Our last entry had us leaving San Antonio and heading west. We took three days to get to Santa Fe via Las Cruces and Hatch NM. Ahh, Las Cruces... home of La Posta restaurant. This has become one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and it's always worth going 200+ miles out of your way to eat some enchiladas and sip on a margarita :) While there, we also took a drive out to Hatch NM, home of the best peppers grown by humans. Hatch chiles have become very popular, but are limited in distribution outside of New Mexico, although our daughter has spotted them in Los Angeles and Suzi has spotted a VERY small amount in Kansas City in the past year or two. I have also heard that there are places advertising Hatch chiles that are not actually grown in that region - GASP! Your grocer should be able to name the town of origin if they are truly Hatches. The real deal are grown in an area along the Mesilla Valley stretching on both sides of the Rio Grande river from Arrey, NM in the north to Tonuco Mountain just south of Hatch, NM. The chiles are not one variety, but several that range in heat from very mild to very spicy, collectively known as Hatch chiles. We usually pick up some of the medium. We didn't make it to town this year in time to pick up any fresh chiles to roast on our own, so instead I picked up 6 pounds of already roasted and frozen at one of the chile stands in town (you can order them on line if you so desire). Warning, if you see small cans of green chiles in the Mexican section of your local grocery store labeled "Hatch Chiles" be aware that this product is actually from a company in Brunswick, Georgia. They are good chiles, excellent when you can't get the real thing, but NOT true Hatch chiles. The company simply bought the rights to the name and use peppers from all over the southwest.
This year's ristras drying.
Chile Willie's, best home-made salsa in Hatch.
Chiles drying on the rooftops.
We finally made it to Santa Fe and pulled into the KOA on the edge of town. This was a very nice campground and not crowded at all as it was off-season. In fact, the camp closed for the winter a couple of days after we pulled out. The night we arrived, the temperature dropped to 27 degrees. Somehow, we have failed to grasp the concept of traveling south with the weather!
The day after we arrived, we drove back down Albuquerque so Heinz could hop on a plane back to Kansas City, for a visit with his dentist, a visit with his sister, a chance to see Joe Bonnamassa in concert yet again (third time in two years, I think the man's a fan), and take care of some other chores. I, on the other hand, settled into Santa Fe and prepared to enjoy the weeklong Embroiderers' Guild of America's annual national conference.
The conference was great; 600+ people (mostly women, but a few men) from 48 of the 50 states and 4 foreign countries, all walking, talking, breathing needlework (heavy sigh of contentment). I took two design classes, both involving fabric painting and surface embroidery - but there were classes on just about any type of embroidery that can be done with a one-eyed needle. There were also banquets, receptions, a bookstore devoted to the needle arts, and a boutique carrying all sorts of needlework supplies. There was also the ever popular Trading Post, an evening with 45-50 vendors selling local jewelry, supplies, needlepoint canvases, stitching "gadgets" and just about anything else you might want that could be related to needlework. It was a great week and passed way too quickly.
Class number one: Transferring a photograph to canvas, painting the fabric, then enhancing the photo with embroidery.
What a variety of fabric painting!
Class number two: playing with paints, bleeding tissue paper, fabric, construction paper, threads;
multi-media art at it's finest.
My interpretation of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay at sunset (in needlepoint and paint).
After a week, my conference ended, but there was a bright note as Heinz made it back to Santa Fe. We stayed put for a few days to explore the area. Santa Fe is a fascinating city. It has been occupied since native Indians built the first pueblos around 1400 A.D. The city is the country's third largest art market after Los Angeles and New York City. There are 200+ galleries in town, many individual studios, and several major museums - all devoted to art. In addition there is some great food in Santa Fe. Several locals mentioned that the best breakfast in town was to be found at Harry's Roadhouse. Luckily this wonder was located just down the road from the KOA - so we checked it out. The locals were right, the food was fabulous.
Santa Fe house and gate
We drove up to Taos to see the Taos Pueblo, a place that's been on our list of "gotta see" for years. The pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the U.S. - well over 1,000 years. The two main structures are called the North House and the South House. The buildings are many individual homes built side by side and in layers with common walls and no connecting doorways, the original American apartment houses. The buildings are made of adobe, owned by individual families, and passed down through generations. Families still live in the buildings, some continuously, others occupy their pueblo homes only during feast days. There is no electricity or running water in the sacred village. Water comes from the Red Willow Creek that runs through the village from its source in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 30 miles away. The wilderness area that the river runs through is sacred to the Taos Pueblo people and non-tribal members are not allowed to trek into the area, thus the water is crystal clear.
Taos Pueblo, North House
Rio Grande River between Taos and Santa Fe
Cottonwood tree, the golden color was everywhere.
Leaving Santa Fe, we headed east once again and are now back in the Kansas City area. Heinz has installed a motorcycle lift on the rear and is in seventh heaven as the GSA gets to come along from now on. While in the area we enjoyed several Veteran's Day offerings by a variety of local businesses including free massages, free donuts, and discounted gasoline.
Ready for action.
We're currently in Lawrence KS, where Heinz's uncle is coaching him through the repair of some rust damage to the basement and replacing the ball joints. We'll keep you posted as to when we will be hitting the road again. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Our friends of the day are:
Checking out the pueblo.
Chilling out after getting my mohawk groomed.
