October 18 - 21, 2011 Santa Fe, Friends, and Spiders

Can’t believe I haven’t updated in a couple days.. so…here goes.

Tuesday, October 18

We decided to just hang out today. So this morning, I did a quick clean of the MH and a long vacuum.  I have a young kitty who loves to play in the litter and a long haired kitty who is in the process of shedding – oh my – had to empty the vacuum three times….   Then as I was brushing our hiking shoes of all the dust from yesterday’s hike, I see a familiar truck and trailer pull in across from us…

Oh my, Pam and Steve, who we have not seen since last January at Quartzsite.   Well, we spent the day getting caught up with each other – what a nice surprise.

Wednesday, October 19

The four of us decided to take off and spend the day in Old Towne Santa Fe. 

Did you know that….Santa Fe is not only the capitol of New Mexico, it's also the oldest capitol city in the United States, established in 1598 (as the capitol of Nuevo Mexico, a province of New Spain).  Interesting.

Old Town Santa Fe, like many other old towns, has a main plaza and a Catholic Church not too far away.  And today, many of the buildings surrounding the plaza are filled with shops and galleries.  So come along with me in pictures..

 

If you read the above, the picture below is the oldest public building in the U.S.:

That building was right on the plaza – notice the leaves of the trees changing:

There were many native Americans selling items by that building.  I bought 2 pair of earrings that were pretty unusual.  They were called Naza which is a Navajo word meaning circle.  (I will post a picture another time.)

More sights:

 

 

 

Lots of sculptures and paintings (murals).

Goofing off – Pam, Steve, Andy:

Andy and I:

And the main church right near the historic plaza:

The City of Santa Fe was founded in 1610, and in that same year the first church was erected on this site.  The Indian revolt of 1680 destroyed the existing church, which was not rebuilt until 1714.  The only part of this church still existing is the Chapel of Our Lady, La Conquistadora.

The first Indian of North America to be promoted a Saint:

The doorway of the church which depicts various scenes or events in the history of the Faith in Santa Fe:

This alter screen was carved in 1986.  In the center is a statue of St. Francis that dates from the 1700’s.  Surrounding the statue are paintings of the Saints of the New World:

This Crucifix is an exact replica of the crucifix in Assisi, Italy, from which our Lord bent down and told St. Francis: “Francis, go and repair my house.” :

This is the Baptismal Font which is made of Brazilian granite.  It is eight-sided for the eighth day (Easter) which marks the new creation begun by Christ’s resurrection.  The pool is cruciform to remind us of the price of His love for us.  It has three steps down into the water to call to mind the three days Jesus spent in the tomb before rising.  The grill has symbols of the four Evangelists casting the net for the fishing of men.  The font is located on an axis between the main doors of the church and the altar to remind us all of our baptismal journey. 

  

This is the Archbishop’s Chair:

This is the La Conquistadora Chapel.  It was built to honor La Conquistadora, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was brought to Santa Fe in 1626 by a Franciscan priest, Fray Alonso Benavides.  Originally named Our Lady of the Rosary, this statue was later entitled Our Lady of the conquest, a name it was given in 1693 when the Spanish settlers were able to peaceably re-enter Santa Fe.

And the BEAUTIFUL Stained Glass Windows – here is a sample:

 

 

  The Oldest Church in the U.S.:

 

The Oldest House in the USA:

We did not go into the oldest house or church – so no pictures of the inside.

We made out way back and found out that two other SKP Boomers were at Cochiti Lake so we left a message on their RV.  Well a little after 4, we all got together for Happy Hour and Terry and Vicky joined us.  Our Happy Hour turned into an impromptu party that lasted well into the evening.   Did I say I love the Escapee Club!!!!    What a wonderful day!

Thursday, October 20

After saying our goodbyes to Pam and Steve, I went to the local laundry – oh my, no water..   So off we went to Bernalillo for laundry, then shopping, etc. – I even got a haircut (not too bad).  On our way back home, we saw this:

 

We originally thought it was a dust storm but when we got back we could smell smoke – nothing on the news so not sure what it was.   A long day for us…..oh my..

Friday, October 21

We took a walk today up to the overlook and the visitor center for Cochiti Dam.

From the overlook – still cannot find out what the smoke was from – sorry:

 

 

Interesting info on the Dam:

Interesting info on the Rio Grande:

On our walk back we saw this HUGE spider – yikes:

 

Scary.

And we took it relatively easy the rest of the day.  

Enjoy today!