That month sure went by fast..

Our month long stay in the Santa Fe area is coming to a close.  We have really enjoyed our stay here and hope to come back to this area again one day.  The northern portion of New Mexico, where we are located, offers so many interesting places to explore: a variety of outdoor activities, United States historical sites, Native American culture and history sites, lots of museums and many scenic drives and byways.  It seems we went somewhere almost everyday and we still have places yet to visit on our list.  Why this just gives us reason to come back again to explore more of the "Land of Enchantment".

Here's a few other places we found interesting.

The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe.

NM Museum of Art entrance

There was a blue grass band playing in the museum's central patio area this evening.

We took in the final night of the 66th Annual Rodeo de Santa Fe.

Opening ceremonies

This cowboy just got bucked off his horse during the "bronco busting" competition.

"Double Roping" competition. The sunset was so colorful that evening.

New Mexico Hwy 570 traverses about 6 miles of the Rio Grande River through the gorge area that is located on the "Low Road to Taos".  This country road, located just off Hwy 64, passes through Orilla Verde where 6 or so Bureau of Land Management campgrounds can be found along the river.  This was an interesting drive especially the part where the road exits the canyon onto the flat plain.

Note the magenta cactus blooms.

You can see Hwy 570 to the left of the Rio Grande.  This view is from that same road as it climbs out of the gorge.

The dirt road/Hwy 570 can be seen to the right in the above photo.

View of the gorge and flat plains from Hwy 64.  Hwy 570 can barely be seen from this vantage point.

The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway offered us sweeping vistas of Red River, Wheeler Peak, Eagles Nest and the Angel Fire Ski area.

Wheeler Peak still had snow.  It is New Mexico's tallest peak at 13,167 ft..

The Enchanted Circle offered some outstanding scenery and varied temperature changes this day too.

A visit to the Tesuque Flea Market was an interesting experience.

There are many vendors at this flea market.  They sell art and other various items.  This quirky booth caught my attention.

Close up of all those paint brushes.

Of course we enjoyed some great Mexican food while here in the Santa Fe area.  The meals that stood out as being very, very tasty are:

New Mexico green chili chicken pizza and Greek pizza from the Backstreet Pizza. They are noted for their pizza crust rolled in cornmeal.

Chimichangas and chicken quesadillas from the Guadalajara Grill in Taos.

The Pantry Restaurant, located in Santa Fe, had good reviews. We tried their version of a chicken quesadilla and beef burrito.

And the Soft Blue Corn Tacos from La Choza in Santa Fe were also very good.

And one more New Mexico sunset to remember this vibrantly, colorful area...

More later as we eas-on down the road..