Nov. 19...Thursday..Monument Valley

Spent the night in the Grand Canyon last night at a really nice campground. The GC takes your breath away, no?

The campground was close to the rim, and yet was great place to let the dog run off leash (violation of law, of course)...woke this morning to a gorgeous blue sky and hiked along the South Rim for an hour. Then made the three hour drive to Monument Valley. Never have spent anytime there, just drove through on the way somewhere, BUT, this time we are staying the night....had a really nice late afternoon hike....and are parked right below one of the big monuments...spectacular scenery...

We are a little melancholic tonight, as it will be our last dinner in toutou for a couple of months, probably - tomorrow night we're taking a friend out to dinner in Grand Junction, spending the night there, and then making the drive home on Saturday morning. It's been a great two week trip!!

Nov. 18....Wednesday....Grand Canyon

Spent a lovely two days with my bro and sis-in-law Mark and Betsy Kogan in Scottsdale...it was nice to be in a big bed and use a full-size shower! Played golf at WR - not too badly given I haven't played in six weeks....had nice walks with all around Estancia where they live, with Molly and their pup, Camy...and nice dinners out with friends...Molly DID have her first run-in with a cholla....Thankfully, it stuck to her lower "forearm", and I was able to yank it off her with her just giving a small yelp. It could have been much worse:

Left this morning and drove two hours northwest to Prescott...a cute little town with a bunch of good-looking restaurants...had a walk with Molly around town before settling in for some yummy southwest cuisine...love carnitas!

Then it was another couple of hours drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we are now hooked up in the RV park....we were here years ago and it is still a surprise to see how big and gorgeous it is! Caught it just as the sun was setting.....

Found a big open forest adjacent to the campground where we could let Molly run (illegally off-leash)....There is some snow on the ground from the storm earlier in the week, and it will be below freezing tonight, I think. But it is nice and toasty inside! Opened a nice bottle of wine, and we'll soon have orecchiette and meatballs, and salad....P.S. Some have asked about where we have dinner, so I took this pic tonight:

Tomorrow we'll do some more sight-seeing and hiking around the South Rim before making the two and a half hour drive to Monument Valley just across the border in Utah....we'll stay there tomorrow night....and we'll be heading towards home....

Nov. 15....Sunday...Tucson area....

Woke this morning to cloudy skies and brief showers....snuck a 2.5 mile hike in before the rain really came down for a bit....the puppy was tired, and relaxed watching me change out of my boots in the back:

Drove an hour into Tucson, had some yummy tamales at the Tucson Tamale Company (recommended), then onto Catalina State Park just northeast of the city....really a beautiful park....hadn't thought we'd hike again, but couldn't resist! 3 miles along a stream (which Molly had to sit in):

Giant saguaros along the way, we crossed the stream four times before hiking up to a sandy mesa, just before sunset.... 

Last night in the wild for a couple of days - we'll be visiting Amy's brother in Scottsdale the next couple of nights...looking forward to a great time there!

Nov. 14....Saturday....Silver City, NM

Had a wonderful hike on Friday morning at City of Rocks State Park....an incredible setting - sort of a naturally-formed Stonehenge:

There are hundreds of these formations, and campsite are spread cleverly out among them....the hike we did was a few miles, the last part pretty much straight up to the tippy-top of the peak on the right here:

From there, we gained a wonderful view of the rock formation:

Pretty amazing - just out in the middle of nowhere!

We were pretty exhausted after that, and drove into Silver City and had a nice lunch and a glass of wine...it's a great little town, with cute restaurants, coffee houses, Victorian architecture....then we had a well-earned siesta at our RV park that afternoon. Will be leaving the Land of Enchantment for Arizona this morning....

Nov. 12....Thursday....Alamogordo, White Sands, City of Rocks!

Where to start??? It was a busy day! We had planned on a major hike this morning, but decided, with so much to do, we'd take an abbreviated one (1/2 mile) around the riparian area of Oliver Lee State Park. Very enjoyable! Then off to the New Mexico Space Museum - I wasn't aware of this, but much of the research and testing behind our missile and space programs took place in and around Alamogordo and White Sands. Still does, I guess. An interesting museum - Amy took a ride in a Mercury Capsule - I can't believe guys went up in space in this!

Also, they have a moon rock!!!

Which isn't all that surprising if you think about it, since the moon landing was faked and staged right here in New Mexico....all they did was pick up a few rocks from around the film set!!!! duh!

OK - after some shopping at a good grocery store in Alamogordo (there will be slim pickins for a few days where we're headed), we had a visit and picnic lunch at White Sands National Monument. Incredible setting!!

At one point, driving over the gypsum-covered road, I thought I was back in snowy Vail!

It has a well-developed picnic area, if you can believe it. To me, it looks like we're out on a ice-covered lake in winter!

Then it was off for a three hour drive to City of Rocks State Park - kind of a naturally-formed answer to Stonehenge. Not sure if you can see all the rocks sticking straight out of the ground or not in this:

I'll get some more pics tomorrow, as we are going to hike here. We're not far from Silver City, a place we've wanted to spend a couple days at. Unsure if we'll stay here another night, or move closer into  the town. We'll decide that tomorrow.....

