It's Downhill From Here

It's was with much regret that I pulled up stakes and left my wonderful camp on the mountain above Los Alamos. I loved listening to the birds, watching the occasional chipmunk, (but only when I wasn't hearing the owls,) and most of all, listening to the muttering of the distant thunder every afternoon.  Next (short) stop, Santa Fe.

While I've been on this trip, I've picked up a few Travel Bugs that had special stories. One of the first was in memory of a cowboy (and friend) named Shane. "Shane" has traveled with me since Cortez while I looked for a good spot to leave him. I stopped in Santa Fe to drop "Shane" at the cache at the La Fonda hotel, one of the stops on the Santa Fe Trail. Seems appropriate. And I didn't stop at the Pastry Shop.

I love Santa Fe and this was a good excuse to spend a few minutes on the plaza, but with parking for the truck & trailer at $4 an hour, I wasn't going stay long. As usual, the vendors were set up on the one side of the plaza

While the other sides were the more permanent stores.

I hadn't noticed murals last time I was here, but spotted this one on the City Hall building. I wonder if there are others.

I love the smooth flowing Santa Fe style architecture!

I didn't stop to check out the miraculous stairs, but they're in the Loretta Chapel in the background. There was something going on at the Basilica - Lots of LBDs headed that direction.

Once I hit the freeway, it was a matter of watching the wide ribbon of asphalt unfold, and noting that the road was more downhill than up. Temps were already climbing and I was still hanging around the Continental Divide.

To keep it interesting, every now and then you could watch the ribbons of steel. Timing was right at one overpass to catch the train coming on.

Home for the night was the Bluewater Lake State Park. Like all reservoirs in the west, the level of the lake was down, but they had a site with 30 amp and my name on it - a sure cure for too warm weather. Bluewater is about 6 miles south of the freeway on the opposite side of a ridge from the freeway alignment. A bit out of the way, but much cooler than the Walmart in Gallup!