Blogs from Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States, North America - page 5

The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway is known as The Santa Fe Southern Railway and operates scenic train rides from its station in Santa Fe to Lamy and back. It has been in Santa Fe for about 130 years. The trip to the sleepy little town of Lamy takes an hour or so each way. Lamy is reminiscent of towns from the 19th century and is a small place located about eighteen miles southeast of Santa Fe. The train is powered by a diesel electric GP7 locomotive and, in addition to carrying passengers, also hauls freight. There is a cash bar on board which sells alcohol, snacks, and other beverages. The passenger car is reminiscent of bygone days and is not airconditioned, however one can raise up the windows and the cool breezes blowing in ... read more

We were off to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with Alki Tours. It is a 10-day celebration of launchings, races, and contests on a plateau the size of 54 football fields. After flying to Albuquerque and spending the night at the Fairfield Marriott Hotel, we drove to the Balloon Park at 5:30 a.m. October 4th. Our early departure gave us a head start on heavy traffic and got us to the Park in time to see three Dawn Patrol balloons test the winds. At 7 a.m., a balloon was launched carrying the United States flag. During the next few days, 550 balloons would fill the skies in the biggest international balloon fest in the world. Wednesday was International Balloon Day. Thursday featured Special Shapes balloons from China and Japan. We would see honey bees, a castle, stagecoach, ... read more

Santa Fe - This will also be a longish post as we had so many adventures here. I will stick to those that inspired and lifted our hearts and expanded our minds. Let me start with an observation. It rained last night and this morning in Taos. As I packed up to leave and went outside with KC, my senses were filled with a comfortableness I rarely experience away from Rancho Murieta and I was “home”. I really love this place. The drive down to Santa Fe was uneventful except for the on and off showers. As I got closer to Santa Fe, the terrain changed dramatically as the gradual rise from high desert to high mountain was replaced by the more arid desert of the southwest. Rains and run-offs have cut sharp gullies and the ... read more

That is the question... red or green chili sauce? But even the country side responds to this all over you see red soil and scattered green bushes. We slept over in Santa Rosa and hit the road to Santa Fe in the morning. There we visited the national history museum, the Georgia O'Keefe museum and strolled through the Mountain Man Fair Trade. The climate is hot and dry, after 10 minutes out in the sun you feel like your in a dehydration chamber... After a quick stop in scenic Albuquerque downtown we stopped in Grants for some fabulous sizzeling Fajitas and a beauty sleep. ... read more

Just another one of our quick trips to SANTA FE for the INTERNATIONAL SPANISH MARKET. It is only about an hour from Albuquerque. On the way we had to stop for breakfast in Sile (bacon, beans, eggs, tortillas and red chili). Oh yes...you learn to love this and it does not let go. If you move away from the area you will have chili dry-ice shipped to you wherever you are. It's the fruit of New Mexico! Santa Fe has many festivals during the summer and the Spanish market is one of them. Parking was a pain, but the walk is not that bad, because you have art shops all along the way. The market itself has about a 100-150 stalls of people selling everything from paintings, sculptures, skulls, saints, etc in the CENTRAL PLAZA of ... read more