Month: February 2018

Phoenix Fiasco

Phoenix Fiasco

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Hey Guys! Let’s see…where did I leave you hanging?

Let’s recap just a bit… It was Tuesday and we were in one of our favorite RV parks in the Sedona area soaking up that awesome Sedona vibe, trying to figure out what was wrong with the engine of our home-on-wheels when a dealership in Phoenix called us back. If we got there that day they could get us in. Well, sweet chickens! Let’s get going! We let the office know of our early departure (no refund…we were paid up to Saturday) and we took off trying to get to Phoenix before the RV guy at the dealership left for the day.

We made it to the dealership where the RV guy listened to our engine and proclaimed he didn’t really know what was wrong with it, but that we were going to need a brand new engine. Hmmm…what? Oh, and they couldn’t even start working us in until after the first of the year. And, the RV guy made it seem like our engine was on it’s last leg. This was very new news to us since the other two dealerships we’d had it at couldn’t really find anything wrong and told us it wouldn’t hurt to keep driving.

It was Dec 19th (a Tuesday) in southern Arizona and our reservations at Lost Dutchman State Park didn’t start until that Saturday the 23rd. Well, what the hay-diddly were we going to do? Have y’all ever tried to get last minute reservations in the middle of the winter in southern Arizona? It’s nearly impossible if you’re not 55+ and you have kiddos. We called over to Lost Dutchman SP and miraculously found spots for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, you can’t reserve a spot for the same day…it’s first come…but we were told there were six available spots if we could get there. We didn’t really have a choice…we didn’t feel safe sitting in the dealership parking lot.

We chanced it. Worst case scenario we would have to dry camp for a night in one of our favorite state parks. It took us close to 2 hours to go the 46 miles from the dealership to Lost Dutchman SP.

When we got there the park office was already closed and it was getting dark. Luckily, we’d been there before and we knew our way around. Arizona gave us a pretty spectacular sunset as we were searching for a spot for the night.

We woke up in our favorite spot in Lost Dutchman. It was such a welcome sight! We’d been able to make reservations for the rest of the week until our original reservations would kick in, but we were going to have to move pretty much daily. It was going to be a week of site hopping. But, hey…at least we had a place! It could definitely have been worse. We headed up to the Ranger’s station to try and figure out what we were going to do for the three days that we needed to gap from when our reservations would run out and we could get into the dealership to get the work done. Guys, these Rangers and Volunteers were amazing. They bent over backwards trying to figure something…anything out for us and it worked. They pieced together places so that we would have someplace to stay through the end of the year.

We spent the first week spot hopping. It became a routine to get up and start watching for the people in our new spot to leave so we could move. Most days we were just a few spots over.

Let’s be totally honest here, there are no bad views at Lost Dutchman State Park. I mean, look at that view? How could anyone be in a bad mood with that view out their window? Plus the weather was ah-mazing! It was mid 70s during the day and low 50s at night. I could think of worse places to unexpectedly be stuck.

And…all of the moving made utilizing the dump station easier. The only downside to Lost Dutchman SP is that there aren’t any full hookup sites. But, geez, with those views…who cares.

It was the week before Christmas so we put engine issues on the side burner and started on our Christmas traditions. One of our traditions is to have tamales for our Christmas dinner. Some years it’s a challenge to find tamales, but this year we hit the jackpot! We ended up at a place called Old El Paso Tamales and Guys…they were soooo good!

We were able to sneak in a visit to a National Monument while we were in the Phoenix area. Casa Grande National Monument is preserving what remains of an ancient Hohokam (ho ho KAHM) farming village. Casa Grande (“Great House”) is one of the most prominent examples of the Ancestral People’s society.

In 1932 a steel and concrete canopy was built to protect Casa Grande from the harsh Arizona environment. At one time this Great House was four stories high and sixty feet long. This site is the largest known structure left by the Ancestral People of the Sonoran Desert. The builders of this Great House were very in tune with the sky. The walls face the four cardinal points of the compass and there are holes in the walls that align with the sun/moon at different times of the day/year. It took 3,000 tons of a concrete like mixture of sand, clay, and limestone to complete Casa Grande in 1350. We learned a lot at this National Monument and met another traveling family from Hawaii! Meeting other travel families is always fun!

We made it back to Burger House in Miami, AZ!! We drove 45 mins one way just to eat a Green Mix Burro Enchilada Style. I got one to eat there and one to take home. Yum!! If it’s possible my take home burro was even better!

Meanwhile, Arizona was showing off with all of the gorgeous sunsets.

We made it through our week of musical spots and settled into our original reservation spot. It was really nice to be able to stay put for longer than two days. Between all of the moving around, Christmas prep, and Casa Grande we only made it out to the trails once.

We hiked a portion of the Siphon Draw Trail one afternoon. I really enjoy this trail, but can’t work up the nerve to go all the way to the top of it. We’ve heard it takes about six hours to go all the way to the top and back. Now, y’all know we don’t shy away from a hiking challenge…the Guadalupe Peak and Harding Ice Field hikes are proof of that…but this trail has tons of loose gravel once it reaches a certain point. It’s at this point that I turn around. I stood there…at my turn around point…and watched countless people slip and slide and fall and I totally chickened out. Again. It’s hard enough to hike on loose rock as it is, but I’m carrying my camera in one hand so that only leaves me one hand to balance, catch myself, and climb. I’m looking into a solution to this. I’m determined to reach the top of Siphon Draw one day.

Until then, I’ll just soak up the views and the sun as much as I can! I’m always amazed at how green the Sonoran desert is. One day I’ll make it to the Sonoran desert during the spring so I can see all of the cactus flowers! I’ve heard it’s spectacular!

Let’s talk foodies! We ate at a few new places, the two worth mentioning are both called Taquitos Jalisco. No joke. We were at an office store getting my calendar printed out and asked someone where some good Mexican food could be found. She pointed us to Taquitos Jalisco. Problem was…there were two and we weren’t really sure which one she meant. So, of course, we had to try both! Guys, both places were so good! Very different from one another, but both very good! We will definitely hit both again next time we get back to the area!

Y’all might remember that Jerl had to have eye surgery back in late September 2017. Well, it was time for another post-op eye check and we coordinated with his eye doc (Dr. Benedett) to find someone to do the exam in the Phoenix area. We love Dr. Benedett, by-the-way.  December 28th we headed to Jerl’s check-up and found out that his retina was re-detaching. We didn’t really go into panic mode until the young doctor we were seeing started giving us conflicting information. That worried us. A lot. He couldn’t even tell us if Jerl would be under general anesthesia or local anesthesia during the process.

We spent the afternoon talking about all of our options. There weren’t really that many. I jumped online and tried to find an RV park that we would be able to stay at for 2 months in the Phoenix area and guess what…nadda. As good as the Ranger’s at Lost Dutchman are, there were no available spots. Not even for one night after our reservations ended. For several reasons we decided to chance a 1,425 mile dash back to Missouri on an engine that was acting up and through winter weather to get back to Dr. Benedett. Yup, he’s that good.

In the next post I’ll fill y’all in about our mad dash to Missouri and give you an update on Jerl’s eye and the RV engine.

See y’all down the road!

#grandwesternloop

Sedona Take Two

Sedona Take Two

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Hey Guys!! From Santa Fe we headed to the Sedona, AZ area where we were supposed to spend two glorious weeks hiking, hiking, and hiking some more. It didn’t quite work out that way…well, I’ll explain all of that later.

Excuse the poor quality of the top picture. Between the dirty windshield and the sun right in my face…this is as good as I could get from my phone. So! When you go to Sedona from the north you have to make your way down from the Colorado Plateau that northern Arizona sits on. This makes for a hair raising…sometimes white knuckled, puckery trip as you make your way down 18 full miles of lots and lots of down. It’s not a steep grade. I don’t think it ever goes above 7%…it’s just that it’s 18 miles of it and you have to watch out that you don’t burn up your breaks before you get down to the bottom. Fortunately for those whose breaks don’t hold up, the builders of this road put in several runaway truck ramps along with just as many pull-offs so over heated breaks can cool off before continuing on. You have to be smart when driving a big rig down this portion of the highway and if it’s your first time, I would suggest you do it during the daylight hours.

Don’t worry though, we made it to our RV park and into our spot with no troubles! One of our favorite things about our life is all the people we get to meet. We met a couple from Montana (one of our neighbors) who quickly became friends. It’s always fun to meet back up with friends we make in our travels.

