Visiting New Mexico

After visiting Portland, Oregon, I flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico to meet up with my friend Carol and begin a road trip that would take us through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. As the plane descended into Albuquerque, the state looked different from anywhere I had ever seen. Brown, but mountainous and even green and snowy in parts. 

 Carol and I were close growing up and in high school and she's lived in New Mexico off and on for the last six years. I'm so glad I made the trip out to see her there. From Albuquerque, we drove about an hour northeast to Santa Fe. After a tasty dinner of tacos and exploring Santa Fe, we stayed in a beautiful two-room casita (airbnb is the best!).  

The blue sky and sunshine was really wonderful in the high desert, a terrain I'd never experienced! The elevation took a day or two to get used to.

The plaza (or downtown) area of Santa Fe was small with lots of clay pueblo buildings, woven rugs sold on the streets, colorful art, and beautiful churches. New Mexico had a distinctly Mexican Catholic/Native American culture. 

On my short list of places to see in New Mexico (it was a busy trip!) was the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe and it's miraculous spiral staircase. You can read more about the staircase here. The summary is that the sisters of the chapel needed a specific staircase to reach the high choir loft in the late nineteenth century and after days of prayer, a mysterious carpenter appeared, insisted on working alone, and then disappeared after creating a beautiful and stand-alone spiral staircase with two 360-degree curves. It's believed St. Joseph – the patron saint of carpentry...produced the staircase. Regardless of how the staircase was built, it was an extraordinary work of art. Outside the chapel, a small tree was filled with rosaries. 

We visited the state capital and found that gorgeous visual art by New Mexican artists decorated the interior of the building. We also found the state government gets started later in the day. We had the house chambers to ourselves! 

As we headed north towards Colorado, Carol had wanted to be sure we visited the El Santuario de Chimayo, and we were both SO HAPPY we did. El Santuario de Cimayo is the most popular Catholic pilgrimmage site in the U.S. Despite its many visitors, it felt so small, sacred, intimate and naturally beautiful. The small clay chapel (pictured top left) had an entirely gold and red and turquoise altar that in its own artistic style, felt more beautiful than the elaborate Catholic churches and altars elsewhere. The folk art inside and outdoors, the emphasis on pilgrims or visitors leaving crosses and flowers and the natural beauty of the mountains and the clear blue sky made this location so peaceful. 

A little bit farther north, we stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge for beautiful views of the Rio Grande River far below.  Our final hour or so in New Mexico included a quiet drive through the mountains, (no other cars were spotted!) views of pine trees and snow-capped mountains in the distance.