Sante Fe area

Sandwiched between the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, Jemez and San Miguel Ranges is Santa Fe, a host of archeological sites and several tribes of the native Pueblo people. We enjoyed a beautiful day to hike the trails of Bandelier National Monument, exploring the Cliff Dwellings, petroglyphs and local Abert (Tassel-eared Squirrels). The Alcove house, one of over 300 homes to the Pueblo people, sits in a large moon shaped cavern high in the cliffs. This cave dwelling housed many families and was accessible after a 140 foot climb using 4 ladders. The nearby Tyuonyi village, on the surface in front of the cliffs, contained over 600 rooms with a pen for wild Turkeys.

On our way back to Santa Fe we stopped at an overlook of the Rio Grande, beautiful! And that photo of a spider is a tarantula.

After our journey back in time we returned to todays commercial world in the Plaza center of Santa Fe with it's boutique shops and art galleries. Very touristy but a great place to wind down the day.

We will spend another day in the area before heading out of the mountains to avoid the snow, forecast for Sunday.