8/31/13 - Santa Fe, NM

After breakfast we went to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.  This was turned into a National Monument in 2008.  There are many conical shaped rock formations here composed of weathered volcanic pumice and tuff beneath harder caprocks. We hiked the slot canyon trail that was 1.5 miles long and took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to hike.  The slot canyon was cool.  The rest of the trail was steep and you had to scramble over boulders.  On the way back we took the slot canyon trail until it connected with the cave trail.  This trail was a total of 1.7 miles and took us another 1 hour and 5 minutes to hike it.  It was hot and I had a hard time breathing on the way up.  The trail down was much easier.  No where was there a place for water.  We drank all of ours and our cold coffee.  After leaving the monument we drove a few miles to a town on the Indian Reservation and bought a big bottle of Gatorade and a big bottle of water.

Jim loves traditional dixieland jazz and we drove into Sante Fe to Cowgirls.  The Santa Fe Chile Jazz Band was playing from 2-5.  We got there at 2:30 and stayed until 4:30 -- they were a lot of fun.  We drove back to the Casita and turned on the air conditioner.  I cooked supper and we chilled out.

8/30/13 - Santa Fe, NM

We fixed coffee and then Jim made some phone calls.  When he got off the phone he took me to breakfast at Harry’s Road House – a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives place.  He had a burrito with green chili and I had blue cornmeal waffles with honey cinnamon butter, bananas, and syrup, and a side of bacon.  Then we drove to downtown Santa Fe.  We walked in front of the Palace of the Governors built in 1610, where Indians go to sell jewelry on the porch.  We walked past Hotel La Fonda, St. Francis Cathedral and stopped at Loretto Chapel.  This chapel has the “miraculous staircase” that is held together without nails, only wooden pegs.  If you want to know the rest of the story, Google it. We walked to what at one time was thought to be the oldest house in the US, built in 1646.  And to San Miguel Church, built in 1610, the oldest church in the U.S.  The plaza in front of the Palace of the Governors was really busy and roads were closed around it.  There is an arts and crafts festival this weekend.

We went into Marble Brewing and sat outside on their 3^rd floor balcony to watch the people and drink a beer.   Then we walked to the New Mexico State Capital.  They have a lot of really good art that the public can go see.  The rotunda is really pretty, too.  We went into the Senate and House Chambers.  Then we went to Santuario de Guadalupe, the  oldest shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the US.  Before going back to the Casita we drove to Blue Corn Café & Brewing.  Jim had a pint and I had a 4 oz taster.  Just as we got on the freeway to go back to camp we could see rain ahead.  There was a lot of lightning in it.  Our camp only got a sprinkle but a few miles from us got nearly 2 inches.

8/29/13 - Santa Fe, NM

For breakfast this morning I fixed burritos with eggs and left-over steak.  They were good.  We hooked up and drove to Santa Fe.  When we got here Jim couldn’t get the satellite dish to work.  He spent over an hour with Dish Network and Tailgater and it still wouldn’t work.  We drove into Santa Fe and went to 2^nd Street Brewery and then to Santa Fe Brewing.  We have been to both of these before.  The last time we were at Santa Fe Brewing was with Duke and Beverly during the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.  We went to Walmart and then back to camp and I fixed dinner.  The dish is working now -- very frustrating.  We found a neat geocache next to Santa Fe Brewing.  You had to blow on a tube to eject the geocache.  I wrapped my hand around it and blew to get it out.  No way my lips were touching the tube.

8/28/13 - Albuquerque, NM

We stayed around camp till about noon today.  Then we went to Walmart and Home Depot for some supplies.  We found one geocache near there.  Then we walked along the Rio Grand and tried to find another geocache but couldn’t find it.  Instead we found a strange circular formation on the ground made from dead tree branches.  It was either a gathering spot for a satanic cult or a maze.  After walking a couple of miles in the sun Jim drove to ABQ Brewpub.  He had a regular size IPA and I had two smaller ones.  One of them was a chili beer.  We went to Costco for gas and vitamins.  Then drove to Nexus Brewing.  Neither one of us were impressed with their beers.  I had a chocolate porter on their beer engine and had a really hard time finishing it.  I wanted to go to a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives place for and we got there at 5:15.  They didn’t open until 7 pm.  Jim researched the best place for green chili cheeseburgers and we went there.  It was ABQ Brewpub.  We had a really fabulous salad and a green chili cheeseburger and shared a 10 oz. chili beer.  We have already seen the sights in Albuquerque on other trips so we have just been hanging out.

8/27/13 - Albuquerque, NM

Jim fixed pancakes and I fixed bacon for breakfast this morning.  We washed two loads of clothes and one load of towels and the sheets.  We replaced the hard propane cover with a soft one.  Then we put connections on the new sewer hose and got more propane.  Jim changed the oil in the generator.  We took a look at maps to see where to camp for the next week.  Then we went to Marble Brewery.  We drank a couple beers each and I took a picture of the head brewer Josh and assistant brewer Anna.  We gave Josh and Patrick (the bartender) each a Saisson from Karbach.  As we were leaving we talked to three fellows that had lived in Texas and one of them had attended UT.  After getting back to the Casita Jim grilled steaks and I cooked a couple of sweet potatoes and fixed a salad.  Marble Brewery is our 70^th brewery/brew pub to visit on this trip.

