THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

The power of place

DESTINATION
Santa Fe and Abiquiu, New Mexico, with excursions to Dixon and Chimayo

DATES
September 24 – October 1, 2010 (7 nights)

READINGS
Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose, Georgia O’Keeffe, New Mexico landscapes

Description/Itinerary
Discover the power landscape has on how its inhabitants live, think and see the world in Santa Fe, America’s oldest capital city: a city whose beautiful, brown adobe architecture blends with the high desert terrain and whose great art and culinary tradition are recognized world-wide. We will discuss the epic novel, Angle of Repose, in which Wallace Stegner exposed the myth of America’s west as a land of golden opportunity and fearless cowboys. The landscape becomes a character in its own right, deserving of fear and respect, and forcing its will on the people who carve their homes out of its resistant rock and soil.

One morning we will visit Stan and Rose Mary Crawford, founders of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and garlic farmers, at their home in rural Dixon. They will tell us how their environment colours their lives, including how their neighbours conserve and share scarce water. In the afternoon, we will travel along the scenic Taos High Road to the tiny old Spanish village of Chimayo, where we will be guided by local novelist and photographer Don Usner through the Santuario, a legendary church thought to have healing powers, and then to the workshop of award-winning traditional rug weavers, Irvin and Lisa Trujillo.

Another day, we will pay a visit to a local pueblo and then drive on to Abiquiú where we will behold Georgia O’Keeffe’s beloved painted landscape of dramatically coloured, enormous cliffs and hills at Ghost Ranch. We will also visit a fasinating local mosque, Dar Al Islam and a beautiful adobe monastery set in the Chama Canyon.

After our final night in Abiquiú, a private coach will take us back to Santa Fe or to the airport in Albuquerque at the end of the trip.

Fall is a perfect time to come to New Mexico. The whispering aspens turn the mountains gold and the air is sunny, clear and crisp. There will be ample unscheduled time to wander through the back streets, the public squares and the many museums and galleries.

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Click here to see our route

Leaders
Gary Schoepfel is a veteran discussion leader with both Travel Pursuits and Toronto Pursuits. He is currently a faculty member at Harrison Middleton University, a Great Books distance learning institution, and formerly a vice president at the Great Books Foundation.

Accommodation
Hotel Santa Fe, Santa Fe (6 nights)
The Abiquiú Inn, Abiquiú (last night)

Fees
US$2495
single supplement: US$795

Fee includes books, accommodation, two meals a day, discussions, walking tours, talks, excursions and admissions.

This trip has been priced in US$. Once you’ve made a reservation, we will invoice you in US$ (which is the fixed cost). As a Canadian company, we will also accept CAD$ at our current exchange rate at the time of payment(s). Please Note: once final payment is made the currency exchange rate is guaranteed and there will be no currency exchange adjustments.