And The ADVENTURE Continues...: September 2015

September 29, 2015 Part 2 another trip into Santa Fe

Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Part 2 another trip into Santa Fe

GOODS NEWS OUR REBUILT ENGINE JUST ARRIVED IN THE REPAIR SHOP AND WE ARE GETTING OUR CAR THIS FRIDAY WOO HOO.

We went back into town and toured the Loretto Chapel, San Miguel Church/Mission which is the oldest church and the oldest house in the United States. We stopped in the Capitol Building that had some interesting paper book artwork that blew me away and last we stopped into the Harrell House of Nature Oddities and it was a little odd and interesting at the same time.

FYI-Here is the story of the Loretto Chapel and its Miraculous Stairway. This Chapel was built in 1870's and fashioned after the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It is believed to be the first Gothic church west of the Mississippi. However the chapel had a design flaw-there was no way to get to the choir loft. Carpenters were called in but no one could come up with a solution. A conventional staircase was too big and they didn't want to rebuild. Seeking divine guidance the Sisters made a Novena to Saint Joseph (the carpenter). As the legend goes on the 9th day a mysterious carpenter arrived to design the stairs. The tools on his donkey were a saw, square, a hammer and tubs to soak the wood. He was going to make a circular staircase. His staircase contains 33 steps and goes into 2 full 360 degree turns. It has no center support nor is it supported on its sides by any type of braces. When the staircase was completed the carpenter disappeared without ever getting payment for his work. Today a banister has been added and a brace for safety reasons. You are not allowed on it but it is a beautiful piece a wooden art.

LORETTO CHAPEL

STAIRCASE IN THE LATE 1880'S

STAIRCASE TODAY

SAN MIGUEL CHURCH

BELL FROM SPAIN CAST IN 1366

ALTAR IN SAN MIGUEL

CHECK THIS HAT OUT----CREEPY

AND THE MAN THAT WORE IT

OLDEST HOUSE IN THE U.S.A.

CAPITOL BUILDING..

CHECK OUT THIS ARTWORK MADE OUT OF PAGES OF A BOOK

BEAUTIFUL GLASS BOWL

THESE DISPLAYS WERE AT HARRELL HOUSE OF NATURAL ODDITIES

KATYDIDS

PRAYING MANTIS

Stick Insects

DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THESE BUGS BUT THEY WERE A PRETTY COLOR

THIS GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF HOW BIG THESE THINGS ARE

OH NO SPIDERS SORRY CHERYL

BIG SCORPIONS

HE IS REAL-CROCODILE MONITOR

A SCORPION UNDER ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT THAT IS HOW YOU FIND THEM AT NIGHT

MY FAVORITE - A MALE CHAMELEON

September 29, 2015 Another thing off my BUCKET LIST--HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE Part 1

Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Another thing off my BUCKET LIST--HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE

This is the day. I could barely sleep last night. Kept getting up and looking at the clock so we wouldn't miss our wake up time for our balloon ride. We had to drive into Albuquerque from Santa Fe a 45 minute ride. Waiting for everyone to get there and for each team to get ready was the hardest part of it all. There were 7 balloons that went up all together. I think for me watching how the balloon gets inflated and ready for flight added to the anticipation. Once the balloon was inflated everyone jumped into the basket and off we went. The wind was perfect, the temperature was perfect and the flight was perfect. I can not say anything more. What a great experience this was. Even coming down was fun ever though we kissed the top of a tree on our landing in a church parking lot. We landed with the basket in the upright position. We all then had a champagne toast to a wonderful adventure. We were back to the RV by 1100 and we had lunch and we headed out again.

This was before we left this morning

Our balloon shadow that formed into a heart

Coming in for a landing

the tree that helped with our landing

Left our pilot Alfred and his 2 crew members-they really had champagne

September 28, 2015 Sightseeing in Old Santa Fe and Lunar Eclipse & Red Moon

Monday, September 28, 2015 Sightseeing in Old Santa Fe and Lunar Eclipse & Red Moon

Today we covered a lot. After picking up the rent a car we headed to the Plaza. This is in the centre of the city. There are a lot of vendors selling wares. Interesting place. Surprising we didn't find anything that tickled our fancy to buy and believe me I looked.

Our first place to go into was St Francis Cathedral. The first church was erected on this same spot in 1610 which is the same time that Santa Fe was founded. The present church was built in 1886 and rededicated in 1986. The stations of the cross inside were done in the old Santero style. They really looked old. There is also a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and displays a figure of Blessed Virgin (first brought to this church in 1625) that had traveled far in order not to be destroyed in the Pueblo Wars and later brought back to this church. She looks pretty good to 390 years old. There was also a case of relics from different Saints that was really interesting. So this church is very special.

We also stopped and spent a couple of hours in the New Mexico History Museum. This museum was well done and I learned a lot of how Santa Fe was shaped into what it is today. Remember that I was wondering why there were no tall buildings here in Santa Fe. I found out. There is an ordinance that no building can be higher than 6 stories or higher than St Francis. They wanted everyone to be able to see the surrounding mountains. Also the color of the buildings can be any color as long as it is brown, any shade of brown, but brown.