Jemez Mountain Trail

My computer has been freezing up and doing a "crash dump" at the most inopportune times so we found a repair shop in Santa Fe that had 16 excellent reviews and took it there for diagnostic tests. It had to stay overnight so I am behind on my blog entry! Good news - he couldn't find anything major wrong with it; bad news - he couldn't find anything wrong with it!! For a $39 fee he adjusted a few things and "hoped that it helped." It froze up and dumped the first time I used it again! One of the downsides of traveling.
We toured Santa Fe on Monday. A great day to walk around the central plaza and shop. I bought a lovely Indian made bracelet and a beautiful "Georgia O'Keefe" design trivet/cutting board. We were told several shops had closed due to the economy and we could see why after browsing in some - very pricey! I found a gorgeous scarf - silk, felted wool, ribbon and beads - the true work of an artist - but, it was $650.00. I also found a really unique jacket for a mere $1850.00!
The Loretto Chapel, near the town square, is famous for it's spiral staircase leading up to the choir loft. Here's the legend: The Sisters of Loretto were looking for a carpenter to build a staircase but, they all said it would take up too much room in the small chapel below. The nuns made a Novena to their patron saint, Joseph the Carpenter, and a myterious carpenter showed up. He designed and constructed the circular staircase with just a saw, a square, a hammer and tubs to soak the wood. It contains 33 steps in two full 360 degree turns and has no center or side support. Then he disappeared without payment. The iron railing was added later for safety. The engineer in Roger couldn't figure it out!

We traveled about 100 miles along the Jemez Mountain Trail yesterday on the way to Bandelier National Monument - an ancient home of the cliff dwelling Anazi Indians. The drive starts out in the desert and gradually climbs to 9081 feet where the mountains are more alpine. Snow up there! Then the forest falls away and there are mountain meadows. One huge area, 175 sq miles, was caused by the volcano collapsing into itself forming a "caldera." Bandelier was packed -  spring break! - we waited about 1/2 hour to park. Not a problem for us - we had packed our lunch so we had a picnic in the car. We hiked the 2 mile loop trail up the canyon to see the cliff dwellings and the "long house." These Indians were a little more advanced than the ones at Mesa Verde - in addition to hunting and gathering, they farmed near the Santa Fe river. But, like their neighbors to the north, they vanished around A.D. 1550.
This area is near Los Almos where they invented the atomic bomb. What a difference a few centuries can make!
Staying home today. Roger needs to hook up our new water softner and solve a new problem - we apparently picked up a visitor - have seen mouse droppings - ugh!