Santa Fe: Tuesday

On Tim and Maya's last day in New Mexico, we went to Tent Rocks National Monument on the way back towards the airport in Albuquerque.  This was the most beautiful natural scenery we saw on the entire trip.  This was about a 3 mile round trip hike; a chunk of it was purported to be "difficult" and "steep."  We decided to try it anyway; we figured Maya and I could just wait for Tim to complete the difficult part.  We kept expecting the path to get more difficult... but it never did.  Tim carried Maya for the easy walk part of the hike, then she insisted she wanted to walk on her own.  She ended up doing most of the "climb" (which was reported to be about a 600 foot elevation change in what should have been about a quarter of a mile) herself; it was very impressive.  Tim took photos; it's my job to whittle them, but you can see that I've mostly failed to pick a select few.  But they're all so great...

Santa Fe: Monday

Monday, I was still working, so Tim and Maya spent the morning walking through the galleries along Canyon Road in Santa Fe.  Apparently it was totally worth seeing; I may try to find some time to check it out before I have to leave.  We met again for lunch, then when my meetings ended early in the afternoon, the three of us spent some time walking, ducking into galleries, and shopping in Santa Fe.  For dinner, we went out with Jamie and Alex to a delicious Tapas restaurant in Santa Fe.

Santa Fe: Sunday

On Sunday, I had to start attending my conference, so Tim and Maya explored Santa Fe.  They started with a climb up to Hilltop Park for views back down over the city.  Then they went to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, walked around the square (where Santa was walking his hog on a leash), to the Loretta Chapel, which houses a free-standing spiral staircase.  We met up for lunch, then the two of them headed to the Santa Fe Children's museum, which was apparently great fun for Maya.  We went to dinner with one of my students, and Maya promptly fell asleep after ordering and slept all the way back to the hotel.

Santa Fe: Saturday

Saturday morning, we got up really early (on accident), had some breakfast at a delicious local place, and then headed north to Bandelier National Monument.  After spending the morning in and around the ruins at Bandelier (including climbing in and out of cliff dwellings and a 140 foot ascent on ladders to a ceremonial cave), we drove on north through Los Alamos towards Taos.  We saw the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge then wandered a bit in Taos before heading back to Santa Fe to meet Jamie, her mom, and Alex for dinner.  I couldn't filter pictures very well, so here are a bunch...

Santa Fe: Friday

On Friday, we landed in Albuquerque, got our rental car, and started the drive up to Santa Fe.  We took the "scenic" route instead of the interstate, including the drive to Sandia Crest for a some lovely vistas, including back down into Albuquerque.  Upon arriving in Santa Fe, we met up with some old friends (and a new one) for a stroll through Santa Fe and a delicious dinner at a local restaurant.