Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

"As the wagons went forward and the sun sank lower, a sweep of red carnelian-coloured hills lying at the foot of the mountains came into view; they curved like two arms about a depression in the plain; and in that depression was Santa Fé, at last! A thin, wavering adobe town...a green plaza...at one end a church with two earthen towers that rose high above the flatness."

-Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop

First of all, let me say that's it has long been my dream to go to Santa Fe. Turquoise jewelry, artist community, authentic food and 300 days of sunshine per year. What more could a girl want? So, when we revised our trip not to go through Big Bend National Park in southern Texas I jumped on the opportunity to fit in Santa Fe. And, even after our great day there, I will definitely have to go back.

We rolled into Santa Fe after dark on Saturday night in the middle of the aforementioned thunderstorm, but woke up to an absolutely beautiful day.

The owner of the Silver Saddle Motel directed us downtown to the old railyard that they've converted into a new community center so we stopped by a Farmer's Market and then headed into old town.

 
There's a law that all buildings in the old town have to be built in the adobe style:

This is a building near the old plaza.






















This is a parking garage.






We stopped at a great bookstore where I bought the Willa Cather book quoted above and Adam bought a Christopher Moore book. Once going through the plaza we stopped by the famous churches on the edge of old town. The first is the Cathedral of St. Francis which houses the oldest Madonna in the United States. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the statue, but fortunately, we got to witness a service in action.

Out front this church has a statue of the first Native American woman to ever become a saint.

You'll also notice the new blue turquoise earrings I couldn't keep myself from buying from a Navajo woman in the old plaza. If I had more money, time and a better knee, I could easily spend all of it in Santa Fe.












The second cathedral we saw holds the "miracle staircase," built in the 19th century without any discernible means of support. The entire staircase has two 360 degree turns and is built without any nails or screws, only wooden pegs. Pretty cool.

And, finally, the good stuff: lunch.

The "authentic" New Mexican restaurant Tomasitas was closed on Sundays, so we went to the fun, quirky Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

 


















And the food was deee-licious.

Needless to say, Santa Fe has been the highlight of the trip so far. Of course, between the eating and purchasing, we never forgot the competition.

 I scored an early point in the day for spotting a prairie dog on the side of the road.


Score: Chadé: 3, Adam: 2








Adam scored a point upon leaving Santa Fe for not getting pulled over despite being tailed by a cop while going 10 miles over the speed limit and looking at his GPS on his phone. However, and as usual, he quickly lost the point for trying to pass someone on a one-lane highway, confusing himself, failing to pass and shamefully going 5 miles below the speedlimit for the next 15 minutes.


Score: Chadé: 3, Adam: 2.


The Day's Stats:


1 plate of Diablo Salsa hot wings consumed
1 audiobook finished
3 books purchased
5 virgin mary's seen
$50 delicously spent
200 adobe houses seen
490 miles driven
1,800 total miles


Austin tonight! Yee-haw!


-Chadé

PS. Our progress so far: