Time Flies

Suddenly two weeks have flown since my last post.  I think after seven years of blogging I've just lost interest in doing this on a regular basis.   Plus, this past week Denny and I were in Albuquerque to visit Denny's sister and running errands and accomplishing some of the tasks she had planned for us took up a lot more of our time than we budgeted for and I didn't even get a chance to get together with my ABQ blogging buddy.  That made me sad.

Settled high in the hills east of Albuquerque we were in time for some late blooming cactus.

There was also a nesting pair of hairy woodpeckers in the cottonwood tree on our site.  It bothered them to no end to have Patches sunning outside right below their tree while the two of them were trying to feed their little brood hidden inside the tree.  On our last day in Tijeras the little ones apparently flew the nest because for the first time in a week the incessant chirping/begging had stopped.

There was a partial lunar eclipse early one morning.  I had forgotten to take the tripod out of the truck and it was too early to be banging truck doors to get it out so I had to go with hand held shots of the moon.  I'm a lot shakier than I used to be so the photos lack the sharpness I was hoping to have.  This shot had a tiny bit of cloud cover moving in.

This was of the tail end of the partial eclipse since I woke up too late to see how "partial" partial was.

But all work and no play make the Brauns a dull set of folks so as a treat Connie drove us up to Santa Fe one day.  Denny and I both fell in love with the architecture of this historic town.  Although we weren't enamored of the prices of the items being sold in the many stores in town.

Under the roof of this long open air building sit a double row of Native Americans who have laid out their wares on blankets on the sidewalk to sell.  The craftsmanship of their work is exquisite and I wished I had a lot of throw away money to spend on the jewelry alone.

Long ago I had read the story of the famed staircase of the Loretto Chapel.  When the Chapel was built there was no room for a staircase and it would have been too difficult for the nuns to climb a ladder to the choir loft so they prayed to St. Joseph for assistance.  A workman appeared a few days later and built this beautiful staircase (originally there was no bannister) without the use of nails and with wood that apparently appeared from nowhere.  When you try to envision this staircase as it was built, without the handrail, you can see what an engineering marvel it is.

Outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis there is a statue dedicated to Kateri Tekakwitha, the only Native American to be named a saint.

While our week went much too quickly, Denny, Connie and I were able to knock out the items on Connie's to-do list and enjoy some good meals at the Savory Fare and El Patron restaurants in Albuquerque and at Bobcat Bite in Santa Fe.  Win-win.

Next up, wild fires in New Mexico and Colorado--all the way up to our next two destinations.