Today is actually the day that I wrap up our New Mexico trip saga.
The odyssey began with us taking the scenic route for a holiday vacation. We continued this theme and actually did a lot of driving from our home-base in Santa Fe.
On Christmas Eve day, we drove south on the Turquoise Trail (Highway 14).
We drove all the way to Sandia Peak and then retraced our tire tracks, stopping in Madrid. Madrid is an old mining town that is now chock full of galleries and shops. The narrow highway runs right through town and you have to be a bit cautious about pedestrian shoppers. We found some great art here as well and will add this to our day-trip calendar when we are in Santa Fe again.
Just long stretches of serene isolation…
…with such beautiful scenery.
Words cannot describe the terrain so I will just let the above pictures speak for themselves.
On Christmas Day, I realized a lifelong dream of mine—
to visit Georgia O’Keeffe country, i.e. Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch.
We drove northwest on Highway 84 and drove into the sprawling metropolis of Abiquiu.
This met us at the top of the hill in Abiquiu.
Note the remnants of the Christmas Eve bonfire.
A long ago closed watering hole.
We then headed to Abiquiu lake and took a detour on Highway 96.
This was a fantastic drive through the Jemez mountains and at one point we were at 8000 feet. Again, we met very few fellow drivers and ran into a light snow.
I was also on the lookout for wildlife and The Hubs felt like we should have seen some elk. We only spotted a flock of wild turkeys though. We drove all the way to Cuba, NM, and then retraced our steps.
Back at Abiquiu Lake, we headed to Ghost Ranch.
I have had a life long fascination with the works of Georgia O’Keeffe and as many times as we have visited NM, we have never ventured into what is dubbed “O’Keeffe Country.”
We were both awed by the vistas in this area.
The Hubs put it poetically by surmising that the land just makes one feel so insignificant yet so alive.
We vow that we will stay in this neck of the woods on our next visit to New Mexico (hopefully this spring or early summer).
Even the trees look serene (and wise).
The day after Christmas, we awoke to a fresh snow fall for our drive home.
We are counting the days until our return and you know I will be eager to share it with you.
