New Mexico - Land of Enchantment
New Mexico is aptly named the Land of Enchantment. We started our trip in the southern part of the state, in Old Town Las Cruces, at one time the hangout spot of Billy the Kid. There is a large historical marker downtown which commemorates the Butterfield Overland Trail Stage Line, from St. Louis to San Francisco, 1856 to 1861. Next stop was the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, a 47-acre interactive museum which literally brings New Mexico’s unique agricultural heritage to life. We especially enjoyed the livestock exhibits where we saw horses, goats, sheep, donkeys, and dairy cows. This would be a great place to visit with children.
We had heard about the White Sands National Monument for many years, but we had no idea how otherworldly and gorgeous it would be. For one thing, it is a photographer’s paradise, with its great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand that have engulfed 275 miles of desert. The dunes, brilliant and white, are ever changing. The ripples look painterly, as if an artist had used an instrument, or maybe just fingertips, to form and compose them into an artistic work of great beauty. The adaptability of nature is startlingly present, as a few hardy plants and animals have managed to survive this extremely windy, harsh environment. Several types of small animals have evolved white colorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand. Not many species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by the moving dunes, but we did see some. It was fun making footprints with our shoes and writing “Jane & Andy” in the sand. We drove eight miles from the Visitor Center into the heart of the dunes for our exploration, wishing that we had more time to hike all the available trails, but it was getting late, and we wanted to arrive before nightfall at the small village of Cloudcroft, in the mountains at elevation 8,600 feet. We stayed one night at the Lodge at Cloudcroft and enjoyed dinner in their restaurant that evening. At a nearby table was a man eating alone, so we began chatting with him. He had come to the US from Europe and was bicycling across the country. We were impressed that he had chosen to ride up the steep road to Cloudcroft, and he acknowledged that it was difficult, while he devoured the large steak on his plate.
The next day we headed to Ruidoso, a town with an old-fashioned western cowboy vibe. We spoke to a local historian who showed us some quaint original buildings that had been preserved as well as the racetrack which brings visitors in the summer. From there it was just 30 miles on the Billy the Kid Trail to Lincoln, where Billy the Kid reportedly escaped from jail. This byway was the stomping ground of many well-known characters and events associated with the “Old West.” Besides Billy the Kid, it was home to the Mescalero Apache nation, Kit Carson, “Black Jack” Pershing, the Buffalo Soldiers and Smokey Bear. If you like this kind of stuff, Lincoln is the place for you as it was for us. A fingerprint, carbon-dated to be roughly 28,000 years old, was discovered in a nearby cave. Wow!
New Mexico is a land of extremes as well as the Land of Enchantment. From White Sands National Monument to our next destination, Valley of the Fire Lava Beds, which is mostly black. This lava flow is considered the youngest lava flow in the continental US, estimated to be between 1000 and 1500 years old. It is five miles wide, 160 feet thick, and covers 125 square miles. It is starkly beautiful, with scattered green cactus bushes patchworked among the rugged, bumpy lava rocks.
Historic Old Town was our favorite area in Albuquerque. San Felipe de Neri Church, on the north side of Old Town Plaza, was built in 1793 and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city. It is the only building in Old Town proven to date to the Spanish colonial period. We had a delicious breakfast one morning on the garden patio at the Church Street Café, where we admired new growth on the cactus plants, cactus flowers, a different kind of floral beauty for us. Beautiful tile and mosaics are featured throughout Old Town, depicting historical events.
While staying in Albuquerque, we took a ride on the nearby Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway. At 2.7 miles, it is one of the world’s longest tramways. The ride was thrilling, and the views of the valley and surrounding mountains were fantastic. We also toured the University of New Mexico campus, which I had not previously visited, and were impressed with the many water features, shade trees and flowers on the quad and throughout the campus.
Leaving Albuquerque, we decided to take the long way, the Turquoise Trail, to Santa Fe. The drive is about 50 miles long and is a National Scenic Byway. We stopped at several small towns along the way, for lunch and to shop in the many stores filled with local arts, crafts and jewelry…especially turquoise jewelry. Our favorite was the quirky, artsy town of Madrid. I bought a scarf there which I enjoy wearing to this day.
Santa Fe is the capitol of New Mexico and one of our favorite US cities. We stayed at native-American owned Hotel Santa Fe, Hacienda and Spa. It was beautiful, comfortable and centrally located. There is so much to do in Santa Fe, and much of it is within walking distance. The International Museum of Folk Art, however, is located on Museum Hill and well worth the drive to get there. The Girard Wing is a must-see, with its popular exhibition Multiple Visions: A Common Bond, which showcases folk art, popular art, toys and textiles from more than 100 countries. There is a stunning bronze sculpture called Apache Mountain Spirit Dancer on the Museum Plaza by Apache artist Craig Dan Goseyen which is 10-feet tall. We had lunch at a restaurant owned by our friend Don Fulton called the Museum Hill Café. Despite being very busy, he was able to sit and chat with us for a while as we ate.
