Tour de New Mexico

February 11, 2024

Howdy folks,

Well, we've got cabin fever in the worst way and are totally itching to get out and do something.  We love our current spot and are completely happy, but we do wonder about some day in the future and where we might end up.  We love this state, and, coming from Pennsylvania, we feel strangely at home here, nearly 2000 miles away from where we grew up and spent most of our lives.  Still, there must surely be a scenario after our current one and we are always exploring different corners of the state because of that.  Long ago, back in PA, we thought we'd surely end up in Taos, or somewhere closeby.  Then, after we had sold our apartment building and cabin, but still hadn't sold our business and house, we began realizing that we might not end up with enough money to buy a place outright.  Sure enough, we sold our business and house and only just broke even with all of our bills, shifting a bit of it aside to pay for our move out West.  A few years have now gone by and we are firmly established within a mile of the Pecos River, hardly a river by East Coast standards, but a huge waterway out here, all the same.  We still wonder about the Taos area, but in the meantime have explored north and east of us, east of the mountains and out on the plains, in Wagon Mound, Raton, Tucumcari and Santa Rosa.  We've also headed further south of here and have explored Vaughn, Encino, Mountainair and the East Mountains outside of Albuquerque.  We've headed back up to Taos and have explored in town and nearby in Arroyo Hondo, Arroyo Seco, Questa, Ranchos de Taos, Tres Piedras and Carson.  Of course, we've closely examined all around Santa Fe and Albuquerque and the Turquoise Trail that runs between them, along the back way.  This year, we plan on heading out towards Gallup and checking out the Zuni Reservation, the National Monument at El Morro and the ancient lava flows of El Malpais, just south of Grants.  Also, we'd like to head south about three hours to see the petroglyphs at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site and also what the mountains looks like down there, with Ruidoso on one side and Alamogordo and Carrizozo on the other...and, on top of that, the whole mountain is almost all Apache land.  Another big target of ours, way to the southwest, is Silver City, at least five or six hour away from here and much nearer to Mexico and Arizona.  The land of Gila Monsters!  Plus, the Gila Wilderness, the first federally set aside area in the country from the early 1900s, is just above that and is scarcely populated and full of mystery and adventure.  From the days of Geronimo and before until now, it remains completely wild.  

Another amazing thing about the West is the sheer amount of National Parks, National Monuments and National Historic Sites that there are.  Already in our three plus years here, we've gone to the Capulin Volcano National Monument, Fort Union National Monument, Pecos National Historical Park, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Hovenweep National Monument.  On our to-go list are Bandalier National Monument, El Malpais National Monument, El Morro National Monument, Petroglyph National Monument, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site and, if we ever do poke our heads back up into Colorado again, Great Sand Dunes National Park.  One of the coolest places that we ever saw, with towering 2000' cliffs, was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado...well worth any effort or detour on a roadtrip to go and see.  Quite often we go to the closest one to us, Pecos National Historic Park, to explore the Pueblo ruins and to visit a great store, run by the Western National Parks Association...we literally save up our loose change and extra money so that we can hit one of these every few months.  Also, we're a host family for the United World College, an international high school for juniors and seniors that is in Montezuma, literally bordering on the hot springs that we go to, and quite often we will take our kids to Pecos to check it out and get a little bit of local history.  This year we have a boy from Spain and one from South Korea and also a girl from South Sudan...only one is assigned to us, but they all show up when someone comes to take them anywhere off-campus.  It's been a very enriching experience, and being two nearly 50-year-old human beings without children, it's kind of cool to have some young people hanging around telling us how boring and old-fashioned we are!

Ok, now it's time for another collection of pictures to share with you.   First up, a B-grade horse picture that I played with until it didn't look half-bad.  Then, Ela & Willow waiting for me, having followed me up to the barn while still being inside of the backyard, while I loaded the feed buggy for the horses.  Next, a series of six horse pictures from this week: Felipe standing alone; the whole gang in the trees, out of the wind, over three shots; Milagros & Annie at the watering hole, then just Milagros.  Then, three shots of filling the smaller water trough while we had Hidalgo isolated.  Next, a chilly morning with a frosty windshield on the buggy.  Then, a night shot in the barn, this time without Willow mugging for the camera.  Next, the last little bit of stuff that I need to get rid of out in the Boneyard, before it's finally all cleaned up.  And, lastly, two shots that I took while out working in the backhoe, with the mesa as background and big tire tracks in the foreground. 

See you soon.