The Santa Fe Trail opened around 1821 from Las Vegas, New Mexico to Santa Fe. It was an important trade route. The Pecos National Historic Park takes you to the ruins of a Pueblo mission and also to the north and south Pueblo sites, dating from the 1400's.

The Pecos Visitor Center is one of the most beautiful we have seen. Greer Garson and her husband, E.E. Fogelson donated most of the money to build the center.

There is a beautiful church in the village of San Miguel del Vado. Originally the village was a Spanish outpost which provided border protection in the frontier.

Las Vegas was the first town built along the Santa Fe Trail. There is a lovely plaza in the middle of old town. We had a delicious lunch at the Rialto Restaurant We enjoyed our stay at the historic Plaza Hotel overlooking the park. Alan Affeldt and his wife own this hotel as well at the La Posada in Winslow, AZ. They have also purchased the old Castenada hotel in Las Vegas and are rennovating it. We enjoyed driving through streets with old Victorian style homes. There is even a Carnegie Library in a park like setting.

Fort Union was the largest military installation in the Southwest during the Santa Fe trail's heyday and supplied various posts throughout the region. We toured the old fort site and arsenal as well as the ruins of the last Fort Union.

On our way to Raton, we saw many antelope on the plains. We went to the Latin Comedy Jam at the beautiful and historic Schuler Theater in Raton. The theater is reminiscent of the Orpheum Theater in Phoenix. We took a few photos of the historic buildings and the old train depot in town.

From Raton, we headed to Cimmaron, the "real old western town". We met a couple from Missouri who were traveling with their Airstream. Their daughter made them a pillow which looks like an Airstream travel trailer. Cimmaron is home to the historic St. James hotel. It was built by a French chef and many outlaws and lawmen stayed here. There are still bullet holes in the ceiling in the bar. The lobby has some beautiful furniture, wildlife trophies and photos. The patio is lovely with hand painted murals by a local artist.

The old grist mill was closed but we took a few photos anyway. We had a delicious lunch of stuffed sopapillas at the St. James. From there we drove to Eagle Nest where we saw a coyote. In Mora, we took pictures of the St. Vrain Mill and also an old barn.