The sights and sounds of Sant Fe are a little different than what I was expecting. Of course there is a lot of eye candy in Santa Fe. . Lots of art in the galleries and lots of strange people. Great place to people watch. While the sights are an eye full, every afternoon, as now, there has been quite the lightening and thunder show. I mean some real stuff. Flash floods, 1/4” hail and everything. I hadn’t counted on this form of entertainment.

I’m camped at the KOA just southeast of Santa Fe. Tent camping to boot. It’s quite stimulating to sit in the tent and listen to it as I type this column out for you good folks. Don’t worry. It’s a good tent. Sturdy. I took it to Alaska on our motorcycle adventure. Well, unless you count the time a wind burst flattened it Limon, CO. But that was a fluke and I figured if I’m sitting in it then I ought to be able to hold it up if worse comes to worse. I guess we’ll see.

I’ve spent the last several days touring around and getting some painting done. Got over to Las Vegas, NM the first day. There’s a pretty neat old town plaza and a great old town section. Got a watercolor done of Estella’s Cafe as I mentioned last time we visited. The next day I found Pilar on the lower road to Taos and made my way down to the Rio Grande. Crossed a bridge and climbed up the other side of the Rio Grande Gorge and spent a wonderful several hours doing an oil painting and having lunch with a fantastic view. Taos was off in the distance. 

Of course, since I was that close to Taos, I finally found a way to get over there and spent a little time on the plaza. There was an old bookstore I was hoping to visit but they were no longer in business. Too bad. Lots of folks out and about.

If you want a tip on a good place to eat, lunch or supper is recommended at Doc Martin’s in the old Taos Inn. A great story about the place on the back of the menu. Their chile rellenos is hard to beat. It’s their signature dish and a fine one at that. You should probably have one of their world famous margaritas while you are at it…if you are so inclined. I like the Cowboy Budda. You might as well get a room at the Inn too. We did that one time. Quaint.

For you train fans, just to the southeast of Santa Fe is the Southern Santa Fe depot at Lamy. I went there yesterday to take a look see. There were actually some folks waiting for the #4 Eastbound Amtrak to Chicago. It was running late however. It was due at 1:17 but had been delayed in Albuquerque. There was an old cowboy hanging out with his family. He was seeing some of them off. While they were waiting he was passing out cold PBR’s from a cooler in the back of his pickup. He said that since they just keep making the stuff, he’ll keep drinking it.

I chatted with another fella who is a jewelry designer from Santa Fe and he has an office in New York. He travels by train once a month. Prefers it over flying. Less hassle. I can see why. Costs him $280 and takes two days.

I hung around and waited for the eventual arrival at 4:20.

I don’t recall ever having stood right on a loading platform for a train and watched people get off and on.

That was pretty neat. After everyone left and I had the place to myself, I attempted a watercolor of the depot. I’ll have to go back and try it again though as my first attempt wasn’t very successful. Somehow I find aspens and mountains easier to paint, but I’m not giving up just yet. I’ve not painted buildings much, so I have to allow for that.

I’ve got a couple more days down here. It’s been about 10 years since I spent this much time in the area I’m having fun looking up old painting motifs and discovering new ones. I’ve got a little gallery hopping to do yet and more painting to do so stay tuned.