GEORGIA O'KEEFFE COUNTRY - PT.II

THE ROAD FROM LAKE ABIQUIU TO GHOST RANCH

The stunning landscape of Highway 84 between Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch -- hard to keep my eyes on the road straight ahead!  Good thing wide spots were plentiful.

GHOST RANCH

I did not take any formal tours or venture beyond main roads.  Visiting the museums and wandering around its low-key, tranquil grounds consumed an entire day, enough to sooth my tired old self!

Briefly, Ghost Ranch was originally a 1930's dude ranch that was eventually sold to the Pack family.  After renting Pack's home for years, O'Keeffe purchased the house and seven acres from Pack and used it as her Summer home.  In 1945 O'Keeffe bought a crumbling adobe on three acres in the village of Abiquiu, not too many miles down the road from Ghost Ranch, for use as her Winter home.  She set about restoring the Abiquiu parcel and in the meantime, the Pack Family sold Ghost Ranch to the Presbyterian Church.  

Ghost Ranch has been used as a conference center and spiritual retreat since the mid-1950's, but O'Keeffe's homestead there is on private property and not open to the public or included in any Ghost Ranch tours.  As mentioned in Part I, O'Keeffe's Abiquiu home and studio is currently managed by the O'Keeffe foundation and is open for tours as is the O'Keeffe Museum in Old Town Santa Fe: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org

Exquisite surround-views from the Welcome Center.  It's no wonder this is a place for reflection and spiritual renewal.

We are now entering the Interfaith Peace Garden...

...where an imaginative, ceramic 35-foot long mural adorns one side of the building.

The mural, River of Peace, incorporates spiritual symbols from around the world and poems and wishes quoted from a variety of sources.  Click to enlarge to see if you recognize any contributors.

The inviting door to one of Ghost Ranch's two museums.

In a smaller form in California and Nevada, this flower is known as "Prairie Smoke" or "Old Man's Beard."  This planting was enormous; it may not be the same plant, but it's certainly related. 

The Pedernal (*again*!) from Ghost Ranch.  It's said O'Keeffe's ashes are spread here.  Its unique mesa dominates the landscape for miles and miles around.

Many of the formations in Ghost Ranch reminded me of some found in Utah.

I strongly recommend you put this magical place on your bucket list!

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE COUNTRY - PT. I

You know how you can just "fly" through an area with an eye focused only towards your eventual destination?  It might make an impression, you may want to return sometime, but you just didn't take the time to discover or explore during the original pass?  Well, that describes my first breezy dash through rural Northern New Mexico and the Chama River Valley several years ago.

I've always admired Georgia O'Keeffe's vision and her paintings,  but I had never explored Ghost Ranch or Abiquiu, the areas she captured on canvas so passionately.  

The constantly changing colors and shadows in the area was akin to seeing a new panorama every minute -- the land and sky a unique, kaleidoscope of powerful, brilliant hues and texture, and daily thunderstorms make the gaudy landscape and skies even more intense and vibrant.

Lake Abiquiu, a Corps of Engineers project between Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch is a sizable nicely-developed recreation area with economical camping and boating  opportunities.  Not to mention splendid, 360-degree vistas...

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...and magnificent views of the iconic Pedernal

Ubiquitous "Four O'Clocks" -- this image was taken before four!

Then they show themselves in full glory when the clock strikes four!

Storm's coming this way.  Lightening strikes illuminate the shoreline.

ABIQUIU

Although spending several nights at Lake Abiquiu, I did not explore the village of Abiquiu or O'keeffe's home and studio -- maybe next time.  To depict the area in words would be ineffective; these and the images that follow in Part II, will simply have to do.

Once Were Ghost Towns - MADRID, New Mexico

MADRID

Madrid, pronounced MAdrid, (not MaDRID) has evolved from a Turquoise Trail mining ghost town to a thriving artists’ community, not gentrified like Santa Fe’s Canyon Road, but plenty of eclectic shops and galleries to interest the most discerning devotee of not-made-in-China crafts, not necessarily with a Southwestern flavor!  

Original buildings from Madrid's glory days are gradually being restored, and Santa Fe Railroad box cars have been repurposed to house boutique businesses and the formerly homeless.

Once its tiny, half-mile-long street through town supported two salloons and four hotels.  Now it includes a smattering of watering holes, a B&B, cafes, a museum and lots of biker parking.  Parking for RVs?  Not so much.

Whereas Cerrillos, with its two businesses seems to be more of a "bedroom community," Madrid is a beehive of commercial activity...

...and lovely reminders of bygone techniques and skills.