new mexico | bandelier national monument

It's no secret that Larry and I are fans of the National Parks, so I was happy that our trip to New Mexico would include exploring Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier is not considered one of the major national parks (in fact, the NPS designates it a national monument and not a park), but with 33,000 acres of rugged canyon and mesa country within its boundaries, it is not to be missed.

Bandelier is a unique place to visit for a couple of reasons - one, is that human presence can be traced back to 11,000 years there, and two, is that the ancestral people's cliff dwellings still exist and can be accessed by visitors through a series of ladders throughout the park. In 2010, Larry and I enjoyed exploring the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, but those dwellings could only be accessed under the supervision of a park service tour guide. At Bandelier, you are free to climb the ladders and explore the dwellings on your own as you hike throughout the park. (Oh, and thirdly, I read that October is tarantula mating season, so I was excited by the prospect of spotting some giant horny spiders on the trail! Unfortunately, the tarantulas kept their mating rituals private and we didn't get to witness any spider sex.)

The reason we were in New Mexico in the first place was that Larry had a couple of business meetings for an engineering project at Bandelier. After a full day of meetings on Thursday, he had a short meeting on Friday morning and he let me tag along. It was nice to drive out of Santa Fe, through the New Mexico landscape and into the mountains as the sun was coming up. While Larry and his colleagues were in their meeting, I hung out at the Bandelier Visitors' Center and learned about the volcanic activity that formed the geography of the region and the Pueblo people who lived in Bandelier thousands of years ago. The cliffs are made of a volcanic rock called tuff, which is soft and full of air pockets, making it easy for the cliff dwellers to carve out cavates to live in.

When Larry's meeting was finished, we met up for sandwiches and then headed down the main loop trail for a hike. This trail gives a good overview of the geography of the region and provides access to a treasure trove of archaeological sites:















We then hiked down into the Frijoles Canyon and along the river bed. Because rainwater collects in the canyon, there are actual tall green trees growing in the canyon bed - a nice respite from the punishing sun and brown geography of the desert. There was a major flood through the canyon in 2013, and many of the trees had been snapped like matchsticks and strewn about the canyon bed.


We continued on to the Alcove House - a kiva that was once home to 25 ancestral pueblo people. Access required climbing 140 vertical feet on a series of wooden ladders to reach the elevated site of the Alcove House. It was certainly a fun and unique hike:






And the climbing was worth it for this view:




And then we had to climb back down:


And take our traditional photo of the two of us (we try to do this in every park we visit), which turned out horribly:

I probably never would've taken a trip out to Bandelier on my own, so I'm thankful that Larry had a business meeting that gave us a reason to explore this unique park. It's definitely worth the trip if you're in the Santa Fe area.

new mexico | exploring santa fe

When we got back from Acadia in September - our third vacation of the summer of 2014 - I knew our season of crazy travel was over and I prepared myself to settle in for fall at home. But I was wrong - less than three weeks after we got home from Maine, Larry and I found ourselves in New Mexico.

Larry had a business trip for a meeting at Bandelier National Monument and I insisted on tagging along. Larry and I often discuss which city we'd like to live in when we eventually leave DC, and oddly enough neither of us have ever been to our top three contenders: Savannah, GA, Portland, OR, and Santa Fe, NM. (Why do we think we'd like to live in these places if we've never been there? Our top criteria for what makes a location appealing include access to nature/outdoor activities, artsiness, beautiful scenery, and climate.) Anyway, Santa Fe is known for being an artsy town and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see whether it would be a good place to live. Also, we would be in New Mexico during the weekend of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, an event that I'd been dying to photograph for years. And thirdly? New Mexican cuisine! Yum!

On Wednesday, October 1st we flew into Albuquerque and drove the scenic Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. All the budget hotels were booked due to the upcoming Balloon Fiesta, so we lucked into staying at the amazing Hotel St. Francis on the company dime. One of the nicest hotels I've ever been to - the arched doorways, fireplaces, iron chandeliers, pillar candles, and baptismal font in the lobby made it feel like we were staying in a monastery.


While Larry spent the next day in meetings, I was free to explore Santa Fe by foot. I walked to the Plaza downtown and had breakfast at Plaza Cafe - Santa Fe's oldest restaurant which was established in 1918. I am helpless to resist any huevos dish while traveling and stuffed my face with Huevos Divorciados (Divorced Eggs) and prickly pear lemonade. New Mexico knows how to do breakfast right! (Though my mouth was a little numb from the chipotle salsa!)

