{"id":2879,"date":"2013-10-28T01:31:28","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T01:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/?p=2879"},"modified":"2014-01-26T19:19:02","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T19:19:02","slug":"october-19th-23-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/?p=2879","title":{"rendered":"October 19th – 23, 2013, Santa Fe\/Cerrillos\/Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Le<\/a>\u00a0 \"Overlooking<\/a><\/p>\n

Packed up and ready for our long haul back to Texas, we left early morning, driving all day, stopping at Wal-Mart for the night, then continuing on to Santa Fe to have Ribbit checked out before our journey back to Texas.<\/p>\n

\"Moon<\/a><\/p>\n

We arrived in Santa Fe and put down jacks at a small, somewhat expensive, mostly permanent resident housing RV park, Trailer Ranch RV Resort.\u00a0 It would be a stretch to call this a Resort. Located very close to town and on the bus line, location is the reason one would stay here, along with cable and great WiFi available all day and night.<\/p>\n

\"Trailer<\/a><\/p>\n

First morning was spent on housekeeping and the afternoon, a trip to town to view the Georgia O\u2019Keef Gallery, first on John\u2019s go-see list for the portrayal of Lake George, where he spent his childhood summers in upstate New York.\u00a0\u00a0 His comment, \u201cshe sure saw my old summer stomping grounds differently than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Window shop stop at Jackalope Mercado to admire the lively colored wares,<\/p>\n

\"Jackalope<\/a>\u00a0\"Inside<\/a><\/p>\n

Glass blowing studio,<\/p>\n

\"Glass<\/a><\/p>\n

And lunch at Triple DDD\u2019s Tune Up Caf\u00e9 for delicious grilled salmon fish taco\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"Tune<\/a><\/p>\n

My enchantment with Churches was satisfied with a reverent pause in Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and Loretto Chapel in the old city section of Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

As with most 100 year old religious relics, there is a story tied to the Loretto Chapel.\u00a0 The one most popular is the Miraculous Staircase.\u00a0 Legend has it that the nuns who lived on the property and used the chapel, wanted a staircase to the upper choir loft as there was none originally built when it was completed in 1881.\u00a0 Carpenters claimed that one could not be built that allowed the current seating and space to remain in the back of the chapel.\u00a0 The nuns prayed for 9 days and from seemingly nowhere, a carpenter arrived telling the nuns he could do the job.\u00a0 No time limit was established and the exact time it took is not known.\u00a0 The wood that was used was not local and no one knows how it arrived.\u00a0 The staircase was built without a center pole or side support and was without hand rails.\u00a0 It stood as built for years until wood hand rails were attached in the early 1900\u2019s for support ascending and descending the steep staircase.\u00a0 Many of the nuns were crawling on hands and knees up and down for fear of falling.\u00a0 The legend hints to the carpenter being St. Joseph as no one knew the man and he disappeared after the job, never to be found and never appeared to collect his fee.<\/p>\n

\"Loretto<\/a>\u00a0\"Front<\/a>\u00a0\"Staircase\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The story I like is the one told by the manager who was replacing votive candles in the chapel when we were listening to the staircase legend.\u00a0 I asked her how the chapel came to be privately owned and this is what she told me.<\/p>\n

In 1968 Loreto Academy, a school for women that sat behind the chapel and on Catholic Dioceses property, closed and the nuns had no funds for upkeep of Our Lady of Light Chapel.\u00a0 When the chapel and the nunnery fell into disrepair and was condemned by the city, they asked the Catholic Dioceses if they wanted to pay for its repair and upkeep.\u00a0 They answer came back \u201cno\u201d.\u00a0 The city put the city block, including all 10 church buildings, up for public auction and a couple from Oklahoma bought the block sight unseen to build a hotel.\u00a0 When the couple came to check out their purchase, the wife saw the chapel and refused to tear it down.\u00a0 She offered the chapel, and the grounds where it stood, back to the Dioceses, at no cost, if they would do the repairs but the Dioceses again refused.\u00a0 The couple then contacted their entire family for funds to repair the chapel and after the hotel was built, put the chapel into a trust so that it will never be sold or allowed to deteriorate, funded by the hotel and the small $3.00 charge per person that is now collected for entrance.<\/p>\n

The largest church in Santa Fe, Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, was built in 1886 by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy.\u00a0 In unexpected contrast to the surrounding adobe structures, Saint Francis Cathedral was designed in the Romanesque Revival style.<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/a>\u00a0\"St.<\/a>\u00a0\"Santa<\/a><\/p>\n

The story here is literally in the huge metal door. \u00a0\u00a0An older church on the same site, built in 1626, was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. \u00a0\u00a0The door, created in 1986 during the restoration, has ten bronze panels that depict the events in the history of the church. I waited to get a shot of the door but hordes of people entered and exited and my determination waned.<\/p>\n

The other interesting tidbit revolves around the statue of Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 \u2013 1680) a portrayal of Saint Kateri, the first North Native American (Algonquian-Mohawk) to be beatified (blessed).\u00a0 When Estella Loretto, a Pueblo Native American, completed the statue in 2002, she clothed Kateri in the local Pueblo garb instead of the attire she would have worn, her native dress of animal skin beaded clothing. \u00a0I inquired about the reasoning but the only answer given was that it was to be appealing to the local Pueblo Native Americans.\u00a0 In my opinion, a odd thing to do in 2002.<\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/a><\/p>\n

Rich history, Roman style art and the reverence of quiet thought envelopes you while sitting inside enjoying the detail and precision of each area of the church.\u00a0 The pillars are simple yet exquisite.\u00a0 The lovely baptism pool is large enough to reflect images from the walls.\u00a0 We were lucky enough to step in for a listen to guides inside and outside of the church, informing and enlightening, then having the freedom to wander through to enjoy the artistic aspects.<\/p>\n

