in-the-right-lane: Santa Fe

We began the day early with a visit to Vantastic Vans in Amarillo. Although they were booked til Friday they would take a quick look at Hernando to see where the water leak was. About an hour later the broken hose was replaced and we were totally pleased with their service and most appreciative. We now had a tank full of water for coffee, flushing, drinking, etc.

I have debated for years as to whether I wanted to visit Santa Fe as I thought it was just a larger version of Taos. Well, it is, but what a pleasant experience. We first descended upon the plaza on the heart of old town.

Here we had a picnic while we checked out what we wanted to do while people watching.

We had fun watching a little girl chase the pigeons while we ate our sandwiches. Soon a little boy came along and started wandering among the pigeons. She quickly approached him and took charge. She grabbed his shirt and offered her apple. He tried to get away but she persisted. Soon they were wandering through the park hand in hand.

We really enjoyed wandering through old town window shopping and admiring the adobe architecture. The Palace of the Governors was the seat of government for centuries. It is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States having been built in 1610.

Today the Native American vendors line the wall sitting in the shade and selling their crafts.

Museums and art galleries are abundant in the historic area but it just seemed like an outdoor kind of day, so no, we did not go to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum and I will probably regret that later. I always like to hear church bells and we were treated to the experience several times by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

The store windows were filled with western art and crafts. Silver and turquoise is abundant.

I debated buying some plastic flowers in bright colors and then I came to the real ones at La Sena Restaurant. This was an old casa that has been converted into an outdoor restaurant and shops. At this point I wished we had forgone the sandwich.

After we toured the old town area we drove down Canyon Road, a narrow street lined with shops. The front yards are full of artwork trying to entice the tourists to visit.

As we turned off Canyon Road we were surprised that the streets nearby were dirt as we drove through the neighborhoods. We always like to see how the folks are living outside the tourist areas.