A small amount of info about the chapel but if you want more just google: Loretto Chapel Santa Fe NM

This miniature just inside the entrance gave us our first peek at the famous staircase.

Information says the stained glass for the chapel was brought in by wagon. Can you imagine the ride all these pieces endured across the desert?

All different, all beautiful.

Stained glass windows above the front entrance.

The "miraculous staircase" which legend says was constructed or inspired by St. Joseph the Carpenter was built sometime between 1877 and 1881.

Constructed in 1873-1878 for the Sisters of Loretto at the end of the Santa Fe Trail. The design is patterned after King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris; a striking contrast to the adobe churches already in the area at the time it was built.

I took a quick snapshot of this profusion of flowers along the railing of a motel in downtown Santa Fe as we drove by. It was such a beautiful addition to the usual bleak and bare surroundings for travelers, it made me want to spend the night!

Doors anyone? What fun it would be to build a home with this assortment of design elements available.

New Mexico has many painted freeway overpasses. The colors are bright and each design is different. A wonderful addition to usually boring interstate highways.

Each one is different. Beautiful!

My nephew and his wife took us to dinner in downtown Santa Fe at the historic hotel, The LaFonda. Lovely ambiance with good food and impeccable service.

L-R: Jiaming, Joshua, Dane and Joy.

I love this picture!

Saying goodbye in the parking garage.

1:49 pm Sunday, October 14, 2007

We arrived in Tucson, AZ this past Wednesday. We are here for a total of 21 days, seven of which we will attend the Datastorm Users (satellite internet) Rally to be held where we are staying at Beaudry RV Park. We decided to spend some extra time in Tucson before and after the rally because we wanted to get to know the city better but the freeway/road construction going on in Pima County is horrendous and is making that difficult. No matter the address we program, our Garmin GPS wants us to take the freeway (the shortest route across town) but after the first trip, we knew that was a mistake. All the exits into Tucson from I-10 are blocked (they are widening the freeway). Once on, you are trapped and cannot exit until you reach the other side of town. So—we are making our own way via city streets of which many are also in the middle of some kind of reconfiguration. Needless to say, we have taken some interesting round-about trips to reach our destinations. However, we are sure getting to see more of the city as we had planned and the only time it was a bit hairy was when trying to get to the theater in time for a movie we wanted to see. Otherwise, we have more time than money so we try to relax and enjoy the ride.

I pick up my travelogue in Scottsbluff, NE where I left off in my last post.

Prehistoric rock formations in the Nebraska prairie. Incredible to behold.

The road to the top.

The city of Scott's Bluff spread out on the plains below.

Looking down on the Scott's Bluff visitor's center from the top

Stunning views from the top of the bluff!

One very, very long freight train (the white dashes across the middle of the picture) crossing the Nebraska plains as viewed from the top of Scotts Bluff, NE.

Driving south from Scott's Bluff, NE on our way to Denver, CO. Panoramic views of beautiful country.

A field of sunflowers in Nebraska.

The state capital building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The beautiful ceiling dome in the rotunda.

Our Penny the Pace crosses into her 44th state, Colorado.

This is a mighty big chair. That horse is life-size as is Phil ;-)...

State Capital Building - Denver, Colorado.

Our stop in Denver included a visit with Joy's cousin Jonelle and her family.

L-R= Jonelle's son Dane, Jonelle and Jonelle's son Beau.

Thanks Cuz for the wonderful meals and family time!

On to Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

L-R= Phil, his cousin Carol, her sister Joanie and their mother, Phil's Aunt Marie.

It has been 17 years since he has seen Marie and Carol and even longer since he has seen Joanie.

We hope to come back a little bit soon than that next time.

Lovely ironwork on this gate into town.

Downtown Manitou Springs, CO.

As many times as Phil had been to Colorado Springs he has never been to the top of Pike's Peak.

Here comes the train!

These are the teeth (cogs) that keep us from sliding on the rails.

This "bus conversion" caught our eye parked in a gas station along side the main street. Quite the paint job and how about that second story?

The Cog Railroad Station in Manitou Springs, CO.

Here is Joy waiting patiently to board the cog railroad.

Although I was a tiny bit concerned about the lack of oxygen at the summit, I was excited about taking the ride to the top.

What a view! You can see forever from up here. That is Colorado Springs down in the valley.

The air was thin and it was very cold ... brrrrr!

Reservoir on the flank of Pike's Peak.

"World Famous 14,000 foot donuts."

Obviously, their claim to fame is being deep fried over two miles above terra firma because otherwise they are ordinary cake donuts with no embellishments. One of these and a big cup of hot chocolate hit the spot at the summit.

Phil and Joy, all bundled up on the Cog Railroad heading back down Pike's Peak.

Phil loves this place. He has fond memories of visiting these exotic rock formations when he was a teenager.

Famous balancing rock.

People were letting their children crawl around underneath it ... made me wonder what they were thinking!

2:04 pm Sunday, October 7, 2007

This is our final day in Truth or Consequences NM. It is 80 degrees already at noon; the coach is heating up so we have the air conditioning on. I felt less than 100% well yesterday so we stayed home all day and have not gone out exploring like I had hoped. I feel better today so maybe we will get out and about later this afternoon.

My last post left off with our visit to Lead and Deadwood, SD. From Rapid City we traveled to Scottsbluff, NE. We actually had several reasons to turn our Penny the Pace south into Nebraska. The first being we had missed NE on our trip back east in 2005 and wanted to get that state on to our magnetic USA map. This map (on the front end of our slide-out) is where we display for all to see the states we have traveled in our coach. We had added the state of Wyoming on the way through to South Dakota.

We also wanted to see historic Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff. Since it is fairly certain this is the trail my great grandmother traveled on her way to Lead (City) from their farm in NE after it was sold, I wanted to experience the area and view the terrain. Serendipitously, we discovered that the headquarters for our favorite outdoor store is located in Sydney, NE so one day we drove down. Phil loves the little short pieces of black licorice and Cabelas has the best we have ever found around the country. There were only four packages on the shelf and we bought them all (usually we buy at least six). Phil also found a couple very nice shirt/jackets to replace his worn out Levi shirt/jacket ... on sale even!

We cross the Nebraska State line in the modern day version of a "covered wagon" ... our wonderful Penny the Pace.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the trepidation felt by my beloved progenitor as she and her family headed their wagons toward South Dakota that fall of 1890.

Wow ... awesome vistas!

Another marker along a trail my great grandmother may have taken on her trek to South Dakota in 1890.

A long, lonesome road ...

Miles of prairie ...