We spent most of Sunday going to Jerome. Jerome has some amazing views from it’s perch on the side of Cleopatra Hill where it overlooks the Verde Valley. Originally a copper mining town, Jerome has faced some pretty big disasters and today is said to be very haunted with a local myth about lost gold in the nearby Sycamore Canyon. There are still remnants of Jerome’s colorful past scattered throughout town. Apparently, it was a really rough and dangerous place to live at one time.

We went for the views…and the burgers. The first time we were in the Sedona area we drove up to Jerome in hopes of eating at The Haunted Hamburger, but we couldn’t find a single place to park. Anywhere! So, we turned around and headed on. This time, we got there earlier and found a spot not too far from our destination. To be totally honest, we weren’t overly impressed with the burgers here. They were just kind of ok for us and the prices…we don’t mind paying for a good meal, but if I’m paying $15 for a burger…it had better be one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my life! The view from our table was awesome though! And…according to their story, the place really is haunted! We didn’t have any paranormal experiences while we were there, but it made for some fun conversation while we waited for our food.

The boys have been talking about Bell Rock since we were there back in 2015. It’s a fun place to do some rock scrambling and see how far up the rock formation you can make it. Personally, I like to go up part way then find a spot to sit and relax and just take in the epic view of all of those red rocks.

One of the reasons we have the tow vehicle we have is so we can venture down roads like the one in the picture above. We really loved the Devil’s Bridge hike the first time we were in the area and decided to tackle it again. The hardest part about this hike (and possibly the best part for Jerl since he gets to do some 4x4ing) is getting to the official trail head. For those that don’t have the right kind of vehicle, there’s a parking lot you can park in that adds about 2 miles to your hike.

The trail isn’t one of those smooth, flat, well maintained trails…it’s very much a wilderness type of trail where you have to watch where you’re walking. There’s quite a bit of up with this trail, but none of it is terribly hard. There are a few places that can be a challenge for people with short legs.

Devil’s Bridge is a great TAB (there and back) trail that ends up being around a mile and a half if you can drive to the official trail head. It’s a popular trail so be prepared to share the trail and take turns at the bridge for pictures.

The only other trail we had time for was the West Fork Oak Creek Trail. This is another TAB trail and runs about 4 miles one way. Oh, and you cross Oak Creek 13 times…one way…so that makes 26 chances to fall into the creek. The boys were thrilled at the prospect of “accidentally” falling in. Ha! At the beginning of the trail you can explore a few old structures left over from days gone by when there was a small log cabin back in the 1860s which later became Mayhew Lodge in the 1920s.

All four of the boys had to smell the ponderosa trees. A ponderosa is a type of pine tree and if you’ve never stopped to smell one…well, you’re definitely missing out. We’ve smelled vanilla, butterscotch, toasted marshmallow…it mainly depends on the age of the tree and the smell can even change a bit with the season. Try it next time you see one!

The morning we hiked the West Fork trail it was a chilly 30° and the creek was mostly frozen over so we had to plan out our creek crossings. The ice made the rocks especially treacherous so we took our time at each crossing.

For the most part, this trail was super easy! The only challenge to this trail were the creek crossings…and I’ll be honest, even those weren’t bad. West Fork Oak Creek Trail ended up being one of our favorite trails in the area. We’ve already talked about going back during warmer weather to hike it again. And if you’re wondering, only a couple of us fell in the creek…a few times…you’re going to have to guess who it was though. I’m not telling.

Let’s talk foodies! We found Hog Wild BBQ during our 2015 trip to the area. Places like this are why it’s so hard to pay the high price for an ok burger. (Top right picture) This was an awesome burger for half the price. Juanita’s Taqueria was a recommendation from someone who worked in the RV park. This place has the best shredded beef tacos we’ve ever had. (bottom left picture) We had plans to eat there again before we left the area, but a monkey wrench was thrown into our plans.

We started having engine troubles when we left Amarillo. We’d had our home-on-wheels to two different Ford dealerships and none of the techs could tell us really what was wrong, only that they weren’t big enough to work on an RV and to check with a different dealership. While we were in Sedona we ended up at a dealership in Cottonwood which led us to contacting a dealership in Phoenix. The dealership in Phoenix told us they were pretty busy and that it would be a week before we could get in…which was cool because we had about a week left in the Sedona area before heading to the Phoenix area for our next stop anyway.

