Blogs from New Mexico, United States, North America - page 79

On my west coast trip I stopped at Madrid NM and was told by a local that this was a must ride. He was right. Its a 14 mile road that takes you to the top of a local mountain. The only way off is to turn around and come back down. The road is a lot of tight twisties and real fun. It smelled great! In the 14 miles you climb 10K feet to an elevation of 10621 ft. 23 miles south of Madrid on Hwy 14 or 3 miles north of I-40 on Hwy 14 is the entrance to the byway. The top is at coordinates are N 35 12.632' W 106 26.958' . The pictures will tell you how beautiful it is. Nothing else for me to say. ... read more

Unlike the trip from Sanford to Marathon, we wanted our journey back to New Mexico to be slow-paced and relaxing. Between Florida and West Texas, we planned to avoid the Interstate system as we ventured North along the Gulf Coast. I wanted to stop in Naples to see my friend and fellow retired firefighter, Paul Pirello, who had stopped in Silver City earlier this year. We turned North on FL 997 in Homestead and headed for US 41 that would take us across the northern boundary of Everglades National Park and through Big Cypress National Preserve. Even though we made several stops and the opportunities abounded, we saw little wildlife and (most importantly) no gators. Sortta like going to New York and not seeing a taxi. Hmmmm! Campground guides and web site directions are not designed ... read more

Santa Fe - This will also be a longish post as we had so many adventures here. I will stick to those that inspired and lifted our hearts and expanded our minds. Let me start with an observation. It rained last night and this morning in Taos. As I packed up to leave and went outside with KC, my senses were filled with a comfortableness I rarely experience away from Rancho Murieta and I was “home”. I really love this place. The drive down to Santa Fe was uneventful except for the on and off showers. As I got closer to Santa Fe, the terrain changed dramatically as the gradual rise from high desert to high mountain was replaced by the more arid desert of the southwest. Rains and run-offs have cut sharp gullies and the ... read more

Last night I didn't sleep much. I was thinking too much. Stupid things like compiling "to do" lists in my mind, mentally packing and unpacking my suitcase, remembering I had to pick the apples and Asian pears from our trees, making unrealistic plans to prep and freeze the bounty. You know, silly stuff. Well, we did manage to pick the trees and we ate one yummy apple. The rest we put away in the refrigerator. Richard assures me they'll last until we get back... Tomorrow we head for Chicago. We have lots of time to transfer from Midway Airport to O'Hare Airport. Our Turkish Air flight leaves after 10:00 pm. We arrive is Istanbul Wednesday, 5:30 pm. Hopefully Istanbul will be above water. We'll try and write as we go, uploading photos we take. Hope you ... read more

The Trip to Illinois Ahhhhhhh - August 14, 2009 was another spectacular day in Silver City NM with beautiful blue skies, puffy white clouds and brilliant sunshine. Everything (I hoped) had been loaded into my 2005 Pilgrim 28’ travel trailer when I set out for Illinois with my friend, Kay Baker, a few hours later than planned - of course! We had decided to avoid the Interstates and the major cities as much as was practical on this trip and focus our journey on the scenic routes - as proclaimed by Rand McNally. The first leg of our expedition would be to Rockford IL to complete some business with two of my nieces, Robyn and Cindy, and was planned to be a direct 4-day drive with one relaxation day dropped into the middle of the trek. ... read more