Southwest Conference - Santa Fe
June 11-14, 2008
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An art
gallery across the street from the Loretto Chapel
About a year ago while reading about mysterious stuff, I
came across the legend of the spiral staircase at the
Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe. The nuns at Loretto chapel
wanted a staircase built up to the choir loft so they
wouldn't have to use a ladder to get up there. As legend
has it the staircase was built by an unknown carpenter
in answer to the nuns prayers. Some say it was St.
Joseph himself. The staircase is considered miraculous
as architects and engineers say they cannot understand
how the staircase can balance without any central
support. I wanted to check it out.
History of the Loretto Chapel
Snopes take on the mystery
Approaching the Loretto Chapel on Old Santa Fe Trail.
The
Loretto Chapel.
The spiral staircase inside the chapel.
A view
from behind the staircase.
Staircase
closeup
After checking out some art galleries and the chapel we
were in search of a good margarita. We got a
recommendation to try the
Ore House on the
Plaza. This
place had a menu with a ton of different margaritas and
tequilas. We tried a couple of the specials while
relaxing and watching the goings on downtown for awhile.
Clint had a burger there and said it was one of the best
he's ever had.
Our
view of the Santa Fe Old Town Square from the Ore House
balcony.
Interesting street person on the square.
Later in the afternoon we returned to the hotel and got
ready for the evening BBQ at the FOP lodge. That turned
out to just be hamburgers and hot dogs but there was
plenty of beer and mixed drinks at the cash bar. We had
a good time visiting with folks and were glad they
provided a shuttle service to get back to the hotel. The
party continued in the parking lot when Bruce Gondert
showed up with a couple bottles of Jack Daniels. All of
a sudden he had lots of new friends. We had a good time
late into the night.
Saturday morning we both felt a little groggy from being
somewhat over-served the night before but we were up and
headed out to the
Tecolote Café which was a place Clint
had heard about as it had been featured on the Food
Channel. They specialize in New Mexican breakfasts and
normally I'd be all over that. Feeling a bit queasy
though, I opted for the pancakes. Clint went for the
gusto with a breakfast burrito. Their menu notes that
their chilies fluctuate from HOT to VERY, VERY
HOT. Clint can attest to the accuracy of that
description.
After breakfast we got ready for the ride up to Sandia
Crest and visiting Madrid where part of the movie
Wild Hogs was filmed. It was a nice ride about 40
miles south of Santa Fe on Hwy 14 to where we turned off onto Hwy
536 that goes up the mountain. Sandia Crest is the high
point on the Turquoise Trail which travels between
Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The summit of Sandia Mountain
has an elevation 10,678 feet. The view from the
observation deck is something to see.
The
parking area at Sandia Crest.
The
view looking NE from Sandia Crest.
Clint
at the summit.
Members
of the New Mexico chapters taking photos of bikes at the
crest.
My turn
for the photo shoot.
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