We had a great night's sleep at the Doanes and didn't get up until 8:25! It's so quiet, day and night! The Doane Southwest ambiance is charming. Helen has put her own personal touches to the walls and decor and the result is warm, inviting and restful.
We had homemade pancakes for breakfast--delicious!! After a discussion of the day's activities, we left at 10:30 for Tent Rocks National Monument. We drove along
Puertocito Rd., a dirt road through high desert valley, for almost an hour. At 5300 feet with the Sandia Mountains to our south, we wended our way to Rt. 25. Along the way we saw some burros grazing,
horses out in the fields, few dwellings and remnants of villages in this San Pueblo Indian country. At the end of the dirt road were a race track and a casino casino!
At 11:30 we turned on highway 25 and arrived at Tent Rock National Monument just beyond a huge earthen dam over the Rio Grande River at
noon. There were lots of kids there on field trips! We hiked amazing Slot Canyon where, at times our shoulders touched the canyon on each side. Paul and I turned back at 6200 feet where the trail became very steep, narrow and rocky but Helen and Peter continued another 15 minutes to the top. We saw amazing rock formations, some resembling tents, and beautiful sedimentary rock mesas of tan, gray and orange stripes with volcanic ash interspersed. The walk through the 2 canyons had been carved by water and was stunning! Paul and I took the Cave Loop back and met Helen and Peter at the bottom where we had a picnic lunch.
We left Tent Rocks at 3 sated and exhilarated, made a pit stop at Starbucks and drove back to the Doanes.
After showering and doing some laundry, we were serenaded by Paul at the piano. At sunset, we had cocktails on the patio and then a lovely candlelit dinner in their dining room. Lots of interesting conversation! After dinner we finished our game of Hearts and retired.
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