Wow - what a day!

Such a variety of experiences today - I always feel that the best kind of holiday involves a bit of this and a bit of that; culture, shopping, landscape, food! I think we surpassed all expectations with that in the last 24hrs.

We began at the Bandelier National Monument, a short drive from Santa Fe and somewhere listed in our guidebook as "interesting" - nothing more. How understated that turned out to be.

Here we found interesting rock formations, "Indiana Jones" type rock structures reminiscent of Petra, cave dwellings inhabited by the Anasazi, ancient Pueblo Indians, small reptiles, flowers and plants - and from a textile artists point of view, heaps of inspiration.

The walk along the base of the cliff was fascinating and the pathway so well paved, we really enjoyed our time there in spite of the heat. It was clear to see where the dwellings had been and in some places, those slim and agile enough could climb ladders and go inside. We did not feature in that group!

We enjoyed seeing the details highlighted in the guidemap - the US Parks Authority does this kind of thing so very well and we learned so much on our comparatively short visit.

The petroglyph at the end of the trail was remarkable and may well fid itself reproduced in some way soon...as could this bark photo

(By the way, there's another 60 or 70 similar photos where that one came from!)

Then, in total contrast to this natural, historic place, we went on to Los Alamos for lunch. Sadly, I wasn't quick enough to take a photo of "Bikini Atoll Road" (really!) We ate lunch at ChiliWorks, in the company of several "nukeys" - young, highly intellectual professionals speaking a language quite alien to us, including terms such as C++, hydrocooling and MHT. Believe me, the testosterone filled the oudoor patio!

This landscape was extraordinary and quite amazing - the more so considering we'd just left a metropolitan "university campus" behind (for that's how Los Alamos had felt to us).

We headed straight back to Santa Fe to explore the one remaining area which we'd saved till last - the Canyon Road galleries.

We started with the Marigold Gallery, which had the goods on the wall outside

This drew us in, but we found this artist's work equally interesting!

Isn't this rag rug just yummy? Made from Pendleton wool selvedges we were told - quite quite exquisite and if only we hadn't got an ocean to cross, we'd have been very tempted. (Yes I know we could ship, but....)

Of course, not everything was to our taste.

And some things were appreciated by some but hated by others!

After such a great day, a very special dinner was needed, so we headed for the Coyote Cafe again, where we'd booked a table this time. Just as well, for on this Friday evening, we had celebrity company and then, just as we were leaving, someone else arrived.

We were even sent a complimentary dessert. Hah! As if we had room for dessert!? (we managed....)

We drove back to our hotel with the most glorious sunset as a fitting finale to a great stay in Santa Fe. I think we will be back!