Here we can be like yeah, I drove all around it, picked out a spot, and we can get there and set up in under an hour.
We're excited to spend another week here, especially since I'm going to get some time off so we can really explore the area better. My co-workers joke that I'm on a yearlong vacation, but sadly that's not the case. My workdays just involve different chores and window views of varying quality. If I'm lucky we can squeeze in an excursion in the evening, and sometimes I get to work at a park or something. When I do get time off, however, I get to do amazing stuff!
