Our First Day in Santa Fe

We awoke to a chilly 29 degrees this morning.  A fellow traveler parked in the next site from us failed to unhook his water last night and was disappointed to find his hose had frozen and burst.  We didn’t have any water issues, but we were beginning to run low on propane.  That was the first order of business this morning.  By the time Gene found a place to purchase a refill and got home with it, it was mid morning.

With the security of knowing we wouldn’t freeze tonight, we headed into Santa Fe.  It is an easy drive right in US 285 passed the snow capped mountains and through a couple Indian Reservations.  Having stopped to make a couple pictures and to fill up the fuel tank it was nearly 11 AM.  Our first stop was the Visitor Center located in the Convention Center.  The lady there was very helpful and we walked away with many brochures describing far more than we can possibly do in the time we have here.

Camel Rock along US 285

Our next stop was lunch.  I don’t know that I’ve mentioned before that we have our own personal restaurant critic.  Our friend, Rich, is all about food and has for several years supplied us with lists of good places to eat.  We don’t go to all the places he suggests, but the ones we have been to have always been great.  We (and he) have a fondness for Mexican food so for lunch today we went to one of his recommendations—Tune-Up Cafe.  Apparently an old service station from the looks of the building, Tune-Up Cafe was doing a booming business today.  It is small (about the size of an old service station) so when we went in I thought we wouldn’t have a place to sit.  However, several folks were leaving just as we arrived.  We grabbed a menu at the door, made our selections as we waited in line, and ordered at the counter.  Gene got the enchilada lunch special and I got what Rich had recommended, apparently the specialty of the house—the chile relleno.  We found a seat and while we waited I tried to sneak a peek at what everybody else was eating.  From what I saw, everything looked great.  We were not disappointed in our meals.  This was perhaps the best Mexican I have had in a very long time.  Thanks, Rich, for the heads up.  He made two other recommendations which are lists in his post on the guestbook.

Tune-Up Cafe

After lunch, we waddled to the car for the quick drive downtown to the San Miguel Mission.  This is the oldest church in the United States, built in 1610.  At the alter, portions of the current flooring have been removed to reveal the foundation of the original church.  The wooden alter screen is the oldest in New Mexico dating from late 1700s.  Toward the bottom of the screen is a small carved statue of St. Michael which dates from the early 1700s.  At the back of the sanctuary is the San Jose Bell thought to have been brought from Mexico in the early 1700s.  It is inscribed with the date 1356.

San Miguel Mission

After visiting the Mission, we had intended to stop at another old church.  However, parking along the street was nearly impossible and we weren’t much in the mood to pay $9 to park for a mere 30 or 45 minutes.  Instead, we headed back to Espanola to the National Forest Ranger Station to pick up information and maps for hiking.

San Jose Bell

Our last stop of the day was at Chimayo Trading Post.  This historic adobe building is one of the few remaining “trading posts”.  It was filled to the brim with odds and ends of every sort from hand woven Native American rugs to post cards from the 1950s.  This little place would bring out the treasure hunter in anyone.  We found a couple things we just had to have, but alas, most we had to leave.  Our little home is just too small.

Tomorrow we will try for an earlier start to allow time to do the 10K volksmarch of downtown Santa Fe and a tour of the capitol building.