My next stop was the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. I always thought O'Keeffe's work was revolutionary, even though flower and skull paintings are not what I would choose to hang in my own home. (Also, it is a myth and misinterpretation that her flower paintings were representative of female parts!) I was interested to learn about O'Keeffe as a person and found I could really relate to her. She loved nature and travel, she loved to cook and grow her own food, and she was fiercely independent and did what she wanted to. Yes! I found her to be a very inspiring person and look forward to reading more about her.




I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown Santa Fe and going into nearly every shop searching for affordable pottery and turquoise jewelry, but everything cost thousands of dollars, so I settled for a couple of postcards and woven baskets. I photographed the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi before meeting Larry back at the hotel room.

"Love one another constantly." I'm not one for church, but I love that!

I found Larry resting in bed shirtless: his body was white, but his head was tomato red. Poor guy walked around the desert all day and forgot sunscreen.

Red chili dressed as a green chili:

In the evenings we went to the bar in the hotel - the Secreto Lounge, which was fantastic. The bartender, Chris Milligan, is one of the top bartenders in the country and he makes a Smoked Sage Margarita which tastes like licking a campfire...but with tequila. I usually don't even like margaritas, but this one one of the best drinks I've ever had.

And sometimes we just took our evening beers back to the room.


One night we walked down to Canyon Road - this is the true art district in Santa Fe and is home to over 100 art galleries. They were incredible. Once again, I searched for an affordable piece of art to bring home with me, but the cheapest works I saw where in the $6000 range! But I loved exploring the galleries - there was some really amazing stuff. My favorites were the kinetic sculptures. We also saw fire dancers, and actor Sam Shepard sitting at the bar where we went for dinner. At the end of the night, a band started playing in the restaurant and all the old hippies started dancing and grinding to the music. They were into it and it was awesome. Santa Fe definitely has a fun vibe and fun people.

And I can't write about Santa Fe without discussing the food...all of it was delicious! Chiles and cheese on everything! All the huevos! All the guacamole! All the margaritas! Get in my belly! Our favorite was the renowned Cafe Pasqual's, which definitely lives up to the hype.

We really enjoyed visiting Santa Fe and the surrounding area and would love to come back - there is much more to see and eat! But Larry and I agreed we don't want to live there. I think since both of us are east coasters and grew up surrounded by green grass and trees, that the desert just feels too brown and flat for it to feel like home. But wow is it a fun, interesting, and delicious place to visit!

maine | the finale and more pictures of trees

Finally! The last of the pics from Maine.

In retrospect, I wish we had spent more of our time in Maine just lounging around the cabin. Sometimes it's so hard to force yourself to just do nothing. We tried to see everything we could in Acadia, but it would have been a perfectly wonderful vacation if we had spent the entire week relaxing and never left Sans Souci camp.  Our own private peninsula on a lake with an incredible view and cozy fireplace - what else could you possibly need?









We did have one rainy day (September 11th) which was a good day to hang out in the cabin and read. (Ironically, I never finished the book I was reading. Maybe I really should've spent more time at the cabin! MORE READING, LESS PHOTOS!)








We made a quick trip into Southwest Harbor to pick up some pasta, sauce, and a bottle of wine at a fancy little market and cooked dinner in that night. It turned out to be the most delicious pasta and sauce we've ever tasted. We eventually tracked down the Stonewall Kitchen Truffle Marinara and Cipriani Tagliolini in Virginia and every once in a while, we treat ourselves to our "Maine meal" for special occasions (it's pricey stuff). One bite of that pasta and I'm immediately transported back to that cabin in Maine - a fire crackling in the fireplace inside and the moon reflecting on the lake through the big picture window outside. Perfection.

On our last day in Acadia, we had some time before we had to drive to the airport, so we went back to Jordan Pond House to get our fill of popovers. Those things are so damn good!

We took a few pictures at the pond including my favorite picture ever of Larry "feeling up Mother Nature." Then we took the camera back to the car, and decided to hike around Jordan Pond without the distraction of stopping for photos. I didn't think there would be much to take pictures of anyway, but it turned out to be a great little hike - flat trail with log boardwalks and boulders to climb over. It was a magical way to spend our last few hours in Maine.



As I wrote in the guest book, Sans Souci camp was one of the best places we've ever stayed. Maybe we'll go back some day and just sit in the cabin and enjoy doing nothing!