Downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico

One of our favorite day trips from our current location in Southern Colorado, is historic downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. While we haven't yet partaken of the Opera, we have enjoyed ogling the classic southwestern adobe architecture. 

     

Browsing upscale boutiques, then crossing the street to explore quirky shops filled with folkart and local handcrafts.

Loretto Chapel needs its own post, there are just too many pictures and details to include here.

     

A stroll past the park reveals a stone turtle and a checkerboard, ready to play.

The Deck at 221 looked interesting, with sculpted horses, rearing with pride. Maybe next trip we'll sit up there under the umbrellas, sipping iced tea or espresso and watching the action below.

If you liked this post, you might enjoy:

Santo Nino de Atocha, Chimayo, New Mexico

El Santuario de Chimayo, New Mexico

Great Sand Dune National Park and Preserve, Colorado

Colorado Gators, Mosca, Colorado

Santo Nino de Atocha, Chimayo, New Mexico

On the same road trip to El Santuario, Chimayo, we discovered another chapel I hadn't seen before. Just a few hundred yards from El Santuario is the Chapel to Santo Nino de Atocha. According to legend, when loved ones were imprisoned, the Christ child would come and take food and water to them. When the families saw the worn out shoes on the statue of little Jesus, they would replace them with new ones, which would soon become worn out as well, as Santo Nino continued to bring provisions to their imprisoned loved ones.

Santo Nino de Atocha Chapel is dedicated to children. Its whimsical décor is reminiscent of childhood, with carved trees, birds, flowers and fanciful sculptures. A nearby shrine holds hundreds of pairs of tiny shoes, thank you tokens for miracles received. A Milagros chapel inside the shrine holds hundreds of other tiny gifts, left in gratitude for healings received.

During WWII, many National Guardsmen from this area of New Mexico died. Survivors attributed their lives to the intercession of Santo Nino de Atocha. Devotion to Jesus as Santo Nino had been encouraged by Severiano Medina, who built the chapel near El Santuario, in gratitude for healing from a severe illness. 

Today, the chapel is fully restored and a delightful dessert to the serious meal of El Santuario de Chimayo. One does not have to walk very far from either one for some distinctive New Mexico chile.

Other posts you might enjoy:

El Santuario de Chimayo, New Mexico

Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Sunday There was no Mass

National Train Day in Williams, Arizona

The Grand Canyon Railway runs the Polar Express every Thanksgiving through New Year's

Ever wonder where the Polar Express goes during the summer?  The Grand Canyon!  Actually, we stumbled upon the Polar Express at National Train Day in Williams, Arizona.  Every year the Grand Canyon Railway plays host to train buffs of all sizes.  Model railways are set up on display, the Harvey Girls come down from Winslow and a round-trip ride from Williams to Cataract Creek is only $15 for adults, $10 for children.  A grand adventure if you don't want to do the all-day trip to the Grand Canyon and back or if you've never been on a train before.

Ladie's fainting couch

I could not resist snapping shots of the "fainting couch" in the ladies room of the "Williams Flyer".  The men's room only had a single chair, but both facilities were far roomier than the current offerings on Amtrak.  The Flyer was Max and Thelma Biegert's personal railcar, when they owned the Grand Canyon Railway (now owned by Xanterra).  On this day it was the display area for the Fred Harvey china collection, complete with live Harvey Girls, who were more than happy to give commentary and answer questions about the china, the Harvey Company and the hotels it built along the railway.

Harvey Girls and Fred Harvey china

To even begin to describe the romance of train travel to a world enamored of the personal vehicle is an insurmountable task and would take far more room than I like to give to a blog post.  If you've ever caught yourself watching a model train go round and round its track, or if you've ever sat down with a preschooler and gotten caught up in an episode of "Thomas the Tank Engine", maybe you know what I mean.  Your next step would be to take a short train ride somewhere - not on a commuter train.  Perhaps you could take a short trip on Amtrak, or if your nearest train station has other options, give it a try.  You might get hooked!

Steam engine

Winslow Harvey Girls
P. O. Box 1
Winslow, AZ 86047 (928) 289-9110

The Winslow Harvey Girls are dedicated volunteers committed to preserving the history of Fred Harvey, the famous Harvey Girls, Mary Colter and the Santa Fe Railroad. They serve as meeters and greeters and ambassadors of goodwill for Winslow and Historic La Posada.
For tour information call Chris at (928) 289-9110 or Marie (detour agent) at (928) 289-3737. http://www.winslowarizona.org/Members.htm

Halloween at Calico Ghost Town

On any day of the year, Calico Ghost Town, in Yermo, California (just outside of Barstow on Interstate 15) is, well, a ghost town.  On Halloween, all the skeletons come out of the closet and dance in the streets.  Residents and vendors alike enthusiastically decorate with creepy cloth, dusty curtains, skulls and other scary stuff, in anticipation of two wild weekends of  "Calico Ghost Haunt".  Apparently, campers at the adjacent campground also decorate, and the Ghost Haunt is supposed to include all kinds of family style Halloween activities, including the recently revived Ghost Tours.  We were unable to make it, as we were there the weekend before.

 In the 15 or so years since I last visited Calico, the town has added museums and attractions that weren't previously available.  Apparently being named California's Official Silver Rush Ghost Town has been good for Calico and for San Bernardino County Regional Parks, which operates it.

The Maggie Mine tour is a kick.  For $2 adults and $1.50 children over 5, we got to walk through one of the few stabilized mines anywhere.  Every room has a mining scene, depicting the daily operation of a silver mine.

