The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

November 30

Don't listen to anyone who tells you not to go to The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, as someone told us....it is majestic, stunning and just jaw-dropping.  Both are accessed through the Petrified Forest National Park about 20 miles east of Holbrook, AZ.  It's a 28 mile drive with numerous look-outs and trails.  We should have allowed far more time....we spent about 3 hours in the park and could have used a couple of more. 

The first stop is a vast view of the Painted Desert with it's varying palette of what we now call Southwestern colors....there is a definite reason for that!

We keep stopping at one moonscape after another.

The Petrified Forest section begins as you cross over Historic Route 66.  The Park Service seems to concentrate more on this portion in their brochure descriptions and wandering off points.  There are some long hiking trails, but we opt for those of a mile or less due to time/darkness constraints.

I was here when I was 8...I didn't appreciate it nearly as much then. Amongst the fascinating petrified rocks and logs, there is evidence of pueblo ruins and petroglyphs that have been traced back more than 10,000 years.   Research indicates these early residents left the area around 1400 A.D.

Old Faithful is the name given to the Park's largest log.

But the most beautiful and fascinating are the pieces that are lying about.

The Park is relatively deserted in early December, but this guy follows us everywhere and doesn't seem to be the least bit afraid of us!

We spend the night in a pretty uggy spot in Holbrook and will leave early in the morning for Phoenix where hopefully it's warm.

Albuquerque

November 28~29

There's not nearly the charm of Santa Fe in Albuquerque, but there's enough to do to keep busy for a couple of days. 

Did I mention how much I love Christmas and parades?  As we check into the American RV Park (americanrvpark.com) we discover there is a Christmas Parade downtown.  We bundle up again, as it is still too cold to be called chasing the sun, and go directly to the parade route.  Bands are tuning up, floats are reving up and clowns are waiting their moment in the spotlight.

The main street through town is Historic Route 66 and is festively marked.  Laterns and buildings are all decorated and carolers entertain as the crowds await the parade.

We have some time until the parade launches, so we find Maloney's Tavern (famous since 1991!), that has a heated patio right on the parade route.  It's a perfect reviewing stand.

We munched on queso dip and had a great time.

On the way to the parade, we saw a restaurant called Standard Diner (standarddiner.com) that I knew sounded familar.  Then it hit me that we had seen it on TV, one of the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives shows on Food Nework.  After the parade, we hightail it back to have dinner there.

This is no diner!  The building is a former service station built in 1938 and now is actually quite chic in an art nouveau fashion.  Another thing I just adore is meat loaf, which is the recipe I saw prepared on TV.  The ingredients were exactly the way I make, but served wrapped in bacon and topped with a cabernet reduction, of course with a side of mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies.   It is fab. The sauce is definitely going to be my new topper,  though I did pick the bacon off....enough is enough!  Rick chooses a spectacular "Country Fried Tuna".  Sounds kinda gross, but actually is a lightly tempura battered sushi grade tuna served with wasabe guacamole and ginger infused basmati rice. This place is a winner!  It's also very reasonable (both entrees $14) and a has very good wine list.

Very fun day!

The American RV Park is a rather typical mid-tier kind of place, but seems to be the very best you can find in Albuquerque.  One nice thing though, they serve a complimentary continental breakfast every morning in their very comfy clubhouse. 

After breakfast we check out some of the rest of town.  Though the famous Balloon Festival is in October, there is a Balloon Museum that gives some of the flavor of hot air ballons and their history. It's free and virtually empty on Sunday mornings, a very good time to go.  While there are only a couple of life-size balloons, there are small mock-ups of very pretty historical balloons and quite a few interactive activites for kids of all ages.

                                                                                        

We stroll the Plaza for a little while....but once you've Santa Fe, it pales in comparison.  We probably didn't give it a fair shake, but we are really tired of being cold.  Tomorrow, we will begin to make our way to Phoenix via the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.

Santa Fe Holiday Kick-off

November 27

Even more than I love a parade, I love Christmas!  Tonight is the lighting of the trees and luminaria on the Santa Fe Plaza.  We go to town a couple of hours before the lighting to see some of the things we've missed so far. 

San Miguel Chapel is the oldest church in the country, built in 1610.  It is so odd that the guide books give this lovely structure very little notice.  We found it wonderful.

The art and artifacts are particularly noteworthy. There's a parishioner working in the back of the church attaching silver charms bought as memorials to the departed to the framework of a 750 pound bell that contains 20 pounds of gold mixed with silver and copper.  The Mexican bell was made in 1386.  We can't believe the man let's us touch it, let alone hands Rick a hammer and tells him to ring it!

This painting of the cruxifion is on Colonial buffalo hide and dates to about 1725.

The carved beam is dated 1710.

Canyon Road is the art district in Santa Fe. It is chock-a-block full of high end galleries and seems constantly mobbed.  It's adorable and full of interesting buildings studded with outdoor sculptures.  We frankly just did a drive by since we simply cannot buy anything of consequence because we have no place to put anything! 

Lighting The Plaza

The Plaza is packed with families, excited children and happy people like us who just love this sort of thing.  Santa and Rudolph arrive in an antique firetruck.

The bars and shops are full and some are providing a little entertainment to lure you in.

The crowd joins in the count-down and all the Plaza trees and luminaria on the building roofs and lining the pathways are lit.

It's wonderful and beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!