Today was dedicated to the late Georgia O’Keeffe.

We left Los Alamos after breakfast and made is all the way up to Abiquiú and the Ghost Ranch – and into Georgia O’Keeffe Country.

From the ranch we engaged for the 5km chimney rock trail with some amazing views of the area, including – of course – Cerro Pedernal (a major piece of inspiration and subject of the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe).

After the hike we had lunch, before continuing into town for gas and some ice cream at the Frozen Cow ice cream shop (imagine our surprise, when we realized, they were serving Oakland made Dreyer’s ice cream).

Our next stop was a the Echo Amphitheater, a natural rock formation resembling an amphitheater (you would not have guessed that – right?). From here we continued to the Benedictine Abbey of Christ in the Desert. This was to get a glimpse of the church and monastery and its architecture – but also to get a bit into the back country during the 13 mile dirt road drive.

We eventually made it back and through Abiquiú – and had a further stop just outside of town at the Poshuouinge Ruins – again with a little hiking trail – passing by the ruin site and then to a view point for a full view of it.

From here – after a short stop at El Santuario De Chimayo – we continued into Santa Fe for a nice and spicy introduction to the most New Mexican of questions – will it be red or green …