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| New Mexico - September 2022 |
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As is always the case, feel free to skip over my text and just enjoy the photos. But know that you will understand some of the photos better if you read the text. |
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September 26th through the 30th
This past September I put my motorcycle on a trailer and headed west to spend a week exploring Northern New Mexico. Why trailer instead of ride? Well, if you’ve ever been through West Texas and Southeast New Mexico you already know the answer. Hours and hours and hours, a full day really, of boring straight roads and often high winds. And since I can travel deep into the night with a car towing a trailer, I made the return trip in a single 14 hour go, something I would never do on the motorcycle. I did, however, take 2 days to get there. I’ve never towed a trailer before and was a bit nervous about it. I also didn’t want to arrive at an unknown place in the dark and try to park a trailer, something I’m not yet comfortable with. Along the way I spent a couple of hours in Roswell, as I’ve never been there either. (I’m not going to bother to post my tourist photos from there) But I did find, that for me, the International UFO Museum and Research Center is worth the $5.00 entrance fee. It’s mostly printed articles to read, but it’s all interesting stuff nonetheless. Also a great place to pick up some cheesy t-shirts and such. This was my first time to really explore this part of New Mexico. I’ve driven through the Southern part several times and don’t really care for it. I’ve also been to Ruidoso and really liked it, but other than that no real time in NM. I stayed in Los Alamos and then took day trips around the area. I really like the Los Alamos area. I found it’s pine forest to be much nicer than dusty Sante Fe. |
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Day 1 This was my best chance to get to the Meow Wolf “House of Eternal Return” installation and also explore a bit of Sante Fe. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from Meow Wolf so I went in pretty open minded. I choose not to try and solve the puzzle but rather just went from space to space and tried to soak in the atmosphere of each room in for several minutes. I returned to both the red laser room and the black light animal head room twice and spent 15 to 20 minutes just sitting in each of them again. I found that in each of these rooms the ambient sounds and lighting both seamed to react to the amount of activity in the room. They were quite different when there was no one else in the room and I didn’t interact with the elements. I spent just over 3 hours total wandering through the various rooms. I highly recommend adding it to your plans if you’re in the area. As for Sante Fe itself, I enjoyed the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, and the “miraculous” spiral staircase in the Loretto Chappel, but since I wasn’t shopping for jewelry or art, the rest of the downtown area wasn’t too impressive for me. It was nice, but I can’t imagine making Sante Fe proper a destination for more than a day. |
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Day 2 This was my first motorcycle ride. I had 1 relatively nearby destination and was going to wing it after I got there. The destination was the village of Chimayo. I wanted to go to the Santuario de Chi mayo. You can Google it for more information, but it’s famous for having dirt that can heal you. I don’t really believe in such things, but I do enjoy the vibe most of those kinds of places have. I got there pretty early so it wasn’t very crowded. I found the back area to be pretty tranquil and enjoyed sitting in the small church for a few minutes. When I decided to go to Chimayo I was unaware that the area is also famous in culinary circles for growing sought after peppers. A friend asked me to get some for him so a stop at the El Potrero Trading Post was only a few extra steps since it is literally next to the church. From Chimayo I continued on the scenic route named “The High Road to Taos” It made for a very pleasant morning. I arrived at Taos for lunch and was surprised at how bad the traffic was and how hard it was to find some place that wasn’t a national chain. To be clear, I’m talking about the town of Taos, NOT the ski village of the same name. After lunch I went to check out the nearby Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. It was pretty interesting but unfortunately I had to cut my time there very short as I could see some of the localized but rather intense rain storms with strong winds heading that way. I followed 570 and SR68 along the river gorge but still ended up getting caught in a different rainstorm on my way back to Los Alamos. |
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Day 3 I drove all the way to Alamosa Colorado to meet some friends for lunch. Hwy 285 straight north is another road that would just be a chore on a motorcycle so I was back in my car. We picked Alamosa because it was halfway between my friends house in Colorado and Los Alamos. I was surprised at what an interesting little town it was. Not a touristy town like you find dotted around Colorado, but not a bad place to stop and eat if you find yourself driving through the area. The trip there and back was largely unremarkable, but I did get to see a great sunset. |
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Day 4 I was back on the bike for my second ride. I picked a destination for the day that was more about the roads to get there than what was at the end of the road. That destination was Fort Union National Monument. I plotted a course that took me back up the river gorge I’d ridden 2 days prior so I could actually enjoy the scenery, then I headed easterly on some smaller roads and was treated to one fantastic view after another. My route was up 68 to 75, then east to 518 and then a final stretch through the plains on 161. |
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Day 5 This was going to be my last day of site seeing, and I deciced to make it a bit shorter since I needed to pack and hook the trailer up so I could leave at first light the next day I decided to go check out nearby Bandelier National Monument. I had never heard of it prior to planing this trip so didn’t really know much about it or what to expect. I was pleased to find yet another hidden gem. I ended up “hiking” all the way to the Alcove House and climbing up the wooden ladders. I certainly would recommend it to anyone that was in the area and wanted to do some light hiking. They do have some back country land and trails as well, but I don’t know what they are like. It was a perfect day, and a perfect way to end my exploration of this area. |
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