Day 24 - Sante Fe, N.M.

Well, this morning we woke up a little later, it felt so good to sleep after 8AM. We had a yogurt in the room and took off for the motel laundry. We met a couple in there who expressed our sympathies exactly, they said they hated to take an couple of hours out of vacation to do laundry.

After our chores were done we took off for Sante Fe. No luck finding a parking space at a meter so parked in a garage. Then off to explore downtown Sante Fe. First stop was a bead place, second was an art gallery,and then finally to the Mecca.


The Indians, or Native Americans, sit on the bricks in front of the Governors Palace selling gorgeous jewelry. There must have been about 25 vendors. It was so much fun walking to each different vendor,found some really lovely things. Ken got a nice turquoise ring. I got, well, more later...

While I'm on the subject of "Indians", I'd like to set the record straight. They are not "redmen", I'd call the color more bunt umber or cinnamon. Red is the color I turn at the beach on a hot, sunny day, with no #30 block. I guess when I consider that Columbus named them Indians because he thought he was in India, we are taking the word of a man with a poor sense of direction and probably bad eyesight.

Well I did help the economy of NM once again, Katie Couric eat your heart out. I wore my new turqoise necklace and one of the Indian vendors commented on how beautiful it is, I think so too. At about 4:00, it started to pour again so the vendors started to pick up their blankets so shopping over. S

Cool and cloudy, then sunshine, and finally torrential downpours. That was our day. Oh yeah, it was intermixed with Sheila doing a "little" shopping. We did take a little break from the jewelery shopping to actually have a bite to eat, and then right back to her favorite pastime...

The art galleries have fabulous art works and we could fill our home with so much "stuff", but a Southwestern Indian motif in Salem, NH, just wouldn't fit, somehow. The jewelry stores had some remarkable jewelry. So many different and beautiful designs.

Today was Sheila's revenge for me getting her a little damp in the rain yesterday. At least she's talking to me again. It started to rain when we were finishing jewelry shopping and I tried to move her along before it really started to pour, but she does have her priorities and leaving shopping wasn't one of them. Just when it started to really pour, I took off for the parking garage with the intention of staying under the building overhangs and porches, but if you have ever been to the Southwest, you just have to remember that adobe motif buildings don't have overhangs very often.

Yeah, I was soaked when I got to the garage and when I tried to pull out to pick her up, no one was in the garage booth to pay for parking. Had to wait until the attendant finished his break, and then out of the garage to pick Sheila up. She was under cover while she was waiting, fortunately.

We are leaving Santa Fe in the morning, but not sure where our 300 mile driving limit will take us - perhaps Falstaff, AZ. Here in Santa Fe, we are at 6700 feet+ above sea level. No wonder it becomes tough to breathe, and no wonder they have an oxygen bar in the shopping plaza (NO KIDDING!). We have now traveled 4000.8 miles, as of this evening. K