Abiquiu, New Mexico

Sunday, August 30

After stopping at Wal*Mart in the horrible town of Durango for groceries, drugs and a haircut, we managed to drive to Chama, NM for the night. It’s fine little park. Only thing is we spent as much for one night as we did for previous three weeks.

We caught up with the rain in Pagosa Springs so the rig is now dirty.

 

Monday

We did laundry and drove less than an hour over La Magna Pass to a private CG near Horca. The CG is rather tacky - filled with Texans for the season. Most of them do crafts. Boring!

 

Tuesday

Mike and Lisa Sylvester arrived to do preventive maintenance on all the major systems. No problems were found. We both learned a lot from them. We thought we knew a lot about RV’s. Wrong.

We went a few miles down the road to Elk River CG and parked next to Keith and Sandy. Fine CG, but not scenic.

 

Wednesday

We did a drive with Keith and Sandy in the mountains. Almost as soon as we left it clouded up. We did not see anything of interest and returned to the CG.

 

Thursday

We had planned to hole up at Elk River for the holiday. But, after finding nothing scenic yesterday, we decided to head south and escape the afternoon rains, the clouds and the cool temps. Of course, it rained all the time we were driving through the mountains. Once we got near Abiquiu, it quit, but the clouds remained the rest of the day.

At least we are in red rock country. It’s not Escalante, but it beats most of Colorado. The Texans can have Colorado.

Abiquiu is a good value CG. COE. We have W&E for $7. That’s a dollar less than we paid last night for just a gravel pad in the woods. And there is dump in the CG. We have OK Verizon coverage. Excellent AT&T at the top of hill, but nothing in the CG. No TV. Since the place is booked for the weekend, we snagged the ADA site. It has an asphalt pad, a ramada, next to the bathhouse, the closest neighbor is 40 yards away and we have a view of the lake. Oh and a flower bed. Life is good.

Our campsite at Abiquiu

Friday

We put the yaks in the water before lunch and paddled for an hour. This arduous activity was followed by lunch and a nap.

Later the energy level went up again when Dorothy gave me haircut. This was followed by munchies and cocktails. Which was followed by dinner.

 

Saturday, September 5

The New Mexico sun favored us today. It was bright and sunny most of the day. The iron and sand colored rocks were illuminated and glowing.

Kate of Choula Red came down mid-morning to visit and took us back to the Ghost Ranch for lunch.

Sunset at the campsite

Lunch put me in a nappy mood and so we came back to Abiquiu. The afternoon temp was divine for me. Having the right temp always puts me in a mellow mood. We re-found The Bridge on XM whose play list was perfect for the afternoon.

We have decided to stay in the area, probably right here, until we have to head east to LBL. Why? Well, it’s a magical area. Plus Champagne Apples will be ready to harvest about the middle of the month. We got a box from Dixon’s two years ago. Tasty! It seems a shame run off wo getting another box.

Dixon’s Apples

The Ghost Ranch

 

Sunday, September 6

The plan for the morning was to hike the Rim Trail just north of us. It supposed to be the best hike in the state. We could not get moving. One thing after another. We made it near the trailhead by 11AM. The thought of hiking wo lunch coupled with the fear of the running out of gas in Pelli before we got to the TH, was enough to spin us around. We found the ONLY gas station in the area and filled up.

We found a great free parking spot next to the Rio Chama. The river is still a class 2 this late in the year. We move there next week.