We spent a night in Westcliffe Colorado with the Reeds and Bribachs having a nice dinner prepared by Carolyn and Bob and told Kathy lots of stories.
We headed out to New Mexico after breakfast the next morning and arrived at our VRBO apartment at around 2:30 where we were met by our host Craig. Our apartment was a nice one bedroom built over a carriage house just three blocks from the Plaza.
After a quick unloading of the car in the tiny and I do mean tiny parking area, we walked down the street and started looking at galleries and potential dinner spots.
For those of you that have been to the Plaza, you've seen the Palace of the Governors where local Native American artists show their works. We took a quick look but didn't see anything that caught our eyes.
So it was off to a margarita tasting with appetizers at the Thunderbird overlooking the Plaza.
The Plaza
Sunday started off with a long walk along the Santa Fe River park and breakfast pastries from the Holy Spirit. We then got the car out of its tiny space and took off for Sunday drive around the countryside. I particularly wanted to visit Madrid which I had discovered with Dana back in 72 or 73 on one of our many tequila trips to Juarez.
Madrid at that point was a abandoned coal mining town that was for sale lock stock and barrel. Now its a thriving artist colony with many of the buildings housing galleries and restaurants . Quite the change.
Monday was cold and chilly with a touch of snow and with the majority of the big museums closed we opted to visit the one open one, the Museum of Contemporary Indian Arts. A very different mixture of modern and traditional arts.
Tuesday was bright a warmer so we headed for Taos and the pueblo was closed we took a walk around town and headed for Bandolier National Monument to view the cave dwellings that date back to the 1200's.
Taos Plaza
Rio Grande River Gorge West Of Taos
"How" (It's okay. She's part Native American)
Wednesday was our last day and we hit all the museums that had been closed earlier in the week. The Georgia O'Keefe museum was nice though a bit disappointing that they didn't have many of her more famous works i.e. the big flowers. But it did have lots of early landscapes and photographs that she took.
The New Mexico State Museum was also impressive. It featured a very well rounded view of the states growth from prehistoric thru Spanish colonial to the westward expansion of the US to modern times. A very nice presentation and I highly recommend it.
The Reception Room in the Palace of the Governors
Off to Roswell and Carlsbad as we make our way to San Diego for a week.
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