Welcome to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment.
On our day off we had to drive to another section of our route and ended up on the iconic Route 66. This is the halfway point between Chicago and Los Angeles of this famous route which was one of the first highways to connect these two major cities almost a century ago.
This is probably one of the cars that made that journey about 60 years ago. We decided not to trade in our vehicle for this one though.
Stopping along the way on this long journey today we found a wonderful park with a swimming lake in Santa Rosa. Perfect weather for a picnic lunch.
Mayor Nelson Kotiar and his wife happen to be at the park. They were very enthusiastic about the Peace Run. They shared the Torch with us and inspired others who were enjoying this beautiful Mother's Day to also make a wish for peace and offer their goodwill.
The Mayor then guided us to the Blue Hole, an amazing swimming and diving lake where fresh water flows constantly from a very deep aquafer at a constant cool temperature all year round. Some of us even jumped off the rocks into this very fresh, clean invigorating water.
Synchronized jumping with Arpan and Nikolaus.
Harita takes the plunge.
We finally reached the very attractive city of Santa Fe where art galleries and adobe buildings abound.
We did not have much time to look around but we did see some interesting shops here.
One of the many artistic shops and galleries in this colorful and creative city of Santa Fe.
In the evening we made our way to the Meow Wolf, an award winning Arts and Entertainment venue in Santa Fe.
We were warmly welcomed by Drew Ayotte, Outreach Coordinator for Meow Wolf. Our local coordinator in Santa Fe, Sunamita Lim, introduces the Peace Run as she reads out a wonderful message of support from New Mexico State Senator Tom Udall.
Drew also offered some very kind words of support and encouragement to the Peace Run team. He looks forward to developing a program with the Peace Run for the year 2020 when we run through Santa Fe again.
The ceremony took place under an amazing metal sculpture of a giant spider which was one of many creative works of art here.
A letter from Senator Udall celebrating the Peace Run. The University of New Mexico’s Peace Studies Program became the world’s first Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom University Program in 2016.
Drew Ayotte, Outreach Coordinator accepts Torchbearer Certificate on behalf of George RR Martin, Game of Thrones creator who founded Meow Wolf. George is, “wishing the best for this magnificent event!!” Meow Wolf was founded in January 2016, and already developing similar satellites in Denver and Las Vegas.
Former Governor Gary Johnson dedicated New Mexico a Sri Chinmoy Peace-Blossom State on May 25, 2000. The dedication plaque hung below his official portrait at the State Capitol, Office of the Governor in Santa Fe. Since then, in conjunction with the Peace Run, Santa Fe and Taos were dedicated Peace-Blossom Capital City and Peace-Blossom Town, respectively, in 2014.
On April 24, 2014, the 40th anniversary of his talk on “Realisation,” at UNM, UNM Libraries honored Sri Chinmoy’s Golden Anniversary in the West with a presentation.
Watch out for the giant wolf, one of the many amazing sculptures welcoming the visitors here.\
The giant wolf and spider watch over all who come to enjoy this incredible interactive art museum.
Arpan shares the Torch with his long-time friend Doug Rankin, who has been a resident in Santa Fe for many years.
Harita having fun with her 3-D glasses inside.
One of the colorful hallways with creative and 3-D artwork.
Who will dare to enter the big mouth inflatable creation?
Pragati gets into the childlike spirit of the big mouth.
Although we did not have the time to see the full exhibits here we were able to enjoy some of the colorful displays of lights and some paintings as well.
Pragati's brother, David Pascale, who lives in Santa Fe joined us for dinner and cheerfully shared the Peace Torch with us tonight. It is so encouraging to meet such supportive relatives of our runners on the way around this vast continent.
We had a fantastic meal at the India House which has been serving delicious Punjabi- and Tandoor-style food for 26 years in Santa Fe, and still going!
