Santa Fe — we made it! We drove into the city with eyes opened wide. We didn’t have any plans or expectations of Santa Fe except to see the miraculous spiral staircase that was built sometime between 1877 and 1881, at the Loretto Chapel. In 2003 we planned a roadtrip to see this staircase, but other forces lead us up the California coast instead. We made it into and around the historic downtown, the one-block square referred to as the Plaza and this time we made it to the miraculous staircase! Our time was mainly spent in museums and enjoying the churches and sights around the Plaza.

We visited the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

The hotel we found added volumes to our first impression in Santa Fe, making it our go-to lodging in the city.

On the way out of town, we took the Old Santa Fe Trail to Taos lead by a rainbow…