Angel Fire, NM 7/17-24/10

[RU55ELL]

I took the wife and kids to NM for a week of vacation. We visited the surrounding cities of Taos, Eagles Nest and Red River and pretty much just enjoyed some much needed time off from work.

We left Houston at 8:30PM on 7/16, drove all night and made it to AF at 1:30PM on 7/17. A brutal drive as you can imagine.

We stopped at a picnic area to eat some homemade apple spice bread for breakfast.

The kids enjoying their bread:

Our dog, Scruffy, looking for handouts:

And of course an obligatory truck pic:

We hit the road again stopping only for gas until we reached Roy, NM and ate some sandwiches we had packed for the trip.

We took 120 to 434 headed to AF and surprisingly, a good bit of 120 is rock/dirt road requiring low speed. The scenery was nice and the kids loved looking around while we drove thru.

We finally made it to the house in AF.

 

[RU55ELL]

After unpacking and getting a nap, I got some pics of the evening sky.

The next morning, we got moving a bit late due to hard traveling the day before. The temperature was very pleasant indeed.

We got breakfast, then went into town to do some looking around and to let the MIL do some spending and saw this guy:

Later in the afternoon, I decided to take the wife and explore a forest road off of 434.

The route:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=NM-434+N&daddr=Fr+76+to:Fr+76+to:F+R+76+to:36.283997,-105.323524&hl=en&geocode=Fd5tKgIddGC5-Q%3BFaNPKgIdFh65-Q%3BFYwkKgIddPi4-Q%3BFeTRKQIdCvi4-Q%3B&mra=mi&mrcr=3&mrsp=4&sz=15&sll=36.288079,-105.318375&sspn=0.017331,0.027423&ie=UTF8&ll=36.277216,-105.324812&spn=0.017333,0.027423&t=h&z=15

The pics:

 

[RU55ELL]

We ended up coming back to the house to pick up the kids and my FIL and had a picnic close to the same spot.

Pics:

Playing with binoculars:

 

[RU55ELL]

The next day, we went to a Taos Pueblo village, which was really disappointing. Yeah, the structures were old, but I felt as if they were exploiting their heritage to sell jewelry and pottery. I didn't take a single picture. On the way back, we stopped and took a couple pics of a super deep gorge:

We also went to the Taos ski village, which is a ghost town in the summer. A lot of the road there followed a river. We stopped and got in the water, which was FREEZING, as you would expect.

 

[RU55ELL]

The next day, I took my son and explored another forest road.

The route:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=US-64+E&daddr=County+Rd+to:F+R+437+to:F+R+437+to:Unknown+road+to:F+R+437+to:F+R+437+to:F+R+438+to:F+R+438+to:F+R+438+to:36.272172,+-105.421018&hl=en&geocode=FTwAKwIdrvC3-Q%3BFeDoKgIdDPK3-Q%3BFYDfKgIdctK3-Q%3BFd7BKgIdwXe3-Q%3BFbyUKgIdrq-3-Q%3BFY94KgId97G3-Q%3BFX5YKgIdBb-3-Q%3BFWPBKQId_kC4-Q%3BFSixKQIdULO3-Q%3BFZF6KQId-nC3-Q%3BFSx4KQIdJme3-Q&mra=ls&via=3&sll=36.268774,-105.421543&sspn=0.03467,0.054846&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12

The pics:

He always has a truck or car in one or both of his hands at all times. I guess he gets it honest.

The temp never broke 70* all day.

The trail got pretty steep going down into Borrego Crossing and necessitated 4LO.

 

[RU55ELL]

We stopped at the creek to get our feet wet and walk around.

Then back in the truck and out of the crossing.

Later we stopped for PB&J.

Back in the truck, further down the trail.

We then came up on a spot where water was flowing down the mountain, forming a pond that overflowed and crossed the road, then went further down the mountain. Splash time!

It wasn't too far after that where the trail became impassable by anything other than an ATV, so we turned around and headed back home. The map shows it going much further than where we stopped.

 

[RU55ELL]

The rest of the trip consisted mostly of touristy stuff. We rode the lift up the mountain in Red River and did some walking around. We also saw rainbows after a shower.

The lift going up:

Walking around:

Back down when we saw a storm rolling in:

 

[RU55ELL]

It was a sad day when we packed up to go back to hot, humid southeast Texas. A pretty uneventful drive home, other than another storm.

 

[RU55ELL]

And windmills:

 

[PHXtaco]

Looks like a great trip!

 

[RU55ELL]

I forgot to mention, we left at 9:00AM on 7/24 and made it back home at 1:30AM on 7/25.

 

[achampagne]

Thanks for taking the time to post your trip, looked like fun was had by all.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Great trip Russell. Thanks for sharing. I have not been out to AF and Taos in many years. Wonderful area. Glad y'all had fun!

 

[Richie]

That's northern NM alright! That's one of the best trip reports from NM I've seen. It looks like you and your family had a good time. :costumed-smiley-007

 

[RU55ELL]

Yeah, it was really a beautiful place. Make's you re-think living in SETX for sure. 50* mornings vs. 90* mornings, sounds like an easy choice right? :elkgrin: