Santa Fe and Taos

yet another boring Vacation Travelog from us

Dateline May 7 - May 12, Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico

We're off! Well, almost.....Janelle & the girls couldn't resist stopping at a garage sale in Kiowa on the way....

If you pass Walsenburg without stopping at George's, you've made an error. It's a quarter-mile off I-25, exit 52 in Colorado. Try their chili burger with Christmas salsa... yum! They're open for lunch only.

OK, we made it to Santa Fe. There is (of course) some great Southwest/Mex/Indian food here, but don't overlook Upper Crust Pizza. They started in '79, and they've won the Best Pizza In Santa Fe award for the last 20+ years. We had the Mediterranean Pizza, and I'd recommend it, but I'm sure any of the other specialty pizzas are good too.

Just don't get the plain cheese. I'm sure it's good, but you're in one of the best pizzarias in the country, live a little!

We just had to go to Jackalope - sort of the WalMart of southwestern deco. There are only 4 Jackalope stores in the USA: Santa Fe, Parker CO, Los Angles, and Bernalillo, NM. The one in Santa Fe is huge, 5 acres at least.

While in Santa Fe, Janelle was also able to do a food shopping run at Trader Joes, her favorite food store. Unfortunately, the only time she can shop there is in Sacramento, Santa Fe or Phoenix!

I was immediately struck by these stellated dodecahedrons (and they're so southwesterny) - I mean, how often have you seen one? They even had some partially stellated icosahedrons - don't know that they go with our house decor though....

We were able to watch a real glass blower make a tulip vase from start-to-almost-finish. She took the time to explain what she was doing to us and the girls were able to ask her questions. Very educational and interesting to watch this art in process.

If you want to visit the oldest church (San Miguel Mission) in the USA (1610)...

or see the oldest house still standing (1646)...

[at least, that's what they call it. But, the Taos pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years, and I've seen Mesa Verde, so perhaps I don't know what 'house' means]

or ring a bell cast in 1356 - you best not head to the East Coast, unless you want to miss by over 2000 miles. It's all in Santa Fe - and all 3 things are within walking distance of each other for *me*, and these days, that's saying something. And, they're all right next to Upper Crust Pizza, which makes for a good half-day trip.

You can actually ring this bell - they have a rubber mallett next to the bell for just that purpose. Very cool.

The next day, on Mother's Day, I was resting in the hotel room while Janelle and the girls went to the Santa Fe Children's Museum. On the way back, they were rear-ended - we're still going through the insurance details, but Janelle is amazed at how little damage was done to the minivan, given the severity of the collision. (Go Honda!) The teenage boy driver was given a citation for following too close and his insurance carrier called us the day we got back and said 'Get an estimate, we'll cut the check'. Now THAT'S service! So in effect, Janelle got a new bumper for Mother's Day. (for the car, that is....)

Everyone is OK - though it scared the *bleep* out of the kids, especially Alyssa.

We went to Santa Fe 5 years ago - and this is a re-creation of a photo we took back then. The girls are at an adobe wall at the Santa Fe Children's Museum. They also got to make homemade worm compost bins to bring home, climbed an official rock climbing wall (both girls are officially certified in rock wall climbing, so they were pros) and did bubble experiments.

And here is a bubble created by Katelyn....

And here's Alyssa scaling the rock wall....

This is at The Shed, a southwestern eatery we'd recommend, located just a block from the downtown Plaza square in Santa Fe. Again, this is a photo re-creation, we have a pic taken on this same bench, from back in '99.

OK - we shifted to Taos for the rest of the trip, just 1.5 hours away. We rented an Earthship again, we had done this twice before, and we had a great time.

An Earthship is a funky eco-friendly off-grid house - click the link above for more information. I've almost got Janelle convinced to live in one. Maybe when we retire...

Here's a view of the backside of the Earthship we rented. There is a greenhouse (sloped glass), a courtyard area, and ventilation skylights.

You can see the solar panels on the top right - the Earthship collects all the power it needs via solar panels and a wind generator.

It also caches all the water that hits the roof, in a big cistern. We weren't hooked up to any utilities at all. The cool thing is, you can put a house like this anywhere you like.

I loved the dining room table in the Earthship - a big circle of glass, sitting on a tree trunk. The chairs are 'homemade' too.

A completely homemade door, we liked the stained glass windows & scrollwork around the edges.

This would be a good entry for a 'what heck is this?' contest. I'm laying on one of the beds, looking up into the 16-gon roof and the skylight. The skylight is counterweighted, and the rope coming down from it allows me to adjust it from inside.

The girls slept here 2 of the 3 nights (we swapped beds on the final night) - it was fun to be able to look out into the greenhouse from the bed.

I showed Alyssa how to build with playing cards. Here, she shows off her mastery.

This Earthship is also available for rent. Maybe we'll stay in it the next time we go down. It's called 'The Hut' because it's smaller.

Here are 3 Earthships in a row - the one on the left is now privately owned, but back in the late 90s, it was a rental, and we have stayed in it too.

On the way home, we went through San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado, 1851. Nice, but a bit of a letdown after the far older history in Santa Fe!

Mount Blanca is one of the more impressive sights in Colorado. We had been by here several times before, but the peak was always invisible (fog, dark, etc.), so I was glad they finally got a good view. This shot was taken just south of Ft. Garland.

Aargh! My sooper-secret backroads route has been discovered! This qualifies as 'traffic' on highway 79, part of my sneaky I-25-avoidance route. We even saw trucks on the Kiowa-Bennet road. That ain't right.

