Although we hadn’t originally planned to visit Santa Fe on this trip, I’m very glad we did! It’s a wonderful town set in a beautiful area, and I’ve always wanted to go there. Now that I’ve had a chance to sample it, I know I’ll enjoy going back to see more of it.

And note to self: spring is a perfect time of year to visit this part of the country. The heat hasn’t really ramped up yet so it’s comfortable to get around and even do some hikes that I probably wouldn’t attempt in the summer.

If you travel with any type of RV, you quickly find that there are a number of travel clubs for RV owners. Most of the major brands have them, and they are very helpful with advice for owners, suggestions for travel, recipes, and even offers for backyard camping options if you’re in a pinch. I relied on a member of the Lance owners club to help us out with a camping spot on our first night in Santa Fe. @SantaFeChuck was a very helpful and gracious host who shared the backyard of his hilltop home with us. It was a lovely spot with a gorgeous view and sunset.

As we were leaving the next morning, we spied this neat sculpture on a neighbor’s lot:

After settling in at a campground just north of the city, we drove in to see what Santa Fe was all about. We knew it was about interesting shops, and history, and culture, and we found all of those as we walked around the central part of town.

We strolled through several shops with all sorts of interesting things for sale – artworks, handcrafts, socks, clothing (you will notice there is a particular western clothing style that many local folks favor), jewelry, antiques, spa items, you name it. Here are some treasures we spied:

This is just a brief sampling of the shopping pleasures to be had in town. There are many galleries, some with truly gorgeous art, much (but not all) of it western-themed. And of course, when you need a break from the shopping, there are plenty of restaurants, coffee shops and bars ready to revive you with a quick bite, a drink and a nosh, or a more leisurely meal. If we’d had more time there we could have made a serious hole in our travel budget!

History is all around you in Santa Fe too. The Cathedral of St. Francis sits at the center of town. The building was constructed in the mid 19th century on the site of the original small adobe structure built in 1610, the year the city was founded.

This stunning statue is a sculpture of Katerina Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and it stands in front of the cathedral. Appropriately, she is the patron of nature and the environment.

Of course we had to book a hike into our visit to Santa Fe. We tackled Picacho Peak, a four-mile round trip with plenty of elevation gain. The reward was the views of the city that continually opened up as we ascended the climb.

Picacho Peak is part of the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains, the range that surrounds Santa Fe. You don’t have to spend too much time amongst these rocks to see where the name came from. The range is shot through with veins of bright red quartz running in all directions. Des even said at one point that the rocks looked like chunks of meat. It makes quite an impression!

We wanted to include a visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum while we were in Santa Fe. This wonderful facility houses a series of galleries displaying a comprehensive survey of this groundbreaking and influential artist’s life work, and her life history too.

Georgia O’Keeffe was fascinated by the natural world. Her interest in photography led her to create close-up images of the things she observed in nature, changing the viewer’s perception of the objects entirely.

Landscapes were a favorite subject of O’Keeffe’s. She found abundant inspiration surrounding her in the Santa Fe area. The beauty of the natural forms, and the clear, brilliant light of the desert provided a fertile environment for her explorations.

Santa Fe gave us many pleasures, and many new perspectives too. It was a fun stop on our trip!