Big SW Roadtrip - Pt. 9 - Jemez, NM

After leaving Santa Fe we headed up into the mountains north of there, bound for Jemez.  I had heard that there were some great hot springs there, and we wanted to spend some time in higher elevations after being in the desert for a bit.  We were totally blown away by how beautiful it was!!  Pinon forests and clear streams and, of course, amazing hot springs.  It felt good to be in the mountains for a bit, and we even got some (unexpected) snow!  The hot springs were phenomenal, and one of them required a 5 mile bike ride in on a dirt road, which was a great adventure.  Overall, a fantastic time and one of my favorite places on the trip so far (although it's so hard to say).

Big SW Roadtrip - Pt. 8 - Santa Fe

Oh man, I've managed to fall behind on these blog posts, so I've got some catching up to do!!  It's been so nice not to be on the computer all the time though, and to disconnect a bit.  Anyways, here's a few photos from our time in Santa Fe and Madrid, an amazing little artists community outside of Santa Fe.  We spent a couple of nights staying with our friend Lucy in Madrid, and wandered around the streets of Santa Fe checking out art, all of the markets, the architecture, and of course eating so much good food!  What a beautiful town, and fun to get a dose of "city" life for a bit.

Big SW Roadtrip - Pt. 8 - La Posada Hotel

A number of people suggested that we stop at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, AZ and we weren't disappointed when we did (thanks Aina!:).  Another creation of Mary Colters and the Fred Harvey Co, La Posada was a fancy, bustling hotel in the 1930's that brought sophistication and class to those traveling the Santa Fe Railway Line.  As railroad travel declined, so did Winslow and the hotel.  It closed and was abandoned for a number of years starting in the 50's, and was gutted and nearly torn down a number of times.  Then in the late 90's Allan Affeldt and his wife, artist Tina Mion, purchased it and revived the beautiful building.  They have turned it into this amazing hotel/art gallery/museum, and it is such an interesting place to spend an hour wandering around (and I'm sure a lovely place to stay if you can afford it).  For more info on the history see here.

Big SW Roadtrip - Pt. 7 - Sedona

We had planned to spend a few days in the Sedona/Flagstaff area biking, hiking, and enjoying the beautiful red rock landscape, but the Roadtrip Gods intervened and we ended up staying for nearly a week!  On our second night there we met another traveling couple, Chris and Abby, who we had immediate synergy with.  Musicians and artists, they've spent the last 8 years on the road selling their wares and playing shows.  We spent most of the week camping, hiking, biking, and hanging out together, and they showed us some of their favorite spots in the area.  It was so fun to make friends after mostly flying solo  (tandem?) and we had a great time with them. 

Sedona is an insanely beautiful place, nestled into a valley of red rock formations with a lush spring-fed stream running through the middle.  Who knew Arizona could be so green!?  It was nice to stay in the same place for a little while and get to know it better, and I'm sure we'll be back again someday.

Currently we're enjoying the weird/wacky/beautiful state that is New Mexico, so expect a post from The Land of Enchantment soon!

Love to you all.

XO,

A 

Big SW Road Trip - Pt. 6 - The Grand Canyon

As always I'm working to keep up with our travels here on the blog, and next up is our visit to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!  At almost exactly this same time last year we were down in the Grand Canyon, on an amazing 3 week raft trip down the Colorado River.  It was an inspiring, magical, challenging, beautiful time (you can see photos of that trip here and here).

When we went on that trip last year I had never even been to the rim of the Grand Canyon, so it felt pretty special to visit it on this trip.   Looking down into the canyon from above, I remembered that wild time in that wild place, and I thought about all of the souls currently down there experiencing the same thing I had.  We watched the sun set and rise over the canyon, and visited a couple of the historic lodges as well as the Watchtower (pictured here) which was magical in it's own right!

So, that was the Grand Canyon (in a nutshell)!  We're currently in Sedona and are enjoying a few days of camping, hiking, canyon scrambling and oasis-swimming here.  I haven't busted out the camera much in the last couple of days, which actually feels quite nice (to just be in the moment instead of trying to capture it).  But don't worry, there will certainly be more photos to come:)