New Mexico Surprises! – Bandelier National Monument & Valle Grande

We had plans. Plans change.

Once we were done with Petrified Forest National Park we intended to head north… to see Monument Valley, Four Corners, Mesa Verde… all pretty remote and desert locations. But then there was the WEATHER. The forecast called for a massive winter storm – with 3-4 days of rain, possibly snow, and high winds heading where we were heading. Not great for our planned days of outdoor exploring. So we adapted. Instead we headed east into New Mexico. The idea being we could see a few of natural wonders on the way and then set up camp in Santa Fe to ride out the weather, where there would be some indoor things to do.

The Changed Plans Change

Our first day we were going to travel farther… maybe visit some Ship Rock or other interesting spots in western New Mexico. NOPE!

Less than an hour after hitting the road a little compact car was honking at us and waving like mad for us to pull over. PANIC!

We did and they got out to tell us that BLACK SMOKE was coming out from under our trailer! YIKES! Now the trailer doesn’t have an engine… and the tires were all new. All I could think was we’d left the furnace on or some other fire incident happened. But the trailer was fine. It turns out our truck exhaust was billowing black smoke and it was rolling under the trailer and coming out where they saw it. A quick google search led us to believe we had an air filter problem. Cynthia called ahead and found a shop that does RV and Diesel work in Gallup, NM. So instead of traveling and seeing the beautiful stuff, we spend the afternoon hanging out at J & J Truck Service in Gallup. Great service if you need it. They got us back on the road before dark.

We had intended to spend the night at a lovely little private farm through Harvest Host, but time and distance had changed. Improvising we found Dancing Eagle Casino just off the freeway. They allowed late arrivals to their small, affordable RV park. Grateful for an easy solution, we made a small donation to the tribe via the casino slot machines.

Spelling Word Of The Day: Albuquerque

Why not squeeze in a little roadschooling while driving… learn to spell the places you’ve been! Or rather, the places you pass through…

This could prove to be a valuable life skill (read this!)

Sorry Albuquerque, we had to move on to…

Where to RV in Santa Fe?

Getting an RV spot with no notice is sometimes challenging.

Especially near a city.

And in the pouring rain.

We aimed for the Santa Fe Fairgrounds – which promised an affordable site near the city. But they communication with them was awful, and when we arrived we realized it was just a muddy parking lot, and probably no electric or sewer hookups… so the next affordable place we drove to (in the wind and rain and traffic)… SUCKED…

By now it was dark, it’s pouring rain, and we’re getting a little desperate. Cynthia called a more expensive place. Hoping for a deal, she mentioned we were trying to save money (it never hurts to ask) they understood and referred us to another place that was a bit of a drive, but sounded promising. It was after hours, so nobody answered the phone, but when we arrived at Roadrunner RV Park there were a couple of empty spaces, so we pulled in – hoping it wasn’t going to be a problem. The park wasn’t fancy, but it was clean, they had full hookups and in the morning the camp host was as friendly as can be. We used this as our base for the next several days – waiting for that big storm and high winds to hit.

Weather Avoidance Tactics

It was cold and damp, so we focused on indoor activities… We tried the local Casinos (there seems to be one every couple of miles here) and dodged weather by going to a movie (Captain Marvel!) Cynthia even baked muffins one morning! (YUM!)

Then, when the massive winter storm finally came, it instead swooped up to Colorado and THEY got slammed hard with a massive “Bomb Cyclone” plunging much of the state into emergency conditions.

Tucked away in our cozy trailer in Santa Fe we only got 2 inches of snow overnight that had melted by 10 am.

Pffft. No biggie.

So, now we’re here. What’s local?

The Santa Fe Art Scene

The day the snow didn’t last it was chilly but the skies were clear – so we checked out Santa Fe itself. So many cities look generic in so many ways, but Santa Fe goes out of it’s way to keep the Pueblo-Spanish architecture style. Almost every building has the same look. It seems you can paint your house one of 3 colors – brown, tan, or dark brown (turquoise trim optional).

We spent the day walking the Canyon Road art galleries and marveled at some beautiful creations. Here are some favorites and pics from the walk:

BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT

The next day the weather warmed up and we decided to make a day trip to check out Bandelier National Monument. Honestly we’d not heard of this one before arriving in New Mexico – and what a treat it was! Tucked in a long narrow canyon, this park preserves a group of ancient Puebloan structures and cliff dwellings. The sun was out and the day was much warmer – great for exploring the loop trail and hiking up to the ruins of their cliff dwellings

Not only did we learn about their culture and how they lived… but we got to climb ladders up into the living spaces carved into the tuff cliffs. And when Mom and Dad were done, Alex went on to the furthest and tallest of them all “Alcove House” where he climbed three tall ladders to get to the top alcove! (sorry no photos of that feat). Alex later added to his roadschooling by writing a report about our day here.

Wandering Leads You To…

Bandelier only took a few hours and there was sunlight left… and near by signs pointed to mountains we thought we’d check out. We drove high up where the roads were clear, but there was snow everywhere (remember the storm we just had?) An incredible contrast to the first half of our day in Bandelier! Valles Caldera National Preserve (or “Valle Grande”) in New Mexico was a complete surprise… this massive snow-covered field is a giant 13 mile wide volcanic caldera, and elk feeding ground.

It was late in the day and the visitor’s center was closed but you could see how much snow they had to clear to open the road to get down to it. And the Elk weren’t feeding while we were there… but we did come across them at less snowy elevations on our way back.

We love seeing these big creatures roaming free! We pull over every time. And this time there was an antlered buck among the ladies!

Part of the fun of exploring is stumbling upon surprises. Loved the way this day turned out.

So our next day we did it again…

The Turquoise Trail

We followed signs to drive a scenic route: “The Turquoise Trail” It took us through some interesting desert landscapes and towns…

We visited the old west mining town of Cerrillos…

Cerrillos was home to the 1988 movie “Young Guns” – a sign is still there from the film crew.

Then stopped in Madrid, NM another former mining town, now full of restaurants and some art galleries… great for a weekend afternoon listening to music and enjoying a cool drink… and a #WhereAreYourFeetFriday photo!

#WYFF Friday!

On the way home to our trailer we drove up to Sandia Crest peak… another snowy mountain drive. There we viewed the sunset from 10,678 feet – our highest elevation of our trip so far!

We traveled into New Mexico earlier than we expected, and just about every day of our time there was full of positive surprises. And we only did a part of the state… There is more coming up!

But first, before we continue in New Mexico,… we detour north!

NEXT – Colorado… (and then back to New Mexico…)

(So, I should really title this post “New Mexico, Part 1”)