Taos & Durango

The previous night we had decided the SW was still a little warm and hadn’t found enough to captivate our interest enough to stay another night.  Our original itinerary had us exploring Taos and staying in that area.  That plan was scrapped and we decided we would push on, perhaps as far as Moab or further. 

The drive from Santa Fe to Taos was gorgeous!  We took the “High Road to Taos”.   In our opinion, it was a much prettier drive than the Turquoise Trail.   Laura had been to Taos previously many years ago.  Her eagerness to get there was met with some disappointment.  The Taos she remembered was much more quaint than the touristy bustle that the town seemed to be these days.  We did a drive-by to the old pueblo then headed out of town towards Durango.  Not too far out of town we stopped at the impressive bridge over the Rio Grande.  The view of the canyon was amazing!  Chewy and I wandered to the middle of the bridge to check out the vista as Laura stayed behind to check out the crafts being peddled by the locals at the foot of the bridge.  Between the wind and big trucks crossing the bridge, there was enough movement of the bridge when standing in the middle to make it a bit unsettling.  It was a long fall to the river at the bottom of the canyon.  After a few minutes Chewy was looking at me with a face that said “we need to get off here”!  As we headed to find Laura, we stopped to investigate a local who was selling elk and deer antlers.  Chewy was captivated like a kid in a candy store.  She loves gnawing on antlers.  We picked out a beat up old elk antler and negotiated a fair price.  

By the time we made it to Durango, we were ready to call it a day.  Laura had done some research as we drove…Durango appeared to be a good place to hang out for an evening.  There was a pretty good storm pouring down as we dropped the trailer at the campsite and headed into town.   By the time we made it back to town, the storm had passed and the sun popped out.  Our original hopes of finding somewhere with an outdoor patio to sit with Chewy and have dinner were squashed.  Having some difficulty trying to find a place to eat, we opted for a burger and fries to go…then headed to Durango’s five acre dog park.  It was a great place for all of us to stretch our legs after being in the car all day.  As darkness approached we headed back to camp.  That night there was a massive thunderstorm.  Our campground was in a box canyon to the west of town that had a decent size creek about 30 yards from our campsite.  I kept hoping that the rain was not going to have us floating down the canyon.  It sure seemed like it was a possibility.  By morning there was only one tent remaining in the campground.  Enough of Colorado…

Santa Fe Part II

Sante Fe Part II

We woke up on Wednesday, 8/3, to a beautiful, humidity free morning!  After some breakfast at the campsite and letting Chewy play a bit in the campground’s dog park, we were off to check out the area between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  The mild temps and lack of humidity were a big relief!

Our first stop was Tent Rocks (SP or National Monument?).  A visit here was suggested by the nice folks in the campsite next to us.  As we rolled up to the entrance, the first thing we saw was a big sign saying “No Dogs Allowed”…not even in the car.  Well…piss on you Tent Rocks.  How about a “No Kids Allowed” park, eh?   

We turned around and headed towards Albuquerque.  Not too far down the road we came across a fella selling roasted pine nuts and beef jerky alongside the road.   Loaded up with pine nuts and some jerky, along with some good info from the fella, Richard, we kick back off down the highway.  

Our first stop in Albuquerque was the petroglyph park on the west side of town.  It was interesting as the park situated among a residential neighborhood.  The nice folks at the visitor’s center recommended we check out the Piedras Marcadas Canyon hike.  It was the shortest hike with the petroglyphs starting just a few hundred yards from the parking lot.  There was a big change in temps from when we left the campsite to the time we made it to the park.  It was the middle of the day and by now quite warm.   We were able to check out the first several sets of petroglyphs before needing to head back to the car due to an overheated bull dog.  The petroglyphs were cool to see.  

After the park, we headed into Albuquerque to do some shopping.  Once we had everything, we headed east of town to take the Turquoise Trail back to Santa Fe.  Several folks and articles had touted the Turquoise Trail to be an amazing, must-see attraction.  Sadly, we failed to be impressed???  It was an OK drive and we weren’t disappointed to have taken that route, but for us it didn’t live up to the hype. 

The rest of the evening was uneventful…some take-out Mexican food enjoyed at the campsite as we planned the next few days and caught up around the campsite.  Tomorrow we were headed out to Taos!

Santa Fe, NM

Hi Y'all!

Quick update here...we made it to Santa Fe, NM early yesterday evening.  When we pulled into town the temperature was 79 degrees with no humidity!!! 

Today is our first non-travel day of the trip.  The plan is to head down to Albuquerque...check out the petroglyph park, do a bit of shopping, and return to Santa Fe via the Turquoise Trail.  Tomorrow we trip up to Taos.

Gotta run and enjoy this beautiful day!!!

 

It's been a brutal summer so far in Pensacola. 

The heat and humidity have been unbearable. We've decided to bail for a couple months and head northwest in search of some cooler weather and a change in scenery.  

In mid-July we purchased this guy on craigslist:

It's a Little Guy Double Wide teardrop trailer.  With a queen size mattress and air conditioning, it has all we need to camp in comfort.  Our road trip to the Tetons & Yellowstone last year was great, but car camping got old pretty quick.  Having this teardrop camper will solve a lot of problems.

Included with the camper is a screened canopy that attaches to the side.  I took some time the other day and braved the heat to do a trial run in the front yard.

You can also see the two storage boxes on the top of the camper.  The thought of firing up the welding machine in this heat was not pleasant...I wasn't even sure if I would be able to strike an arc in this humidity.  However, I managed to build and install some crossbars on the camper in order to be able to accommodate the storage boxes.

We've spent some time putting together a rough itinerary for the trip.  We knew we wanted to spend some time in Washington & Oregon.  Our trip two years ago to Vancouver and Seattle was great.  The few days we spent exploring Mt. Rainier NP did something to our souls that is not easily described.  Lacking any sort of natural beauty other than the beach in Pensacola, we have been wanting to head back to the PNW ever since leaving two years ago.

So far, this is what the trip looks like...I'm remaining hopeful for a 8/1 departure.  The drive across Texas will most likely suck.  We plan to scoot across to New Mexico as quick as possible.  Maybe spend a couple days in the Santa Fe/Taos area?  Depends on the temps.  It looks like while it may be a bit warm in that area during the day, it at least cools off nicely at night.

We've got a quick stop planned in Moab.  Maybe a quick drive thru Arches or Canyonland?  With our sights on cooler weather, exploring around Moab will be left for another trip.

From Moab we will work our way up to the Bend, OR area in about two days with an overnight at Lake Walcott SP in Idaho.  It looks like there's a lot to do around Bend...2-3 days here will not be enough time, but that's all we have for now.  From Bend we will drive down and spend a couple days around Crater Lake and the Umpqua NF.  We hope to find a nice, quiet campsite in Umpqua NF for a couple nights.  Any suggestions?  It will also be nice to break out the fly rod and chase some trout.

The itinerary then becomes a little less concrete.  We will likely spend a few days bouncing up central Oregon, ultimately making our way to Portland.  There are several folks in Portland we hope to catch up with while in the area.  After a couple days in Portland, we will head to Astoria to spend a few days camping and salmon fishing with our friend John and his family.  We are thrilled to have gotten the invite to join them on their annual trip.  I can't wait to catch up with John and spend some time on the water.

That's all you get for the time being.  Hopefully I will stay motivated and continue updates here as our travels progress.  No promises...happy trails.