We'll be back.

We're off! Well, almost.....Janelle & the girls couldn't resist stopping at a garage sale in Kiowa on the way....
	If you pass Walsenburg without stopping at George's, you've made an error. It's a quarter-mile off I-25, exit 52 in Colorado. Try their chili burger with Christmas salsa... yum! They're open for lunch only.
OK, we made it to Santa Fe. There is (of course) some great Southwest/Mex/Indian food here, but don't overlook Upper Crust Pizza. They started in '79, and they've won the Best Pizza In Santa Fe award for the last 20+ years. We had the Mediterranean Pizza, and I'd recommend it, but I'm sure any of the other specialty pizzas are good too. Just don't get the plain cheese. I'm sure it's good, but you're in one of the best pizzarias in the country, live a little!
	We just had to go to Jackalope - sort of the WalMart of southwestern deco. There are only 4 Jackalope stores in the USA: Santa Fe, Parker CO, Los Angles, and Bernalillo, NM. The one in Santa Fe is huge, 5 acres at least. While in Santa Fe, Janelle was also able to do a food shopping run at Trader Joes, her favorite food store. Unfortunately, the only time she can shop there is in Sacramento, Santa Fe or Phoenix!
I was immediately struck by these stellated dodecahedrons (and they're so southwesterny) - I mean, how often have you seen one? They even had some partially stellated icosahedrons - don't know that they go with our house decor though....
	We were able to watch a real glass blower make a tulip vase from start-to-almost-finish. She took the time to explain what she was doing to us and the girls were able to ask her questions. Very educational and interesting to watch this art in process.
If you want to visit the oldest church (San Miguel Mission) in the USA (1610)...
or see the oldest house still standing (1646)... [at least, that's what they call it. But, the Taos pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years, and I've seen Mesa Verde, so perhaps I don't know what 'house' means]
or ring a bell cast in 1356 - you best not head to the East Coast, unless you want to miss by over 2000 miles. It's all in Santa Fe - and all 3 things are within walking distance of each other for me, and these days, that's saying something. And, they're all right next to Upper Crust Pizza, which makes for a good half-day trip. You can actually ring this bell - they have a rubber mallett next to the bell for just that purpose. Very cool.
	The next day, on Mother's Day, I was resting in the hotel room while Janelle and the girls went to the Santa Fe Children's Museum. On the way back, they were rear-ended - we're still going through the insurance details, but Janelle is amazed at how little damage was done to the minivan, given the severity of the collision. (Go Honda!) The teenage boy driver was given a citation for following too close and his insurance carrier called us the day we got back and said 'Get an estimate, we'll cut the check'. Now THAT'S service! So in effect, Janelle got a new bumper for Mother's Day. (for the car, that is....) Everyone is OK - though it scared the bleep out of the kids, especially Alyssa.
We went to Santa Fe 5 years ago - and this is a re-creation of a photo we took back then. The girls are at an adobe wall at the Santa Fe Children's Museum. They also got to make homemade worm compost bins to bring home, climbed an official rock climbing wall (both girls are officially certified in rock wall climbing, so they were pros) and did bubble experiments.
	And here is a bubble created by Katelyn....
And here's Alyssa scaling the rock wall....
	This is at The Shed, a southwestern eatery we'd recommend, located just a block from the downtown Plaza square in Santa Fe. Again, this is a photo re-creation, we have a pic taken on this same bench, from back in '99.
OK - we shifted to Taos for the rest of the trip, just 1.5 hours away. We rented an Earthship again, we had done this twice before, and we had a great time. An Earthship is a funky eco-friendly off-grid house - click the link above for more information. I've almost got Janelle convinced to live in one. Maybe when we retire...
	Here's a view of the backside of the Earthship we rented. There is a greenhouse (sloped glass), a courtyard area, and ventilation skylights. You can see the solar panels on the top right - the Earthship collects all the power it needs via solar panels and a wind generator. It also caches all the water that hits the roof, in a big cistern. We weren't hooked up to any utilities at all. The cool thing is, you can put a house like this anywhere you like.
I loved the dining room table in the Earthship - a big circle of glass, sitting on a tree trunk. The chairs are 'homemade' too.
	A completely homemade door, we liked the stained glass windows & scrollwork around the edges.
This would be a good entry for a 'what heck is this?' contest. I'm laying on one of the beds, looking up into the 16-gon roof and the skylight. The skylight is counterweighted, and the rope coming down from it allows me to adjust it from inside.
	The girls slept here 2 of the 3 nights (we swapped beds on the final night) - it was fun to be able to look out into the greenhouse from the bed.
	I showed Alyssa how to build with playing cards. Here, she shows off her mastery.
This Earthship is also available for rent. Maybe we'll stay in it the next time we go down. It's called 'The Hut' because it's smaller.
	Here are 3 Earthships in a row - the one on the left is now privately owned, but back in the late 90s, it was a rental, and we have stayed in it too.
On the way home, we went through San Luis, the oldest town in Colorado, 1851. Nice, but a bit of a letdown after the far older history in Santa Fe!
	Mount Blanca is one of the more impressive sights in Colorado. We had been by here several times before, but the peak was always invisible (fog, dark, etc.), so I was glad they finally got a good view. This shot was taken just south of Ft. Garland.
Aargh! My sooper-secret backroads route has been discovered! This qualifies as 'traffic' on highway 79, part of my sneaky I-25-avoidance route. We even saw trucks on the Kiowa-Bennet road. That ain't right. We'll be back.