Join us as we find and map great boondocking spots, go on hikes, off-road with our Toyota Tacoma and camp in our Fleet Four Wheel Camper. Let's explore and have awesome adventures!
It was time for a trip to a warmer climate. It's cold at our home base of Los Alamos in late February. We decided we would head south for a soak at Faywood Hot Springs, drive west of Phoenix to funky El Dorado Hot Springs, drive up to Lake Havasu to watch some really great fireworks and some desert boondocking, head to Anza-Borrego for some great boondocking, then off to Claremont,CA (near Los Angeles) to visit with family and help move some furniture, drive to San Diego to stay at a great lake side campground, visit Balboa Park in San Diego, head back east to boondock in a casino parking lot near Yuma, AZ, drive back to Faywood Hot Springs for another round of soaking and finally back to the frozen north of Los Alamos.
Our first stop was for our favorite road meal at Sweet Tomatoes in Albuquerque. Now that is a Salad!!!!!
The entrance to Faywood Hot Springs
The new Visitor's Center check in.
The new Faywood Office
The new Faywood Store and Museum area.
The Camping Area with electric and water hookups.
Soak Pool Area Art Work.
The campground hot soaks. Far side HOT, middle COOL, closest JUST RIGHT!!!!! There is a shower and bathrooms adjacent.
There are a ton of cute and hungry cats on the property (peacocks too, but we didn't see them this visit).
One of the clothing required pools.
One of the Private "Watsu" Pools (extra fee).
One of the soaks near the clothing optional campsites. It was cleaning morning. The water is normally very clear.
Which one is Greg?
We really enjoy visiting Faywood to camp and soak. Our favorite thing is to go out late at night when everyone else has gone to bed and soak and view the stars, hoping to see meteorites streak by. We have a contest to determine who sees the most meteorites. We're learning about the constellations. We know about six or seven of them now.
We've visited Faywood quite a few times. We like to go there to warm up during winter months. Faywood maintains a rustic charm and prices that are lower then a lot of other hot springs places we have visited that have been yuppified in recent years.
The amazing City of Rocks State Park is just a few miles north and well worth a visit for a cool hike.
Greg points to our hiking destination: The top of Kitchen Mesa.
A couple of weekends ago we went overnight to Ghost Ranch and took the Kitchen Mesa Hike. What a great hike! If you haven't been to Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico then you need to update your "Places I Want To Go" list.
Ghost Ranch is near Abiquiu Reservoir. The scenery is spectacular. Famous artist, Georgia O'Keeffe, had a home here and created many of her amazing paintings here. Karen and I have been to Ghost Ranch a few times. We've taken the Chimney Rock hike a few times and love it. Our plan for this trip was to stay overnight in our camper van, which we have never done at Ghost Ranch, and hike the Kitchen Mesa Trail.
It was spectacular. I think it's my new favorite New Mexico hike. Ghost Ranch is run by the Presbyterian Church. They do a lot of retreat programs at the ranch and they have a campground. There are quite a few campsites in the camp. They have about four spots for large RVs with electricity and water (and possibly sewer). Many sites have 15AMP electricity. It was going to be cold so we wanted to have electricity for an electric heater and our electric blanket. We ended up being one of only three RV campers in the entire campground so we had the pick of sites. We chose a site way in the back away from the others.
The campground is normally closed after October but they have decided to keep the campground open all year. However, the bathroom/showers closest to the campground are shut down for the winter. (Call them to make sure that this is still the case if you go in the winter.)
Climate change has made our region very much dryer than it use to be just ten years ago. We get very little snow now, so all year camping makes total sense in our region now. The fee for our electric site was $30. There is a $5/person visitor fee that is included with the $30 camping fee.
You start your hike a short ways from the Welcome Center after you check in. The coordinates for the beginning of the hike is: 36.336300, -106.469175. You can park at this location. You can see a Google Map of the hike route HERE.
The hike is two miles long (one way) and climbs at least 600 feet. Here is the description from the Ghost Ranch Website: Entrada Cliffs above the Dining Hall-The marked trail begins just past the chain across the road at Long House (see Box Canyon guide). The trail goes behind Kitchen Mesa before it ascends to the top. This more difficult hike includes a 15-foot chimney through a cleft in the cliff. The 3-4 hour trip climbs from 6,500 to 7,100 feet. (Round trip – 5 miles).
There is a short stretch of climbing at the "chimney," but it is not that bad and doesn't need ropes.
We went about five miles as we took a few side trips to see different edges of the mesa.
The views from the top of Kitchen Mesa are outstanding. We could see down to the main Ghost Ranch campus and farm area. We could see Abiquiu Reservoir and Cerro Pedernal (where O'Keeffe's ashes were spread). What a fun and scenic hike. We highly recommend it.
After our hike, we were pretty tired and decided to eat in the Dining Hall. Ghost Ranch provided all meals to their retreat guests and campers are welcome to pay $14 for a meal. (Breakfast is cheaper I believe.) We enjoyed a salad and BBQ rib dinner with other sides. Dinner was pretty good.
