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The first week of
our two-week trip was spent with a Road Scholar
(the organization formerly known as Elder Hostel)
tour titled "Geology of Northern New Mexico". We arrived at the motel
in Santa Fe on Monday afternoon after a Southwest flight from
Baltimore. We had spent Sunday night at a La Quinta motel at BWI
and left Carole's car in their parking lot.
We took the shuttle bus from the Albuquerque airport to the Santa Fe Sage Inn, where we met the tour group. Dinner was brought in to the motel, which had no real kitchen. It was mediocre.
On Tuesday morning after a so-so breakfast we had a lecture on northern New Mexico and then, after some confusion over the late arrival of the bus, we walked to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, skipping the scheduled visit to the New Mexico Museum of Art. After lunch we went in the bus to the Two-Mile Reservoir, where we saw fossils, and then went up into the mountains to see the aspens.
We took the shuttle bus from the Albuquerque airport to the Santa Fe Sage Inn, where we met the tour group. Dinner was brought in to the motel, which had no real kitchen. It was mediocre.
On Tuesday morning after a so-so breakfast we had a lecture on northern New Mexico and then, after some confusion over the late arrival of the bus, we walked to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, skipping the scheduled visit to the New Mexico Museum of Art. After lunch we went in the bus to the Two-Mile Reservoir, where we saw fossils, and then went up into the mountains to see the aspens.
On Wednesday
morning we checked out of the Sage Inn and set out in the bus to visit
the Valles Caldera,
near Los Alamos, and Bandelier National Monument. The caldera is huge
and very interesting. I had not really known what a caldera is until
then. We had a picnic lunch in a little valley and then went on to
Bandelier, where we visited the Indian ruins.
We spent that
night in Espanola, at the Santa Claran Hotel.
The town is within the Santa Clara Pueblo reservation, and the hotel
and its casino are run by the Indian tribe. The check-in process was
slow and deliberate in the Indian way, and done alphabetically so we
had a long wait to get to our room. The food was good, however.
On Thursday
morning we checked out of the motel
and went to visit Georgia
O'Keeffe's stomping grounds, including her "White Place", which is more
properly called "Plaza Blanca", and the
Ghost Ranch, where we visited the museum. I was
coming down with a bad cold whose cough lingered for weeks, but at this
point I just had a runny nose.
Thursday and Friday nights were spent at the Sagebush Inn in Taos. On
Friday morning we went to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which we had
visited on an earlier trip to Taos. Then we had the afternoon free in
Taos. We saw a small-town parade celebrating the centennial of New
Mexico's admission to the Union, Carole bought T-shirts for Cole,
Nicky, and Tony. Then I, my cold being worse, napped on a park bench.
On Saturday we checked out of the Sagebrush Inn
in Taos and returned to the Santa Fe Sage Inn, where we had begun. On
the way we stopped to see colonial churches at Ranchos de Taos, Las
Trampas, and Chimayó. I circulated a sheet to catch everyone's name,
address, and email.
We had the afternoon free at the Santa Fe Plaza.
At the Indian market in front of the Governor's Palace I bought a
copper golf ball marker. We went to an art show at the cathedral, then
went in and heard a percussion band practicing. My cold was still
pretty bad so we didn't do a whole lot. The last night's dinner was at
the motel.
We had reserved an Avis car to be picked up Sunday morning at the Santa Fe airport. Unbeknownst to us when we made our reservations months in advance, this was the kickoff weekend of the big hot-air balloon festival in Albuquerque. Rental cars were scarce and expensive, so on Saturday evening I called Avis to make sure they had a car for us. The man said they didn't have one. I pointed out that we had paid in advance a couple of months ahead of time, so he promised to get back to us. A few minutes later he called to say he had found a car for us.
