It's Saturday, this must be...

An easy driving day with lots of fun stops. We had morning coffee downstairs at Java Junction in Madrid, then headed up the road to the Tesuque Flea Market.

I had taken the obligatory Clawfoot Bath last night, and discovered that not only do you not DRINK the well water in Madrid, you might want to think twice about bathing in it.  The sulfur smell reminded me of sneaking up to the Geysers in my youth. So I skipped the Egg Salad Shower this morning and we got on the road fairly early.

The Flea Market is somewhat smaller than it was when I was here before, but hey, FLEA MARKET! C'mon, let's go, let's go!  Dulled only by the oppressive heat, the market was still an entertaining mix of Indian (as in East), Balinese, Chinese, and Afrokitsch. I bought a few things - well, of course - and then we got back into the air conditioned Prius and GPS'd our way to the next few stops of interest.

Shidoni Foundry and Tesuque Glassworks share the same piece of property. We got to watch a young glassblower work, wander through a sculpture garden, and then watch a pour of bronze.

The bronze pour was impressive.  Once fully suited up and ready to set up the mold and pour a huge bucket of molten metal, the men share a fist bump - we're ready to go, no mistakes, get it done. There simply are no "oops"es in this process. The din of the smelt tanks and fans, the heavy gear, the roaring heat and the immediacy means each person has to be on task and accurate. There's no place for confusion or missteps. It was really something to see. I wish we could have seen the finished piece - it looked complex and intriguing - but it was still in the mold, red-hot and molten, when we left. 

It was hotter than the hinges outside, but I thought the foundry guys probably take off the two sets of gloves and the long jackets and the pants and the helmets and face masks and step out of the foundry and likely find it cool & refreshing!

We went on to see the Sanctuary at Chimayo, the one with the holy dirt (yes, I got some holy dirt, Batman!) and then back on the road to our Motel 6.

So tonight we're in Nowhereville Espanola, because we needed to be somewhere close to our Cave Tour tomorrow morning. It's still pretty hot outside, so it may be a Netflix and air conditioning evening.* We'll be up early!

*Oh - John just pointed out that although we won't need dinner, there IS a Sonic next door which probably has ice cream...