Day trip to Santa Fe

Windy as all get out again today!!! Will it never go away??

Drove to Santa Fe to check things out. We wanted to see “Loretto Chapel” which is famous for a circular stairway that was built in the late 1870’s. Here is an excerpt from the web  site:

Two mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.
When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.
Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.
The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.
The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.

 

Many experts have examined it over the years and no one (including me, not that I am an expert) can give an explanation as to why it is standing. It has been in daily use for about 130 years. It is amazing to see.

Here are more pictures…  http://picasaweb.google.com/rufnitII/20100413SantaFeNewMexico41310#

We also took a side trip to look at the Corp of Engineer (COE) parks. The one we originally were going to stay at is pretty full and not very pretty. The other one is still closed, and will open on the 15th. We will stay here one more night(oh darn, more gambling) than move on to the COE park.

Tomorrow to Albuquerque to see sights there

 

See ya

Jim and Linda