New Mexico and Arizona Plus - June 2013

After flying into Albuquerque airport, we picked-up our rental car and drove to our hotel for the first two nights. After a bag drop, we headed to Old Town Albuquerque and the Church of San Felipe de Neri, built in 1793. We were not impressed with the Old Town, but did take some nice pictures there.

 

From there we went to Marble Brewery, a regional favorite and enjoyed a beer sampler platter and some sandwiches.

   

On Day 2, we went to Petroglyph National Monument and hiked the Rinconada Trail. There are hundreds of 400 -700 year old petroglyphs along the trail. We didn’t see more than 100 and we were searching hard.

 

From there it was a short drive to Sandia Peak Tramway, the longest in the world. The tramway rises to over 10,000 feet. Upon arriving at the top, we hiked the Summit and Luz Trails for about 4 hours.

 

The CCC’s work is always popping up everywhere across the US.

 

 On the early morning of Day 3, we drove the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. There wasn’t much along the way to see (not sure why they call it that name). We did stop in the town of Cerrillos with dirt streets and a rock shop. Of course, Zach had to buy a few.

 

 

We spent the rest of the day in Santa Fe. The old town/historic/shops district was very nice. Our first stop was Saint Francis Cathedral.

 

 Followed by San Miguel Chapel and the oldest house in the US and always stops at shops.

From there we went to the New Mexico State Capital and New Mexico History Museum, both very interesting.

 

The next morning we took the High Road to Taos, which was much more scenic than the Turquoise Trail. We stopped at the Santuario de Chimayo with its miraculous “Holy Dirt.” We brought a container home with us.

 

In Taos, we stayed at the finest hotel we ever stayed in, the Marriott El Monte Sagrado.

That day as we walked around town, literally, everyone asked us if we were there for the concert. Our answer; what concert? Apparently, Munford and Sons was performing in town that night. With an expected crowd of over 10, 000, that was a big deal for Taos.   

 

 

The next morning we did what we came to Taos to do, climb Wheeler Peak. At 13, 161 ft. it is the highest point in New Mexico. The climb took longer than expected with a lot of snow pack and scree. It was colder then we expected in the morning so we put a pair of socks on our hands. We made it up and down in about 7 hours.

 

 

 

 

 
Day 6 was our first day with a lot of driving. We went to Taos Pueblo, a living pueblo and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

 

Then we took Hwy 64 to Farmington, stopping at the Aztec Ruins along the way.

 

 

 

The next day we drove by “Shiprock” and spent some time at the Four Corners where New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah connect at a single point.

 

The rest of the day, we spent at Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo Reservation near Chinle, AZ, also, on the reservation. We did discover that there are no liquor sales on this reservation and we really would have liked a beer after spending five hours in the Canyon. 

 We spent the morning of day 8 at Monument Valley. We had another long drive to Page, AZ.

 

The only reason we went to Page was to go to Antelope Canyon, where we have wanted to go for many years. It was worth the wait. We did go to Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell first.

 

The next morning we started at Lower Antelope Canyon. That is the best time of day to visit this part of the slot canyon.

 

At noon, we went to Upper Antelope Canyon. The two parts of the Canyon are separated by a wash several miles long. The Upper is at ground level and the Lower is below ground. 

  

 

 

From there we drove to Vegas. The next day we went to Red Rocks, spent time with our grandson Mike, who lives there, and walked the Strip for about an hour.   It was home the next day.