Farmington, New Mexico
Whew, what a day. It started at first light at 5AM. Libby and I were both too cold to sleep more. Our clothes and our equipment are good down to 40F, but I think it must have hit 20F at the camp site. We got up, dressed, and struck camp without any breakfast. We just wanted to get into the car with the heat on. Breaking camp was tough because the tent was ice encrusted and the air mattress was stiff with cold. But we did it.
45 minutes later we were in Santa Fe where I finally got my morning coffee. Whew. We didn't stay there, we continued on to Taos. Taos was on our wish list of places to visit. By 1100 we were in Taos. What a beautiful ride. Taos is certainly worthy of the name "promised land"
There are lots of camp sites in the Carson National Forest all around Taos. But they were all at high altitude sites. Tonight's temperature for Taos is forecasted to be 36, and the camp sites are 2000 feet higher than the town.
I relented and promised Libby that I would take her to a motel. We could have stayed in Taos, but we are pressing to make a weekend date in Arizona. Therefore, I said let's press on to Farmington, near Four Corners.
We took route 64, which winds north and west along the Colorado border. By the way, I need to correct something I wrote the other day. I said that we prefer secondary roads. Actually we prefer tertiary roads; the smaller and windier the better as long as it is paved. Route 64 filled that bill.
We soon came to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge, which is a spectacular place. We walked around, we had a picnic, and Libby bought some artifacts from a local Indian man named Michael. We also marveled at the snow capped mountains visible.
As we continued west on 64, the terrain changed from desert to forests and broad clearings. Soon we began seeing snow in the woods and then we saw that the trees were covered with snow. I checked the GPS and found that we were at 10,521 feet altitude. Lots of camping spots here too, but too cold.
We saw a bear cross the road in front of us. He was big! Wow; we've never seen that before.
The scenery kept changing, with a diverse view over every hill crest. We briefly saw the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. My The West is so charming.
All in all it was a very successful day. I've come to realize that we cruise on land like we cruise the ICW. Haul anchor in the morning, and move until it is time to stop at the end of the day. With a few exceptions, we derive our pleasure not from the end points but from the travel. The phrase for that printed on many t-shirts is "The Journey Is The Destination" I guess that our nomadic instincts are more than skin deep.
Whew, what a day. It started at first light at 5AM. Libby and I were both too cold to sleep more. Our clothes and our equipment are good down to 40F, but I think it must have hit 20F at the camp site. We got up, dressed, and struck camp without any breakfast. We just wanted to get into the car with the heat on. Breaking camp was tough because the tent was ice encrusted and the air mattress was stiff with cold. But we did it.
45 minutes later we were in Santa Fe where I finally got my morning coffee. Whew. We didn't stay there, we continued on to Taos. Taos was on our wish list of places to visit. By 1100 we were in Taos. What a beautiful ride. Taos is certainly worthy of the name "promised land"
There are lots of camp sites in the Carson National Forest all around Taos. But they were all at high altitude sites. Tonight's temperature for Taos is forecasted to be 36, and the camp sites are 2000 feet higher than the town.
I relented and promised Libby that I would take her to a motel. We could have stayed in Taos, but we are pressing to make a weekend date in Arizona. Therefore, I said let's press on to Farmington, near Four Corners.
We took route 64, which winds north and west along the Colorado border. By the way, I need to correct something I wrote the other day. I said that we prefer secondary roads. Actually we prefer tertiary roads; the smaller and windier the better as long as it is paved. Route 64 filled that bill.
We soon came to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge, which is a spectacular place. We walked around, we had a picnic, and Libby bought some artifacts from a local Indian man named Michael. We also marveled at the snow capped mountains visible.
As we continued west on 64, the terrain changed from desert to forests and broad clearings. Soon we began seeing snow in the woods and then we saw that the trees were covered with snow. I checked the GPS and found that we were at 10,521 feet altitude. Lots of camping spots here too, but too cold.
We saw a bear cross the road in front of us. He was big! Wow; we've never seen that before.
The scenery kept changing, with a diverse view over every hill crest. We briefly saw the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. My The West is so charming.
All in all it was a very successful day. I've come to realize that we cruise on land like we cruise the ICW. Haul anchor in the morning, and move until it is time to stop at the end of the day. With a few exceptions, we derive our pleasure not from the end points but from the travel. The phrase for that printed on many t-shirts is "The Journey Is The Destination" I guess that our nomadic instincts are more than skin deep.
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| Libby Buys from Michael |
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| The Rio Grand Gorge |
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| The Bridge and Mountains |
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| The Mountain Peak |
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| Visitors at our camp last nighg |
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| The Peak still closer |
Posts
I'm with you, Dick. Although I use them, I hate interstates. I prefer roads with no lines.
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ReplyDeleteYou would have likes Route 66 back in its time. I traveled it out to the west coast (San Diego) back in 1967 when I was in the navy. A very pretty and interesting ride.
Get a couple of cheap blankets at Walmart. One on bottom and one on top. Then snuggle close! Also get watch caps. The old mountain men had a saying "If your feet are cold put on a hat".
ReplyDeleteThe day before Thanksgiving 1974 I got my gold altitude badge near Taos. 25,150ft. Mountain wave in a 1955 126 #33. Backpacked the area in my younger days.
Two books you might enjoy: Blue Highways:a journey into America (driving on the "blue highways" or secondary roads)and River Horse: Across America by boat (from New York to Pacific NW!), both by William Least Heat-Moon.
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