Santa Fe, New Mexico Part II With Family!

We continued our nine day stay in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a family visit during the last three days. Pat’s brother Mike and his wife Lorna made the long ten hour drive over from the Plano, Texas area. They will also move over to Angel Fire NM with us for another three days. It was great to see them again and to have help exploring this area of the country and the local food!

Family Visit

Mike is Pat’s oldest brother and having been retired about ten years now, provides us with many tips. They have extensive international travel experience and have seen many parts of the south and western US. While in Santa Fe, they stayed at a local hotel.

Visiting with family is another one of the many benefits of traveling the country in an RV. We rarely had an opportunity to see the far flung family members when I was working. Our vacations were usually to some sunny destination, like Florida. But now, our time is truly flexible and we go where we want and when. Boy, I love retirement!

Mike and Lorna arrived at about 5:30 pm on Thursday. We picked them up to go to the Santa Fe Plaza area to walk around and to have dinner at The Shed, a restaurant with New Mexican specialties. History of The Shed: an adobe hacienda, dates back to 1692, when the king of Spain gave this property to Captain Diego Arias de Quiros in recognition of his services in the reconquest. In 1879, this patio acquired its present name when Governor Bradford Prince bought these eighteen rooms built around three patios and established his family here, where they stayed until 1940.

• 

• 

Santa Fe Museums

The next day we were on to a major museum tour in Santa Fe. It seemed that all admission prices were $12 each with no senior discounts either. Included on the grand tour were the Georgia O’Keefe, New Mexico Museum of Art, Museum of International Folk Art, and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. I may have missed one. It was the grand slam of museum tours, although we did not hit them all. Here’s a LINK.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Santa Fe Dining

I really do enjoy visiting museums in our travels, but after a few hours, I’m ready for a drink. Speaking of that our group did enjoy some refreshments, either margaritas, beers, or wine. And some good dining.

Our restaurants visited were Anazasi, Tomasita’s, the Plaza Cafe, and the Museum Hill Cafe while in Santa Fe. Plus, we had some good home cooking on one particularly cold day as Pat made a pot of spicy Zuppa Toscana soup.

Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier is part of the National Park service meaning it is free for us with the senior lifetime pass! This is a must see when in the area. The part is made up of 33,000 acres of some beautiful but rugged terrain. It is also home to the Ancestral Pueblo who lived here from 1100 to 1550. They built homes carved from the volcanic tuff and planted crops in mesatop fields.

Some of their homes were carved into the mountain side while others were built adobe style on the land and arranged in a large circle. It was a little hike in to see all of the Pueblo dwellings. About 1.5 miles in, but on very well maintained trails.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Wrap Up

That’s all for now. Thanks for following along. Our next stop is Angel Fire New Mexico, high up in the mountains at 8,500 feet. Many questions in my mind. How will the truck do navigating the steep ascents and descents? And how will I handle the switchback roads in the truck plus 41 foot 5th wheel trailer? And they are calling for high winds plus a “wintery mix” on our travel day. Check in for the next update to see how we did!

Take care and God Bless.