TURQUOISE TRAIL, LOS ALAMOS, AND BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT

We have been in Santa Fe all week.  It has been HOT.  It was over 100 degrees for the first few days.  It has cooled down to the 90s the last couple of days.  I know, I'm whining. I'm not sure what I am going to do when I go back to Texas!

The first day here, we drove what they call the Turquoise Trail. The Turquoise Trail encompasses 15,000 square miles and is located in the heart of central New Mexico. It links Albuquerque and Santa Fe and sits at the highest peak at 10,600 feet (Sandia Crest) overlooking Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley.  Along the 65 miles are homes, ranches, vacation lodging, restaurants, RV parks, a golf course, a ski resort, museums, horseback riding stables, shops/galleries and lots of respected craftsmen and artists. The Trail is also fast becoming known for its adventurous hiking and bike trails. In spite of the recent growth to the area, The Turquoise Trail remains historically quaint and Old West.  From Santa Fe to Sandia Crest, the temperature changed about 15 degrees and was really nice on the top of the mountain when we got there.

The next day, we went to Los Alamos.  Familiar with the Manhattan Project?  Well, that's Los Alamos.  They call it the Atomic City.  They have a GREAT science museum!  It is free.  Part of the museum is about the history of the town and the Manhattan Project.  The other part of the museum is about what the laboratories are doing today and what research is going on.  They have many, many displays.  They have many pictures of people who lived there and were part of the Project.  They give a brief story of one of the things they remember about working there during that time.  Very, very interesting.  There are also 2 short films about the history and about the research.  If you are ever in the area, you HAVE to stop there.

Replica of bomb used on Hiroshima

Replica of bomb used on Nagasaki - they called it Fat Man

Could be a good book to have around.  There were probably many of these around during the Cold War eras.

We left Los Alamos and drove to Bandelier National Monument. 

Human presence in the area has been dated to over 10,000 years before present. Permanent settlements by ancestors of the Puebloan peoples have been dated to 1150 CE; these settlers had moved closer to the Rio Grande by 1550. The distribution of artifacts from the area, along with other traded goods, rock markings, and construction techniques, indicate that its inhabitants were part of a regional trade network that included what is now Mexico. Spanish colonial settlers arrived in the 18th century. The Pueblo Jose Montoya brought Adolph Bandelier to visit the area in 1880. Looking over the cliff dwellings, Bandelier said, "It is the grandest thing I ever saw."

Based on documentation and research by Bandelier, there was support for preserving the area and President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation creating the monument in 1916. Infrastructure, including a lodge, was built during the 1920s and 1930s. The structures at the monument built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps constitute the largest assembly of CCC-built structures in a National Park area that has not been altered by new structures in the district. This group of 31 buildings illustrates the guiding principles of National Park Service Rustic architecture.
The monument was closed to the public for several years during World War II, since the lodge was being used to house personnel working on the Manhattan Project to develop an atom bomb.

There are several trails within the national monument area.  The main loop, which is the main trail to the cliff dwellings, is a 1.2 mile loop.  If you are in the area, it is worth the stop.

SANTA FE SKIES RV PARK

Sunday we moved to Santa Fe.  We will be here for a week before leaving for Trinidad to meet up with Son and his family.  Can't wait to see those grandkids!  Let me also say Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.

We made reservations at Santa Fe Skies RV Park in February.  We did so at the recommendation of a friend of DWW.  The friend even told DWW which sites to reserve to get good views of the town lights at night and the distant mountains.  So, DWW called and made the reservations.  He was a little concerned about the person taking the reservations so he called back a couple of days later to verify reservations and was assured by a different person that the reservations were there as requested and everything was good.

We arrive Sunday.  First, there is only a reservation for 1 campsite.  Second, neither site that was reserved is available.  The guy in the office sort of apologizes, blames it on human error, but then tells them that they will try to give you the site that you reserve but there are no guarantees that you will get that site.  He hands Mr. W and DWW a map of the campground and tells them to go check out certain sites and see which ones they want.  He had offered 2 sites that were not together and were in an area where the sites were small.  The guys told him no and that is when he handed them the map.  They walked around and found 2 sites, went back to the office and told the guy.  He told them that they couldn't have those sites because they were reserved.  Do what?  Didn't he just say that you can request a site but you had no guarantees?  Well, yes he did but these people had reserved these sites months in advance.  Well, we reserved our sites months in advance.  Yes, he replied, but we can't guarantee you will get the site you requested.  He even became a little "confrontational" at this point.  See how this conversation is going? 

