Ghost Ranch has been on my list for a long time! As usual, Stephen found an amazing place to stay in Abiquiu. We had half of a casita in a vinyard, and it was absolutely charming. While Stephen got settled in, I took a walk that led to the river.
We visited the Georgia O'Keeffe welcome center on Saturday, looked at the displays and watched the 7 minute movie, and then headed up to Ghost Ranch to scope things out.
Ghost Ranch was a dude ranch when Georgia O'Keeffe first visited. She rented a casita then eventually purchased a seasonal home there. The ranch was given to the Presbyterian church, and is now a camp and retreat center, but the public can visit the museums and hike the trails. We walked around to get oriented and talked to a very helpful employee about the best trails to hike in the morning, then visited the anthropology and paleontology museums before heading back into Abiquiu for dinner.
 |
| The "City Slickers' Cabin" |
 |
| The casita G.O. rented before she bought property at Ghost Ranch. |
It was late morning on Sunday by the time we hit the Chimney Rock trail, and it was already fairly hot. But we had plenty of water and snacks and we were ready to go.
 |
| Stephen said he wouldn't read the rules. He said he was sure I would tell him if he was breaking one. |
 |
| Looking down at the camp. |
 |
| I am in love with these interestingly eroded rocks. Stephen said that was weird. |
|
 |
| Still in love with the rocks. |
 |
| We can see our destination! But it's still a long way around. |
 |
| Abiquiu Lake |
 |
| Now we're at the top! |
 |
| And.... the destination. |
 |
| The very handsome official blog photographer. |
 |
| We almost missed this cute fellow as we were nearly back to the trail head and looking forward to cooling off in the truck, but Stephen spotted him. He posed for many pictures! |
|
This visit to Abiquiu hopefully won't be our last. There are other trails to hike at Ghost Ranch, and we didn't tour either of G.O.'s houses. We have to plan ahead for that, as tickets were sold out for both tours. But we had plenty to do while we were there and now we can return!
On Monday we went to the Arts and Crafts show in Santa Fe, had a very nice lunch at the Blue Corn Cafe, and on the way back down the Turquoise Trail, we stopped at a sculpture garden we had passed many times but isn't open on the weekends! Origami in the Garden is the theme, and we were able to learn how they create the huge pieces starting with actual paper origami. Stephen had a lot of questions about the process, and apparently we can schedule a tour that includes the studio and a "how it's made" explanation.
It was a fun-packed long weekend, and it's great to know that there are still lots of new things to see within a relatively short drive from Albuquerque. The adventure continues!
