Heading West, probably New Mexico. Suggestions??

Carlsbad caverns and white sands national monument are worth seeing.

 

I second Carlsbad

 

Santa Fe, NM, Alamogordo, NM (White Sands), GREAT campground right outside Alamogordo (my best friend said) - don't know the name - it's gorgeous. If Arizona, go to Sedona to Slide Rock State Park and slide! It's awesome! GORGEOUS PLACE!

 

These are itty bitty crawly caves. These are cathedral style.

 

Ken,

Great place to stay is Bandalier National Monument, the campground was completely redone over the winter and gives you great access to Santa Fe as well as Taos not to mention Los Alamos. Bandalier is an archeologist delight and has lots of great hiking trails although with our elevation (+7500') you need to start on the early side and take lots of water. If you are the scientific type the Bradley Science Museum in Los Alamos will take up half a day with all kinds of interesting displaya centering on the early days of Los Alamos and the development of the atomic bomb as well as current projects. If you are there on a Friday night there is a free concert held at Ashley Pond featuring everything from blue grass to jazz and rock. This concert is a holdover from WWII days when the scientist working there could not leave the place.

My wife's grandfather worked there during the war and I am involved in project work up there on a weekly basis so I am very familiar with the area. If you need further local info drop me a pm and I can fill you in on the best local food spots as well as other areas to visit during your stay in our beautiful state. By the way while the southern part of the state is essentially desert, the northern areas consist of lots of red rock canyons and your typical alpine scenes.

 

Hi Ken,
Doing a little detective work I figured it might be you guys. We were up at Hyde Park to scout out some camp sites for the July 4th weekend when Janene spotted your 550.

You hit some of the great places on our list, especially the Shed, Janene has been a regular there since she was 7 years old and I have been eating there since 1973, when Janene introduced me to the place. The founders of the restaurant were friends of Janene's parents and one of their sons ended up buying Janene's grandfathers house so there is a lot of history there. Janene's father and grandfather built a house just off of Canyon Road on Camino Del Monte Sol.

The High Road to Taos is one of our favorites that we always hit in the fall when the chiles are roasting.

You are right, the road between Durango and Silverton is always awesome. For a real thrill you ought to try it in the winter, it beats any roller coaster ride I have ever been on. Glad to hear you got some fly fishing in. We have property in the Jemez Mountains 19 miles due north of Los Alamos as the crow flies that has a year round native Rio Grande Cuthroat troutstream running through it so you have hit upon one of my joys in life.

As for the smoke, it has gotten a lot worse, but at least they are making some progress on the fire, 6% containment last I heard, although from 3PM on our sun is red, and our moon is a dark orange when you can see them.

Be that as it may, glad you enjoyed your stay in New Mexico and the next time give us a heads up and we will meet you.

 

This fall should be great fishing especially southern Colorado. Any flooding would probably occur up around Steamboat Springs on the Yampa River. their snowpack is close to 200% of normal. The Arizona fire has now crossed into New Mexico, The Carlsbad fire is still burning, and a new fire on Raton Pass has already burned 24,000 acres including Sugarite State Park which has lost 1/2 its area to the fire, Interstate 25 the main north south highway between New Mexico and Colorado has been closed since Monday. We are all praying for the monsoon to start, so far not a drop and this weekend will be hot, dry and windy. Our humidity has been hovering around 10%, this weekend it will be down to 4 or 5.

 

Re: Some shots from New Mexico/Colorado trip

Nice Pictures Ken! I might be a little envious! We certainly have a beautiful country!
Charlie

 

Great pictures Ken God Bless America.Steve

 

Ken,
Great pics of a beautiful part of our country. Update on the Wallow fire is that it has consumed over 500,000 acres and is now in New Mexico. The fire is 38% contained which is good news. The bad news is that a new fire started on Saturday afternoon just east of Tesuque. At last report they have evacuated the Santa Fe Ski Basin and the Black Canyon Campground since the fire is headed that way. The fire was at 600 acres by Saturday night and due to high winds and lots of heat today, has grown to 3,000 acres. Keep you fingers crossed and pray for rain. God bless the fire crews they are doing a tremendous job considering the conditions.