The retreat guests and volunteers tend to be fairly religious. We sat next to a couple who told us about their volunteer activities. The couple from Ohio were at Ghost Ranch for a year as volunteers. They were unpaid but received free room and board. Their Ghost Ranch house was pretty nice. They were very friendly and we had a nice conversation. Karen's Dad and step-Mom are both retired ministers, so that was a topic of conversation as the gentleman was also a retired minister.
We were invited several times to come to a harp concert after dinner but we were very tired and headed to our camper van instead.
It was cold, but we plugged in our 1200 watt electric heater and got our van up to about 60 degrees. We turned down the heater to 800 watts and plugged in our electric blanket to heat up the bed. We slid into our bed and had a great nights sleep.
We headed home after a nice homemade oatmeal breakfast at our campsite. We could have had breakfast at the Dining Hall, but it was some sort of egg casserole, which didn't sound appealing to us.
We saw no ghosts on this visit. There was some cell phone connectivity at Ghost Ranch, but it was weak (verizon).
Here is a video of our hike:
Photos from our trip:
Our campsite.
Water was shut off for winter.
200 million years ago, New Mexico was part of the Pangaea super-continent and was tropical being near the equator.
Near the dinosaur quarry.
Hiking up the "chimney."
A view from the top of Kitchen Mesa.
Cerro Pedernal in the distance with Abiquiu Reservoir below.
The bare top of Kitchen Mesa. It sounded hollow when you tapped on this surface. Scary!!!
In mid-March, we needed a getaway. So, even though the weather was still a little cold - we took off after work on a Thursday and headed to Bisti Wilderness. Since we got a late start, we stayed the first night at the Apache Nugget Travel Center and Casino on Highway 550 about 22 miles west of Cuba, New Mexico. They have parking for truckers and a big gravel lot perfect for rvers. It was quiet and the perfect stop for a quick overnight.
There are two ways to approach Bisti. One is via Farmington and other is the way we approached off of 550. We've driven the road to Chaco Canyon, so we knew our NV could make it, but the road is very rough washboard. What added to the fun, was the huge wind and dust storm that hit just as we left the main highway.
Here are the official directions from the BLM website. To reach the Bisti Access Parking Area, Drive NM 371 just under 36 miles south of Farmington (from the San Juan River crossing) or just under 45 miles north of Crownpoint, New Mexico (from the intersection of 371 and Navajo Service Route 9), and turn east on Road 7297 (a gravel road). Drive Road 7297 for approximately 2 miles to a T-intersection and turn left. Drive just under one mile to the Bisti Access Parking Area, which is just south of a broad wash on the east side of the road. There is another, smaller parking area ¼ mile further north. GPS location of main parking lot: 36.259337, -108.251550
First of two parking lots at Bisti De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area
We have camped and hiked many times at nearby Chaco Canyon. We'd heard about Bisti and even read Love Your RV's post about their stay at Bisti. Greg did some preliminary study of the awesome land features at Bisti, but we wished we had gotten GPS coordinates ahead of time. Nonetheless, we had an awesome experience hiking and exploring. Our goal was to see the petrified wood and the many hoodoos. We exceeded our goal!
Our first hoodoo
Although the weather was threatening rain and the wind was pretty strong, we were not to be deterred. I will say that this is probably not a place I would want to go hiking in the full heat of late July or August. We bundled up and headed out.
You get the feeling you are on a different planet at Bisti
The odd landscape has the most interesting shaped hoodoos. They appear to be sculpted
Dino - no monkeys were harmed in the making of this picture
Our goal for the day was to locate the petrified wood that litters the landscape. Greg knew the general location of the petrified wood from google maps. We have been to the Petrified Forest near Holbrook, Arizona and it is very impressive. But, nothing compares to hiking for several hours and "discovering" petrified wood in piles. Best petrified wood, we've ever seen. We didn't make it to the largest log, but we will track it down next time when we come prepared with the coordinates.
We discovered one of the big petrified wood piles
This delicate slice of petrified wood was so beautiful
We only explored a small fraction of the park and yet we saw so much. Come spring or fall, we will definitely go back and do more exploring. Our plan was to boondock there at Bisti. But, huge storm clouds were heading our way full of rain/snow. After our hike and a nice lunch in our camper, we drove the 2-1/2 hours to Pagosa Springs. Here is Greg's post about our stay in Pagosa.
Please remember that it is illegal to remove anything from this land. We need to leave it all in place so that other's may enjoy this incredible place in the future.
[Karen]
Note: Some how this post went live after I added all my pictures but before I added any text. Darn those little internet gremlins.
Our weekend jaunts continued when we drove Greg's parents to Chama, New Mexico to ride the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad on August 15th. The four of us have taken this trip a number of times and were very excited to repeat the experience. But, this trip was extra special as it was the Saturday night train which stops at Cumbres pass for dinner and a concert by Chris Collins. Greg found out about the train and found a discount coupon online! Greg's mom LOVES, LOVES, LOVES John Denver. Always has and always will. She met him once and he kissed her on the cheek. A moment I don't think she will ever forget. Chris Collins does a John Denver tribute.
