Day 21 New Mexico

Three weeks down, seven to go! Fifteen states down, thirty-three to go!

The drive from West Texas to Albuquerque was mostly through farmland, open areas with wild shrubs, and many large mesas. As I approached Albuquerque, the highway wound through the Sandia Mountains, which were typically gorgeous. In the city, I visited the historic district and took a photo of San Felipe de Neri Church in Old Town Plaza. Built in 1793, it is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it has remained in continuous use for over 200 years.

I then drove to the Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway that connects Albuquerque and Santa Fe. At the start, I had to cross over “Historic Route 66.” Not to be confused with Interstate 66, which is near my home in Virginia, the historic 66 was one of the first numbered federal highways, completed in 1926 and connecting Chicago to Santa Monica, California, and serving to enable the movement westward for many Americans. It was the inspiration for the TV show of the same name that I watched as a kid in the 60s, and was also mentioned as a symbol of hope and new beginnings, dubbed the Mother Road, in “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck (the same author who wrote “Travels with Charley: In Search of America,” which was the inspiration for my trip). But I digress….

I travelled a short distance on the Turquoise Trail and took a side venture on the Sandia Crest Scenic Byway, a thirteen mile, very curvy road through the Cibola National Forest, up to the Sandia Crest. It seemed like the road would never end, but the trip was worth it, as my posted photos will attest. I drove back down and re-entered the Turquoise Trail for the drive up to Santa Fe. As with other scenic byways on my trip, the drive was slower (and ever less stressful) than the interstates, and mostly two lanes. Halfway there, I had to slow down to 20 MPH as I drove through Madrid, a quaint little town and a popular stop for tourists for its art scene, shops, and restaurants.

Arriving in Santa Fe, I stopped at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the top ten churches on my list to visit. For those that might not know, a cathedral is the home church (“the seat”) of a bishop, while a basilica is a church designated by the Pope as having historical, spiritual, or architectural significance. In the United States there are 93 basilicas and 213 cathedrals; among them, 15 are “cathedral basilicas.”

This is a beautiful church, built in the late 1800’s, on the site of a earlier church, which in turn was built in the 1700s to replace a church built in 1626, but destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt. One of the photos I posted shows paintings behind the altar of American saints. Outside the church, the city built Cathedral Park, with the statue shown in my photo and a dozen signs telling the history of New Mexico.

Upon leaving the city, I drove through the Santa Fe National Forest to the Hyde Memorial State Park Campground. It is not much to speak of; we took a three-mile hike through poorly marked trails, and then had dinner and settled in for the night.