A cool day !

                                This was a day that didn't fully go as planned , but it somehow
                                worked out well anyway. First of all we woke up to the chilly
                                temperature of 4 degrees !That was never in my plans when I
                                came up with the idea for this trip! Our hope of the day getting warmer
                                didn't amount to much ,it stayed cold , and we are now thinking
                                of  emptying the trailer of water so it doesn't freeze during the night .
                                I checked the weather forecast though , and it seems like it will
                               be warm again by Tuesday , so YEAY!
                              

After sleeping in and then a delicious breakfast at a french bakery in Santa Fe,
we drove up the mountains to 'Bandelier National Monument' .
We'd just got within the park boundary when an odd sound made us pull over .
And as you can see for yourself on the photo , it was a flat tire .
By now it was only 2 degrees , and starting to snow .....
But if you try to think in positive terms we were lucky to not be pulling
 the trailer , nor was it raining ,and we weren't on a highway either .
Instead a concerned park ranger showed up , very willing to help us out .
So it all worked out , and soon we were on the road again!

These cliff sides were home to groups of Native Americans ,ca 1100-1500.
They enlarged natural cavities in soft volcanic rock to create cliff dwellings,
and also built free-standing pueblos on the valley below , as seen in
the forefront on this picture.
The darker small circles you see on the cliff sides are  openings they used.

Some of them you are allowed to enter , by climbing the ladders.

There are none left , but there used to be walls built out of bricks creating
an additional living space in front of some of  these caves.

Some were just one room caves , but could also be multi rooms like this one.
They weren't actually caves , as they were man made , but are called caveats
instead.

Some images from Santa Fe, showing the  adobe walls .

The city ( by which I mean downtown) is  really beautiful,and has strict regulations
on how to build . It all has to have the look like something centuries old.
Many buildings are nothing more than painted over cement or concrete ,
which can be a  far more easy building material , as  it doesn't react negatively to rain...

I'm assuming we are missing the lilac season at home this year ,
so I get to enjoy them here instead.

By evening the weather had started to turn somewhat depressing .
Slushy ,wet snow ,yuck!
We rented a movie at Walmart ( where we are NOT camping) ,
 and headed home to cozy up in the trailer .