See.....I'm Keeping Up!

Ok, it's about 9:15pm & I'm just beginning this update. I still have ironing to do, so I'm going to try & make it rather short. I promise you..........it will NOT be as long as the last post! I'm having all kinds of problems keeping my Internet connected tonight for some reason. I have plenty of bars in the Verizon area, but it keeps disconnecting. Go figure!


This is looking down the road heading toward Santa Fe, NM. I'm not sure where the picture was taken from, but we could see these mountains with the snow on them wherever we were. By the time we left this morning, I think some of that snow had melted. It was very warm yesterday & last night around midnight the wind picked up so much I thought the trailer was going to blow over.

This gentleman was just sitting there leisurely sketching a picture of Loretto Chapel

This is Loretto Chapel from the sidewalk walking toward it; about from where the gentleman was sitting.

This is the outside of Loretto Chapel. In case some of you haven't heard of this chapel it is best known for the legend about it's "miraculous staircase". The story is told that a mysterious carpenter appeared to build the staircase in answer to the Sisters of Loretto's Novena, then vanished without pay when it was finished. He arrived by donkey with the only tools of a saw, carpenter's square, a hammer & tubs in which to soak the wood. His "miraculous staircase" contains 33 steps in 2 full 360 degree turns. It has no center support, nor is it held from it sides. The banister was not added until years later.

Altar of chapel

Staircase

Crafters outside chapel

Sculptures outside art gallery

Looking toward town square park. Old Santa Fe is built around this square. Many native Indians sell there jewelry & crafts all around the town. There is the a building called the Palace of the Governors where they just lay them out on the sidewalk on blankets. I have never in all my life seen so much jewelry in one town before!!! Had I had a huge bank account, I could have gone nuts! Bill did find a nice looking Navajo ring though. He has been looking every time we stop, but no one ever has one large enough. He found it in a store where they could re size it for him. We walked around & returned an hour later.

Beautiful architecture

Statue of burrow with his load

Suitable named.......... If you notice the size of the streets.......they were originally only burrow paths through the town. We would have had a very hard time driving that dually truck through town. Thank goodness for public parking lots. It was worth the price to pay to park!

While we were waiting for Bill's ring to be re sized we walked to San Miguel Church. As you can see from the sign, it is the oldest church structure in he USA. The original adobe walls and altar were built by Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the direction of Franciscan Padres in 1610.

This is the outside of the church.

This is the inside looking toward the back & balcony. Huge logs supported the ceiling. Beautiful wood.

This is looking at the altar

This is the oldest house in the USA

Walls are made of adobe & straw.

I couldn't resist the beautiful pink blossoms on the tree outside of Loretto Chapel. I think it might have been apple, but I'm not sure.

We left Santa Fe around 9:30am this morning. We took Interstate 25 South until we got ti US Rt. 380. I decided it would cut off several miles to our destination of Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow. The road was 2 lane & very good until we got into Lincoln National Forest & then it was Bill's turn to drive. The road was pretty bumpy. Once we got to where 70 ran with it, it was very good again.

This was taken at a State Park called Valley of Fires. It was lunch time, & we pulled in, but we didn't want to pay just to eat & take pictures. So Bill took pictures & I pulled back out & we went further down the road.

According to Google Information:

The Valley of Fires has many square miles of buckled, twisted lava, part of an extensive flow up to 50 meters thick and over 45 miles long that originated from several volcanoes, including one vent now known as Little Black Peak, 9 miles northwest of the dusty, windswept town of Carrizozo. The lava is called the Malpais (Spanish for 'badlands'), a name also given to several other flows in New Mexico, including the even larger deposits of the El Malpais National Monument.

The volcanic action responsible was relatively recent, only between 1500-1000 years ago, but the lava has become quite overgrown with grass and small bushes so the landscape is generally greenish rather than black, less of a dramatic spectacle than other Southwest deposits.

This was just past the lava fields at the entrance to Lincoln National Forest where we pulled off at a little pull off to eat.

We wanted to stop at Smokey Bear Museum & State Park, but it was not very RV friendly as we were going through town. The signs are not far enough in advance nor big enough to see & that 40' 5th wheel can't just be stopped & turned on a dime. So sorry grand kids, we didn't get any pictures of Smokey the Bear.

We arrived at our campground for the night in Roswell, NM. It was an easy in easy out pull through site, but it's like camping in a cow pasture. The smell is really bad. I finally gave in & shut the windows.

I got my laundry done as soon as we got here. Made a phone call to Bill's sister Carolyn & she wasn't home (forgot to call her back before their bedtime), then I called my sister Romayne. Hadn't talked to her for a couple of weeks, so we got to catch up. So now it's time to iron!

Until next time.................The Traveling Cardinal's