Day 5: Taos to Santa Fe
Drive to Santa Fe
Chimayo
Lunch near Chimayo
Saints and Sinners Sign
Arrive Rental House 
Dinner at home



We'll be starting out the morning with a lovely homemade breakfast, maybe we can even get our little chefs Gianna and Dominic to take the lead in the kitchen and cook up some yummy goodness! Next, we'll be checking out and hitting the road once again. Hey, what can you expect - it's a road trip! 
We'll be traveling along highway 518 and today won't be so bad, as it is only a 75 mile drive to Santa Fe from Taos. We've decide to take this route because we'll be stopping at the 48 mile mark in Chimayo. Heading to the 19th-century adobe church & National Historic Landmark, El Santuario de Chimayo! 
Which is actually one of the trip highlights that Tanya is looking forward to! 

- Chimayó is known internationally for its Catholic chapel, the Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas, commonly known as El Santuario de Chimayó. Because of its reputation as a healing site (believers claim that dirt from a back room of the church can heal physical and spiritual ills), it has become known as the "Lourdes of America," and attracts close to 300,000 visitors a year, including up to 30,000 during Holy Week (the week prior to Easter). It has been called "no doubt the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States." 
- Chimayó is also known for the weaving traditions of the Ortega and Trujillo families, who have been weaving in the Spanish Colonial tradition for many generations and now operate weaving businesses near the Plaza del Cerro and in the placita of Centinela. We'll be sure to make a visit over there and check out their goods! This traditional craft is but one of several still practiced in the region, including tin smithing, wood carving, and making religious paintings. These activities, along with the local architecture and the landscape of irrigated fields, create a historic ambiance that attracts much tourism.  
 
We'll do some sight seeing, play with our photography skills, shopping and have a local lunch before all loading back up in our rentals and moving onto Santa Fe!!!

Our next stop will be to quench the quirky side of our road-trip (all road-trips need at least one!) We'll be quickly stopping in Espanola, New Mexico (about 20 miles north of Santa Fe), at the Saints and Sinners Liquor Store! Noooo we won't be boozing it up, we probably won't even be going in! This stop is strictly for the photo op!

After the kids have laughed their socks off at making fun of their silly mum's for adding this stop to the itinerary, we will have 38 more minutes to go (according to the GPS) until we arrive at our final destination of Santa Fe, New Mexico!!!

By now, it'll be about time to check in to our next "home away from home" (for the next 2 nights) vacation rental. Then we'll kick back & relax; while the kids stretch out & play; all while working up an appetite for whatever deliciousness that we decide to make and prepare for the our hungry little troops!  

And that will end our day from Taos to Santa Fe!! Tune in next Tuesday for Part 13!

Please catch up on our previous New Mexico Road Trip Blogs:

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8 
Part 9 
Part 10
Part 11

As of today, we have exactly three months till our Road Trip to New Mexico!  October 3rd is the big day that the "travelin' cousins" meet in Albuquerque.  So I thought it would be a good idea to do a review of our ToDo list for this trip and see what we can check off and what is left to still finalize:

• Plan Cities to Visit  - DONE (Albuquerque, Taos and Santa Fe)
• Book Accommodations - DONE (Hotel in Albuquerque and Private home Rentals in Taos and Santa Fe)
• Elisa's Rental Car - DONE
•  Tanya's Rental Car - DONE

So, that is what's is done - here is what we still have to do:

• Elisa to book airfare NY to Albuquerque (well, you've read my saga with this, so this is still a work in progress)
• Tanya to book Dave's airfare for both weekends (let's hope Tanya has better luck with airfare rates than her East Coast-based cousin!)
• Map out Driving Routes - We will be working on this together during the coming week
• Select restaurants for all three cities
• Purchase Balloon Fiesta Tickets
• Finalize Sites and Activities in all three cities and places along the driving route

This would pretty much finish off the trip!  But, as you can see, we have a ways to go.
Today, I want to talk about Sites and Activities!  That's the really fun part of any trip.     We created a very long list of possibilities, broken down by each city and those along the way.  Of course, we know that we will not have enough time in 8 days to see everything, but, for now, we are just reflecting on each and will narrow down the list over the coming weeks.  If you have any thoughts or experience with any of these, please comment and let us know. We would love the input!!
Albuquerque:

• Balloon Fiesta 

This is obviously a definite and the whole inspiration for the trip.  We are planning to go the first two days.  Balloon Fiesta is a LONG day. Up early, arriving by 4:30-5:00 AM to see the balloons take off; and then a fun, filled night with a fireworks show lighting up the night sky.  So, we've allocated two full days for this spectacular event.

Here are the other possible sites for Albuquerque:

• Albuquerque Biological Park
• Sandia Peak
• Petroglyph National Museum
• Tinkertown Museum
• Giant Red Arrow
• Hinkle Family Fun

On the Way from Albuquerque to Taos

• Bandelier National Monument
• Kasha Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument

Taos

• Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
• Kit Carson Home & Museum
• Taos Pueblo
• Manby Hot Springs
• Tree of Human Kindness
• Sants & Sinners Sign
• Ghost Town Museum

So There you have it - some fun options for things to do on our road trip.  Till next "Travelin' Tuesday" and Part 5, 
~Elisa & Tanya