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 Introduction. These pages are about
New Mexico -- a place of miracles and manageable
beauty -- and about a trip I took in 1999 to that
Land of Enchantment. |
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10. El
Santuario de Chimayo -- widely known as the "Lourdes of America"
-- is considered one of the truly holy places in
this country. |
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1. Our trip started
and ended in Albuquerque. We toured Old Town, attended Mass at
UNM, rode the Tramway to Sandia Crest, checked out
some neighborhoods to possibly retire to, and
visited relatives and old friends. |
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11. Taos, noted for its frontier history, Taos Pueblo, and San Francisco de Asis
Mission Church,
is one famous little town. With spectacular
scenery and an important art colony, Taos has
more National Historic places per capita than any
other city in the USA. |
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2. We drove up the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. This scenic route runs through the eastern
foothills of the Sandias, and passes through old
ghost towns and gold and turquoise mining camps. |
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12. The Taos
Pueblo, with its 1000 year old culture and 650
year old buildings, is the oldest continuously
used community in the country. The pueblo is both
a traditional Native American village and a
living museum. |
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3. Santa
Fe is a city
of artists and art, beauty, history, museums and
churches. It is a city of the Old West and a
modern art center where the Yellow Pages list
over 250 art galleries. |
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13. Six miles west of
Taos is the Rio Grande Gorge. It is another of New Mexico's
unexpected joys -- not overawing like Grand
Canyon -- but impressive, beautiful and
understandable. |
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 4. One
of the many high points of my trip was the San
Miguel Chapel,
the oldest church in continuous use in the
country. Its altar
screen is said to be
among the most splendid in the Southwest.
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14. The Highway
From Taos to White
Rock Overlook is lovely as it winds
through long and scenic canyons, descending at
times to meet the Rio Grande and then rising
again to the high Southwestern Plateau. |
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5.
St. Frances Cathedral in Santa Fe is the culminating
achievement of one of New Mexico's most
remarkable clerics, Father Jean Baptiste Lamy, who was immortalized by Willa
Cather in her Pulitzer winning Death
Comes for the Archbishop. |
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15. Iglesia de la Virgen de
Guadalupe
mission church in Velardi was built almost 200
years ago on a slope above the Rio Grande.Virgen
de Guadalupe was the simplest and in
some ways the most touching church I visited.
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6. In visiting the Loretto Chapel
and seeing the Miraculous
Staircase I
was quite touched. The story of the staircase is
moving; the staircase itself is a marvel. |
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 16. Bandelier National Monument, with its ancient cliff dwellings, was
one of the centers of the Anasazi or "Old Ones." The Anasazi were the ancestors of the
Pueblo and other native peoples of the Southwest
today. |
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7. We spent two days
visiting the Museums of New Mexico in Santa Fe. They include the
historical Palace of the Governors,
the more contemporary Museum of Fine Arts,
the Native American focused Museum of
Indian Arts and Crafts, and the Museum
of International Folk Arts. |
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 17. Beyond Bandelier lies the Jemez
Country, home
of one of the great wilderness areas of the West
and of this country's largest caldera. The Jemez
Country is largely the result of
volcanic activity a million years ago that has
been weathered by time. |
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8. Among Santa Fe's
best known private museums is the Georgia O'keeffe.
Other noted private museums we visited are the Wheelwright
Museum of the American Indian and the Institute
of American Indian Arts. |
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18. The tiny mountain
village of Jemez Springs, with its 499 people and one public
library(!), was selected as an All
American City by the National
Civic League in 1994. Known for its
mineral spring and artists, it was our final
stopover on our return to Albuquerque. |
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9. The High Road to Taos
is a 105 mile mountain
byway, passing through picturesque old Spanish
villages such as Chimayo, Truchas and Los Trampas. |
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 19. Site of Barbara and Glenn's future Retirement
Home north of
Albuquerque near Placitas. |
Elizabeth
Anne VanderPutten - My New Mexico
