Come What May: American Southwest Vacation (Part 1 of 4) Santa Fe: The City Different

Joe and I have just returned from a two week vacation in the American Southwest. We had never visited that part of the world before. We loved it.

New Mexico is called 'The Land of Enchantment'. Santa Fe refers to itself as 'The City Different'. Both are apt descriptions.

It is a land of dry heat, big blue sky, fluffy clouds, open spaces, adobe homes, friendly people and art. I have never seen so much art in one place before! Paintings, textiles, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, furniture. You name it. Santa Fe's got it. In spades.

Downtown Santa Fe

Santa Fe has a real small town feel to it. There are only 70,000 residents.

Santa Fe sits at 7,000 feet above sea level. I have to admit I felt a wee bit fatigued for the first couple of days. It took me a while to get my 'sea legs'. Joe said he felt out of breath when we first arrived.

Kateri Tekakwitha. 'Lily of the Mohawks'.

Santa Fe sunset

We rented an adobe 'casita' a few blocks from the Santa Fe Plaza. Like they say in the real estate world, "Location! Location! Location!" It was a perfect spot where we could come and go at our leisure. We were never far from the action. Just how we like it.

Santa Fe Plaza

Our casita behind a coyote fence.

We did not need air conditioning at all. The adobe walls were thick enough to keep the heat out in the day. We slept with the windows open as it was cool and breezy at night.

This murphy bed was bloody uncomfortable. We felt like we had been punched in the kidneys when we woke up those first few mornings. Thank goodness we eventually got used to the ulta-firm mattress.

Santa Fe's Farmer's market.

I've always said that the U.S.A. has the best customer service in the world. We didn't even have to go to a mailbox! This lovely letter carrier offered to take our postcards for us from the street!

We rented ourselves a 2013 Mustang convertible. Joe was in heaven. It was a fabulous car for a road trip. We spent a couple of days exploring the wide open spaces of the New Mexico desert.

Big Daddy in the 'stang.

The open road of New Mexico.

We saw our fair share of rain and thunder showers.

Clouds are a big part of the New Mexico landscape.

We got a few kicks on Route 66. We sought out some of the remaining sections of that old highway. How the little towns along that road can survive is a mystery to me.

The main drag of Mountainair, New Mexico.

Lots of abandoned buildings were for sale.

We stopped for an ice cream cone. Walking into the general store was like stepping back in time. I felt like I was in an episode of 'The Andy Griffiths Show'. Mountainair was an easy stand-in for Mayberry.

We drove to the top of Sandia Crest. The base of this mountain sits at 7,000 feet above sea level. The peak is at 11,000 feet above sea level. The views of Albuquerque are incredible. When I walked into the gift shop, I found a woman bent over gasping for air. Thank goodness the gift shop sold oxygen tanks for people like her!

Hello down there, Albuquerque!

When Joe and I travel, one of the things we love to do is go to art museums. We went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum to learn more about the woman and her work. And once we're in a museum, we enjoy going on tours with docents. In 45 short minutes, we learned so many fascinating things about Georgia O'Keeffe, her paintings, and her life in the Santa Fe desert.

Georgia O'Keeffe's two houses and studios are in Abiquiu, New Mexico. About a 2 hour drive northwest of Santa Fe. We also learned that one of her favourite places to paint was 'Plaza Blanca' (The White Place) just outside of Abiquiu.

Joe and I looked at each other and said, "Let's go there tomorrow!" Our docent overheard us and said, "If you go to Abiquiu, you must stop at Bode's General Store for lunch. Their green chili cheeseburgers are the best in the world." Georgia O'Keeffe AND green chili cheeseburgers in the same outing? How could we resist that tempting combination?

Green Chili Goodness

We were on the road early the next morning. We drove through arid desert full of sagebrush. Once we got to Abiquiu, we turned off the main highway and wound our way through sandy hills until we reached a sign that read 'Plaza Blanca'.

If you are interested in art history, it is wonderful to see the actual places where the artist painted. This day trip was no exception.

We were astounded by Plaza Blanca's physical beauty. We knew the rocks had been shaped by millions of years of wind and water, but the towering formations still didn't look real to our eyes. No wonder O'Keeffe was mesmerized by their surreal forms.

'From The White Place', Georgia O'Keeffe, 1940.

Plaza Blanca

The clouds were starting to darken at this point in the day. Joe and I looked at each other and said, "This is not the place to be if it starts to rain hard and there is a flash flood." We headed out of the canyon pronto.

Another of Georgia O'Keeffe's favourite subjects was Pedernal Mountain. She could see this mountain from her home, Ghost Ranch, and painted it over and over again.

'Pedernal', Georgia O'Keeffe, 1936.

Pedernal Mountain

'White Trumpet Flower', Georgia O'Keeffe, 1932

White trumpet flower

I was lucky enough to celebrate my 54th birthday in Santa Fe. Joe gave me a beautiful turquoise bracelet and took me out for a fancy dinner.

54 and loving it.

No blog post of mine would be complete without a couple of food photos. I think I consumed my weight in beer, margaritas and chili rellenos during this trip.

Chili Rellenos

Posole. A delicious pork and maize stew.

The margaritas were the best we had ever tasted.

For some reason, there are three French bakeries in Santa Fe. How lucky for us! Joe would go out every morning and bring back my beloved pain au raisin along with a croissant or two for our breakfast. The best of both worlds.....

As we were getting ready to leave New Mexico and drive west to Arizona, someone suggested we stop at the Acoma Pueblo and visit their settlement at the top of the mesa.