Our first destination was Santa Fe. Our friend's mom had gifted us 2 nights at a hotel there with points that she had. It was snowy when we arrived, but the roads were clear. The gorgeous white accents on the southwestern architecture made it feel almost magical. The room was actually a suite! It had a kitchen, a beautiful fireplace, a king sized bed, and a living room. It was incredible! One of the mornings we even woke up to beautiful, huge icicles. I loved watching my two friends, who both grew up in areas without snow and ice, discover the sheer beauty of icicles!!
We explored downtown Santa Fe which was adorable and charming. It was cold out and ice covered the ground, so we didn't stay out too long. We enjoyed wandering through the shops and getting a feel for a city that we had never been to before. In one of the shops we dreamed of having the money to buy adorable $200 cowboy boots!
Whenever we are in a new area, I always looked for National Park locations because they were free and usually interesting. When looking into where to go in New Mexico, I found Bandalier National Monument. I didn't quite know what to expect, but really wanted to check it out. I am SO glad we made the drive out to see this national monument. It was as if we stepped into history. There were ruins of adobe dwellings with many rooms and up above there were cave dwellings. They were all located in a beautiful value. Each of the cave dwellings had a ladder that allowed us to climb up into them. It was incredible to try to imagine what it must have been like to live in these caves! So very very different from the lives we currently live. Hopefully these pictures can give you a glimpse into the beauty and intrigue of this stop.
After reading Healing Sands by Nancy Rue, I have wanted to visit White Sands National Monument. It was the one thing I knew I wanted to see in New Mexico! At first I was worried that it didn't actually exist because I couldn't see it anywhere near the hotel where we stayed. ;) When we arrived at the National Monument entrance, I knew it certainly did exist! It was close to magical. I've never seen anything like it. There was white sand as far as the eye could see!!! Gypsm blows into small particles that appear like sand and make huge dunes. One hike led you through the dunes and was guided only by posts in the ground. We ran out of time to do the whole thing, but it was incredible to stand amongst the dunes and see white everywhere. Pictures do not do it justice.
Our original plan was that White Sands would be our last New Mexico stop, but we all wanted to go to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Since our friend had another day off, we made a spontaneous decision to extend our trip by one more night. Best. Decision. Ever. We were able to stay in Silver City, New Mexico. Sadly we weren't able to explore the city much, but greatly enjoyed our evening.
The next morning we drove to the Gila Cliff Dwellings which are waaaaaay into the mountains up a winding road. It was so cool to go to Bandalier where we saw cave dwellings and then see the cliff dwellings. The theory is that drought brought about war over resources which lead to a need for protection by building dwellings into the cliff face. They were a more permanent dwelling than the caves, but the people who lived in them likely dwelt in caves before settling down for a generation. They didn't stay longer than one generation before abandoning it. This may have been because the drought broke or the war ended or both. We had an incredible conversation with a volunteer. I've been bitten by the bug of seeing all the cave/cliff dwellings in the Southwest!!!
After a delightful time at the cliff dwellings our time in New Mexico was over. :( We returned to Arizona for a few more days before heading on the road again.
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