Oh New Mexico. Land of adobe, O’Keefe, and Hatch chiles. 

We began our introduction to the Southwest in Santa Fe. We decided to camp just outside of town on the road leading to the near by Santa Fe Ski Hill.  It turned out that New Mexico Stake Parks were some of the least expensive camping we found, with a lovely spot, including electric, to be had for $14 per night.  Our next door neighbours, Frank and Kathy, were from New Mexico and they invited us to join them by their fire on our first night. They gave us lots of tips about what to see in New Mexico and Arizona. They also told us about some of the culinary specialties of the region and advised us that if we wanted to sound like we knew what we were talking about, we should order our tamales, enchiladas or burritos “Christmas” – with a combination of red and green chile sauces. It is always nice to talk to other travellers, especially when they are familiar with the area.

In Santa Fe, the architecture is special. All of the old missions and adobe structures have been preserved and even in the fanciest of neighbourhoods, adobe is the preferred building style. With the thick clay walls, the houses stay cool in the heat. 

We toured around the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. The original building was erected in the 1626 and one portion of that original church remains and is a stunning chapel.

We also visited the quirky Loretto Chapel, which because it is now a museum rather than a church allowed dogs  – Pippa was particularly impressed with the miracle staircase, which has no apparent supports.

We spent an afternoon in the quaint Georgia O’Keefe Museum, the largest collection of her work and one of the largest single artist collection museums in the US. Although the museum is very intimate (AKA small), the docents offered an excellent tour of the collection.

Santa Fe also also boasted an absolutely beautiful opera house. Unfortunately the opera was not in season while we were there but I have added a new item to my bucket list as it would be a fabulous environment to attend an opera production in.  The stage is built into a natural amphitheatre and the backdrop of the mountains and the beautiful surroundings are spectacular.

We had some very good meals in Santa Fe, but it turns out you need to go to Albuquerque for good tamales.  Albuquerque didn’t otherwise hit a lot of high points for either Dave or I, but we did visit Old town and the University of New Mexico. The fact that the Breaking Bad RV Tour was the number one tourist attraction might tell you something. But the food was excellent. The winner of the tamales hunt was El Modelo Mexican Foods and we understood quickly why it has been in business for over 60 years. The tamales were delicious, moist, and flavourful. Christmas in New Mexico! Worth a trip back for sure!