Barb and I were ready to leave and go find another place but since it was late and Mr. W doesn't do travel without reservations, we decided to stay.   We got 2 sites together but you can't see a thing but the trailers all around you.  It was really, really hot (over 100 degrees) and by the time we got set up, we were all needing to cool off before we did anything.  I took the opportunity to look for a restaurant in Santa Fe to take the guys to for Father's Day. 

I read a bunch of reviews on Trip Advisor and found a restaurant called The Pantry with great reviews so that was our destination.  We arrived there and the service was great and the food was awesome.  They had a mixture of American "comfort" food, i.e. chicken fried steak, meatloaf, pork chops, and New Mexican food, i.e. tacos, slow cooked brisket with rice and beans, chile rellenos, etc.  If you are ever in Santa Fe, eat at this place.  They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and they were voted best breakfast in Santa Fe.  They serve breakfast all day.

Mr. W went back to the office on Monday and a man and woman were in the office. Thinking that these people were the owners and the guy on Sunday was weekend help, he told them that he still wasn't happy about what had happened with our reservations.  The woman started to argue with him.  Now, wouldn't you think if you messed up someone's reservation you would be as nice as you could be and apologetic? Customer service 101.

So, here's my take on Santa Fe Skies RV Park.  DO NOT STAY HERE.  There are plenty of RV parks in the area to stay and these people obviously don't care if they have your business or not.  I do plan to leave a review on RVparksreview.com. 

CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT

You pronounce this Canyon De Shay.  This is another place that is not close to anything and there aren't any RV parks close.  There is one RV park there but it doesn't have any hook-ups.  But, Mr. W had read a lot about it and wanted to drive over to see it.

We decided to stop at a town called Window Rock.  Window Rock is the headquarters for the Navajo nation.  It isn't a very big town and most of the town consisted of the complex of buildings associated with the Navajo nation.  They do have a park where the window rock is (thus the name of the town) and it has a memorial wall to all the Navajos that were killed in World War II.  They have a great statue of a Code Talker from World War II.  You can read what a Code Talker is in the pic below.  We owe them a great big thanks and in my opinion, they don't receive enough credit or recognition for what they did.

The window rock

The memorial wall

Our next stop was Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. John Lorenzo Hubbell was one of the most respected traders of his day.  He admired and encouraged American Indian arts and crafts and traded with Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Pima, Tohono O'odham, and Apache.  When Hubbell started his trading post here in the 1870's, his property had no official boundary.  In 1880 the Navajo Nation expanded, engulfing the trading post and ranch property, and Hubbell put in his claim for the 160-acre homestead.  Hubbell and other traders who set up posts on the reservation were different.  They didn't impose their beliefs, values, and systems onto an established native culture but sought a balance, one that profited their businesses, while respecting Navajo traditions. Hubbell died in 1930 and was buried on the hill overlooking the trading post.  Hubbell Trading Post stayed in the family until 1967, when Dorothy Hubbell, one of his daughter-in-laws, sold it to the National Park Service to be preserved as a national historic site.  Today, as in 1876, American Indians brig handcrafted rugs, jewelry, pottery, and baskets to the trading post.

One room of Indian goods for sale at the trading post.

Front of trading post where you enter.

Barn and blacksmith area

This turkey would walk up to anyone with a camera and spread his feathers and gobble at you.

We finally made it to Canyon De Chelly and it was well worth it.  It was a beautiful place. 

This is right in the middle of thousands of acres of Indian reservation land.  Because it does, there are many roads you cannot drive on because it is private property.

This is a traditional Indian house.  It is called a hogan.  They will build a hogan on their property first and live in it until they get their American style home built.

The inside of the hogan. 

The roads you can drive on have beautiful scenic overlooks of the canyon.

The Indians will take you on tours in the bottom of the canyon either by truck or horseback.

There were cliff dwellings all over the canyon.

There were Navajo Indians set up selling their wares at almost all the overlooks.  Some of their stuff is beautiful.  A lot of them had done paintings on pieces of rock.  That was the first time I had seen that and I really liked that.  Some had also made necklaces from tiny beads and had done traditional Indian drawings with the beads to make the necklace.  They were really nice and different.  I would have loved to have one.  Maybe next time.

