On To Santa Fe Along the Turquoise Trail

Backroads and byways are often the best way to travel, especially when you don't have to go a long way.  That's what we did today in driving Hwy 14 north instead of the I-25 Freeway.  It took us almost all day to cover about 50 miles.


Going up the "back side"of the Sandia Mountains from Albuquerque, our first stop was Tinkertown on the Sandia Crest Hwy.  This "Museum" was the hobby, the collection, and finally the obsession of one man.  There's no way to really describe this rustic rambling of sheds filled with stuff that he created and carted home.  Google it.

 The Turquoise Trail runs north through old mining towns.  Most were left as almost ghost towns, and while there is some renewal, they are still dusty little villages. 


At Golden, we hoped to see The church of San Francisco de Asis, but it was closed.  The exterior is beautiful.

 Up the road lies Madrid, a town that has become an artist colony.  The old minors cottages are now shops and galleries.  But first we made a lunch stop at The Mind Shaft Tavern.

 The next stop was a very dusty little town with some interesting stops.  Cerrillos is famous for its turquoise mining.

 That's our rental car parked under that magnificent cotton wood.

 In fact the man who owns and runs The Casa Grande Trading Post has found a new source of turquoise and is still mining it.  I bought a piece of jewelry from him.

 Finally we arrived in Santa Fe, found our hotel, and got settled. Then we were off to the old, historic section of the city to start checking out the sights.  The St Francis Cathedral glows in the late afternoon sun.

We found our way around, prowled some shops, found places to return to tomorrow and had gourmet pizza for dinner before returning to the hotel.

The Sounders are playing in LA right now, so I've got to get back to my live streaming and see how they're doing. 

Update: Sounders win 3-1 over Chivas USA.  They finish the season 18-7-9.  Now on to the playoffs!