Cross of the Martyrs

On top of a hill overlooking downtown Santa Fe, near Otero Street and Paseo de Peralta, is a simple white cross which commemorates the 21 Franciscan priests killed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

My visit there with Jake and Debbie several weeks ago was the first time I have ever visited this place. I was really impressed with the spectacular views of the city. The Jemez Mountains are to the west, and I have heard the cross is a great place to view the Santa Fe sunsets.

Madrid, New Mexico

Back in the long ago days when we lived in New Mexico the first time, one of our favorite places to go was Madrid, NM, the little coal mining ghost town around a bend in the road on NM 14 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There wasn't much there -- just the remnants of the old coal mine, a funky little museum, a train to climb on, a general store, the old company homes standing deserted in a row along the road, and an elementary school long since abandoned. You could almost feel the history and memories there. You could hear the wind rustling the trees back then.

Well, it's been 39 years now and Madrid is a completely different place. It's been rediscovered, reborn, remade - and not as interesting as it once was, to me, anyway.

The bend in the road is now lined with art shops, gift shops, restaurants, cars, people, activity. Looks like up in the hills new houses have been rebuilt and many of the old ones renovated. We were through there on Saturday and it even appears someone is renovating the elementary school.

Madrid has become a major tourist destination. Somehow I liked it a lot better 39 years ago.

The Church at Galisteo, New Mexico

This church, Iglesia Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, is located in the center of Galisteo, NM about 10 miles south of our house in Eldorado.

The church has a long and rich history; it sits on the site of an ancient Tano Indian village, the Galisteo Pueblo. Formerly called Santa Cruz de Galisteo, the pueblo dates back into at least the 1500s.

The town of Galisteo itself was part of a Spanish Land Grant in the 1600s. There are nine pueblo ruins in the Galisteo basin.

Raton Pass and home

We have been traveling for ten days, to visit our kids in Texas and Missouri. It was a wonderful time. Today we returned home. After a trip across Kansas and down the eastern side of Colorado, we crossed into New Mexico.

Raton Pass is my favorite place to enter New Mexico because the pass is so scenic and majestic. Lying between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton New Mexico, the pass across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains is at an elevation of 7834 feet. The pass was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Crossing Raton Pass in the spring, summer and fall is magnificent, but I would not want to be up there in a winter storm.

Magdalena, New Mexico

We went through Magdalena, NM ten days ago during our visit to the Socorro area.

Magdalena is 24 miles west of Socorro at 6573' elevation, in the midst of some pretty desolate country, but also very pretty terrain in the area. The mountains there are especially scenic.

I guess Magdalena has been through some hard times and it looks like they are trying to recover. The population for 2007 was listed as 859, down a little bit since the 2000 census. The town looks very poor and rundown, and yet there are some newer art and craft stores, so it appears there are people opening businesses there and probably hoping the town will grow.

On a country road in San Miguel County

These pictures were taken on the county road that parallels Interstate 25 between Las Vegas, NM and Pecos, NM. Much more fun than driving the interstate.

The pictures below are kind of a mystery. If this is a descanso, it's huge. It looks more like a gravesite. If it is a gravesite, it appears to have three graves. Just behind it is I-25.

(You'll need to click on the pictures to see them clearly.)