I met my dad a couple of days ago here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We're leaving tomorrow, but we did a few things, and I took a few pictures.

Yesterday we went to see petroglyphs. The petroglyphs are images scratched into rock as long ago as 1000-2000 years ago, though most of them are from about 500 years ago. Still others are from a few days ago, as "vandals" like to write their names on rocks, too.

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You can see a snake in the middle of the picture, and this next shows a rat with a rattle (my dad enjoyed the pun) on a more solitary rock.

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Today we went to Santa Fe.

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New Mexico certainly has a singular style.

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But wait... that looks like... yes...

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A building I saw in Oji, in Tokyo. Eerie, isn't it?

I have yet to figure out the plan of this building. Just when I think I find a symmetry to it, I find some balcony or wall that breaks that symmetry. It looks as if it grew organically.

We took in the church with the miraculous staircase in Santa Fe.

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It's said that builders, confounded by the small size of the chapel, couldn't build a way up to the second floor loft, and so the nuns prayed for help. Soon thereafter a man came and built the staircase (minus the banister - that was built later for ease of use), a marvel to architects, according to the prerecorded guide given in the chapel. It is rather impressive.

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This Mary that caught my eye ("Maria Conquistadora") is outside a basilica in Santa Fe.

We breezed through Santa Fe in a couple of hours, and with time to spare, we decided to head to the Taos pueblo. Unfortunately, the pueblo was closed - people live in the pueblo, and they close some times for religious and other occasions. However, it wasn't a complete loss, as we had a chance to see the sun set on the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (that's "Blood of Christ," so you know).

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