A Day Outing to Santa Fe

Spring has officially arrived and I have completed my chemo treatments.  YEAH!  Now on to the Radiation part and then we will be done here in ABQ; hopefully, until September when we will again come back for our other doctor appointments and to check in with the doctors at the New Mexico Cancer Center. 

Thought I would include a picture of me and my daughter Laurie in November before chemo, one now (thinner hair) and one with my wig that is close to my hair color.  As you will notice, the wig has far more hair than I even had before chemo.  I never did have a real full head of hair.  

Happy 16th Birthday to our granddaughter (Kaylee) in Texas this past Sunday (March 20).  Where have the years gone.  She has her learners permit and will soon be driving the old 70’s Mustang loaned to the family by her Dad’s Uncle Bob.  Have fun, Kaylee. 

Monday (March 21) Ron and I took off early to have breakfast in Santa Fe at one of our favorite funky, colorful and rambling places, Harry’s Road House located on the Old Las Vegas Highway.  Harry and his wife are originally from Philadelphia, PA and fell under the spell of the southwest cuisine on a visit to Santa Fe over a decade ago.  Harry can be  seen wearing a fedora hat and often seats you himself.

The size of the place has increased over the years with numerous rooms each of a different color (part road house, part diner, part bar, and in summer, a garden patio with beautiful flowers).  “One room looks like it was pulled from the set of Diner, with retro-style tables, chrome-accented chairs, swiveling cushioned counter stools, and baked goods taunting from behind the glass of a refrigerated case. In the heart of the building is a warm but wonky room with a wood-beamed ceiling and walls littered with local artwork.  In the bar, locals regularly post up for a pint or one of Harry’s renowned margaritas.  Adjoining is a cozier dining room with a kiva fireplace.”   It is a popular local gathering place where we often bring family and friends from out of town to have breakfast, lunch or dinner here when we come to Santa Fe.   The food is always good, varied and consistently good.

While Ron had hoped to take some new pictures of some of the local churches, etc., it was the wrong time of the day and some construction was taking place in front of the Cathedral so he elected to do it another day later in the spring when more flowers might be out and construction hopefully will be completed.   He did however, catch this shot of the Santa Fe Rail Yard water tower where the local Rail Runner comes in. 

It’s an easy drive from Albuquerque and one we have often taken over the years either to have a meal or just take in the shops and sights.  

A Saturday Drive

Spring is arriving in Albuquerque with leaves starting to sprout out, pink, white and yellow flowers appearing on trees and shrubs and those spring bulbs appearing above the warm soil even if there is still a bit of snow on the ground.  However, weather here is very unpredictable and we could have a major snow storm with snow on the ground before we see the middle of April. 

With the weather so warm, last Saturday we decided to take a trip to the east side of the Sandia Mountains north on Highway 14  to visit Tinkertown but found it closed for the winter season opening again on April 1 so will try again after that date.  What is Tinkertown?  Wait for a later blog and you will find out.

Returning to the Highway 14, we stopped at a local restaurant called Ribs for some lunch.  It is a small place but the food is quite good.  Ron had ribs and fries and I had a half hoagie bun filled with pulled pork covered in sauce and potato salad.  Portions were just right and delicious.  Across the shopping center we found the Watermelon Gallery which houses some lovely paintings by local artists.  While a number of paintings were appealing, the prices and lack of wall space in the RV kept us from making a purchase.   

Following the highway toward I-40, we crossed under the freeway and headed south toward the Manzano (means apple in Spanish) Mountains where there are numerous hiking trails, Cibola Forest picnic grounds, houses and several small communities.  This is a good two lane highway with adequate shoulders which at times wind here and there.  The road does wind but is a great road even for large RV’s with toweds.  The local Elks Lodge has a Refuge Campground in the area which is quite nice though somewhat primitive.  In the summer it is a good place to get away from the heat of the city.

We drove as far as the community of Chilili which does not really amount to much except a very, very small General Store.  On our return trip, we stopped at this old church (Iglesia de San Isidro) in the town of Escobosa (in Spanish it means the grass used for broom making). 

As we drive back toward I-40, we noticed there was a Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site behind the Ranger Station  in Tijeras of which we were unaware.

A short 1/3 of a mile trail took us around the many mounds, etc. where we found many signs about the people that lived here in the 1300’s; however,  we were disappointed to find that there is really not much to see other than the signs.

 Between 1971 and 1976, the Dept. of Anthropology at the Univ. of NM excavated the area and many artifacts were found.  However, it was backfilled afterwards to protect the area from the elements.  Too bad as seeing the actual excavated sites are far more interesting.  Below is info found on line about the site and a picture of what they think the site looked like when occupied.

Add caption

Pre-Historic Background The Tijeras Pueblo site had two main occupations.  Tree-ring date research places the dates of overall occupation of the site from 1313 to approximately 1425 AD.  There is speculation that these peoples were part of the general migration from the "four corners" area (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado), but there is no evidence to solidly identify any exact previous location.

The pueblo was initially built up in the first part of the 14th century to include a main structure consisting of 200 rooms, arranged in somewhat of a U-shape.  A large ceremonial kiva constructed in the center of the pueblo area may indicate that it could have been important in the lives of members of nearby communities.  Archaeological evidence indicates that Tijeras Pueblo was at least partially abandoned in the 14th century.  It appears that around 1360, perhaps up to half of the occupants left.  The reasons the population left the site may relate to drought and related land use issues, but this is not proven fact and other factors may have possibly been in play.

A nice day to get out and enjoy the outdoors.  I tend to be what my mother called “a hot house plant” since I spend so much time inside doing my crafts, sewing, reading, etc.  It’s not as if I don’t like the outdoors, it’s just too easy to stay put.  Hopefully, getting on the road again will give us incentive to see what is outdoors along the way.