San Miguel Mission is a Spanish colonial mission church originally built around 1610. Although much smaller, the inside of the church reminded us of the Santa Barbara Mission where we were married. The Floating Staircase in the Loretto Chapel is fascinating to see. There are three mysteries associated with it: the identity of its builder, the type of wood used, and the physics of its construction. The design was innovative for its time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today. The staircase has two 360-degree turns with no visible means of support. It is said that it was built without nails, only wooden pegs. It is in the Inn and Spa at Loretto, which is another very nice place to stay in Santa Fe.
We were able to arrange a guided tour at the Georgia O’Keeffe Research Center which was very interesting and convinced us to go to Ghost Ranch later this same trip. I have always admired her paintings.
A highlight of visiting Santa Fe is to walk along Canyon Road, the upscale center of the Santa Fe art scene. There are many elegant shops filled with both fine art and whimsical works that kept us happily rambling for hours. We liked Santa Fe so much that we inquired about available real estate, thinking we might want to move there. I had retired from my practice in San Francisco and Andy can run his business from anywhere. We found a house not too far from downtown that we loved. We went back to look at it a second time and discussed it with our friend Don. He told us about a couple from Mill Valley, where we lived at the time, who had moved to Santa Fe for 5 years and then returned to Mill Valley. He suggested we contact them before deciding, which we later did. While we did not make that move, we periodically fantasize about what life would be like living full time in Santa Fe.
Heading north on the way to Taos, we crossed the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge where we witnessed big horn sheep climbing on the rocks. This is desolate desert area, very flat, but with stunning views of the Gorge and the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the distance. It is the second highest bridge on the US highway system. Looking down into the Gorge, there are red rocks punctuated by green cactus, and pierced by the blue water of the Rio Grande. It is a spectacular sight.
Taos is known for its historic adobe buildings such as Taos Pueblo, a multistory adobe complex inhabited by Native Americans for centuries. It is also an artist colony, with many galleries and museums showcasing regional artwork. We were there on Mother’s Day, 2013, and I had hoped to find a turquoise bracelet in Santa Fe but had no luck. We had breakfast one morning with an old friend from college, Cam Martin, and she told us about a jewelry store that she thought had the best quality and value for Native American jewelry. We knew she would know as she was the proprietor of a store selling Native American craftwork. I found the perfect bracelet, small enough for my wrist and uniquely fashioned with polished stones, some jewels and signed by the artist. It is the bracelet I wear most often, and I frequently receive compliments for it. Thank you, Cam! It was fun catching up with her and learning about her life in Taos. She was born and raised in a small town called El Rito, near Taos, where she and her family were the only non-Hispanic people. Her father ran the General Store there and she learned to speak a dialect of Spanish that is ancient. She didn’t realize that until she went to Seattle University and her Spanish professor was astonished at the way she spoke Spanish. The people in tiny isolated El Rito had been there for generations and were therefore not influenced by Spanish spoken in other areas.
We drove to Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch by way of El Rito. The General Store is still there, but not much else. No wonder Cam decided to move to Taos. This was such an interesting day! Ghost Ranch is a 21,000-acre retreat and education center situated near the small village of Abiquiu. We started our exploration by hiking to Chimney Rock, which was the inspiration for many of O’Keeffe’s paintings. It’s only three miles round trip, but part of it is steep and rocky. After reaching the top of a mesa, we approached Chimney Rock from behind, getting close enough for a dizzying view of the valley below. I couldn’t look down; it was just too scary. Back at the ranch we saw a reconstructed skeleton of a dinosaur in the Natural History Museum.
Leaving the ranch, we decided to visit tiny Abiquiu and found our way to the studio of a man named Napoleon Garcia. He was elderly and having a hard time getting around, using a wooden stick as a type of cane. We admired his work and started chatting with him, only to discover that he had once worked for Georgia O’Keeffe and had written a book, called Genizaro and the Artist: Stories from New Mexico Villages, about that time in his life. We felt so lucky that we stumbled upon his studio and enjoyed hearing his colorful stories. We purchased the book, which he autographed, and drove into the little town. There wasn’t much to see, except for Santa Tomas El Apostol Church, which we learned had been recently restored. It was a great way to end our trip to New Mexico, in this tiny town with a population of 231 according to the 2010 census.
There are many sides to New Mexico – the sophistication of Santa Fe, the Native American culture in Taos, the contrast between the modern downtown and Historic Old Town of Albuquerque, and the natural wonders of White Sands National Monument and Valley of the Fire Lava Beds. New Mexico is aptly named the Land of Enchantment.