A trip to Santa Fe is not complete without a visit to all the art galleries and sculpture gardens on Canyon Road. I think I read somewhere that Santa Fe ranks way up there in art and galleries per capita in the U.S. – or maybe I made that up :o) Anyway, a visit in the Fall is gorgeous.
We stayed a few days in Santa Fe, NM. We went to Rancho de Chimayo, one of our favorite restaurants in NM, then drove to Taos and took a short walk, including a visit to a yarn shop (of course!) The Fall colors were beautiful.
We drove east and visited the Painted Desert. There was an interesting display of Navajo sheep wool, how the wool is dyed and woven.
We stayed at La Posada Hotel  in Winslow, Arizona. It was the last Fred Harvey/Santa Fe Railway Hotel, and has been renovated beautifully. Many famous people stayed here during its heyday. Trains continue to travel along the tracks at the back of the property dozens of times per day. Artist Tina Mion‘s art is displayed throughout the hotel.
This rental was excellent! The kitchen was stocked with everything you could imagine (even a rice cooker!) and there was laundry detergent, soap in the bathrooms, coffee filters, spices and paper goods. In some rentals, consumables are the renter’s responsibility, but this place was fully-stocked. The recliner chairs in the living room were also appreciated; and there were 2 recliners in the sofa. A very comfortable place to stay.
Here is the VRBO listing for this apartment: Las Vegas vacation rental
We arrived in Las Vegas 4 days after the mass shooting on October 1. #VegasStrong billboards and T-shirts were abundant.
 
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, opened on May 21, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada that is operated by the Cleveland Clinic[1] and was designed by the world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.
2017 is the first season for the new NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights. They play at the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip, close to the Monte Carlo and New York New York hotels.
Short video of the plaza in front of the T-Mobile arena where the Golden Knights play:
October is the perfect time to visit the desert. The air is so clear and the temperatures are mild. There is quite an extensive Visitor Center here, with information on how the earth, air, people and water all shape this area. We spent the full day here, and could’ve stayed longer, except the park was about to close. It was so beautiful!
Kevin would have been thrilled that we are traveling home-free, and would have wanted to visit us in every place we went.
When Kevin was young, he was on the lookout for flash flood warnings, afraid that our car would be washed away.
Sadly, the vineyard and winery next door to where we stayed in Calistoga was destroyed in the Tubbs fire, which started just south of our address, 3514 Hwy 128. It spread quickly southwest to Santa Rosa, where it killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of structures.
The address of this vineyard was 3500 Hwy 128, next door to us at 3514.
