Sante Fe, New Mexico

July 15, 2008

Monday, we elected to take the day off and deviate from our planned visit to Mesa Verde National Park. Sue and I were both weary and I had been given the name of an RV repairman. I spoke with him on Monday morning and he indicated that he would come out to see if he could help us in the early afternoon. During the morning, after walking Pooh Bear and having breakfast, I worked on some law office matters. The repairman arrived shortly after 1:00 pm. His tests indicated that all of the electronics on the A/C were working properly. He guessed that either the compressor is gone, a valve is stuck or all of the freon had leaked out and that he could not fix it. He recommended a heating and air conditioning man who we were never able to contact.

After the repairman departed, we headed for Durango, wandering in and out of many stores. It is a wonderful town, one we both hope to visit again.

This morning we were up somewhat early and walked Pooh Bear. After that we began out preparations to get underway for Sante Fe. We departed Durango about 10:30 am. We had a delighful trip through northwestern New Mexico. It is a fascinating landscape with many open miles of land. From time to time broad mesas rise around you. We saw some magnificant red rock formations as we drove. I was following my GPS and Sue was using the Mapquest directions. Both failed us and we got lost trying to find the campground. We wandered around and finally found some directions from the campground's website which we used to actully find the campground. We ended up with a great site on a hilltop overlooking Sante Fe pictured above.

Sue made a quick lunch and we headed off to visit Sante Fe. The town was not at all what we had expected. Sue and I wandered in an out of many stores and shops. Sue bought for herself a beautiful turquoise belt buckle from an upscale store. There were many street vendors and losts of lower cost shops but none compared to the shop of Sue's purchase. Afterward, we stopped in a small restaurant for chips and dip and a beverage. We then headed off to the main square of town for an outdoor music concert.

Returning to the Silver Lady, Sue headed for the laundry and I started doing my exercises. We saw a thunderstorm move into the area. During the storm, we were treated to an incredible light show across the valley. It was still raining long after we went to bed.

While on the Durango to Silverton Railroad, we had purchased a Guidebook and a DVD about the railroad, restoring an old steam engine and a similar railroad in Western North Carolina. Tonight, we watched the entire DVD. We were also blessed to see several of Brent's comments, particularly the one about the Anemas River and taking a seat on the railroad beside us. Nothing would give us more joy than to do this portion of our trip again and be able to share it with family.

This trip has gone so very quickly and tomorrow we have a very long day traveling to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as we begin our journey back east. The Southwest is truly a wonderful part of our great country. The diversity of landscapes, the uniqueness of our history, the diversity of our people, yet we are joined together as Americans. We are a blessed nation. We have been given an awesome gift in this land. Thank you Father. In this time of election, uncertainty, economic instability may we all remember that all of this is in God's hands. God has begun a good work and he will complete it in His own ways for our good.