Heading West, probably New Mexico. Suggestions??

Ken & Peggy

Ken & Peggy

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We are putting together a last minute trip out West, as our work schedules are both slow right now. We've talked about getting to New Mexico and thought this would be a good opportunity. We're thinking Santa Fe or Taos areas, but would love to hear suggestions.

It Google's at about 1300 miles and 21 hours,so 10 days or so will probably be what we spend on the trip.
 
Thanks guys. Peggy usually doesn't do caves, but I'll work on that. Time to pack things up to be ready to hit the road in the morning.
 
Santa Fe, NM, Alamogordo, NM (White Sands), GREAT campground right outside Alamogordo (my best friend said) - don't know the name - it's gorgeous. If Arizona, go to Sedona to Slide Rock State Park and slide! It's awesome! GORGEOUS PLACE!
 
Ken,

Great place to stay is Bandalier National Monument, the campground was completely redone over the winter and gives you great access to Santa Fe as well as Taos not to mention Los Alamos. Bandalier is an archeologist delight and has lots of great hiking trails although with our elevation (+7500') you need to start on the early side and take lots of water. If you are the scientific type the Bradley Science Museum in Los Alamos will take up half a day with all kinds of interesting displaya centering on the early days of Los Alamos and the development of the atomic bomb as well as current projects. If you are there on a Friday night there is a free concert held at Ashley Pond featuring everything from blue grass to jazz and rock. This concert is a holdover from WWII days when the scientist working there could not leave the place.

My wife's grandfather worked there during the war and I am involved in project work up there on a weekly basis so I am very familiar with the area. If you need further local info drop me a pm and I can fill you in on the best local food spots as well as other areas to visit during your stay in our beautiful state. By the way while the southern part of the state is essentially desert, the northern areas consist of lots of red rock canyons and your typical alpine scenes.
 
Leo & Jan,
Too bad we missed you when you came through the campground! We didn't actually see your note until we were taking town the screen tent on the day we were leaving, and then it got lost in the morass we call a car. What are the odds of you guys going through the campground we stayed at???
We actually hiked Bandelier NM (an AWESOME place!), did some hiking up near Los Alamos, hiked all over the place on Rt. 475, from Hyde Mem State Park, and many trails up to the ski area. Gorgeous hiking.
Ate at The Shed, a couple times, Cowgirl, Counter Culture, & Tomasita's while we were there (from Sunday through Saturday). Santa Fe is a great city, easy to see (even with the fires ;) ), and has a great feel.
As we left, we took the high road to Taos, through Chimayo, etc.
Headed up to Ridgway State Park in Ridgway, CO via Durango, Silverton, Ouray on Rt. 550. Breathtaking ride!! Spent the next week there exploring and hiking the many 14,000 ft high peaks in the area. I actually got some fly fishing in below the Ridgway reservoir.
We just got in this evening, fell out of the car, unpacked, showered and had something to eat.
We had a wonderful trip, stayed in a WalMart parking lot for the 1st time on the way out, and last night wound up sleeping in a rest area in Nebraska as the exit for our destination was closed due to a rolled over semi. As always, it's good to be home and we're already thinking about the next trip...
And welcome to the forum and congrats on your new trailer!
 
Hi Ken,
Doing a little detective work I figured it might be you guys. We were up at Hyde Park to scout out some camp sites for the July 4th weekend when Janene spotted your 550.

You hit some of the great places on our list, especially the Shed, Janene has been a regular there since she was 7 years old and I have been eating there since 1973, when Janene introduced me to the place. The founders of the restaurant were friends of Janene's parents and one of their sons ended up buying Janene's grandfathers house so there is a lot of history there. Janene's father and grandfather built a house just off of Canyon Road on Camino Del Monte Sol.

The High Road to Taos is one of our favorites that we always hit in the fall when the chiles are roasting.

You are right, the road between Durango and Silverton is always awesome. For a real thrill you ought to try it in the winter, it beats any roller coaster ride I have ever been on. Glad to hear you got some fly fishing in. We have property in the Jemez Mountains 19 miles due north of Los Alamos as the crow flies that has a year round native Rio Grande Cuthroat troutstream running through it so you have hit upon one of my joys in life.

As for the smoke, it has gotten a lot worse, but at least they are making some progress on the fire, 6% containment last I heard, although from 3PM on our sun is red, and our moon is a dark orange when you can see them.

Be that as it may, glad you enjoyed your stay in New Mexico and the next time give us a heads up and we will meet you.
 
The Shed was a great spot! It was always crowded, which is a good sign, and the food was excellent. Very interesting story of the relationship with the owners.
Black Canyon was a very nice spot to camp. There's no electricity, or showers, but the Ft Marcy Sports Complex is available just at the point where 475 heads out of Santa Fe. $3 for a shower, and you can use the pool as well.
We wound up driving the Silverton/Ouray stretch of 550 3 times - it was awesome each time.
I happened to have the fly gear in the car. I wasn't expecting to be able to fish anywhere at this time of year, but heard the fishing was OK at Ridgway. I think the next trip back to the area will be a bit later in the summer to catch some good fly fishing conditions. Hopefully there isn't the terrible flooding some are predicting this year - and I hope you actually get some rain in New Mexico soon.
 
This fall should be great fishing especially southern Colorado. Any flooding would probably occur up around Steamboat Springs on the Yampa River. their snowpack is close to 200% of normal. The Arizona fire has now crossed into New Mexico, The Carlsbad fire is still burning, and a new fire on Raton Pass has already burned 24,000 acres including Sugarite State Park which has lost 1/2 its area to the fire, Interstate 25 the main north south highway between New Mexico and Colorado has been closed since Monday. We are all praying for the monsoon to start, so far not a drop and this weekend will be hot, dry and windy. Our humidity has been hovering around 10%, this weekend it will be down to 4 or 5.
 
We've been following the fire updates and did see this morning that 25 was closed. It sounded like they reopened Carlsbad today, though. Hopefully you get rain real soon.
 
Some shots from New Mexico/Colorado trip

A few shots from the trip so far...

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Re: Some shots from New Mexico/Colorado trip

Nice Pictures Ken! I might be a little envious! We certainly have a beautiful country!
Charlie
 
Re: Some shots from New Mexico/Colorado trip

Thanks Charlie. You're right about that, we saw some beautiful country on this trip.
 
Ken,
Great pics of a beautiful part of our country. Update on the Wallow fire is that it has consumed over 500,000 acres and is now in New Mexico. The fire is 38% contained which is good news. The bad news is that a new fire started on Saturday afternoon just east of Tesuque. At last report they have evacuated the Santa Fe Ski Basin and the Black Canyon Campground since the fire is headed that way. The fire was at 600 acres by Saturday night and due to high winds and lots of heat today, has grown to 3,000 acres. Keep you fingers crossed and pray for rain. God bless the fire crews they are doing a tremendous job considering the conditions.
 
Ken, the 1st picture in the series would be a super shot for a Camp-Inn Brochure cover. It sets the mood! A very relaxing photo!
 
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