The road to Taos

It became just too crowded at Rancheros de Santa Fe Campground.  At the beginning of our stay the place was fairly empty and we had a nice little space to ourselves.  As the week  wore on, more and more people came in and we felt more and more hemmed in.  Santa Fe is a wonderful area, lots of things to see and do and eat....but we had outgrown the campground.

Our drive up to Taos was a beautiful one.  We stopped for a quick lunch just north of Santa Fe, at Camel Rock Casino on the Tesuque Reservation.

Camel Rock

Only in the west - this is a shot of our inside thermometer at lunchtime.  The top number is the inside temp., the middle is the outside temp. and the bottom number (l percent) is the humidity!  When was the last time you experienced l percent humidity?  Can you say bloody nose?

After driving north of Santa Fe through the numerous Native American Pueblos , we entered the Rio Grande River gorge.  Route 68 was a very twisty road, quite narrow in spots and steadily climbing.  Beluga handled it with ease.  The river ran clearer and faster as we moved north.   I wish I had taken pictures of it in Los Lunas and Albuquerque, you wouldn't recognize it as the same river.  There it trudges along wearily, most of its strength being stolen to irrigate the farm fields.   What water is left is muddy and brown.  Here it flows free and fast and clear.

the canyon walls are steep

we finally climbed up, out of  the gorge and drove along it's rim on  the top of the  plateau.

Taos nestles at the feet of the mountains

We're at a lovely campground just a mile or so south of the Taos plaza.  The sites are well spaced and landscaped and our spot is particularly nice because we have a large "side yard" that, with a few well placed sections of ex pen, we can allow the dogs to be loose when we sit outside.  They enjoy their freedom after the confinement of Rancheros de Santa Fe.  I think Lew had enough of strangers up there.  He did his absolute best to accommodate everyone, but the stress of it finally caught up with him tonight.  He doesn't feel very well, we think.....

 We'll stay a few days and explore the area a little more than we had planned.  Its pretty nice here!

view from Beluga's windshield at our campsite in Taos Valley RV Resort.


After looking at his post, I realize that these pictures don't really show what we saw today and for that I'm sorry.  I guess trying to capture such larger than life scenery through a buggy windshield probably isn't the best idea, but nevertheless, thats what I did!