SANTA FE, NM AND TETILLA PEAK (July 4, 2005) |
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Our first out-of-state trip ever with our Outback camper
was to Santa Fe, New Mexico over the 2005 Independence Holiday weekend.
We camped about 40 minutes southwest of Santa Fe at Tetilla Peak on Cochiti
Lake. When we arrived in Site 16 the 30 AMP service was not working.
It was also about 98 degrees. Since we have the "coolest" camper, we
ran the A/C off the 20 AMP service (that luckily was working) and the fridge
and water heater off gas. 30 AMP service was restored the next day.
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This is the view from the back of our campsite.
Cochiti Dam is the 11th largest in the world. It sits on the Cochiti
Indian Reservation.
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We walked to the Tetilla Peak lookout point over Cochiti
Lake to take this picture. Chatfield and Cherry Creek Reservoirs
cannot compete with this!
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In the Santa Fe Plaza area you will find Indian merchants
selling jewelry. Kendal purchased a necklace with a stone turtle
ornament that sparkles. Dad made sure Mom's wrist was adorned with a
copper bracelet.
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The kids stopped to pose in Burro Alley next to a
life-sized sculpture of a burro. Imagine that...a burro on Burro
Alley.
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After our first day in Santa Fe we drove to the Cochiti
Campground (on the opposite side of the lake from Tetilla Peak) and swam in
the lake. Here is Kendal up to her neck in water.
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Cameron shows off the buoyancy of his flip-flops.
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Courtney's expression tells the whole story on the water
temperature. But since each day at Tetilla Peak was in the upper 90's,
it did not take her long to enjoy to cool water.
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On our second day we visited the Santa Fe Recreation
Center. After dropping Carly off at PetCo for a bath, we spent the
entire day here. We ate dinner at one of Santa Fe's most popular
restaurants, Tomasitas. The sign posted at
the entrance warned out-of-town folks that the green chile was HOT.
Randy thought it was fine, but Courtney acted like she was visiting from
North Dakota after just one bite!
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Randy and Lea in the pool.
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Dad played Shark and chased all three kids around the
pool. The pool had "stations" that had different water activities.
Here we are in the "hot tub" section (note the bubbles in the background).
The kids really liked the whirlpool section. The adjoining pool is
Olympic-sized. Randy could not resist swimming a 100 IM. The
lane ropes were set for short-course meters, which made the 100 IM doable.
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On day 3 we visited Bandelier National Monument.
Centuries ago an entire civilization lived in the cliffs west of Santa Fe.
On the ground in the back you can see excavation of homes that were built in
a circle.
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The kids took a rest in one of the rooms carved into the
cliff side. The black on the ceiling was made from fire.
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Mom and the kids look down from one of the cliff rooms.
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Getting to the cliff homes is easy...just climb the
ladder. We extended our visit by venturing out to the farthest and
highest ceremonial cliff dwelling. We had to scale five ladders
amounting to over 140 feet straight up. The kids did great (thank
goodness).
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One morning for breakfast we made breakfast burritos.
The tortillas were from Hacienda Colorado, of course!
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Courtney enjoys a black bean burrito for lunch at "Mucho
Gusto" Restaurant just off the Santa Fe Plaza.
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Our navigation system pointed us to the scenic route from
Tetilla Peak to Bandelier National Monument. We went 4x4 off-roading
into the Santa Fe National Forest eventually reaching over 9,000 feet.
It was a great trip to Santa Fe.
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