There is an impending snow storm coming in tomorrow night into Thursday with temperatures dropping into the 20's at night and only 40 during the day - so, we decided to take advantage of the really nice weather yesterday and ride up into the mountains
west of Santa Fe. Most of the information you read about Santa Fe keeps pointing to the picturesque sandstone formations and mountains that Georgia O'Keeffe painted and we went to find out if it was true. As we drove north and west we passed numerous small towns where the remains of ancient Pueblos are and these small towns are inhabited by Native American Indians. There are 19 Pueblos in New Mexico and each Pueblo settlement has a casino within the reservation. We were surprised at how busy each casino was. We drove to Abiqui'u (AB-ih-cue) where Georgia first set up a paint studio and gallery and she stayed there until she purchased a ranch (Ghost Ranch) some 30 miles more north of Abiqui'u some 10 years later. We were wow'd big time. We stopped at the Abiqui'u Dam run by the Army Corp of Engineers. Beautiful area. We definitely saw where Georgia got her inspiration from to paint, the red rock cliffs in the background, the crystal blue skies.
From this area we then drove into the Jemez Mountains which is reported as a scenic byway
which winds through the mountains and the Santa Fe National Forest south into Albuquerque. Every turn - wow. At one point we crossed over the Continental Divide - and when we did - we both remarked about our hiking adventure in the Rocky Mountains. I felt sorry for Dave - asking him to pull over so I could take pictures. There is so much history in this area that we have decided that we need to come back some day and explore the area to it's fullest. What we are surprised about - we thought we would be in warmer weather, similar to El
Paso, TX but we are too close to the Continental Divide and the mountains and therefore, cold nights are the norm. We will move soon to much farther south to where we don't have to worry about disconnecting our water hose at night and bringing it in, and running heaters to stay warm. For the rest of the week, as we prepare for the storm, we will just hunker down and watch the world go by.
west of Santa Fe. Most of the information you read about Santa Fe keeps pointing to the picturesque sandstone formations and mountains that Georgia O'Keeffe painted and we went to find out if it was true. As we drove north and west we passed numerous small towns where the remains of ancient Pueblos are and these small towns are inhabited by Native American Indians. There are 19 Pueblos in New Mexico and each Pueblo settlement has a casino within the reservation. We were surprised at how busy each casino was. We drove to Abiqui'u (AB-ih-cue) where Georgia first set up a paint studio and gallery and she stayed there until she purchased a ranch (Ghost Ranch) some 30 miles more north of Abiqui'u some 10 years later. We were wow'd big time. We stopped at the Abiqui'u Dam run by the Army Corp of Engineers. Beautiful area. We definitely saw where Georgia got her inspiration from to paint, the red rock cliffs in the background, the crystal blue skies. 
From this area we then drove into the Jemez Mountains which is reported as a scenic byway which winds through the mountains and the Santa Fe National Forest south into Albuquerque. Every turn - wow. At one point we crossed over the Continental Divide - and when we did - we both remarked about our hiking adventure in the Rocky Mountains. I felt sorry for Dave - asking him to pull over so I could take pictures. There is so much history in this area that we have decided that we need to come back some day and explore the area to it's fullest. What we are surprised about - we thought we would be in warmer weather, similar to El Paso, TX but we are too close to the Continental Divide and the mountains and therefore, cold nights are the norm. We will move soon to much farther south to where we don't have to worry about disconnecting our water hose at night and bringing it in, and running heaters to stay warm. For the rest of the week, as we prepare for the storm, we will just hunker down and watch the world go by.
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