2025-9-20 Santa Fe Farmers Market

If you are in Santa Fe, be sure to take a trip to the Farmers Market on Saturday. It's huge and very interesting.

We were lucky enough to find a parking place within an easy walking distance of the market. The first thing was saw and smelled was the roasting of peppers.

Right next door was a covered area with vegetables of every kind. 

As you can see, I was dressed for cooler weather. It was quite cool when we got up but warmed up after we got to the market. Lesson learned, wear a t-shirt underneath so you can take off the pullover.

Elaine is always hot so she started out in a t-shirt.

The Farmers Market is located right near the railyard so it's easy to find. They had so many booths.

I'm not sure how you were supposed to use these gigantic ropes of flowers but they were beautiful.

It's apple season in Santa Fe.

There were other things on sale besides fruit and veggies.

I have no idea why blogger turned these photos on their sides but it would not let me turn them the right way and I thought the flowers were too beautiful to leave ut.

These dinner plat dahlias were just huge and so beautiful.

There were a lot of people taking advantage of the market, most carrying their own bags with them.

Don't the vegetables look delicious?

Going the other direction from the Farmers Market was an Artists Market.

There were quite a few artists marketing a wide range of crafs.

In the area between the two markets, this group was providing wonderful entertainment on these instruments. They were all different sizes with different sounds.

The man in the top knot was the group leader. Let me tell you, there is a lot of exercised involved in producing this wonderful music.

This lady was smiling the whole time she played and got quite a workout.

One last look at the Market. All the fruit and vegetables were from New Mexico, most from close by counties. I missed getting a good picture of it but there was one booth that had huge bowls of different kinds of lettuce and greens. There was a long line of people with their bags that used large scoops to gather all the different types of lettuce and then get their bag weighed at the end. Now that's how to make a great salad!

2025-9-19 Bandolier National Monument

The first sightseeing jaunt we took from Santa Fe was a trip to Bandelier National Monument. 

Do you know the difference between a national park and a national monument? I used to think all I would see if I went to a national monument was some kind of a statue until I was enlightened a few years ago by a ranger. National Monuments are created by the President while National Parks are created by Congress. So don't pass by those National Monuments because you will be missing something great.

The drive up was not all that long and was scenic itself.

Los Alamos is right on the way so you might want to make it another stop. I was there a few years ago and didn't get to visit Bandelier because you had to take a bus in and we weren't there at the right time.

Some interesting info on how this area was created.

Be sure you stop in the building because there is some interesting history you won't want to miss.

You actually have to park by the main buildings and walk to see the cliff dwellings. It's a paved path most of the way so anyone should be able to maneuver on it.

Once you get to the dwellings area there are staircases to climb but you can see a lot from down below.

These are the remains of village buildings along the path.

These are the dwellings in the cliffs. You can see the staircase climb involved.

Buildings were built in front as well as using areas carved out of actual rock.

I took this picture from the upper area looking back along the walkway.

I found this on the way back. I did the main loop. Elaine did part of it but it got too warm for her so she found a shady bench and waited for me.

Back at the RVs, we enjoyed steak, baked potatoes, and salad for dinner. It was my turn to cook.
 

2025-9-17 2nd Stop Muleshoe TX

Elaine and I left Abilene about the same time but from different locations so we caught up with her just past Tye TX. Our planned stop for the night was in Muleshoe TX. 

We stayed at the Ray and Donna West RV Park. It's a free first come first serve RV park sponsored by the city of Muleshoe. It has full hookups...water, electric, and sewer with about 8 sites. There is also a dump station for those that might just need to empty their tanks as the pass by. 

We arrived mid afternoon and by early evening every site was taken. Easy in and out, a great stopover.

2025-9-16 First Stop at the Whistle Stop

On the road again.....left San Antonio Tuesday morning for a hastily planned trip to northern New Mexico. I'm meeting up with my sister-in-law Elaine.

First Stop is the Whistle Stop in Abilene TX.  That is the Whistle Stop RV park not the restaurant in the Green Tomatoes movie.

It's a nice park. They have a good pool, sadly no hot tub.

A good playground and dog park.

Bathhouse and laundry room.

They even have a whole setup for those that travel with horses. The other thing I took notice of is that the park is pretty well filled. There are quite a few longer term guests but the park is very neat. It was quiet even in the morning when many must have headed out to work.

Elaine and I met up for dinner with our friend Teri who was staying at Abilene State Park for a few days.