The 2006 Travels of Richard n Shirley

We are taking the day off to rest. I was given orders that today was a not start the car day. So we are watching our "weekenders" come and go. Our "Loop A" is full. Loop A has water and power while the Loop B has no power. We have lots of young families with kids and "toys". Toys include sailboats and power boats. So far there has not been any ATV's. The Loop A" has internal backins and external pull thrus. The pull thrus have no water.

I did go to the local quick mart and had a pizza made for our lunch. Shirley's half was peperoni and my half was canadian bacon and sausage. A medium pizza came to $11.00. We made one meal and will have atleast one more tomorrow. After lunch my sleep button was hit and off to bed I went for 1.5 hours. Missed my golf!

Shirley stayed up and read her novels. She has quite a few to keep her busy. I decided I had better post something here. I have no pictures of the day so there wont be any pics to post. Should we take a walk and take the camera, there might be a pic or two. We are going to take a walk and will be back later.

Its Sunday and warm and very windy. To windy to get out. So we stayed in and enoyed the day and the golf and a movie. Its suppose to be calmer tomorrow but lets wait and see.

One of the sights to NOT miss when visiting downtown Santa Fe. The church is a beautiful piece of architecture from the past and the present. The pictures are just a small window of what there is to see. And you can take pictures inside as long as there is no flash. And be respectiful, take off your hat.







This is the sanctury. It was beautiful. There were different woods used on the floor and the back wall. Its a must see. There are more pics on the picture link page. And there will be more as we make another trip into Santa Fe.









An exterior view of the church. Simply stunning.
















Just one of the many buildings worth a picture. There are more buildings in the webshots picture links. Do a close-up of this photo and see the many vendors selling their wares on the sidewalk.




A photo of the sidewalk vendors and a corner vendor. There is over 30 vendors showing their wares. They make some of the most beautiful jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, ear rings), money clips, neck ties ( western style), and more. Some were priced affordable and some were much higher priced. Some of the vendors take credit cards but most prefer cash. So, be sure to bring your "C" notes and be overwhelmed.

I forgot to post that the car, a 94 Chevy Cavilier turned 150,000 miles on this daytrip.


Temp: 84 with gusts to 31

We took this trip this morning and we were very disappointed. There were three towns to see. The first one, Cerillos, was really run down. The tourist area was closed and looked pretty bad. We drove thru and left.

The next town, Madrid, was where all the "artist" lived and was a jumping. People everywhere, crowded, and no place to really park. The tourist area is right on the highway. We drove slowly and left town.



The next town is Golden. It was alot "vacant". Not very many people and very little for a tourist to see or do and most of all, spend money.

But it had something that the other towns did not have. Something to take a pic of. Here is a town that mined for gold in the past and has lots of buildings that have fallen in or are beyond repair. Then there was the house of nic nacks, lots of nic nacks. I took these pics of it for your enjoyment.



We will try another byway trip later but tomorrow its Santa Fe to tour. I know there will be pics to take, I've been there before.

For this trip, its a PASS.

Temp: 90 and windy.

The entrance to the campground at the lake. From I25, take NM22 and go till you see the dam. Continue on, past the NM22 left turn, up the hill and then turn right at the sign. There is a convience store/gas below us that has a laundry. And do visit the little town here, see MLS listing 133447 for this home, in Cochiti Lake, 87503. 2960 sf, 2/2.5/2 with office, fp and views. Its listed at $131.42/psf. Much more than I want or need.
This is our backyard. We drove to the overlook and this is what we have behind the house to the south..

And this is our door side yard. This is to the northeast from our space. Specticular views.

There are more pics on our photo link.

Temp: 86
Temp: 46 overnight.
Mileage: 17
GPS: N35 deg 38.668, W106 deg 19.816

We left the Valley of Fire and headed west to stop at a US380 rest stop. We have found from last year to always have a backup plan. Things are not always as they appear. Well, the rest stop was there, lots of RR cars and stuff but our side was CLOSED. So on we go and the wind has picked up. We drive on to I25 at San Antonio and head north toward Abq. There is a Walmart in Belen and thats were we called a halt to the driving in this wind. Later on the news, Abq had gusts to 51 mph. We are 24 miles south of there and its blowing dust so bad, a 1/4 mile is all you could see.
We spent the night and got up to calm winds and dust every where. We left there and drove on to Lake Cochiti which is 30 miles south of Santa Fe, NM. We have a nice spot here.

If your askin, we were unable to put the dish up till we got to Lake Cochiti. Your patience is appreciated at times.

Milage: 368
Gas: $126.00 in Pena Blanca @ $2.82.9
Temp: 81

The story of the lava flow. Believe it or not, not a volcano was respondsible for this. That will keep you guessing.

Its a 5 mile trip off the highway but worth the trip. Lots of markings to see and good exercise. The park was closed because of the fire danger. We got lots of pics for you to see.
















A view of the camp site. Can you see our RV?












It is an up hill climb, really up hill. Here is that guy from the White Sands again. He is following us around. Look at those steps to climb.















A pic of the petroglyph's for you to see.
Look closely and see if there is more than one. Lots more on our pictue link.

Caught this guy posing, he sure looks funny standing there.













And these kids were having a ball going down the hill.








Shirley got this pic of the vegatation here. Apart of the sands has greenery and part does not.














A sure sign that we were there.

We stopped at a nice little park north of town on US54. He had several pistachio trees. This one was by our space. Shirley took the pic, she is so good.

We left Alamgordo for Three Rivers.

Milage: 113