On Saturday we traveled through Cheyenne and drove around Pine Bluffs, WY where Meg’s family lived when she was born. It was fun to see the area and we even discovered a distillery in Pine Bluffs. We then drove another 5 hours across Nebraska to Seward (just West of Lincoln) where we spent the night. On Sunday morning we stopped at a cute coffee shop in Lincoln and then continued all the way across Iowa to Dubuque, on the Mississippi River.
We spent a lovely week in Longmont, CO. During the days, Meg took advantage of a nearby running / walking trail, made the 25 min drive to downtown Boulder to wander the shops, and worked on a jigsaw puzzle. In the afternoons after Matt finished work we visited a couple local breweries to take advantage of the last of the decent outdoor weather. Left Hand Brewing Company and Wibby Brewing both had large outdoor patios, including a very enjoyable gas fire pit at Left Hand. On Wednesday Matt took a vacation day and we went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, about 45 min away. The mountains were beautiful, and luckily a very smart park ranger recommended that we might want spikes for our hiking. We saw a lot of wildlife throughout the day: Steller’s Jays, Wild Turkeys, Antelope, Deer, and a Big Horn Sheep. After hiking, we drove to Fort Collins for a well-deserved outdoor dinner at Old Elk Distillery (we might have been sitting outside in our full winter coats) and a quick stop at Crooked Stave.
After five days we said goodbye to Albuquerque and drove to Chaco Culture National Historic Park in Northwestern New Mexico, where we hiked among some of the Chacoan great houses preserved there. After a picnic lunch we drove through the Navajo nation, passing everything from lush farmland to barren badlands, until we reached the delightfully kitschy El Rancho Hotel & Motel, capping off 330 miles of total driving.
Albuquerque Day 5: Today we took the tram to the top of Sandia Peak (from 6,500 ft to 10,378 in 15 minutes!) and hiked up to the Kiwanis Cabin via a number of trails. Afterwards we had stuffed sopapillas for lunch at Ex Novo Brewing Company and an amazing dinner at Farm & Table.
Albuquerque Day 4: We drove about an hour Northwest of Albuquerque to Jemez Hot Springs today and spent two very relaxing hours soaking in the hot pools. From there we took Route 4, the Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway to Valles Caldera National Preserve, a 13-mile wide volcanic depression. We rounded out the day with a brief stop in Los Alamos and then treated ourselves to ice cream on our way through Santa Fe, followed by a return visit to Bow and Arrow Brewing for a late dinner.
Albuquerque Day 2: This morning, before it got too warm, we visited the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park to walk through the Bosque (forest) and then stopped at an Albuquerque institution, Duran’s Pharmacy to grab lunch. It’s still a working pharmacy, but also contains a lunch counter with (possibly) the best tortillas in town. In the afternoon we did some work and caught up on editing travel photos. For dinner we visited Bow and Arrow Brewing and ate delicious pupusa’s from the food truck that was visiting: Yarling’s Pupuseria.
Albuquerque Day 1: We set out this morning on the High Road to Taos Scenic Byway. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains and pine forests between Taos and Santa Fe. Lunch at Rowley Farmhouse Ales was fantastic and we waited out some monsoon hail before continuing to Albuquerque via the Turquoise Trail and parts of Historic Route 66. After settling in to our Airbnb (an apartment near Old Town) we headed to Sawmill Market for dinner.
We started our stay in Taos with a trip to the farmer’s market where we realized we had come to New Mexico during green chile harvest season! We got freshly roasted green chiles, along with a lot of seasonal goodies and baked goods: we were in absolute heaven! Afterwards we wandered through the local shops before heading back to make dinner: a mushroom and poblano fritatta with a big green salad.
The next morning we got an early start and headed north to hike the Big Arsenic trail, where we descended into a canyon to the Rio Grande. It was arduous (839ft from canyon rim to canyon floor) but we were rewarded with beautiful vistas of the river and a number of petroglyphs. We treated ourselves to lunch at Taos Mesa Brewing before heading home to take advantage of the high elevation and clear skies to photograph the sunset and the night sky.
This morning Meg woke up at 6:15 am to run the 1.8 mile Bosque River Loop trail. It was beautiful just after sunrise and she kept pausing to take photos! After Meg’s run, we arrived at the spa soaking pools just as they opened at 7:30am. It was extremely tranquil and we shared the pools with only about 10 other people. After a luxurious soak and mud bath, we treated ourselves to breakfast (blue corn piñon pancakes for Meg & breakfast taco’s for Matt) and delicious coffee from the resort restaurant. Our hour-long drive to Taos went smoothly, we got settled in our traditional adobe-style AirBnB, and enjoyed dinner on the patio at a local restaurant.
Our room at Ojo Caliente is extremely luxurious and includes our own patio hot spring soaking pool. We think this might be the fanciest hotel room we’ve ever had. After a very good night of sleep, we started our day with a visit to the hot spring pools. The air temperature was cool in the morning, and it wasn’t too busy, so we enjoyed a nice soak. Afterwards we hiked to the Joseph Mica Mines, a 4-mile out and back trail. As we approached the mine (three holes cut in the cliff side) all the rocks began to sparkle. After the hike we revisit the hot springs and got takeout dinner from the resort restaurant.
