Saturday, October 7, 2017: Tent Rocks National Monument, Georgia O'Keefe Museum

Bill is up fairly early today to visit Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, about one hour SW of Santa Fe.  The monument is known for its light-colored, cone-shaped tent rock formations resulting from volcanic eruptions that occurred between 6 and 7 million years ago.  The main attraction for me is the narrow slot canyon trail rising 630 feet providing amazing photographic opportunities.  This spot is so popular that they turn people away that don't get here early.  I arrive early enough to have mostly unobstructed views.  This is only a small portion of today's photographs.
I took a wrong turn leaving tent rocks and ended up on a "local" road that kept getting worse and worse.  Before I finally turned around ahead of a stream crossing sans bridge, as in you drive through the water, I encountered horses on the road.  This is rural.
Bev shops at the native market in front of the Governor's Mansion.
This afternoon we also toured the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe.
Dinner tonight is off of the happy hour menu (half price!) at L'Olivia, a French-themed restaurant downtown.  Cheese plate for Bev and steak frites for Bill.  It wasn't really a French restaurant however.  When I asked for the check in French (about the only phrase that I know), the waiter was flummoxed.
Room service chocolate mousse back at the hotel.
 This is our last night in Santa Fe.  It has gone quickly.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Dyrholaey, Arnardrangur, Reynisfjara, Vik I Myrdahl

Image
It has been a big day.  Lots of driving and lots of stops.  A couple of waterfalls both very different from the earlier waterfalls.  Churches and more churches.  I hope that you don't get tired of churches.  And the black sand of the southern coast. As I'm driving to our first waterfall, I spot a church out in the country.  I stop.  It is Braeoratungukirkja.  Seljalandsfoss is a really cool waterfall.  It is a 220 foot monster. As you get closer it is even more impressive. But the really cool thing is that you can walk behind the waterfall.  The spray from the waterfall is impressive.  You will get soaked.  Guide books warn about ruining camera equipment.  So the Nikon goes back into the car and I don full rain gear.  There is no way that I'm not doing this.  You may laugh but my iPhone 12 Pro is submersible for 30 minutes and it has wide angle.  This is what it looks like. Skógafoss is 200 feet high and 80 feet wide.  Guidebooks warn that the hard part of photographing her
Read more

Reykjavik, a photography walk

Image
I'm out for a walk around Reykjavik on this, my penultimate day in Iceland.  Perhaps to make up for Iceland's long and dark winters, houses of Reykjavik are painted lively colors.  It is not Nyhavn but it is very pretty.  I pass a children's playground which I also find colorful and pretty. I have noticed that Icelandic houses usually have absolutely no landscaping.  Not much grows in this latitude.  This house in Reykjavik is an exception. Reykjavik has a park with a lake, also with landscaping. The park has sculptures I guessed that this one was called "blockhead".  I was wrong.  It is called "unknown bureaucrat". I'm thinking that this is either Lancelot or Elaine (you have to be from Iowa State). Reykjavik City Hall has been built out into the lake which was controversial at the time. After a break at Te & Kaffi, the Icelandic version of Starbucks, ... I am off to the National Museum of Iceland ... which has many exhibits on the history of Ic
Read more

Iceland Here I am

Image
It is not necessarily easy traveling this close to the pandemic edge.  I jumped at the chance to book this trip in mid-March when Iceland announced it was re-opening to vaccinated Americans without quarantine.  I had a difficult time booking and keeping hotel reservations as hotels kept closing.  I didn't understand why until yesterday when I discovered that after Iceland re-opened, they quickly closed again, then re-opened in April and the rules are still changing.  It was like playing whack-a-mole to find an open hotel.  But I am ecstatic about being able to be here.  Today's blog is more about traveling and less about Icelandic photos.  They will come.  Be patient. Delta has one flight a day to Reykjavik and it is from JFK.  Delta has only one flight a day from MSP to JFK to make the connection and that flight leaves MSP in mid-morning.  So I am off early Tuesday morning when my driver arrives. I find myself elated as I walk into the SkyClub at MSP.  I have never been so hap
Read more