Culture!

Today we wanted to visit Canyon Road in Santa Fe. Since its early Native American and Spanish roots, Canyon Road has been a trail of abundance - from its beginnings as a farming community, later as the site of an art colony, and today as the country's top art destination with more fine art galleries and studios in one short mile than any other place on earth. Their motto is "100 years, 100 fine art galleries".

We found a parking spot along the street, and took off on foot to explore; we had a lot to see, so do we go east..

or west?

We elected to head east, and stopped at Tresa Vorenberg Goldsmiths. As well as intricate jewelry, this gallery exhibits work of 35 other artists working in other media.

We visited so many galleries that our heads began to spin. Some were interesting, and some were spectacular, but all were certainly worth a pleasant walk on a cool southwest morning!

Near the east end of Canyon Road, we saw a restaurant recommended by our Santa Fe tour guide, Chuk, so we decided to check it out!

We ate on the front patio with a great view of the turning foliage. Is it Fall already?

Donna ordered chicken enchiladas and pronounced them very edible!

I noticed that one of my favorite dishes, seafood Paella, was on the lunch menu, so guess what....

It was very, very good!

We had a bit of time left in the afternoon, and went a mile or so west to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.

The building is an inviting southwest style structure, with an archive of more than 3,000 Georgia O'Keefe works.

I wish a few photos could have been sneaked in, but no such luck. If you know something of Ms O'Keefe, you know that she had a fiery career that spanned decades. Her work changed as she moved from New York City to the Southwest, opening up a whole new vista for her. She didn't live in Santa Fe specifically, but had her studio in the area.

The Georgia O'Keefe Research Center is housed in a nearby building that is probably one of the most attractive structures in Santa Fe.

Here's a story: Notice in the next pic that the large sign, the one with the flashing red lights and the crossing arms, says "Do Not Stop In Box". That refers to a large rectangular area, painted in white paint, with large X's running from corner to corner. This morning, as we came to this railroad crossing, we noticed a large motorhome stopped ahead of us.

The motorhome, towing a Jeep, was parked precisely in the "box", hoping to make a right turn. At that moment, the red lights began to flash and the crossing arms started down. Mr Motorhome probably should have immediately turned, and got out of the way, but he didn't, and the crossing arm came down exactly between the motorhome and the tow vehicle! Now we're stuck! The pickup ahead of us, and immediately behind the motorhome, began to back up. Several of us scrunched together, expecting the worse. At this point the motorhome occupants bailed out of the coach and moved away, just as the train came through, just inches ahead of the motorhome! We all sat there, petrified, until the train passed and the crossing arms lifted. The rv occupants climbed back in, made their right turn, and disappeared from sight! Oh, Boy! I was unable to think straight, so I didn't get a photo. Should have done a video!