Just below the Maggie, Chinatown lies in ruins.  One tiny stone hut is fitted with a cot, fireplace, and table to show the cramped quarters.  Nearby lies a ruin that must have been a multi-family dwelling.  We spent several minutes going in and out of all the rooms.

Another fun stop is the old schoolhouse, with desks
neatly lined up and slates at the ready.  That little building out back (can't see it in the picture) is the outhouse.  My son was appalled when I told him about the wooden seat and the newspaper TP.

 Other restored and/or rebuilt buildings include a blacksmith shop, firehouse, restaurant/hotel, saloon, post office/general store, newspaper office and several others.  Many of these house gift shops, including one with lots of brain teasers, and a couple real leather shops.

Outside the sheriff's office stands a jail cell and hangin' tree.






Though there are several gift and souvenir shops, my
favorite has to be the old time general store.  Complete with "unmentionables" hanging from the rafters, displays of bulk goods and old fashioned candies for sale.  We got a couple of stick candies, and the licorice flavored one tasted more like real licorice than most of what passes for that particular candy on today's market.  With many items of antique clothing and other household goods on display, the general store is part museum, part convenience store, with propane, canned goods and other camping supplies, and part souvenir shop.

Several other museums are in the works in various buildings.  Other attractions in the park include a railroad ride, Mystery Shack, Gold panning and the cemetery.  Admission to the park is $7 for adults and $4 for children.  Kids under 5 are free.  If you decide to camp at Calico, admission is included.

Calico hosts several events throughout the year, check the San Bernardino County Regional Parks website for info.

The Damascus Way

Tiberius, Jerusalem, Damascus, in the year 40AD.  Saul of Tarsus is hunting down followers of The Way and brutally bringing them to justice.  Julia is the pampered daughter of Jamal, a wealthy merchant, and Jacob is one of his best caravan guards.  Both are couriers of secret messages between the dispersed groups of Christians.  When Saul and his retinue of temple guards join Jamal's caravan to Damascus, Jacob and Julia risk discovery as well as their very lives to warn believers there of the impending danger.

Christian historical fiction just keeps getting better and better.  I really enjoyed The Damascus Way for its portrayal of daily life and business in the first century after Christ.  I also liked the light romance and heavy suspense.  Not only are messages being smuggled, but also frankinscense, a rare and costly spice.  Bandits and Zealots threaten lives and livelihoods.  Then there are the Roman guards who are also secret Christians...and the temptation on the road to Damascus to simply do away with Saul and his threat to their new faith. 

With a guest appearance by the apostle Philip, and his encounter with the eunuch on the road to Gaza (Acts 8:26-39), Bunn and Oke continue to bring the Bible alive, especially the Acts of the Apostles.  A refreshing story, full of adventure and imagination without being morally offensive or degrading to other faiths.

New from Bethany House Publishing, this is the third book in the Acts of Faith series by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke. 



The Third Secret, by Steve Berry

I enjoy Steve Berry's books.  He is definitely a gifted historical/mystery/suspense writer.  I don't even mind his frequent digs at the Catholic Church.  Heaven know, we deserve some of it.  But it goes way too far in "The Third Secret", based on the mysterious Third Secret of Fatima. 

Whether you believe in the apparitions of Mary the Mother of Jesus at Lourdes, Fatima, La Salette and Medjugorje or not, to even concieve of the woman who carried our Savior in her womb would even suggest that abortion was a woman's choice ("know that your body is your own") is repulsive.  Mary's entire story (the biblical one) is about the sanctity of life.  Without Divine intervention, Mary's life would have been seriously hampered by the birth of this baby.  In fact, she should have been stoned to death when the pregnancy was discovered.  Even Mr. Berry's statement in the author's notes, that the "second half" of the Third Secret, upon which the book centers, is completely a product of his imagination, does not redeem this novel in my eyes.

My advice, don't even waste your time.  Cotton Malone doesn't even appear in this book, and though it does give structure to the character of Colin Michener, who finally reappears in the Venetian Betrayal, you won't be missing out on anything  by skipping "The Third Secret".

Book Club

A book club is an interesting place.  I joined because I love to read and am writing a book.  I thought it would help to discuss books with fellow readers and learn their likes and dislikes.  It is certainly an ear opener!  For instance, the general consensus seems to mandate the "obligatory sex scene" in a book, whereas I feel my imagination needs no assistance in that particular area.  However, obviously it sells mainstream books, because it tends to be in most of them.  Thus, it should come as no surprise that I frequently find I have greatly enjoyed a book that the others disapproved of and vice versa. 

Case in point:  a couple of months ago, our book was "Mutant Message Down Under" by Marlo Morgan.  It is
a story about an American doctor who goes on walkabout in the Australian Outback with a group of Aborigines.  The sufferings she endures help the tribe to teach her their spiritual principals of interrelatedness, divine creation, unconditional love, and being non-judgmental. I felt that it presented a powerful reminder of spritual principals we should all be living.  Most of the others discounted the whole thing because "obviously she didn't learn anything from the experience because she still wears makeup and colors her hair".  Huh?  Not everyone is called to be a St. Francis of Assisi or Mother Theresa.  We are all called to proclaim the Good News in our particular circumstances in life. 

Then there are the ever-popular vampire books currently circulating as the "Twilight" series.  Many of my book club confreres rave about them, but vampires simply do not appeal to me.  Now give me a good historical suspense novel.  I have the new Amelia Peabody mystery on hold:  "A River in the Sky".  After seeing the new "Sherlock Holmes" movie, I reread the books in a whole new light, with new enjoyment.  And my friend from the Baptist church turned me on to Terri Blackstock's novels - who knew such wonderful work was being produced by Christian publishing houses?  I am thrilled.