Ready for the monkey wrench? The Phoenix dealership ended up calling us on Tuesday telling us if we could get our RV there that day they could get us in. Now, I should mention here that we’d been hearing horror stories of how long it can take to get stuff done at these dealerships… so we jumped at the chance to get our process going. We left the Sedona area (without a refund for the week we’d already paid for at the RV park) and headed to Phoenix. Guys, when we got there…the techs spent 20 minutes (maybe) guessing and then told us they couldn’t get us in until after the first of the year. That would be two weeks from then. So…we were stuck in southern Arizona during the winter snowbird rush without reservations.

I hate to leave you with a cliffhanger, but you’ll have to wait until the next post to see what happens since we’re into the Phoenix area post now.

I’ll leave you with this video of our Sedona adventures!

See y’all down the road!

#grandwesternloop

New Mexico Foodies

New Mexico Foodies

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Hey Guys! I know what you’re thinking…a whole post just for foodies? But, y’all know we love our foodies! Our explorations are just as much about the foodies as they are the views, National & State Parks, and the hiking. Every new area has it’s specialty…certain things that you can only get there or that were started there.

For New Mexico, there are several foodies that you’ll want to seek out while visiting! New Mexican foodies aren’t really Mex, but they aren’t quite Tex either. They’re this happy little medium that usually looks like a plate of goop…but tastes very much like magic! There are six foodies that most people will agree are the quintessential New Mexican foodies, so let’s go through those first.

Before we jump into the foodies…let’s get one thing out of the way. In New Mexico…chilies reign supreme. In the grocery stores you’ll find them in these handy little tubs that are good for one meal. You can get them hot, medium, or mild. Fire roasted or not. Chopped, diced, or pureed. You definitely have options. My favorite (and the most cost effective) way is to get big 5 lb. bags of frozen chopped chilies then divvy them up into smaller one pound bags that I can pull from the freezer and throw into anything.

The most important question you’ll be asked in a New Mexican restaurant is if you want red or green. Until you’ve found your favorite, I’d suggest Christmas style. Half red and half green!

On to the Foodies! I’ll start with the Green Chile Cheeseburger. You can easily find these all over New Mexico, but not all burgers are created equal. Any green chili cheeseburger we’ve had comes with a mound of green chilies and is covered in a white cheese. The easiest place to find them would be at a Blake’s Lotaburger. Blake’s is a fast-food place. Think Dairy Queen with a New Mexican twist. And while Blake’s isn’t our favorite, it’s where the locals go for a quick burger. After two tours through New Mexico we’ve found two places that we feel have the best all around green chili cheeseburger. We found Rockin BZ Burgers in Alamogordo our first time through NM and dreamed about them for two years before we could get back there. Rockin BZ still number one for us, but a close (and we mean a very close) second is Church Street Grill in Carlsbad. With these two places you’ll get the whole package. The chilies are hot, but not melt-your-face-off, the meat is good quality, the cheese has a nice mild flavor, and the buns hold up nicely. And then you’ve got a decent selection of really good sides.

Green Chile Stew is a New Mexican staple food. Every restaurant will have their own little twist on this dish, but they don’t usually stray too far from the simple dish of green chilies, pork, garlic, onions, and potatoes in a broth. It’s one of our favorite things to make at home so we don’t usually order it out. We’re kind of partial to our own recipe after two years of tweaking and getting it just right for our taste buds. I should say though…anytime we’ve ordered it out, the green chili stew is loaded with flavor and the meat is so tender it falls apart in your mouth!

Sopapillas are fried pockets of light airy dough! In New Mexico they’re served with the meal. You can eat them the way you’d eat a roll or save them for the end of the meal and have them with honey. Actually, if you get into some big time heat with your meal, this is a great way to help cut the heat.

One of my favorite ways to get a sopapilla is stuffed. It’s hard to see under that pile of cheese and chili sauce, but there’s a great big sopapilla on that plate stuffed with pork and green chilies, and more cheese. We’ve had some really good stuffed sopapillas! The Sopapilla Factory in Santa Fe and Sadie’s of New Mexico in Albuquerque are two of our favorites!

Breakfast Burritos are a staple in New Mexico. Pretty much every restaurant that sells breakfast has a breakfast burrito on the menu and we’ve never had one we didn’t like. The biggest decision you’ll have to make is if you want it dry or covered. Covered comes with the chili sauce of your choice (red or green) and cheese. Dry is…well, just like it sounds…more of a pick-it-up type of burrito. It’s rumored that the breakfast burrito started at a restaurant called Tia Sophias in Santa Fe back in the 70s. We’ve never had one there, but we have had lunch there and we highly recommend it for an authentic New Mexican meal!