In the meantime, I'm sipping a lovely Bandol (2009 Ch. Pibarnon for you fellow wine snobs), snacking on some Comte and crackers.....dinner is paella, salad, and a really nice french bread we got at the grocery store this morning....it was another wonderful day in the Land of Enchantment.

Nov. 11...Wednesday in Riudoso, NM

Arrived here in Riudoso after a few hour drive from Albuquerque....it's a lovely mountain resort town, and we'll be back another time to do more hiking....it was threatened by a huge forest fire in 2012, and you can see burnt forests all around the area, but thankfully, the town was saved. But it does make me worry about our valley back home, and what could happen....

Nice and toasty in the RV last night, but VERY windy outside - at one point I bordered on waking up as I felt the RV rocking side to side, wondering what it would take to tip us over??!!?? Nice sunny morning, and we are going to drop dirty laundry off at the laundromat in town, where they'll do the work for us, while we take a good hike that Amy found talking to a Forest Service Ranger. We'll have lunch in town afterward, pick up the clean laundry and head south to Cloudcroft and Alamogordo. Some pics from the really nice 3.5 mile hike:

Molly beat us back down the trail by a minute or so:

And she was tuckered out!!! As you can see, she was watching me put away my hiking gear in the back of toutou:

After the hike and lunch, we headed south through Cloudcroft and Alamogordo, to Oliver Lee State Park....a small campground set against the very dramatic Sacramento Mountains....arrived just before sunset and had a nice walk around - we'll hike here in the morning....lots of cactus, and it is starting to look a lot like Arizona....look closely and you can see some RVs here in the park...we were lucky to get the last electrified spot!

The sunset was gorgeous, as was our home-away-from-home:

Relaxing, sipping some wine now....I'm in the passenger's captain's seat, turned around facing the interior...the girls are in their usual spot as well:

About to start heating up dinner - chicken tangine, made by Molly Harrison back in Vail. It's yummy.....she serves it aside tomato farro...tomorrow we'll hike here in the park,  and then visit White Sands National Monument, which looks very cool.....On our way to Silver City, NM....all for now!

Nov. 9, Monday....Santa Fe....

Said good-bye to Taos on another bright sunny and cool morning....took the "High Road to Taos" road and stopped at the lovely little, pilgrimage town of Chimayo. 50,000 pilgrims travel to the sanctuary there during Holy Week - the largest pilgrimage in the U.S. Here's the church:

Pretty spot, and lots of crosses that people carry and leave there after their pilgrimage.

Then onto Sante Fe for lunch at Santacafe - we ate there a couple of times during our last visit to SF four years ago during Thanksgiving. Molly was six months old when we spent a handful of days there. Wandered around town a bit, and Amy got some new great-looking boots...

Molly was a hit with all the customers and sales ladies, until she tired and took her afternoon nap. I wasn't as fortunate. Santa Fe is great, I could live there, I think....

Then onto a transit spot just outside Albuquerque for a night, before heading south to Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, and Alamagordo tomorrow...65 and sunny when we pulled into camp, felt great! No freezing temps tonight.....chicken pot pie for dinner....

Nov. 8, Sunday...Taos, NM

We departed a snowy Vail on Saturday morning, looking forward to the drive south to warmer weather....

Taos was about a four and a half hour drive, down through Leadville, Buena Vista - where we stopped in a park and had a quick sandwich I'd made earlier that morning - Alamosa, and finally Taos. We'd spent a week here skiing thirty years ago, but never spent time in town, nor did we visit the pueblo. Set up camp at Monte Bello park, a nice private campground just outside of town. Had a delicious dinner of Chicken Marengo and then slept warmly in our flannel sheets! They are a big asset on a sub-freezing night. 

We awoke earlyish and went into the sleepy central plaza of Taos. Reminiscent of Sante Fe's, if I am remembering correctly. Touristy, but lovely architecture. Had coffee at World Cup, the bustling independent coffee shop in the town. Lots of dogs for Molly to visit with, and we sat on a bench outside, warming ourselves in the delicious sun. Wandered thr ugh same art galleries afterwards....

Went to visit the San Francisco de Assis mission and church. 350 years old....beautiful...Mass was just ending, but we had a look inside as the priest was finishing his cleric duties.....remarkable place.

Did a few errands, washed the RV, and had great hamburgers at the 5 Star - reputed to have the best burgers in NM. They lived up to the hype.

Drove up to Taos Pueblo after lunch, and had an hour siesta on our beds before touring the pueblo. It is over a thousand years old! 

A remarkable sight, and we walked around both the north and south sides of it. Some people still live there, and the walls are refreshed with mud and straw every year still.

Back to the same campground afterward, where I'm sipping a Sauvignon Blanc at the moment, just after sunset. Tonight it's duck confit and lentils for dinner - OH, and some bread we bought at the pueblo - evidently they're famous for it. Slather it up with some yummy French butter, mmmmmm, mmmmmm!

Tomorrow we'll head south. To Chimayo, one of the "ten most beautiful towns in NM". I'll report back on that. Probably have lunch in Santa Fe after that, and then drive to the outskirts of Albuquerque and spend the night there. The Land of Enchantment.....