Before we move on to New Mexico, I have to give a shout out to our first stop: Colorado’s Lathrop State Park. It’s our first state park, founded in 1962, and it’s a beautiful spot! The Spanish Peaks are gorgeous, there are hiking and biking trails, two lakes for boating and fishing, and 80+ camping spots. Neither of us had ever heard of it before.

The next day we traveled to New Mexico which is under a Fire Weather Watch due to low humidity (under 10%!) and high winds of 20 mph with 40 mph gusts. Although I’m not a lover of humidity, if I stay here much longer I might dry up like a tumbleweed and blow away.

Even with our comfort steering the wind was so bad Craig had to wrestle Liscia to stay in our lane. Unfortunately, a huge gust blew us off course and we clipped a large traffic cone closing off the right lane of I-25. So, we now have a bit of a paint scratch down the side, which broke Craig’s heart. On the other hand, it could have been much, much worse, so we’re grateful!

I hate to say it but Taos was a dull disappointment: dirty, rundown, unorganized, and, unless you like southwestern art galleries (which ain’t really our thing) there wasn’t much to see. Even our lunch made me sick 🤢 Georgia O’Keefe’s famous Ghost Ranch was not close enough but we hope to catch it on the way back.

We actually camped in nearby Angel Fire, a ski resort, which was tiny and pretty. AND, we met a great couple at Angel Fire who we played pickleball with (darn, forgot to get a photo) and we now have friends who winter in an Arizona community with 38 pickleball courts, oh yeah!

Just finished our visit to Santa Fe and ooo la la, what a cute town! If you want southwest jewelry, it’s the place to go but you’ll pay top dollar. They must mandate that any new buildings be in the adobe style to maintain their history and it creates a wonderful ambience. Clean as a whistle and great food.

Last night, we booked a private soaking tub at Ojo Santa Fe, where Native Americans and the Spanish chilled out (or rather, heated up) in the hot springs for hundreds of years. We slept well!

We sedate Roswell on travel days. He’s still scared but he doesn’t howl like he did on Joy Girl, so he copes better in the land yacht. He recovers quickly once we stop for the night. He’s got a “mad on” for me-at home he sleeps in the crook of my arm most nights, but now he keeps his distance at the end of the bed. Hey, I get it. I was mad at my folks when they dragged us around the world in my teens. But I bet Roswell will forgive me faster than I forgave them. Love you, Mom!

We’ve passed the Rio Grande river a few times and I’ve had that great 80’s tune “Her Name is Rio” stuck in my head. (Don’t understand why they filmed the video on the ocean instead of the Rio!)

On to Durango today. Colorado is not on a Fire Watch so my skin might be able to retain normal moisture levels…