A little further West

On Tuesday morning we packed up again and started our drive to Santa Fe.  The landscape was much as we had seen yesterday, but there were pockets that were green, letting us know that there had been SOME rain in the last few weeks……

We stopped NUMEROUS times to take photos of the landscape, flora and fauna, including red ants……

Dung beetles……

Prickly Pear Cactus……

Mesquite bushes festooned with beans…..And Cholla cactus…..

….those thorns mean business!!!!

We had to take great care in crossing the road so that we didn’t get hit by a car…..not!!!

As the morning wore on, we started seeing glimpses of the gorgeous mountains rising up to meet us…..

We arrived in Santa Fe a couple of hours before we could check in, so found a local restaurant, Tomasita’s, for some New Mexico style Mexican food…..

It was different in that it had lots of green chiles rather than red ones and my meal included Hominy too……

The most amazing thing were the Sopapillas and honey that we had for dessert.  They were magnificent!!!!

Now that’s a BIG bite…..

We moved to our Bed and Breakfast (Don Gaspar Inn) and were very happy to find cozy and comfortable living areas……

Next on tap was a walk to the Plaza area of Santa Fe to do some shopping.  We really liked these berry bearing trees along the road…..

….and found some of the road art to be interesting.  This piece was on the corner of the State Capitol compound…..

‘We didn’t end up doing much shopping as the prices were obviously inflated for the tourists, but we did enjoy seeing this church….the Cathedral Bascillica of St. Francis of Assisi…..

The lines of the architecture were so clean and simple, very unlike the Cathedrals that we have visited overseas in the last few years……

I especially noticed this simplicity with the artwork……

We returned to the B&B and crashed on the couch, as if we had been sight-seeing and walking for hours…..our travel genes have obviously not kicked in yet!!!!