Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Santa Fe/Bandelier NM/Gallup/ Canyon De Chelly (6/22 - 6/26)

On Wednesday 6/22 we rolled out of Roswell and headed for Santa Fe stopping for lunch at Clines Corners NM. The campground in Santa Fe was The Trailer Ranch Rv. This park is a quaint park just off one of the main roads into downtown. Beautiful trees, great sites, and really nice people. The owners are the third set of owners with the last two being from the same family. We have stayed in over two hundred campgrounds in the past 10 years and I would put this one in the top five. We really enjoyed our stay. Our time here was used to do laundry, have the bus washed, shopping, and great food downtown. We also visited Bandelier National Monument and a museum in Los Alamos. Bandelier is Indian ruins and a very pretty canyon.

We really enjoyed our time in Santa Fe. This is a laid back town with a lot to do and lots of culture and very nice people. If you like Indian dress, jewelry, great shopping, and good Mexican food, this is the place to come. Eight years ago we said we would return and after this visit we feel the same.

On Sunday 6/26 we headed for Gallup, NM. The RV park was USA RV Park right on historic Rt. 66. It is also a sister park of the Oasis RV park that we stayed in in Amarillo. Very nice place and very patriotic. We had planned to head south to the Zuni ruins but the owner of the park suggested Canyon De Chelly which is about 95 miles to the northwest of Gallup in Arizona. This was a really great suggestion. What a beautiful place. We road the south and north rims and viewed the valley from various lookouts. The rim is 600 to 700 feet above the valley floor. This spot is a National Monument in the middle of the Navajo Reservation. I would highly suggest a visit to this place even though it is way out of the way. Another awesome place.

In Gallup we had dinner at a famous Restaurant that has been visited by many of the movie stars who made movies in this area. It's called the El Rancho Hotel and it has been registered on the national register of historic places. The walkway above the lobby had many pictures of the movie stares who have visited here. A fun place with pretty good Mexican food.

We have been in Colorado the last two days. I will cover this great place in the next post.

Life is Great!!!







Patriotic Pool at USA Campground - Gallup NM

Sunset Rain that's not making the ground.

















OUR DAY TRIP TO CANYON DE CHELLY - ARIZONA

Historic Saint Michaels Church - Somewhere Arizona


This is the view from the rim. They also do jeep tours in the valley.
The valley is still ranched today. This is a National Monument in the middle of the Navajo Reservation!

Beauty!


There are ruins all along the canyon. These are zoomed shots!

Beauty is everywhere. Even behind her!

No it's not Crocodile Dundee!

The only ruins you can hike to. White House Ruins.



One of the ranches.


Meet AC Henry my new Navajo Pottery Guy. Fair price, good quality, nice guy.

Notice the tower on the right. It must be three stories and still has the timber in it.


A Suite!


The ride home wasn't to bad either. Canyon De Chelly is a must see!!





BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT!

Our guide and folks from the great state of North Carolina.
Fellow Motor Homers!











We didn't climb up here. These were some of the Anasazi Ruins!























Starting to bloom. We say a bunch on the way up from Roswell!





Couldn't slow her down. She was anxious to hit the trail!


















The Happy Hiker.








They have covered this painting so the weather doesn't take it away!






It was a pretty valley.