On Sunday morning after breakfast I was supposed to catch a shuttle bus to the airport. When it was a half-hour late I called the company and we determined that the driver had forgotten to pick me up. They sent a second bus to take just me to the airport, arriving there about an hour later than planned. The car they had for us was not what I had expected, a Chevy or Ford, it was a Hyundai Sonata. I didn't think it qualified as a full-size car, but Avis insisted that it did and charged accordingly. It was for sure smaller than my Infiniti.
So we made a late start on our trip to Chinle, Arizona. We hoped to see some balloons as we passed Albuquerque, but it was already close to lunch time and they were not to be seen. On arrival in Chinle we checked into the Holiday Inn and then went over to the Thunderbird Lodge and bought our tickets for the all-day tour. The Navajo woman said that the tour would not go unless there were at least six passengers. That was worrisome, but when we arrived on Monday morning there were enough tourists to fill two of the big Korean-war-era 6 X 6 army trucks.
The all-day tour of Canyon de Chelly was the high point of the trip for me. I had been wanting to take this tour since the first time we visited, in 1995. It met all my expectations.
After a second night in the Holiday Inn, on
Tuesday we set off for Phoenix. On the way, still on the Navajo
reservation, we stopped in Ganado to tour the Hubbell Trading Post
National Monument, where Carole's cousin Evelyn Greene and her husband
had worked in the 1940s.
In Phoenix we stayed Tuesday and Wednesday nights
with Carole's sister Gloria and her son Steve. On Wednesday we visited their
93-year-old cousin Evelyn Greene, who was in a Rehab Center.
She seemed delighted that we -- or, rather, Carole -- had visited.
On Thursday we started the day-and-a half drive up to Park City to visit Mark. We overnighted at Moab, hoping to do some sightseeing the next day, but it rained all day. In Park City, we stayed again at The Yarrow Resort Hotel, which in shoulder season is very reasonable. Here are a few photos from Park City:
On Sunday we translated to a La
Quinta motel at the Salt Lake City airport, turned in the rental car,
and on Monday flew back to Baltimore. There, we recovered Carole's car
from that La Quinta and went home. I still had the cold and Carole was
coming down with it. A month later, Mark said he still had the cough.
We had reserved an Avis car to be picked up Sunday morning at the Santa Fe airport. Unbeknownst to us when we made our reservations months in advance, this was the kickoff weekend of the big hot-air balloon festival in Albuquerque. Rental cars were scarce and expensive, so on Saturday evening I called Avis to make sure they had a car for us. The man said they didn't have one. I pointed out that we had paid in advance a couple of months ahead of time, so he promised to get back to us. A few minutes later he called to say he had found a car for us.
On Sunday morning after breakfast I was supposed to catch a shuttle bus to the airport. When it was a half-hour late I called the company and we determined that the driver had forgotten to pick me up. They sent a second bus to take just me to the airport, arriving there about an hour later than planned. The car they had for us was not what I had expected, a Chevy or Ford, it was a Hyundai Sonata. I didn't think it qualified as a full-size car, but Avis insisted that it did and charged accordingly. It was for sure smaller than my Infiniti.
So we made a late start on our trip to Chinle, Arizona. We hoped to see some balloons as we passed Albuquerque, but it was already close to lunch time and they were not to be seen. On arrival in Chinle we checked into the Holiday Inn and then went over to the Thunderbird Lodge and bought our tickets for the all-day tour. The Navajo woman said that the tour would not go unless there were at least six passengers. That was worrisome, but when we arrived on Monday morning there were enough tourists to fill two of the big Korean-war-era 6 X 6 army trucks.
The all-day tour of Canyon de Chelly was the high point of the trip for me. I had been wanting to take this tour since the first time we visited, in 1995. It met all my expectations.
On Thursday we started the day-and-a half drive up to Park City to visit Mark. We overnighted at Moab, hoping to do some sightseeing the next day, but it rained all day. In Park City, we stayed again at The Yarrow Resort Hotel, which in shoulder season is very reasonable. Here are a few photos from Park City:
