October 28, 2010
Still enjoying Santa Fe, the rain and ominous clouds finally blew away leaving sunny afternoons and early morning temps in the 20's. The leaves that have been so golden are beginning to get tired of these cold mornings and give up their claim to the trees. We have used the time to see a few towns on the outskirts of the city.
PECOS/GLORIETA
This pair of towns is east of Santa Fe on I-25, about 25m. We knew that Glorieta was the scene of a Civil War battle and we had heard that Pecos is beautiful. We caught a glimpse of what may have been the battleground on our way to Pecos where we stopped at the Ranger Station. Yes, that was it, a large rock with a plaque constitutes the entire exhibit. So we counted that one as done. The town of Pecos sits on the Pecos River, just as that town in Texas. The New Mexico version is far smaller and way prettier, not meaning to offend anyone in the good city of Texas. We drove up the canyon following the river to its source, although we didn't get that far. On the way we passed a Benedictine Monastery, a fish hatchery, a variety of campgrounds, a town (closed for the winter), aspen, cottonwoods, pines, and the river. We also saw a few people, but not many. I believe that most of the picturesque homes we saw have been vacated for the season. The area had not had snow yet, but I'm sure the next weather system will take care of that. All that driving caused a craving for a Blizzard run to the DQ, which we had passed on the way into town.
SANTA FE
Strange to say I did a day trip intown, but I went down to the historic town to see the missions, window shop and visit the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. The air was biting, but a bright sky helped moderate the temperature. I had a wonderful time just wondering around. The museum was less than I expected. Everyone I had talked to said how wonderful it is. the paintings are pure O'Keefe, and therefore terrific. But I thought there would be more of them and a greater variety of her many years of work. The videos were very well done and helped to explain her life and work. I did see a couple of paintings that were new to me that I really did enjoy
MADRID - that's MAD' rid
We had passed through this artsy town a few weeks ago but didn't stop. So this was a trip about 25m south just to check it out. It is a former mining town that sat dormant for several decades until the 1960's when it was revived, a lot like Jerome, AZ only smaller. the landscape is high desert mountains, dotted with junipers and not much else. We found out that the movie "Wild Hogs" was filmed there, adding a little more mystic to the place. One house-turned-store was a hotel of sorts in its previous life and had seen the likes of Walt Disney and Thomas Edison stay there. We had very good hamburgers and homemade fries at the historic Mine Shaft Tavern. We walked the half mile of town with the other tourists and enjoyed the afternoon.
Altogether, it has been a nice stay in Santa Fe, but we need to get south before it gets too much colder.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Highway Crosses
October 24, 2010
As we've driven across a fairly big section of the country I have noticed the far too many crosses that dot our highways. Some roadways are such that you anticipate their presence before seeing the crosses, others surprise you. I've often thought about the variety across the nation: some areas seen to limit their appearance to a simple, small, white cross; others are very elaborate personalized tributes. Whatever their form, all have the same meaning. A precious loved one has died. I hate to think how many of these lives were very short indeed. How many of these car accidents took the lives of children? Not really wanting to know the answer to that one.
Did the family erect the cross as a reminder of their love? as a warning to a dangerous intersection? as a plea for prayers to ease the pain? Each cross gets the same response from me, and I'm sure from many others. I offer a short, silent prayer to the family, to the many who traverse this way that they do so safely, that the people we love will never have such a plaintive marker on a roadway to tell of their passing.
Today at the Rio Grande Gorge parking area, where vendors sit at tables outside their cars, I was surprised by such a marker. So I took the picture to go with the blog I've often thought of writing, but hadn't. Until now.
Taos,NM
October 24, 2010
We have been in Santa Fe for several days, straying very little from the RV park. This has been by choice, it's a nice park and we have been relaxing, but also due to threatening weather. Looking at the weather, today seemed the best shot at a drive to Taos.
And it was a wonderful day to drive along the Rio Grande, up hill all the way! The trees are golden! They just shimmered in the breezes, flashing the sunrays to show off their brilliance. We enjoyed a stroll through the town, I even bought myself a very cute hat. We also stopped at the visitor center for the Gorge. We got a lot of info in addition to getting our bearings.
The one thing I wanted to see was the Rio Grande Gorge. And it was well worth the extra drive northwest of town. At the gorge, you are on table land with mountains in the distance. A bridge spans the gap created by the river. It reminded me of the canyons we've visited. Who knows what will develop under that quarter mile of bridge over the next millennium. For now, though, it is a monochromatic wonder. The rock, minimal vegetation, and water are all a deep turquoise, brownish-blue. I was afraid of dropping my phone while taking pictures, therefore, the photos don't tell the whole story. Driving back to Santa Fe, the river and valley met on a more equal footing. Gradually the rock cliffs yielded to wide fertile valleys that have sustained people for many generations and cultures.
About the photos. I took quite a few. Unfortunately most of them turned out to be videos. This learning new stuff is a drag!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Santa Fe, NM
October 20, 2010
It has been quite a week! Watching the Rangers has commanded a large amount of our time, with good results! Yeah, they lost tonight, but we have high hopes for Friday. They have already done better than any previous year, so we're good!
After the game tonight we heard the weather forecast for this evening; Tijeras is in for hail tonight. Why is this important? We left this small town just east of Albuquerque yesterday. When we selected this destination, Passport America was all we knew, half price-yeah! Tijeras has more to offer, however. It is just off the Turquoise Trail, the back road to Santa Fe and the back of Sandia Peak. It seems that these mountains were once about 30,000 ft elevation with a large sea on the east side. These events created the mineral deposits so rich in this area: gold, silver, coal, and even turquoise. We also found an amazing pizza in Tijeras at the Trail Rider. We met Jerome at the Hidden Valley RV Park. Jerome is a retired veteran, along with many other interesting careers. His current occupation is to keep an outstanding library at the park. he is an excellent tour guide, and has all materials ready for you to take off and enjoy.
Another feature of Hidden Valley; no Internet! Again! This has become a real issue that we have tried to remedy. We have been with AT&T for years, but comparing their coverage to Verizon prompted more research and the decision to change carriers. Suddenly all the of Russell's efforts fell into place. We are getting much better reception for tethering to the computer, we can both connect through tethering a single phone, and the plan is much better to boot! The antenna that Russell installed really helps to support the network beautifully. So we have spent quite a bit of time getting to know our new Palm Pre phones, online tutorials and a lot of practice.
We are staying at The Trailer Ranch in Santa Fe for at least a week. The weather has been wonderful, sunny mild days, cool nights. Many trees are some shade of golden and just beautiful. We have gotten to the grocery store, the tire store -thank you Discount Tire for finding that nail-and the mall. All good places. If the weather clears tomorrow we will make our way to Old Town for the less mundane sights. We were here decades ago and look forward to revisiting the adobe buildings that are 400 years old.
For right now, we have rain and a chill to the air at 10:30, so it is time to sleep.
It has been quite a week! Watching the Rangers has commanded a large amount of our time, with good results! Yeah, they lost tonight, but we have high hopes for Friday. They have already done better than any previous year, so we're good!
After the game tonight we heard the weather forecast for this evening; Tijeras is in for hail tonight. Why is this important? We left this small town just east of Albuquerque yesterday. When we selected this destination, Passport America was all we knew, half price-yeah! Tijeras has more to offer, however. It is just off the Turquoise Trail, the back road to Santa Fe and the back of Sandia Peak. It seems that these mountains were once about 30,000 ft elevation with a large sea on the east side. These events created the mineral deposits so rich in this area: gold, silver, coal, and even turquoise. We also found an amazing pizza in Tijeras at the Trail Rider. We met Jerome at the Hidden Valley RV Park. Jerome is a retired veteran, along with many other interesting careers. His current occupation is to keep an outstanding library at the park. he is an excellent tour guide, and has all materials ready for you to take off and enjoy.
Another feature of Hidden Valley; no Internet! Again! This has become a real issue that we have tried to remedy. We have been with AT&T for years, but comparing their coverage to Verizon prompted more research and the decision to change carriers. Suddenly all the of Russell's efforts fell into place. We are getting much better reception for tethering to the computer, we can both connect through tethering a single phone, and the plan is much better to boot! The antenna that Russell installed really helps to support the network beautifully. So we have spent quite a bit of time getting to know our new Palm Pre phones, online tutorials and a lot of practice.
We are staying at The Trailer Ranch in Santa Fe for at least a week. The weather has been wonderful, sunny mild days, cool nights. Many trees are some shade of golden and just beautiful. We have gotten to the grocery store, the tire store -thank you Discount Tire for finding that nail-and the mall. All good places. If the weather clears tomorrow we will make our way to Old Town for the less mundane sights. We were here decades ago and look forward to revisiting the adobe buildings that are 400 years old.
For right now, we have rain and a chill to the air at 10:30, so it is time to sleep.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Socorro, NM
October 14, 2010
First time to Socorro! We had a very good Mexican dinner, cruised town a bit, and we will be on our way in the a.m. This is a mail stop, we haven't been any place for very long recently, so we picked a place we thought we might be a week down the road. This decision got us off of I-40 and on to US -60. We have seen much new terrain today, mostly high desert, but some variety made the drive interesting. We cruised through towns like: Quemoda, Pie Town, Datil, and Magdaline. Each had a similar look only varying in size from small to extremely, did-we-miss-it, small. We did stop in Pie Town and had our first ever $5 slice of pie, a la mode will be $2.50 extra! They did have some interesting combinations, Peanut Butter Pecan almost tempted me, but we went for All American Apple and Triple Berry. Both were tasty.
We slowed down, but did not stop, as we passed the Very Large Array. This set of satellite dishes was built for the purpose of catching signals from outer space. In anticipation of arrival, we talked about documentaries we've seen on the topic and even the movie with Jodie Foster playing the lady who got the whole project underway. Titles on that one escaped the memory, but we had the gist. In fact, we knew enough to feel justified to keep on rolling. Point: it's pretty cool to see and I'm sure the info/visitor center has a lot to offer, like the title of the movie!
The last week did not go quite as planned. We spent a wonderful day and evening in Alpine with the Rutherford's and not only enjoyed that, Russell got bitten by the "real estate bug." The scenery is so beautiful in Alpine, though, I think most anyone would be stricken the same way. We went to Show Low to chase down one property and checked into the local state park for 1 night. That was on Tuesday, we actually left today, Thursday. The park is really nice! We were camped right next to the lake and enjoyed entertainment by ducks, geese, and kids. Sunsets were pretty cool too! The town has a lot to offer as well. Nice people and more real estate opportunities. But we are the proverbial "tire kickers" and left empty handed.
Tomorrow we head back to Albequerque, NM. We were there just over night last year. We will stay about a week this time. We even plan to check the weather to see if it is not too late for a trip to Sante Fe. We are definitely FAIR WEATHER FRIENDS! We want nothing to do with bad weather of any kind. We met people today who were caught in a hail storm near Mesa Verde, AZ. Their coach was really a mess with thousands of dollars of repairs to be done.
First time to Socorro! We had a very good Mexican dinner, cruised town a bit, and we will be on our way in the a.m. This is a mail stop, we haven't been any place for very long recently, so we picked a place we thought we might be a week down the road. This decision got us off of I-40 and on to US -60. We have seen much new terrain today, mostly high desert, but some variety made the drive interesting. We cruised through towns like: Quemoda, Pie Town, Datil, and Magdaline. Each had a similar look only varying in size from small to extremely, did-we-miss-it, small. We did stop in Pie Town and had our first ever $5 slice of pie, a la mode will be $2.50 extra! They did have some interesting combinations, Peanut Butter Pecan almost tempted me, but we went for All American Apple and Triple Berry. Both were tasty.
We slowed down, but did not stop, as we passed the Very Large Array. This set of satellite dishes was built for the purpose of catching signals from outer space. In anticipation of arrival, we talked about documentaries we've seen on the topic and even the movie with Jodie Foster playing the lady who got the whole project underway. Titles on that one escaped the memory, but we had the gist. In fact, we knew enough to feel justified to keep on rolling. Point: it's pretty cool to see and I'm sure the info/visitor center has a lot to offer, like the title of the movie!
The last week did not go quite as planned. We spent a wonderful day and evening in Alpine with the Rutherford's and not only enjoyed that, Russell got bitten by the "real estate bug." The scenery is so beautiful in Alpine, though, I think most anyone would be stricken the same way. We went to Show Low to chase down one property and checked into the local state park for 1 night. That was on Tuesday, we actually left today, Thursday. The park is really nice! We were camped right next to the lake and enjoyed entertainment by ducks, geese, and kids. Sunsets were pretty cool too! The town has a lot to offer as well. Nice people and more real estate opportunities. But we are the proverbial "tire kickers" and left empty handed.
Tomorrow we head back to Albequerque, NM. We were there just over night last year. We will stay about a week this time. We even plan to check the weather to see if it is not too late for a trip to Sante Fe. We are definitely FAIR WEATHER FRIENDS! We want nothing to do with bad weather of any kind. We met people today who were caught in a hail storm near Mesa Verde, AZ. Their coach was really a mess with thousands of dollars of repairs to be done.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Reserve, NM
October 5, 2010
Reserve CAN be found on a New Mexico map! Look way left, just before the AZ border, about midway between I-40 and I-10. A few facts: it is the county seat for Catron County, the least densely populated one of New Mexico, which I think is really saying something! Reserve has about 400 folks, a pretty fair grocery/general store, several restaurants, a filling station, bank, and a smattering of county and US government buildings. It sits in the Gila National Forest at about 6000 ft. elevation.
Why are we here? Visiting with some long-time friends who are "ranch sitting" for some of their friends and we were invited along for fun, mainly ours. We are sharing the beautiful landscape with 3 dogs, 3 chickens, a few cattle and horses, and a bunch of elk, bear, birds, and all the other creatures of the forest. it is quite serene! There is nothing quite like getting a free week just for knowing the right people!
We just went on our first ever ATV ride. Russell did an excellent job of driving the rugged mountain path and I held on for dear life. Since I had also never ridden a motorcycle, this was a really new experience for me. Russell loved the thrill of reliving his motorcycle days in college.
I'll play a little catch-up for a minute. We really enjoyed the scenic route on US 90, we even got an unexpected detour through Ft. Davis, one of our favorite places. We got to spend 3 days back at Las Cruces, and a special visit from nephew Michael and his family, Stephanie and Parker. We were really enjoying a mild Las Cruces evening until the mosquitoes attacked and drove us inside very quickly. There was a mad relay to bring in the food and then all was well again. Our next stop was Silver City, a very cool small city in the foothills.
The plan is to hang around this western New Mexico area, maybe even slip over the border to Arizona, and soak up as much enchantment as we can.
Reserve CAN be found on a New Mexico map! Look way left, just before the AZ border, about midway between I-40 and I-10. A few facts: it is the county seat for Catron County, the least densely populated one of New Mexico, which I think is really saying something! Reserve has about 400 folks, a pretty fair grocery/general store, several restaurants, a filling station, bank, and a smattering of county and US government buildings. It sits in the Gila National Forest at about 6000 ft. elevation.
Why are we here? Visiting with some long-time friends who are "ranch sitting" for some of their friends and we were invited along for fun, mainly ours. We are sharing the beautiful landscape with 3 dogs, 3 chickens, a few cattle and horses, and a bunch of elk, bear, birds, and all the other creatures of the forest. it is quite serene! There is nothing quite like getting a free week just for knowing the right people!
We just went on our first ever ATV ride. Russell did an excellent job of driving the rugged mountain path and I held on for dear life. Since I had also never ridden a motorcycle, this was a really new experience for me. Russell loved the thrill of reliving his motorcycle days in college.
I'll play a little catch-up for a minute. We really enjoyed the scenic route on US 90, we even got an unexpected detour through Ft. Davis, one of our favorite places. We got to spend 3 days back at Las Cruces, and a special visit from nephew Michael and his family, Stephanie and Parker. We were really enjoying a mild Las Cruces evening until the mosquitoes attacked and drove us inside very quickly. There was a mad relay to bring in the food and then all was well again. Our next stop was Silver City, a very cool small city in the foothills.
The plan is to hang around this western New Mexico area, maybe even slip over the border to Arizona, and soak up as much enchantment as we can.
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