\"Alter-001\"<\/a> \"Baptism-001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The town of Santa Fe is quiet and speckled with turquoise, silver, brilliantly polished fossils and rounded beige buildings.\u00a0 I love the simple comforting style of these building and even businesses take on the same shapes and colors making the town monotone as you wander around discovering.\u00a0 The streets are narrow and because of the style of buildings, neighborhoods take on the appearance of some of the small Mexican towns we have visited.<\/p>\n

\"Typical<\/a>\u00a0\"Fun<\/a><\/p>\n

Ribbit is in the shop having necessary tweaks so we rented an SUV and drove over the Turquoise Trail to the small towns of Cerrillos and Madrid.<\/p>\n

Cerrillos is one of the oldest and most noted of the Old Spanish Mineral Developments in the Southwest. \u00a0Turquoise mined here found its way to the crown jewels of Spain.\u00a0 Now a sleepy ghost of its former self, dusty dirt roads wander through the picturesque reminder of the Old West.\u00a0 The towns current charm lies in the small church and<\/p>\n

\"Igiesia<\/a><\/p>\n

An eclectic gift\/mineral\/petting zoo run by a robust lady and her husband.\u00a0 They seem determine to preserve and promote the town while still squeezing a living out of the area.\u00a0 In spite of the location, way off the main road in a large adobe and wood building on an oversized lot that overlooks the old mineral mining area, there were several cars parked in the lot.<\/p>\n

\"Casa<\/a>\u00a0\"Entrance<\/a>\u00a0\"Inside<\/a><\/p>\n

There are rickety wood and adobe buildings still standing on what must have been town center when the town was full of miners who extracted gold, silver, lead, zinc and turquoise from its gigantic red mounds of earth and rock back in the 1880\u2019s.\u00a0 The visitor center for the Cerrillos Hills State Park looks to be the newest building in town but it was closed during our visit.<\/p>\n

\"Downtown<\/a>\u00a0\"Cerrillos<\/a><\/p>\n

The town of Madrid was down the road a bit further.\u00a0 In 2006, John Travolta filmed Wild Hogs and the built-for-the-movie restaurant, Maggie\u2019s, still stands.<\/p>\n

\"Maggies\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Only one street long, but lined with dozens of interesting little shops filled with unique items.\u00a0 It is deteriorating in checkerboard fashion, one building being restored, next door falling to ruins.<\/p>\n

\"Shop<\/a>\u00a0\"Fixer<\/a>\u00a0\"Weasel<\/a><\/p>\n

After wandering through many, we found an American Indian weaving shop and I talked myself into a small but intricate Zapotec Indian wool runner that has an honored position at the foot of our fridge. \u00a0\u00a0Almost everything, including Maggie\u2019s, closed early so we walked back down the block and began our drive back to Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

Madrid was known for having the first lighted baseball field west of the Mississippi and their Christmas lights were legendary.\u00a0 It is said that Walt Disney was so impressed by the spectacular Christmas light displays in Madrid that he modeled the idea of Disneyland\u2019s Main Street after this small town.\u00a0 So impressive were the lights that Pan American Airlines would reroute aircraft over Madrid at Christmastime.<\/p>\n

Back to Santa Fe to explore before nightfall.\u00a0 Canyon Road is Santa Fe\u2019s art scene.\u00a0 The street is saturated with expressive artistic talent in every form, genres, media and style.\u00a0 Kinetic, jewelry, painting, sculpture, drawing, fabric, all abound.\u00a0 \u00a0Art appreciation need not be a prerequisite to enjoy the dramatic art forms that are housed along Canyon Road.<\/p>\n

\"Canyon<\/a>\u00a0\"Wilford<\/a>\u00a0\"Yep,\"Meikle<\/a><\/p>\n

Departure morning and Ribbit arrived by 9am, purportedly fixed, so we hooked up and were Texas bound.\u00a0\u00a0 Next stop, Palo Duro Canyon.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Miles and miles of horizontal desolate earth dotted with scrub brush, the nothingness typical of Texas flat lands, about sums up our first leg back to Texas.<\/p>\n

The only way I could appreciate this flat treeless land is if I owned a few thousand acres.\u00a0 Passed the Stockyards with its lingering odor of wet cow, straw and cow patties smooshed into mud.\u00a0 Not pleasant.\u00a0 Stuckey\u2019s signs along the freeway are a reminder of days gone by.\u00a0 The restaurant chain linked parents of baby boomer travelers to clean restrooms, food and phones.\u00a0 Seems strange that there is still a market for this diner from the 50\u2019s that appears infrequently along less traveled byways.<\/p>\n

Horizons of red rocks, then nothingness takes over again for another 150 miles.\u00a0 The sound of Blue Collar Radio is a life saver when traveling through sparse and boring scenery. \u00a0Twice, listening to a commercial, I had to stop and think, \u201cis it real or is it Saturday Night Live?\u00a0 The ad claimed their product let you keep your wits and boost your tolerance for liquor, allowing you to drink more and improve the health of your mind and liver.\u00a0 \u00a0Yea, right.\u00a0 At least it provides a laughable break in the monotony of a time-consuming drive.\u00a0 Sometimes it is the destination, and not the journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Packed up and ready for our long haul back to Texas, we left early morning, driving all day, stopping at Wal-Mart for the night, then continuing on to Santa Fe to have Ribbit checked out before our journey back … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lilypad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2879"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2885,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2879\/revisions\/2885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}