Land of Enchantment

Jay and I visited New Mexico earlier this year and it was my first time visiting the southwest, I was truly enchanted! When we traveled here in May we drove from Las Vegas with several stops before arriving here. It was snowing when we arrived in Santa Fe, I was cold and tired and I didn't have a decent coat and I was starving after being in the car for at least 10 hours. Despite all that I was in awe!
Needless to say, I had no idea that the next time I would be visiting here it would be in a motorhome traveling 2000 miles from Florida. We made 9 stops along the way as my previous posts described and according to my trip planner, this was our destination! Our first stop in New Mexico was in Rio Rancho which is right outside Albuquerque.

We stayed in Rio Rancho for the Labor day weekend. Our home for three nights was The Stagecoach RV Park. This place was nothing to brag about, but it was clean and the views were awfully nice, although, everywhere you look in New Mexico you find a stunning view, just sayin...

On Sunday we decided to explore Madrid which is a small town on The Turquoise Trail ( Route 14). This little town was where the movie Wild Hogs was filmed a few years ago, starring John Travolta and Tim Allen. It was very cool, quite a few shops and saloons and some art galleries. It also seems to be a destination for bikers due to the theme of the movie.

We also were lucky enough to find a fantastic restaurant on Saturday. The Range Café, I assumed "home on the range", but no, it was "range" as in kitchen range, what an adorable place this was! The burgers were to die for! I'm beginning to think this trip should be called "The Burger Journey" because I've lost count how many burgers we've eaten in the past 2000 miles!
On Tuesday we checked out and headed for Santa Fe, only 40 miles north. I am excited to return this beautiful place, hopefully it won't be snowing this time!
Our destination was Santa Fe Skis RV Park, everyone we talked to during our travels had great things to say about it. I figured if it's in Santa Fe, its got to be great!
We pulled in and we were directed to our site, wow!
This place is amazing! Our site faced a beautiful prairie on the edge of the park, after 3 days here we extended our stay here until the end of September.
This park has numerous metal sculptures throughout the park and spectacular views. Our first night here we had a picnic on our patio with crab legs and cold beer, a fitting reward for this journey!

I couldn't wait to visit the Santa Fe Plaza the next day, I heard a three day Fiesta was underway and I wanted to be there! Welcome to Santa Fe! It was a beautiful day in the 70's and there was food everywhere!

We ended up in a roof top restaurant for pizza, which was the perfect spot for enjoying the view!

The following day Jay's niece Kate invited us to join them for a tour at Bandelier National Monument Park. A new adventure! We drove northwest about 40 miles to this park, it's a 33,677 acre United States National Monument here in New Mexico preserving the homes and territory of the Ancestral Pueblo People. Most of the pueblo structures date to two eras, in total from 1150 to 1600. This place was amazing, after a slightly scary ride on a bus to the start of the path we wandered through the structures for about 3 miles. The pictures hardly do it justice, but here ya go!

Jay and Kate

We really enjoyed the day, in addition we learned so much about how the Pueblo Indians lived for over 400 years in this area.
So far our visit here in Santa Fe has been full of wonder and new experiences. One of my favorites has been the sunsets here on the prairie....