Traveling the Turquoise Trail

April 14

We were up about 7:15 this morning so I finished and published yesterday's blog.  Our morning was fairly 

leisurely....breakfast on the patio.....discussion of the day's plans and then off to Santa Fe at 10:30 via Rt. 14, the Turquoise Trail, all the way. 

We drove slowly through Madrid, a former coal mining town, but also mined for gold and silver. It seemed mildly prosperous and a little sleepy  It was refound by hippies in the 60s and is now honky tonk  and  artsy. The name of the town is pronounced MADrid to distinguish it from the Madrid family, town founders. We also drove through Cerillos  which was in line to be the capital of NM when the Acheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe was destined to run through it!!  The rail line was never finished and now Cerillos is all dirt roads with an artsy old time Opera House and Mary's Bar at the corner of 1st and Main. "Young Guns" was filmed here in Cerillos. 

At 11:30 we entered the Santa Fe suburbs and the city itself, the capital of NM., population 70,000. We took the Old Pecos Trail to the state Capitol building, the only round one in the U.S.; it's round like a Native American kiva. The Capitol, built in the 80s has

Art galleries galore which we toured. All New Mexican art!  The buffalo head and the woven, framed native rug draped on a chair were particularly fascinating to us. 

We crossed and recrossed the Santa Fe River and observed the residential and business

architecture--all adobe. 

We stopped to tour the oldest home in the U.S., built in the early 1600s and housing 12 families!  Across the street we marveled at the oldest church in the U.S., built near 1628. Inside we met a docent, a retired priest who was a "hoot!"  He was a restauranteur for 30 years and a priest for 30 years......delayed vocation!  His son owns 2 restaurants in Santa Fe. We drove to the center of town, had lunch at Anasazi Restaurant and took a stroll around the square. We looked at the Native American displays under the Old Capitol awning; we bought a print of a typical present day Adobe home.

At 3:00 back we started back to Sandia Park. Stopped at a rug dealer's in Madrid where the Doanes sized and priced rugs for under their piano. Fun visit!!  We were home at 4:40 and Helen and I went for a walk in the neighborhood to add Fitbit steps!  We regrouped, did some packing, had cocktails on the patio (the weather has been outstanding, in the low 70s!). Dinner was again delicious, lamb shanks and polenta, salad and creme caramel. After another game of Hearts, we decided to retire at 10:30. When I picked up my phone, I must have inadvertently touched an app or two and a second later I heard my brother Tom's voice.......Sorry, Tom!!!