March 23rd we left Gold Canyon and started to mosey our way north with a 3 day stop to explore the Santa Fe, New Mexico area.
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| The view from our campsite at Santa Fe Skies RV Park. |
Before taking a city tour of old Santa Fe, we stopped to see the beautiful "Miraculous Staircase at Loretto Chapel". The small Gothic chapel was built in the 1870's and had a design flaw; the only way to get from the chapel to the choir loft was to climb a ladder, and the nuns thought it scandolous for them, and the school girls, to climb a ladder in dresses. All the local carpenters that were asked to build a staircase said that a conventional staircase would take up too much room from the small chapel. As the story goes, the Sisters finally made a Novena to their patron saint, Saint Joseph the Carpenter, and on the 9th, and final day of the Novena, a carpenter arrived, designed and built a circular staircase from the chapel to the choir loft. When the staircase was complete, the carpenter disappeared without seeking payment. The nuns believed the carpenter was actually Saint Joseph.
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There are 33 steps in 2 full 360-degree turns in the staircase.
There are no center or side supports and no nails were used in the construction, only wooden pegs.
The only tools used by the carpenter were a saw, carpenter's square, a hammer, and tubs to soak the wood.
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| A few years after the staircase was finished, a local carpenter was hired to add the bannister. |
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| Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico as well as a mecca for artists and foodies. Hundreds of restaurants and art galleries attract tourists from all over the world. |
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| Pueblo architecture is prevalent throughout the city of Santa Fe -- even Target! |
Located about 50 miles northwest of Santa Fe is the 33,750 acre Bandelier National Monument. Aldolph Bandelier came to the New Mexico Territory in1880, trampling throughout the region to study archeological sites in the Southwest. Within the Frijoles Canyon we walked along the self-guided trail through the archeological remains of the Ancestral Pueblo people.
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| Looking down from the ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings to the archaeological remains of the settlement Tyuonyi on the floor of Frijoles Canyon. |
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| Exploring the cliff dwellings, as well as seeing petroglyphs and pictographs. For more than 400 years, the Frijoles Canyon was home to generations of Ancestral Pueblo people. |
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| The "swiss cheese" rock is compacted volcanic ash. The Ancestral people used tools to enlarge some of the small natural openings in the cliff face for their dwellings. |
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| Walkling along Frijoles Creek ("the little river of beans"), we encountered piles of debris from a Sept. 2013 flash flood. Sandbags still protect the Visitors Center and museum. |
We pulled into our Pikes Peak view campsite at my sister Lori's home in Woodland Park on March 26th. As always, the Black's hospitality was outstanding and Lori's gourmet cooking delicious. It was so good to see our nieces Kelsey and Jenae, and meet Jenae's guy, Max. Jim and I gave a Max a thumbs up approval; he's a keeper.
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| Kiwanis Bingo night in Woodland Park. We didn't win, but John's brother Mike did. |
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| Hiking near Colorado Springs, Maggie gets a drink of water. |
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| Jim, John, Lori, and Maggie on our hike at Red Rocks Recreation Area. |
Before we knew it, it was time to say good-bye and continue on our way. Kearney, NE was our stop for one night before the final push home. Wednesday morning I looked at the Weather Bug App on my phone and saw there was an" ALERT!" for Hudson; a winter storm was tracking to Minnesota and Western Wisconsin threatening to dump 10 to 12 inches of snow. So, before leaving Nebraska, we winterized the motor home.
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| Welcome home to Wisconsin! |
