The Land of Enchantment

Today finds us in Santa Fe New Mexico. We left Colorado Springs KOA a little later than I had planned on Friday, but still made it to Santa Fe about 5 pm. It was an uneventful trip over the Raton Pass and on the Santa Fe Trail.

We had some fuse problems upon doing light checks before pulling out and that took a few minutes to troubleshoot and fix. We had about 6 inches of rain in couple of days that we were there, reminding me of Monsoon Season once again. We are perched high upon a hill just outside of Santa Fe.

The view is gorgeous, and people are friendly, mostly our age group doing some fall traveling.

Saturday we went into the city and drove right downtown to the Santa Fe Plaza. Very busy narrow streets and no parking available directed us to the State Capitol Parking lot. We spent a few minutes having a bite of lunch and listened to a group of people protesting against the State's Employee Policies.
It just goes to show that there's lots of people everywhere that are very dissatisfied with the Government today. To just happen upon a demonstration on a Saturday is not usually a common thing. We left there before everyone else. Stopped and poked around in a gift shop and didn't find any bargains, but found quite a few items made in Pakistan and China that really turned me off. I was disappointed in not finding any more genuine Native American baskets and crafts. I'm hoping to go into the Navajo Nation and find some home made items later this week. We spent most of Sunday driving in the hills and the National Forest north of here.

The fires earlier this summer from Arizona played havoc with the forests and many roads and areas are closed.

There were lots of signs warning of Elk and Deer, but we only saw one deer cross the road in front of us all day.

We crossed the Rio Grande River and looked across the Rio Grande Valley not far from Las Alamos. We stopped at an information center at Jemez Springs, an Indian Community. They had a model of a Summer adobe home and dome oven.
Upon completing the circle of travel, we found ourselves back to Interstate 25 not far from Albuquerque. Pointed the nose back east for the drive home. About 30 miles we stopped at a rest/info center and I picked up some brochures on Grants and Gallup, which will be our next stop. When we got back up to speed, a large pickup loaded with hay grass bales came along side of us.

I said something about that not being tied down and not very safe, well, no more than getting that out...they pulled on ahead, a big bale flew out and landed in fron ouf us. A bunch of the hay flew up across our windshield and we skidded to a stop along the shoulder. NOT FUN....VERY SCARY! DH did a heck of a job keeping us from wrecking.I remember while skidding, all I said was "o.k,o.k.o.k!" and then we were stopped. So scared. I was shaking soo bad. KayCee got thrown around a little, but she was fine. Being the nice person he is, he got out and ran across and got the bale off the passing lane so that some poor other person wouldn't hit it. The pick up had stopped quite a ways ahead.....I being not so nice....and really shook up, got in the drivers seat, let DH get in.....roared forward, and chewed his ASS! Royally. He acted like he didn't even know what the problem was,probably just worried about losing one bale, and luckily we escaped any damage to the vehicle or ourselves. I did call the State Patrol and report it, but without damage they weren't going to pursue it. I feel sorry for the next person that's behind him one day and not so lucky! Be very aware folks...there's all kinds of idiots out there that do very dumb inconsiderate things....that could have been the end of us! I am very thankful to be here today to carry on our journey and write yet another long and boring post! Have a great Monday...we'll see ya down the road.

Colorful Colorado Once Again

Colorado has always been one of my favorite places. It is a great coincidence that I have a son that lives in Colorado Springs. He moved here in 2002 when he elected to join the Active Duty Army shortly after the horrible events of 9/11/2001. No amount of convincing that he would be involved in a war and sent over seas would deter him from doing what he thought was his part in defending our great country.

Although he is now out of the Military, still a retired Disabled member of the 4th Infantry Division located here, having met his wife here and now their family lives on the front range outside of the city. We went to a Sports Bar, The Fox and Hound that has hosts the group Coloradans for Nebraska and watched the Cornhuskers win their Football game. With all the big screen tvs it was almost as good as being at the game! We had great seats!

Sunday was a day for reflection of the horrible events 10 years ago, and we flew our flag and watched the specials from New York City. We were awakened yesterday by the sounds of Bugles and Revoli...and then the sounds of gunfire across the Interstate on the gun range at Fort Carson. The result of those days 10 years ago, makes this country an entirely different place. I felt pretty safe going to Safeway...not because of the name, but the amount of 4th ID soldiers in the store at the same time! I have to get used to the large presence of soldiers every time we're here. It's wonderful to see all the dedication and sacrifice that they are making. We went to friends house for dinner Sunday evening and sat on the patio. It was wonderful to do that without it being 100 degrees, and sweat running down your back. They live in a very nice neighborhood by the Olympic Center and Broadmoor hotel and Olympic Ice Skating Museum. We felt pretty safe there too, in spite of the stories Ken was telling us about the large black bear that broke into his storage shed the other night, climbing through a window and trashed it. The fact that him and his wife were sitting on the very same patio and a large black bear waltzed up onto the front step and sat watching them have dinner...so he promptly threw a perrier water bottle at him and hit him square in the nose! The bear blustered at him and ran off! I would have been so gone! After all, Ken was mad that he trashed the little building! They always have bears and big cats in the trees in the back yard and in their trash.. the dogs always go crazy and let them know when they have company, so when the Molly the yellow lab that was snoozing at my feet suddenly got up and took off growling and barking, we promptly took leave to the car!

It was a great evening though, just not a fan of being there after dark! The weather is very pleasant and cool, it has clouded over and rained for two afternoons now and that is forcast for the remainder of the week. Not for sure when we will be leaving, but our next stop will be Santa Fe New Mexico. Just taking this adventure one day at a time and stirring the Jello frequently! Not much exciting but a great relief to be out of the heat.