El Morro

From Wikipedia: "El Morro National Monument is located on an ancient east-west trail in western New Mexico. The main feature of this National Monument is a great sandstone promontory with a pool of water at its base. As a shaded oasis in the western U.S. desert, this site has seen many centuries of travelers. The Spaniard explorers called it El Morro (The Headland). The Zuni Indians call it 'A'ts'ina' (Place of writings on the rock). Anglo-Americans called it Inscription Rock. Travelers left signatures, names, dates, and stories of their treks. While some of the inscriptions are fading, there are still many that can be seen today, some dating to the 17th century. Some petroglyphs and carvings were made by the Anasazi centuries before Europeans started making their mark. In 1906, U.S. federal law prohibited further carving."



The first English inscription at El Morro, carved into the rock by Lt. J. H. Simpson and R. H. Kern in 1849, has a spelling error: "inscriptions" was spelled "insciptions" with the "r" inserted afterwards.
























The water that attracted all the travelers.

Acoma Pueblo II

A few more photos of the Pueblo. It really was amazing!



A window made of Mica. This fascinated me. Maybe it's just because I'm the child of geologists?

And continuing down the road...

We started heading West towards AZ and made a stop to see the Acoma Pueblo (or Sky City). It is regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States. It is built on top of a mesa with sheer sides and access was originally only by stairs cut into the rock. Now they have a primitive road and you have to take a tour to go up there. It is well worth the high cost of admission!









The facilities.



The San Estévan del Rey Mission is seen here in the distance behind all the outhouses. There is also a cemetery just to the left of it that contains graves going 5 layers deep! Fewer than 50 tribal members live year-round in the earthen homes of Sky City. Those living in the community tend to the massive San Estévan del Rey Mission, completed in 1640. The missionaries wanted the natives to take on Catholicism, but allowed people to keep their native ceremonies and beliefs as well, so today many people practice both.





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Normally I'd say, "it's a dog's life," but in this case I think that poor dog must have been dying of heat stroke. It was mighty hot up there!



We hadn't eaten breakfast and it was afternoon by the time we finished our tour, so one of these "Pueblo Tacos" looked mighty appealing! As a child growing up in Flagstaff, AZ, we referred to these as "Navajo Tacos." I guess each culture has taken the delicacy on as their own!

Taos

Taos is a cute town. There weren't many tourists this time of year, so the merchants were quite friendly and we chatted with a few while shopping for boots and stopping for ice-cream. It was a lovely day to stroll about the town.



Taking a break.



I had my eye on a pair of red ones, but they didn't fit.









Loom

Heading to Taos

The scenery was fantastic!



We saw this cute old church on our way, so stopped to take photos.

Best Breakfast

There were two places that stood out as best breakfast on our entire trip. One was this one: Café Pasqual's in Santa Fe. If you are ever there, make sure to give it a try! Bring plenty of money, however, as it's not cheap! We also went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, but alas, were not allowed to take any photos.



This was the special that Janet had. It was a strange mix of things (including plantains) that seemed odd to put together, but ended up being fantastic!



My breakfast was a bit more basic, but still exceptionally good.

Lava, Lava, Everywhere!

We drove through a big lava field known as the Valley of Fires on the way to Santa Fe. It was a nice place to stop and have a picnic while looking at the incredible view.






Our jalopy taking a break and enjoying the view.



Yucca flower.

Smokey Bear

In mid New Mexico we stumbled upon Smokey Bear's museum and gravesite! Apparently, the "real" Smokey Bear (and we were informed that it is "Smokey Bear" and not "Smokey THE Bear") was discovered here in the mountains hugging a tree as a little cub during a wildfire. His feet were burned so he was nursed back to health and became the real life symbol of the animated Smokey.






Smokey's Grave.