Stacked Enchiladas are exactly what they sound like! Instead of rolled individually, the enchiladas are stacked on top of each other…kind of like an enchilada casserole. I was reluctant to try these. To me enchiladas are rolled up, sitting side by side, little tubes of awesome. But, I wanted the full New Mexican Foodie experience…so I broke down and tried them. And then I ordered them every chance I got. Yup, I’m a fan. My two favorite places to get this magical enchilada casserole-esque dish is at Casa De Suenos in Tularosa and at  Rancho De Chimayo in Chimayo. In forty-three states, I’ve only seen stacked enchiladas in New Mexico. Maybe I missed them somewhere? I don’t know, but I highly recommend giving them a chance!

Navajo Tacos are probably my favorite New Mexican foodie. I know, I know…it’s just a taco…but, y’all, it’s soooo much more than just a taco! First of all, it’s made on Navajo Indian fry bread. It’s the fry bread that totally makes this taco so amazing. Indian fry bread is similar to the sopapilla in that it’s a light airy bread, but that’s really where the similarity ends. Indian fry tends to have more of a chew and the outside is crisper! It really is perfection! There are variations to this, but usually you’ll find a Navajo Taco with ground beef, beans, green chili sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. My absolute favorite is from Twisters in Albuquerque, but the Sopapilla Factory in Santa Fe is a very close second!

So, those are your six main New Mexican Foodies, but they’re definitely not the only New Mexican Foodies!

They’re called rolled tacos…but they’re basically taquitos. A corn tortilla stuffed with a meat and then rolled and deep fried! Usually served with something to dip them in. This New Mexican Foodie is Nicholas’ favorite.

Sometimes you’ll find something special on the menu. It’s a burger, wrapped in a flour tortilla, and then deep fried. It’s the ultimate New Mexican hamburger! We’ve seen them dry (where you pick them up) and covered (fork and knife type of meal). You can’t go wrong either way!

In the more authentic restaurants, you’ll find your meal comes with a side of posole. You can see it in the picture above…it’s the white stuff. So, what the heck is posole? Well, posole is a traditional New Mexican stew made of hominy, pork, and spices. It’s usually very savory and filling. Any posole I’ve had has a bit of a kick to it and the hominy still has just the tiniest bit of chew left. It’s surprisingly good (I’m not usually a fan of hominy)!

If you’re in New Mexico…you have to try some biscochito cookies! They’re kind of cross between a shortbread cookie and a butter cookie spiced with cinnamon and anise.  They’re crispy and sweet and they are a really good way to help cut the heat of some of the food when you’re done with your spicy meal! And, if you need another excuse to try them…biscochitos are the New Mexican state cookie!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the spices and tortillarias in a post about New Mexican Foodies! There is a brand of spices called Chimayo Traditions that I absolutely love! They’ve got some great mixes with recipes on the back like the one in the pic above, but they’ve also got my favorite chile powder! I stock up and horde it to make it stretch out. If you’ve found this brand somewhere besides New Mexico…please tell me where! We can eat ourselves silly on fresh tortillas and chips from the tortillarias! We always take the opportunity to have some with our favorite home cooked meals!

OK, Guys…that’s all I’ve got for you on New Mexican Foodies! Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to take a trip to New Mexico or try your hand at making something new at home. Get out there and try some new foodies!

See y’all down the road!

#grandwesternloop

Santa Fe Area

Santa Fe Area

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Hey Guys! We spent one week in the Santa Fe area trying to hit everything we missed last time and revisit a few of our favorites.

The first thing we did was hit one of our very favorite pizza places. Back Road Pizza. We’ve been talking about this pizza since we discovered it two years ago! The New Mexican pizza is probably our all time favorite.

We also managed to hit three National Park Units! It’s amazing how many NPS Units are in this area!

The Pecos National Historical Park preserves two Pecos Pueblo ruins along with old church ruins. Most of the pueblo ruins looked like the pic above. Not much was left. Around 2/3 of the South Pueblo ruins remain in an unexcavated mound. I wanted to include a picture of this sign to give y’all an idea of what one of these pueblos used to look like. Pecos, at its peak, was a trading place for the Plains Apaches and would have been home to around 2,000 people.

