Day 13: Santa Fe, NM (miles)
Wednesday, 26 October 2005
Last updated 4 Nov 2005

1. Tinytown ...	2. Funky and whimsical	3. ...	4. ...	5. ...
6. ...	7. Tinkertown ...	8. Animated models ...	9. ...	10. ...
11. ...	12. ...	13. Trinkets ...	14. Bottle structures ...	15. And thoughtful words ...
16. ...	17. Coal mines and ...	18. ... art galleries in Madrid	19. Kickin' Ass Range	20. Cerrillos
21. Dusty roads	22. And old saloons

Woke up late today (after late-night Tango) and decided to stay in Santa Fe another day since there was still more to see in the area.

Down the Turquoise Trail from Santa Fe to find Tinkertown, but first came across the whimsical [1-6] Tinytown just off the highway. It's impossible to describe--you have to see the pictures to get an idea. You'll never find it in a tourist guide and who knows how long it will last? The real [7] Tinkertown (Hwy 536, 1.5 miles west of Route 14/Turquoise Trail towards Sandia Crest) has in incredible number of [8-13] vintage animated machines with figurines that move to piano-roll-like mechanical movements, excrutiatingly detailed models of all sorts of things, architectural oddities like [14] this wall made of bottles, and the [15,16] thoughtful saying here and there. This is all apparently the work (hobby) of one man!

Also on the Turquoise Trail you can find the [17,18] village of Madrid, which used to be a coal mine (I skipped the tour) and was practically a ghost town when it was taken over by artists and sculptors and became an artists' colony (with a [19] sense of humour). It's about two blocks long and I wasn't feeling quite Bohemian enough to spend the night there (one can--there is a Bed & Breakfast). A little further north, just off the highway, is the hamlet of [20-22] Cerrillos. If it looks like a vintage western town, with its dirt-road Main Street and saloons in creaky wooden structures, you wouldn't be the only one who thinks so. It has apparently been the set for more than one Western movie.

I wanted to try the famed Southwestern fusion cuisine, so dinner that night was at Ristra Restaurant (548 Agua Fria, 505-982-8608). Excellent food and atmosphere (service a little hurried) and the elk was delicious (even if it was from New Zealand and not the local forests).

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