Off the Beaten Path: Bandelier National Monument
We spent Memorial Day weekend down in Albuquerque visiting Irv's family. We've made the trek between Colorado Springs and Albuquerque many, many times over the 16 years we've lived here. It usually involves loading in the car, hitting the interstate, and driving there as fast as we can. It's monotonous, boring, and at times unbearable.
On the drive home I suggested to Irv that we get off the beaten path and go exploring. Much to my surprise he agreed so we turned off at Santa Fe and started our journey into uncharted territory. My main goal was to go through Taos and find a great Mexican food restaurant where we could have one last dose of New Mexican food before getting back to Colorado.
It wasn't long until we saw a sign for Bandelier National Monument. This is somewhere I've always wanted to go because they have wild burros in the area. I asked Irv "what do you think?" and he agreed.
We had to park our car in the town of White Rock and take a shuttle bus into the park. Several years ago after a huge wild fire in the area they started busing visitors into the park and they've continued it to help reduce traffic and crowded parking conditions. We were met by a volunteer who told us about the park and the visitor center--he must have been at least 90 years old and was adorable. I am so impressed by folks who volunteer late in life...that's going to be me some day.
Whoops! Should have checked Mr. Beans' footware before we got on the bus. We were warned about allowing him to wear his new shoes out in the "wild". Oh well, too late now...the car is 20 miles away.
This place is amazingly beautiful with the red cliff walls.
Luckily, we had an awesome tour guide.
Lots of hiking and climbing which felt really good after several days of just sitting, visiting, and eating. I love being outside and active so this side trip made me very happy!
Then we came to the end of the paved trail and decided to take the nature trail back to the visitor center. Please, please, please Mr. Beans...do not fall off the bridge and into the water or step in the mud...we'll be in big trouble if those shoes get dirty.
All I can say about Bandelier is that it was amazingly beautiful, tranquil, and a treat for all the senses. Had I been alive back in the day I would have loved to be a cliff dweller who got to live there. Loved it!
I think it's great that the dwellings have been preserved by the Park Service so that we have the opportunity to visit them and have a glimpse of what life was like for the Native Americans in this part of the country. I can't wait to go back and do some more extensive hiking in the park and find some of those wild burros.
We spent about three hours in the park and then made out way back to the car. We were famished and headed north to Taos to find that New Mexican food. On the way we passed through Espanola, the birthplace of my famous brother Yogi who is my blogging inspiration.
I had not done my homework before getting there so we chose a restaurant based on the number of cars in the parking lot. This place was packed for late afternoon so we decided to stop. It was a good choice...fabulous enchiladas smothered in green chili topped off with a sopapilla for dessert.
I fell off the nutrition wagon pretty bad this weekend and made some really bad choices, but those enchiladas were really worth it.
Even Irv agreed it was a good day...maybe we can get off the beaten path more often now and do a little more exploring.
On the drive home I suggested to Irv that we get off the beaten path and go exploring. Much to my surprise he agreed so we turned off at Santa Fe and started our journey into uncharted territory. My main goal was to go through Taos and find a great Mexican food restaurant where we could have one last dose of New Mexican food before getting back to Colorado.
It wasn't long until we saw a sign for Bandelier National Monument. This is somewhere I've always wanted to go because they have wild burros in the area. I asked Irv "what do you think?" and he agreed.
We had to park our car in the town of White Rock and take a shuttle bus into the park. Several years ago after a huge wild fire in the area they started busing visitors into the park and they've continued it to help reduce traffic and crowded parking conditions. We were met by a volunteer who told us about the park and the visitor center--he must have been at least 90 years old and was adorable. I am so impressed by folks who volunteer late in life...that's going to be me some day.
This place is amazingly beautiful with the red cliff walls.
Luckily, we had an awesome tour guide.
Lots of hiking and climbing which felt really good after several days of just sitting, visiting, and eating. I love being outside and active so this side trip made me very happy!
They had ladders up to several of the "rooms" in the cliff dwellings so you could climb up and take a look.
Then we came to the end of the paved trail and decided to take the nature trail back to the visitor center. Please, please, please Mr. Beans...do not fall off the bridge and into the water or step in the mud...we'll be in big trouble if those shoes get dirty.
All I can say about Bandelier is that it was amazingly beautiful, tranquil, and a treat for all the senses. Had I been alive back in the day I would have loved to be a cliff dweller who got to live there. Loved it!
I think it's great that the dwellings have been preserved by the Park Service so that we have the opportunity to visit them and have a glimpse of what life was like for the Native Americans in this part of the country. I can't wait to go back and do some more extensive hiking in the park and find some of those wild burros.
We spent about three hours in the park and then made out way back to the car. We were famished and headed north to Taos to find that New Mexican food. On the way we passed through Espanola, the birthplace of my famous brother Yogi who is my blogging inspiration.
I had not done my homework before getting there so we chose a restaurant based on the number of cars in the parking lot. This place was packed for late afternoon so we decided to stop. It was a good choice...fabulous enchiladas smothered in green chili topped off with a sopapilla for dessert.
I fell off the nutrition wagon pretty bad this weekend and made some really bad choices, but those enchiladas were really worth it.
Even Irv agreed it was a good day...maybe we can get off the beaten path more often now and do a little more exploring.
Comments
The food sounds great.
Thanks for the shoutout sis!