I didn’t know I wanted to go to New Mexico, but when I looked through the brochure for the Isings Travel trip and I saw that it ends with a visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, I signed up. It was a beautiful, eventful trip led by Kent Kaufman (who also led the Alaska trip I took) with good weather, good companions, and lots of good food. Each hotel had its own personality. I took some photos of the hotels.

The trip became a Native American history lesson. We visited the oldest church in America and the oldest home. It was also a lesson in architecture and agriculture. We saw adobe bricks baking in the sun and experienced the insulating qualities it has when walls are thick. And we learned about the Three Sisters, the center of Native American agriculture and culinary traditions, corn, squash, and beans.

Transportation to the airport arrived well before the scheduled time of 5:00 am, May 15, 2019, and we settled into the Hyatt Tamaya Resort, Bernalillo (out in the boonies)  in the afternoon and had dinner in the outdoor restaurant. You can see the restaurant (center, left) in the first photo.

The business office below.

Nice pottery and rugs everywhere.

After breakfast the next morning (May 16), we visited Albuquerque’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and from there to Pueblo of Acoma, one of the earliest continuously inhabited communities in the United States, more than 800 years. It was VERY hot walking in that village.

The entrance to a home is in the roof. When there was an invasion, they would pull up the ladder so enemies could not enter homes very easily.

 

May 17 we rode the Sandia Peak Tramway in Taos. I was a little anxious because I don’t like heights but I loved this ride. The view was magnificent. My photos don’t do it justice. Tall trees just look like little shrubs in the photos.

In the afternoon, we visited St. Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Taos, a favorite of Georgia O’Keeffe,

and checked into the El Monte Sagrado Resort, a rather unusual place. My room had a jacuzzi and a gas fireplace and was rather dark. The grounds were lovely, with lots of running water, rocks, and flowers. My photos have too much reflection and are too dark to post.

May 18 we went to Taos Pueblo, where Taos Indians have lived for almost 10 centuries. Some of the pueblos have multiple stories, and some have shops in them. It’s surprisingly cool inside. A stream runs through the town, and friendly dogs are lounging everywhere. We wandered around the grounds enjoying the beautiful day.

Blue Lake and Rio Pueblo de Taos are the water supply and have religious significance to the Taos Pueblo community. Roosevelt created the Taos Forest Reserve in this area, putting the land under the control of the U.S. Forest Service and legalizing public use and logging. The Indians finally regained control of their land under Nixon.

The Rio Grande appears out of no where. Now I understand the problem it caused westward travel.

Taos is a lovely town. We had plenty of time to relax here and explore the shops.

Lilacs were in bloom!

We rode near Los Alamos on May 19 when we went to Bandelier National Monument to see one of North America’s oldest human settlements, homes carved into lava. I haven’t climbed a ladder in years and didn’t think it wise to try it in New Mexico so I did not go in the caves. It was about a 2-mile walk with lots of steps and I was really tired when we got back to the bus and a good picnic lunch.

I hadn’t realized New Mexico had so many extinct volcanoes. They were everywhere. The Rio Grande is carved into lava.

 

In Santa Fe our hotel was La Fonda on the Plaza. There was art everywhere in the hotel. My headboard was painted. The halls were lined with hanging rugs, painted doors, headboards — colorful and fun.

 

Even the box containing a fire extinguisher was painted.

San Miguel Chapel is known as The Oldest Church in the US.

The buildings are constantly maintained. These drying bricks will be used for church repairs.

On Sunday, May 20, the streets around the plaza next to our hotel were closed. The streets were lined with vintage cars, artists were on one street selling jewlery, and musicians were playing most of the day in the plaza. It was a beautiful day.

I got a few photos of the vintage cars as they were leaving.

Saturday I explored an art show of local artists set up in a cluster of tents and fell in love with one painting. Sunday I went back to talk with the artist, Michael Protiva, some more and got his email address. I waited until I got home before really deciding, but now the painting, Silken, is in my living room.

Monday morning we spent a little time at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

I took lots of photos of her paintings but will just include one here.

Monday afternoon we went to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and into the slot canyon. Very, very scary afternoon. Thunder, rain, hail, strong wind blowing sand, rapid temperature drop while we were in the narrow canyon. I didn’t know I could move so fast for so long. Got on the bus soaked and covered in sand and very cold. Hot shower and a couple of drinks and I finally stopped shaking. Very thankful it was not worse.

I didn’t take many pictures of food but I loved the meals of enchiladas, beans, cheese, guacamole, good sauces, fried bread, chiles rellenos, flan, crepes, Huevos Rancheros and pan fried trout for breakfast.

Another good Isings trip with Kent. Kent posted a lot more photos of the trip.