We loaded onto the train about 5:00 p.m. and started out of Chama, NM. But, after we crossed over the highway, with next to no explanation, we backed all the way back to the train station. There was a leak in the first engine so we had to wait while they tested it and eventually switched us to another engine. But, once we got started the second time, things went smoothly.
We had a great train ride at sunset. The dinner was delicious, plentiful and well organized. Chris Collins is a very good singer. The crowd enjoyed singing along and Greg's folks were thrilled when they got called up to join Chris in a song and dance number. Chris even sang the John Denver song that Greg and I got married to - "Annie's Song" and ended the evening with everyone's favorite Rocky Mountain High. It was dark when we got back to the station at about 9:30. Then it was a couple of hours back to our home in Los Alamos. Such a fun and memorable evening.
Going around the bend
The views from the train are amazing
Greg scored a seat right by Chris Collins and Greg's folks and another woman got
picked to dance and sing with faux JD. They had a blast!
One of the wonderful things about living in Northern New Mexico is that I can take off at 3 p.m. on a Friday and we can get to amazingly, wonderful places for a quick weekend getaway! We are so fortunate to live where we live since we can't take off full-timing just yet. So, on Friday the 21st, I left work a little early and we headed northwest through Gunnison to Ouray.
Blue Mesa Reservoir outside Gunnison, Colorado
We have stayed and soaked in the areas around Ouray, but this was our first time staying in Ouray. We had a nice dry camping spot at the 4 J + 1 +1 Trailer Park. It is in the perfect central location for having fun in Ouray. We asked about the name. The owners originally were the 4 J and then had their third and then fourth child. All six of their names begin with, you guessed it - the letter J.
The park has very nice amenities including a laundry room, large bathrooms with showers. It is located along the river. There are full hookups, but we chose to stay in one of the dry spots which was less expensive.
Our very nice campsite at 4 J + 1 + 1
Within walking distance of the campground is the downtown Ouray park and they have a gazebo
We had a wonderful time in Ouray. We walked around town, had an evening soak at the Ouray Hot Springs Pool and ate a delicious dinner at Buen Tiempo Restaurant and Cantina.
But, the highlight of the trip was hiking the Ouray Perimeter Trail. The hike begins across the road from the Visitor's Center. It is about a 4 mile loop hike.
The hike start across the road from the Visitor's Center in Ouray
Great views from the hike of the town park, Ouray Hot Spring Swimming Pool
and beyond it the campground.
Hey look - it's Box Canyon Blog Mark & Bobbie's house. We stopped to catch our breath toward the beginning of the climb up the trail and recognized the blue house from Life's Little Adventures' blog.
We resisted knocking on the door and simply admired their killer view from afar.
Trail's edge looking down at Ouray, Colorado
Awesome views from the narrow trail
Waterfall selfie
The hike starts on a cliffside and then moves into a beautiful forest
Loved the river sculpted rocks
Views along the Ouray Perimeter hike
As you loop back toward town, you can walk by the canyon that is a favorite for climbers in the winter. We noticed all the piping that clearly shoots water down the edge of the canyon to enhance the ice. I can't imagine the guts and skills it takes to ice climb down or up this awesome canyon.
Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Silverton. Can you tell that one whole lane is literally gone? No idea how they will fix it since it is a sheer drop into a canyon with a rock wall on the other side. During the day this drive to Silverton and then on to Durango isn't so bad. You can see that you are on the edge. But, we have also done this drive many times VERY late at night. As you make the tight turns there are often a variety of animals around the corner. We've seen deer, elk, marmot and a skunk. I don't mind driving the million dollar highway, but I have to admit it is a little hair raising at night.
Greg and I sort of stayed home for Labor Day weekend, but not really. Greg's folks also live in Los Alamos about a 4 minute walk from our home. They were going up to the Jemez Mountains to camp at San Antonio campground. One of their favorite spots. During most of the summer, San Antonio is on a reservation only system and they usually are booked solid. They have a variety of electric/water, no electric and walk-in campsites. There is a short, paved trail along the river filled with wildflowers. We came up on Sunday, brought dinner to cook, went for a walk along the river and then had a campfire. We stayed the night and got up early the next morning to say our goodbyes and then drive to nearby La Cueva for breakfast at the Ridgeback Restaurant. We highly recommend it. Excellent food and a really good price. But, don't be in a hurry.
Karen, Jack and Frances. Jack is Greg's parent's Bishon
Yes, that is a dog stroller. Jack is totally blind and has trouble walking.
Greg and his parents on the trail. Jack loves his stroller.
San Antonio campground
The boy never leaves the man
As with much of New Mexico and southern Colorado, we have had an interesting summer with more than our usual amount of rainfall. The normal monsoon season seemed to last all summer with beautiful days and late afternoon storms. I never get tired of our beautiful, New Mexico skies.
New Mexico is known for our amazing skies and sunsets.
Storm rolling in to Los Alamos, NM making Pajarito Mountain look insignificant