We saw several Kivas. I think I saw that there are 20 kivas at the Pecos Pueblo. You can see the remains of one in the pic above. (top right picture) During the Fall of 1540, the Pecos’ lives would be changed forever when a Spanish expedition claimed the land for their king and demanded the Pecos become Christians. The first mission built was finished in 1625. It’s estimated that the builders used around 300,000 forty-pound adobe bricks to complete the 1625 mission. This first mission functioned for 55 years but burned during a rebellion in 1680. The Pecos people tied a certain number of knots in ropes and handed them out to everyone. Each day they would untie one knot. When the last knot was untied, the rebellion started. The second mission was finished in 1717. By 1821 Pecos was almost a ghost town and in 1838 the last inhabitants left the pueblo to join their relatives at the Jemez Pueblo eighty miles away.

Fort Union National Monument protects what’s left of the three forts once built here. When the US acquired the New Mexico Territory at the end of the Mexican-American War, Fort Union was built to guard and aid in the American expansion into the Southwest.

Fort Union was positioned where the Santa Fe Trail’s two main branches met. Some years over 3,000 wagons made a trip up or down the Santa Fe Trail’s 900 miles. For many, Fort Union was the end of a long 800 mile journey through the Great Plains under constant threat of attack. At Fort Union there was someone on watch at all hours for incoming riders/wagon trains on the trail. When riders or wagon trains were spotted Fort riders were sent out to get everything organized and into a single file line by the time they reached the Fort. So, what was a trail wide enough that it would allow up to four wagons to ride side by side ended up being a single file trail closer to Fort Union. Can you imagine having that job? Telling riders at the end of an 800 mile wagon ride that they need to slow down and get in single file line? I imagine they were met with some grumpy people.

Fort Union protected the Santa Fe trail and it’s travelers, aided in protecting against Native American attacks, and was a major supplier for the US Army. There were three forts built here from 1851-1891 each fort getting bigger and stronger than the one before it.  What once was the largest fort west of the Mississippi River is falling into ruins today. The NPS isn’t allowed to do anything but try to preserve what’s left. They’re trying their hardest to preserve this part of our history.

The grass has grown up over the trail. If there wasn’t a sign, you’d never know you were looking at one of the most important trials in US history. Can you imagine setting off on a 900 mile wagon journey across the Great Plains? Wagons could only cross in the summer or early fall when there was enough grass to feed the mules and oxen that pulled the wagons and they would only make around 8 to 10 miles a day. I’m not sure I’m cut out for that kind of travel. I feel like we’re crawling when we’re going 55 mph down the highway in our home-on-wheels!

The last NPS Unit we made it to in our week in the Santa Fe area was the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Valle Grande, in the picture above, was formed around one million years ago when a series of huge volcanic eruptions spewed a volume of material 500 times greater than the May 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. There’s a visitor center here and some trails, but we didn’t get to do much because it was cold and icy the day we went. I’d love to go back during the spring when it’s all green!

Valles Caldera looks like a big bear paw on a map. Can you see it?  (top picture) We heard some of the Natives in the area call it that. This area is gorgeous even with the forest healing from a big fire a few years back.

One of the neat things about this NPS Unit is due to all of the volcanic activity. There are tons of obsidian laying around! What you might not know (we didn’t) is that when obsidian reaches a certain temperature it turns into poofy obsidian. A what obsidian? Poofy. In the picture above, you can see a normal shiny, black piece of obsidian. Next to it is the poofy obsidian. Poofy obsidian is soooo light and airy! It was pretty neat to see and feel the difference. If you step on it, it poofs. If you hold it too tight, it poofs. Due to the large fire there are tons of poofy obsidian in the park now. If you visit this park, please don’t poof their obsidian.

We also stopped back by Bandelier National Monument to revisit it in hopes of seeing it without snow, but the main trail was closed due to maintenance…so, we hopped back in the car and drove on. The views in this area are pretty stellar!

New Mexico is one of our favorite states. The views, the hikes, the NPS Units, the foodies, and the vibe all speak to us. There are so many postcard worthy vistas in this gorgeous state!

I imagine we will go back to New Mexico again and again throughout the years!

See y’all down the road!

#grandwesternloop