8/26/13 - Albuquerque, NM

Pat and Bob left going west on the rest of their trip on Route 66.  They are stopping at Winslow Arizona today and Petrified Forest National Monument.

We left at 10 am and drove to Albuquerque.  We got a site at Enchanted Trails RV Park.  We always stay here.  Right next door is a Camping World.  Jim stopped there first and bought a new length of sewer hose and a soft side propane tank cover.  Enchanted Trails is on Route 66 and was originally a trading post built in the 40’s. They have seven old trailers here.  It has been used as a backdrop in films and the trailers have been featured in a Route 66 video.  The vintage trailers can be rented.  Below is a link to the types of trailers they have. We are camped next to Josephine and the other 5 are directly across from us.  You can go to this site and see each trailer.  Click on the picture and see the inside of them.   http://www.enchantedtrails.com/trailer_rentals.html

We drove into town and visited La Cumbre Brewing, Il Vicino Brewing and Chama Brewing.  We saw a big rollover wreck on I-40 westbound on the way into town and traffic was still backed up three hours later.  We had to drive on old Route 66 to get back to camp.  We saw on the news tonight that the driver who caused the crash was found to have large amounts of crack cocaine hidden in a "body cavity".

 

8/25/13 - Gallup, NM

It started raining during the night.  We had to hook up and dump in the rain.  We left Flagstaff at 9 am this morning and drove to Gallup, New Mexico.  We passed a few national monuments that we didn’t stop at because we have already been to them.  We did stop in Winslow, Arizona.  We were taking it easy, standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona.

Bob and Pat Harko are driving the whole length of Route 66.  I called them on Thursday when we were on Route 66 in Flagstaff and asked where they were.   They were in Albuquerque and going to be in Gallup today.  We met them at USA RV Park on Route 66 in Gallup.  We sat outside and talked until it started to sprinkle and then we moved into their Element RV trailer to talk.  Later we all went to eat supper and then Jim caught the blog up to date. It was very nice to have friends to talk to.

8/24/13 - Grand Canyon National Park South Rim, AZ

Today we drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We drove scenic 180 on the way and passed a really small, pretty chapel.  We made a quick u-turn and stopped to see Chapel of the Holy Dove.  The chapel was built by Watson M. Lacy, M.D. in 1960.  He was the only physician at Grand Canyon Hospital that he operated with his wife.  He died in 1991.  In 1999 the chapel was destroyed by a transient’s fire.  The community rebuilt it in 2000.

We had been to the south rim a couple of times before and it has changed.  You can’t drive your own car anymore and now you have to take shuttle busses.  You have to take the blue line from the visitor center to get to the red line.  We walked from the visitor center to the red line along the rim of the canyon about 3 miles.  On the way back we rode the blue line back to the visitor center.  It made 10 stops around the village area but we didn’t have to get off.  It was cloudy all day because of the monsoon season and was raining off in the distance.  It never did rain on us though.  Just as we got back to the visitor center at 4:30 the sun came out a little and we got a few pictures.

We stopped at Flagstaff Brewing and had a beer and then drove back to camp.  The sunset was beautiful tonight.

8/23/13 - Flagstaff, AZ

Today we drove to Montezuma Well and Montezuma Castle, both parts of the Montezuma Castle National Monument.  Montezuma Well is a limestone sinkhole through which 1.4 million cubic feet of water per day flows from underground springs.  It has some small Indian cliff dwellings. Montezuma's Castle is a large, very well preserved Pre-Columbian cliff dwelling.  Then we went on to Tuzigoot National Monument.  This is a stone masonery pueblo built on a limestone ridge.  It was excavated and reconstructed in the 1930s by the WPA.  

On the way between the two monuments we drove through a town with a Cheverolet dealership.  Jim stopped and had the oil changed.  Next to it was a Wal-mart so we spent the time in the store getting a few items.  After seeing Tuzigoot we drove to Sedona.  Just before we got there the weather clouded up for the afternoon because of the monsoon season and the beautiful orange cliffs were not lit up in the sun.  We did get to see a couple of rainbows. We have been to Sedona a couple of times before. 

We had a beer at Oak Creek Brewery and Grill.  Then we drove to Oak Creek Brewery for another one.  This brewery had a beer that was a collaboration of all the Arizona breweries for the benefit of the 19 Arizona firefighters that were killed recently in the wildfire.  We left Sedona and drove back to Flagstaff on the windy, curvy 89A, a very picturesque road.  Jim wanted to go to Wanderlust Brewery that was open today.  After a beer there he took me to Salsa Brava that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.