This is Spider Rock.  It is named after the Holy Spider Woman who taught the people how to weave.  It is a very sacred place for them.

I got the truck key before he climbed up there.  I didn't want to have to find his body down below before I could leave the park. :)
 

This place is really worth the drive to see.  It is so stinking hot right now that it is hard to get out and see much.  However, the breeze felt really good here and it didn't seem as hot as it was.  I really wasn't very impressed with Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.  It was a big let down to me.  I thought maybe since I had seen so much beautiful stuff that I was becoming a little jaded.  But, this place was beautiful so I think the others really were a let down.  Go see this when you can and it is free to enter.

PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK/PAINTED DESERT

Who out there knew about Petrified Forest National Park?  I had never heard of it.  But, Mr. W knew about it and wanted to see it. So, it was "scheduled" on the trip.

We left Durango and traveled to Gallup, New Mexico.  We are staying at USA RV Park on historic Route 66 in Gallup.  This is a very nice park.  They have full hook-ups.  Most all of the sites are pull-thru and all are gravel.  There is a very nice pool and 2 laundry rooms.  There is a store in the office with great souvenirs at very reasonable prices. We got a discount for being a member of Escapees.  We paid $30 per night.  They give discounts for veterans and other RV clubs. If you are in the area, I highly recommend staying here.

The Petrified Forest National Park is about 70 miles from Gallup.  Someone had told Mr. W to go there late afternoon/early evening, so we decided to head out around 3:00.

There use to be an inn at the park. They have closed the inn down, but they still have the structure that you can tour. They hired an Indian to paint 3 murals in the inn that are still there today. The ceilings have glass tiles with Indian symbols on each tile throughout the building.  They have a lot of memorabilia left from different eras of the building as well as still having some of the furnishings.

One of the murals

Booths in the dining section.

They have a soda bar and this is the back of the barstools at the bar.

This is a replica of a menu hanging behind the bar.  Look at the prices.

The ceiling glass tiles

In the mid-1800s federal mappers and surveyors explored here, telling of a remarkable "Painted Desert and its trees turned to stone."  Next came pioneers, ranchers and sightseers. The wood was used for souvenirs and commercial ventures until residents of the region realized that petrified wood supplies were not endless.  In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt set aside select strands of the petrified trees as Petrified Forest National Monument.  In 1932, 53,200 more acres of Painted Desert were added. In 1962, Congress designated the national park. In 1970, Congress designated 50,000 acres as one of the first National Park System wilderness areas.  In 2004, Congress authorized expanded boundaries that more than doubled the park's size. Research continues to unlock the wealth of the geological, paleontological, and human stories preserved here for this and future generations.

The 28-mile park road offers overlooks with long-distance vistas of the Painted Desert and parking areas for access to hiking trails, picnic areas, and the designated wilderness.  We did not do any hiking because it is too dang hot!

Can you see the petroglyphs on the rock?  Pretty sophisticated

Petrified tree - The rock underneath is slowly eroding away. They used cement to try to stabilize it.

The colors in the wood came from minerals in the silica-saturated water. Iron, carbon, and manganese made patterns and blends of yellow, red, black, blue, brown, white and pink.

We headed to the other side of the park to see the Painted Desert.  We had to stop at the landmark where historic Route 66 use to cut through the park.  There is a 1932 Studebaker to mark the spot along with the famous Route 66 sign in concrete.

Here are some pics of the Painted Desert.

There has been talk that massive amounts of petrified wood have been stolen from Petrified Forest National Park over the many decades visitors have been coming.  To counter that belief, they have expanded a re-photography effort begun in 2007 to capture images of the park's important and iconic areas.  This project is taking the many historic photographs in their collection (more than 200 so far) and reshooting those images from the same vantage points today.  The results of these many photo pairs show that the vast majority of petrified wood is right where it was 80 to 120 years ago when the pictures were first taken.

Wood theft does occur.  If you are caught, you will be fined with a hefty fine.  But the underlying message of the old "massive theft" narrative - that today's visitors are seeing something less spectacular than their great-grandparents saw - is simply not true.

Something about a train against mountains out in the middle of the desert area as the sunsets.