Another Time on the ALCAN - 11. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 thru Saturday - Santa Fe, NM

Angie, her husband Steve, and daughter Angelica planned to arrive late afternoon, so Mary and I saw more sites that morning. Curiosity got the better of us, wanting to see what type of place Angie rented, so we headed toward the center, the old part of town, branched off Cerrillos onto Guadalupi Street, passed the Railyard District, crossed San Francisco Street, and then turned left onto narrow Park Street. Their place was a block down, a casita among a cluster small bungalows, older structures but nice. A number of B&Bs dotted the area along with residential and small businesses.
They arrived that evening, but we did not see them until Thursday morning when we met at their place for breakfast rolls. It was a sunny warm day so the five of us took an easy walk to the Central Plaza. Steve pushed a carriage for Angelica, for times when she tired of walking. The group stopped at the Blue Corn Restaurant for lunch.

Angelica had developed a fever and runny nose by Friday morning. All became concerned because recent cases of the Swine Flue had been reported in the area and people were still jittery about how virulent the strain might become. We spent most of that day at Angie and Steve’s, while Angelica recuperated.

All had a good time for the three days we were together. They came over to the trailer the next afternoon. Mary presented Angelica a large box of Legos that we had accumulated over a ten year span. She and Steve played with them on the picnic table. That evening found us back at their place. I parked the truck at a nearby shopping center as all places were filled by weekend casita renters. Steve and I walked over to retrieve it at ten that night. The front was dark as I went out the door and I was concentrating on unwrapping a miniature Almond Joy, too much so to give serious heed to my passage. I missed the final step, landing on hands and knees, mostly my knees. The candy bar was saved.

Another Time on the ALCAN - 10. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Tuesday, October 13 - Drove 70 Miles Today - South out of Taos on Highway 68, connecting with Highway 84 (again) at Espanola, and that took us into Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Santa Fe is one of the oldest cities in North America, and that helps explain its frustrating traffic pattern. All the early trails converged onto old Santa Fe like the spokes of a lop-sided wheel - the Old Pecos Trail and the Old Santa Fe Trail to name a couple. There is a myriad of other roads that add spokes to the wheel whose hub is the central Plaza of Old Santa Fe.

One of these spokes, maybe the busiest, is Cerrillos Road. We stayed at the Los Campos RV Park on Cerrillos. There are numerous shopping centers, stores and restaurants along the road, and it has great walk-ability as long as you’re content on staying on one side of the street - otherwise you’re taking your life in hand crossing six lanes of heavy traffic. One has to walk four or five blocks to cross at a light, or if driving, turn right before going left. The center of town is truly charming, but the rest of the city is much like any other.

We planned to meet Mary’s sister, Angie, and her family in Santa Fe. They were to get there Wednesday evening so we decided to stay in town for most of a week. Its not our inclination to pay for more than one day at a time as there is no financial advantage unless one commits for a whole week. It is difficult for us to commit to anything for more than a day - two is excruciating, and five is out-of-the-question. So, as usual, we dragged it out by paying for the first night, and then for two more, and then another two.
Within an hour we got the trailer parked, leveled, blocked, and the utilities hooked; after that we were free to enter battle with traffic on Cerrillos Road. Our first stop, only a block away, was Elder Grace, a fifty-five or older co-housing development. We had been interested in co-housing for several years, discovered Elder Grace on the Internet, and wanted to look it over. The facility had twenty-four one and two bedrooms units, all on one level. A nice community center completed the energy efficient construction. An arroyo bordered the property on the back side, and the landscaping was still being completed - half the units were for sale. Drove southeast of Santa Fe twenty miles to El Durado, a big development of large homes on larger lots. Too isolated.

GO TO: Part 11 - Santa fe, NM (continued)

Another Time on the ALCAN - 9. Taos, New Mexico

Sunday & Monday, October 11 & 12 - Drove 159 Miles Today. The morning dawned crisp and beautiful as we left the Riverside RV Park at 10AM. The Junction Family Restaurant, about a mile down the road, beckoned us to breakfast for the second day in a row. The restaurant is at the junction of U.S. highways 160 and 84. Our path followed the latter 60 miles southwest, through Chama, New Mexico to Tierra Amarilla where we switched to U.S. 64 and drove east toward Taos, New Mexico. That highway was the most direct to Taos, but we found ourselves climbing for many miles, to an elevation of over 10,000 feet, into stratified air, clear skies, and skimpy snow patches along the roadside. There were a few out-buildings and a number of cattle in the high country, but no houses or much of anything else. Moon demanded one of her many breaks about that time, so we stopped near the top, but found it too windy to stay long. This passage over the high country went through the Carson Nation Forest, and after a fifteen mile steady climb, began a descent of equal distance. The scenery switched from high alpine, to pine forest, and eventually leveled off as we passed through very flat desert country. The Rio Grande Gorge was next, and we stopped at the bridge to take some photos. A few more miles and we came into Taos and stopped for the night at the Taos Valley RV Park on the south end of town.
Taos is a charming town with its axis being the road that runs due south through it. The Plaza, the heart and center of town, lies a few steps west of that axis. We parked the trailer and drove back to walk the area. Kit Carson’s home and Museum is near there along with a number of art shops and restaurants. The RV attendant suggested we dine at Orlando’s New Mexican Restaurant on the north end of town. Orlando’s was really popular and really small - with the parking lot jammed and an outside patio filled with hungry people huddled around a fire pot waiting to be seated. It was worth the wait.
That night we ran out of propane. The temperature hovered just above freezing. Mary got up to turn the thermostat up, and it seemed, for a time, the furnace was out of order. I had thought of filling the tanks in Pagosa Springs, but the place was closed in the morning (Sunday) as we headed toward Taos - now we were out and had a cool night ahead of us. We survived with extra blankets on top of us, and I was at the office the next morning at 8AM to fill our two tanks. We toured the Taos Indian Pueblo later that morning. We hooked up with a guided tour in progress and heard interesting story of its history -it is the oldest, and longest, inhabited Pueblos in the country.

In the afternoon we drove twenty miles into the mountains to the Taos Sky Valley. It was still in off-season, no snow, and it dwarfs the Alyeska sky resort south of Anchorage. That evening we ate at the Ogelvie’s Bar & Grill overlooking the Plaza. Nice atmosphere and good food.

The San Francisco de Asis Church lies a few miles south of Taos. It is said to be the most photogtaphed adobe church in the country - so we felt compelled to add our tally to the number.

GO TO: Part 10 - Santa Fe, NM