Day 10 - San Ildefonso Pueblo and Bandelier

The plan for the day was to experience Mass in the oldest active church in the United States - Mission San Miguel in Santa Fe.  We checked the website to determine the times of services and showed up at the mission at the appointed time, but it appeared that the schedule had changed.  No masses on Sunday mornings.  However, we did get to see the church, which is over 400 years old and built of adobe.  The church is undergoing some restoration, and it was cool to see the adobe bricks drying out on the walkway in front of the church...keeping true to the integrity of the original construction elements.

Next we headed about 30 miles north to San Ildefonso Pueblo - which is known for its black pottery.  We walked around the pueblo and visited several homes of potters.  Joan fell in love with a clay turtle (symbol of longevity and fertility), and bargained with the potter (Sofia Lovuto) to get it down to a price she could afford.  Sofia even posed for a picture with Joan.  I think that Joan will appreciate having something tangible by which she can remember this trip.

After visiting an active pueblo, we headed for some ancient pueblos in Bandelier National Monument.  The ruins are incredible.  The ladders were a little scary for Joan, but hopefully the ruins made more sense to Joan after visiting a pueblo where people still live.   

Along the trail, Joan also managed to get within a few feet of a deer that was grazing near the trail. 

Needless to say, Joan picked up another Junior Ranger badge.  Joan interviewed this Park Ranger, and she is a decedent of the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived at Bandelier over 700 years ago.  As a Park Ranger, she enjoys sharing her family history with others.

Joan getting sworn in as a Jr. Park Ranger at Bandelier

After leaving Bandelier, I decided to take a "shortcut" on a fire road that ran along a mountain ridge between two canyons.  The ranger at Bandelier told us that we would have no problem driving the "road" as long as we had high clearance and four-wheel drive.  While that was true, the "road" was a little rougher than we anticipated (although nobody felt like getting out to take pictures in the difficult spots).  At times we had deep canyons on both sides of us and a lot of sharp boulders sticking up into the road in front of us, but the views were great. 

The truck taking one of the curves on FR 289

Since it was Father's Day, Joan and Bronwyn were very tolerant of the adventure.  We even got to see some tent rock formations (which look like 40 foot high rock teepees) along the way.   That made the whole drive worthwhile.

When we finally made it to Santa Fe, we treated ourself to dinner at The Pantry restaurant.    It was the perfect way to end the day.....just look at that face after eating chocolate cake!

Chocolate euphoria!

Another fun day on the trail.