Day 10 - Santa Fe, NM

I did laundry while Greg worked in the early morning and then we headed off to Bandelier National Historic Monument.  Greg and I have been to Bandelier National Historic Park twice before -- on our honeymoon and a couple years later when we came out with Greg’s family for a short vacation there.  It doesn’t disappoint!

We hiked through the ruins.  These are different from many others in that the people here started by carving out caves in the cliffs that were used as hunting lodges when they’d travel to Bandelier to hunt.



Later, they made much larger rooms in the cliff walls and then eventually they added rooms in front of them.



Later, a pueblo was made on the floor of the canyon.  I heard one visitor (who must not have watched the film in the Visitor’s Center) positing that the wealthy, powerful people lived in the cliffs and the poor workers lived on the canyon floor.  That wasn’t the case according to the archeology.  The cliff houses came first and later the city on the floor of the canyon was built.  They overlapped in their use but were neighbors.



Frijoles Canyon is a beautiful spot with a creek running through it and abundant natural resources.  It’s really lovely there!



When we got back to Santa Fe, we headed to a restaurant called Cowgirls -- they bill themselves as New Mex - Tex Mex cooking.  It was fantastic!  Highly recommend Cowgirls in Santa Fe!