Santa Fe...doing the tourist thing!

June 21, 2011 Santa Fe, New Mexico Trailer Ranch Rv Park.

Entrance to Trailer Ranch RV Park

We woke to cool temps this morning in the lower 50's. It was in the low 60's in the bedroom which meant it was chilly and thus required a little 'sleeping in'. Later I walked Maggie and Rico and came across a Red Fox that was hanging out by one of the buildings. Other passer-bys told me it has kits (pups) under a nearby shed. I was amazed that it didn't seem concerned with us even though we were perhaps only 15 yds. away. 
By 10:00 we were ready to get out and catch the city bus right outside of the RV Park. We took the bus for about a 20 minute ride into the "Plaza" where it dropped us off below.

City Bus

We were totally into doing the 'tourist thing' and just strolling along window shopping and taking pictures.

We both really love the Santa Fe style architecture.

Cafe Pasqual's

We had lunch at a local tourist hot spot: Cafe Pasqual's. It was recommended by the RV park and circled on our map. I gotta tell ya, we weren't impressed. We found it cramped, expensive and the food wasn't exceptional. Just our opinion!

Santa Fe Pre 1938 Rt. 66 Alignment

When Route 66 was first laid out in 1926, everybody knew it would go through the capital of New Mexico and indeed it did. Route 66 followed the Old Pecos Trail from Santa Rosa through Dilia, Romeroville and Pecos to Santa Fe. From Santa Fe it went over La Bajada Hill and down into Albuquerque. That was the way it was aligned and constructed and that was the way it was supposed to stay - forever. But it didn't. But why was it moved? In 1937 the then governor of New Mexico, Governor Hannett lost the re-election. Hannett blamed this on the politicians in Santa Fe. In one great last act of defiance before the new governor was sworn in he vowed to get even with this Santa Fe ring. He had until January to institute his revenge. And he did! He decided the best way to get even was to re-route Highway 66 to Albuquerque and bypass Santa Fe altogether. This new alignment would bypass the Santa Fe businesses and Santa Fe politicians. It was a race against time. With no time off for the workers, including Christmas, he had to build a road through the virgin landscape fighting the elements, the vegetation and anybody and anything that got in his way. There was no time to buy the right a way so the road cut across both public and private land with no regard for the ownership. Though the road was not quite finished by the time the new governor took office in January, bad weather conditions prevented him from contacting the work crews to stop the project. By the time the new governor met with the work crews it was too late. The new road had been finished and cars were already driving the new route that cut off more than 90 miles of driving distance between Santa Rosa and Albuquerque. Santa Fe had been bypassed! The new alignment was really a better route from an engineer's standpoint. It was a more direct route that cut out some treacherous road conditions. It was also quite a bit shorter. This is the route that would be followed by the new Interstate years later. Now you know the whole story!

La Fonda on the Plaza

The current La Fonda, built in 1922, sits on the same site as previous inns, literally at the terminus of the Santa Fe Trail and the Plaza – a haven for travelers for more than 400 years!

In 1925, the new building was acquired by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and then leased to Fred Harvey who was renowned for his hospitality. He turned La Fonda into one of the famous Harvey Houses and it remained a Harvey House until 1968 when it was acquired by local businessman, Sam Ballen

Palace of the Governors

Originally constructed in the early 17th century as Spain's seat of government for what is today the American Southwest, the Palace of the Governors chronicles the history of Santa Fe, as well as New Mexico and the region. This adobe structure, now the state's history museum, was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1960 and an American Treasure in 1999.

The Lensic Theater in Santa Fe

Built in 1931, The Lensic is more than a theater to the people of Santa Fe. For most of the 20th century, the venue was a place for a first kiss in the balcony, a grand silver screen in the midst of the Depression, a vaudeville venue where the community could see the singers, actors, dancers and comedians of the day. It was a place where magic happened.
The theater was in danger of becoming an empty house of over 800 seats when in 1999 a vision for a world-class performing arts center was birthed. It was time for a new chapter in the venerated theater’s life.
Thanks to a group of dedicated individuals who saw the potential for the venue and the future benefit for Santa Fe, the renovation and refurbishing of the old theater began in 2000 with gifts from individuals, local businesses, the city and foundations.
In April 2001, the Lensic Theater once again opened its doors to the people of Santa Fe as a nonprofit: The Lensic Performing Arts Center, a place where magic still happens, over 250 nights a year.

Georgia O'Keefe Museum Research Center

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center, a component of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico, sponsors research in American Modernism (late nineteenth century to present) by awarding stipends to historians in the fields of art, architecture and design, literature, music and photography and to museum professionals who wish to organize an exhibition at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center opened in July 2001 as the only museum-related research facility in the world dedicated to the study of American Modernism (late nineteenth century – present)

One of many Churches around the Plaza

We spent several hours walking around the Old Plaza District of Santa Fe before taking the bus back to the rv park. It was a fun day. However, I learned that my sciatic nerve issue with my right hip from my fall a few weeks ago isn't completely healed. Several times during our walk it would flair up and then mysteriously go away again. I sure hope this doesn't become a chronic issue.
Later in the evening I took the truck out to fill it up with diesel in preparation for leaving Thursday morning. Searching for the cheapest diesel, I used the Gas Buddy website to locate a fuel station. So I drove off in search of the station which lead me to a rather poor section of town and up a dirt road under construction. I made it to the station only to discover that it didn't sell diesel in contradiction to my research! So I tried another station that was hard to get into because of construction on the road only to learn that they would only take cash because they just opened and didn't have credit card machines. So I gave up, I went to the station on the main drag and paid $4.059 per gallon, the most I've paid to date. 
Tomorrow we will just do some domestic shopping and make preparations to move on to Colorado.

Travel day to Santa Fe, NM and Trailer Ranch RV Park

June 20, 2011, Hacienda RV Park, Las Cruces.
We were up early for us at 5:30. I wanted to get on the road for Santa Fe as soon as possible to avoid some of the forecasted winds and hot temps. Between Las Cruces and Santa Fe winds were expected to be gusting to 30 or 40 mph out of the WNW. However, the bulk of the winds rise up during the heat of the day, so I was hoping an early start would keep us out of the highest gusts. We had about 300 miles to cover.
We got on the road by 7:00 after saying goodbye to my Father and Karen as they are staying for a few more days. For some reason the GPS took us through downtown Las Cruces on the way to I-25. Fortunately there was very light traffic.

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I-25 for the most part is a very smooth and wide interstate. However, there aren't many exits as it cuts through the center of New Mexico. We could feel the west winds buffeting us as we drove through some of the steep valleys and small canyons. We were slowly gaining altitude as we pushed north and the temps stayed in the 70's throughout the trip.

I periodically checked my TST TPMS tire pressure and temperature monitor noting that the tires were much cooler in the 80's and the average pressures <118.  However, I began to notice that the left front trailer tire was loosing pressure and got down to 103 psi before I pulled off to the side of the interstate to inspect it. I couldn't find any source for a leak but noted that the valve stem transponder for the TST TPMS wasn't tight. I tightened it up and check the others as well. 

TST TPM valve stem transponder

We continued down the road as I searched for a service center on this barren stretch of I-25 north of Socorro.  The pressure came back up to 105 but nonetheless, I was concerned as the other tire on it's shade side was running at 115.
We came upon an exit for a fuel center so I stopped to take on fuel and look for air. The tire seemed to be holding the air as a result of tightening the transponder valve stem.  After fueling up, I checked inside and learned the only air available was from a quarter operated pump. I was leary of using that as I needed 110lbs of air pressure and I know most of those coin operated pumps won't give you that much pressure. In fact, I would probably loose air trying to air it up. I have my own compressor, however there weren't any ac outlets available to power it and the gas station wasn't being helpful.
We looked around back and discovered a Lays Potato Chip van driver loading his truck from a storage unit. I asked if I could use his power for my compressor and he was more than helpful. I got plugged in an aired up the errant tire to 110 lbs. I reattached the transponder and it read 107 psi.  Good enough!  As we traveled the tires heated up again and the pressure came up to 113. It maintained good pressure for the next two hours to our destination. So I'm guessing it was the loose transponder. I'll have to check it out good before our next move.
We chose Trailer Ranch RV Resort as it had generally good reviews to include reviews from other bloggers that we've met. It is pricey at $43 a night but it's in town and shaded and we have some wind protection. I should note that we arrived about 12:30 and the temps were in the low 70's. I'm loving the cool breeze.

The city bus stops just outside the park and will take us into the town if we decide to use it. It's certainly not a big park but cozy in an urban kinda way... We can hear the traffic of Cerrillos Rd but, we are in town!
We got set up pretty quickly on our concrete slab. We have full hook-ups to include cable and 50amp service though I'm thinking we won't be needing the air-conditioners with lows forecasted for the upper 40's to low 50's tonight! We are only staying three nights so hopefully we will jam some interesting outings into the next couple of days.

Hanging Out at the Mercados in Las Cruces

January 18, 2011 Sunny Acres RV Park Las Cruces.

The last few days have been spent relaxing, visiting relatives and the local markets (mercados).

On Saturday, we went to the downtown mall Farmer's Market. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but wanted to just stretch our legs and look around. 

Las Cruces Mall Farmers Market

Las Cruces Mall Farmers Market

Mariachi's

On both Saturday and Sunday morning we awoke to see several hot air balloons floating in the skies out our back window.

Ballons out our back window.

We were told there was a ballon rally going on over the weekend.

On Sunday, we picked up my Cousin Bonnie and her daughter Stella. We spent the day in the town of Mesilla at their downtown market.

This market was much smaller and located in the town square. However, the buildings in the town of Mesilla are filled with history and old charm.

We had a fantastic lunch at El Comedor passing up the more expensive but popular restaurants like La Posta de Mesilla.

While browsing the many shops before lunch, we came across an art gallery. Now to be honest it had a sign with the words "tortilla factory" so that's what I thought it was. We went inside and determined that it wasn't a tortilla factory. It was an art gallery that at one time had been a tortilla factory. As we browsed the shop we heard two ladies, at least one of whom was an employee, laughing and having a good time. I struck up a conversation with them as they seemed very cordial. At one point I asked about the best restaurant in town and they gave me their opinions. However, Ella (pictured below) said that none of the restaurants made enchilladas and especially the chilli sauce as well as she can. I joked that we would be over for dinner and she actually invited us. However, I graciously refused. Next thing I know she's offering to give us a jar of her homemade chili (enchilada sauce). Long story short, we came back after lunch giving her time to walk home and come back with the sauce.

Ella and her enchilada sauce.

I thought that it was such a sweet and kind gesture for her to give us her homemade sauce. We haven't had the chance to sample it yet and hopefully, my cousin Bonnie will make some enchiladas for us with the sauce before we leave! 

Later in the afternoon we stopped off at another relatives home for a short visit before calling it a day.

You meet the nicest people on the road.

Travel Day to Sunny Acres RV Park, Las Cruces, NM

January 14, 2011 Sunny Acres RV Park.
We were up by 7:00 to get ready. It was a travel day. While I walked Maggie and Rico, Joyce got the inside ready for the slides to go in. I had not unhitched so the truck was already connected. We had the slides in and all I had to do was raise the BigFoot gear on the fifth wheel. After raising the four landing gear, I noticed the left rear had not retracted completely. It needed to come up another couple inches. I tried the control panel again to raise the rear to see if the errant jack would continue to retract...but, it wouldn't. Great! I quickly called the customer service number for BigFoot but got directed to a voice mail. Isn't that what usually happens! 

RR BigFoot Lever in the down position.

Looking at the jack/leg I decided to extend it and then retract it. No deal. Finally I decided to lower the right rear jack lower than the left and then raised them both and that worked. When I had initially raised the rear jacks in unison, the left rear had further to travel than the right rear due to the uneven ground. So it stopped retracting when the right rear finished retracting. By using the control panel I was able to lower the right rear lower than the troublesome left rear and retract both. It appears the limit switch is not working on the left rear. Needless to say, I lost some time figuring that out.
After finally pulling out, we headed for the dump station in the back of the campground and took care of business. In our haste, we failed to check our walkies and discovered that I couldn't communicate with Joyce in her Jeep as we left the park. So after driving down the road and pulling over to figure out what was wrong we discovered that one of the walkies was nearly dead already. Apparently it hadn't been placed in the charger cradle properly. So we were left with only our phones to communicate down the road.


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Out on Interstate 10 we decided to stop for fuel in Benson, Arizona. We pulled into a Shell Station large enough to accomodate our rig. I was shocked to see the diesel was $3.69! I needed the fuel, so I bit the bullet as we had over 200 more miles to go.
We stopped at a truck stop in Deming Arizona for a quick lunch break and to walk the dogs again. By then a BigFoot technician had called me back. He also suspected a bad limit switch and promised to mail one to me.

Down hill to Las Cruces from Hwy. 70

290 miles and about 6 hours later, we pulled into Sunny Acres RV Park surrounded by the urban strappings of Las Cruces. After checking-in, we were given a golf-cart tour of the available sites and we were impressed with the size of the sites. We chose site 24 which is a pull through at the end of a row of back-ins.

We paid for a week long stay for $230 which includes full hookups, WiFi and cable. It's a nice RV Park that originally was a mobile home park, thus the large sites. The roads however, are very dusty dirt.
After unhitching and getting level we opened the slides and discovered that the kitchen slide tore the linoleum.

This happened because a screw fell off one of the ceiling fan blades while in transit and got jammed under the slide tearing the linoleum when we opened the slide. It's not the first time screws have fallen from the ceiling fan blades. I need to get some Loctite to put on the screws!
In summary, it wasn't our the best travel day, but I can't complain too much!

Taos and The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

June 15, 2010.

We slept in a little this morning getting up at 8:00. Temps were cool/ cold overnight so I had closed all of our windows before going to bed. When I woke up at 6:45 it was 56 degrees inside! I rolled over and decided to sleep in. A bit later Rico jumped on the bed followed shortly thereafter by Maggie. I guess they were cold.


We took Maggie and Rico for walks and then walked them again as we planned to spend the day in Taos and sightseeing in the area. There is a nice set of trails near the end of the park that are perfect for walking the dogs. I rode my bike on the trail in the picture below. At over 7000 ft. the elevation can almost take your breath away if you exert yourself.

We got going by late morning and we (my father and Karen, Joyce and I) all loaded up in our car and drove a few miles down Hwy 64 to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. If you weren't paying attention, especially at night you could drive over the bridge and gorge and not even realize the depth and enormity of the gorge. We stopped on the East side to walk across the bridge and take photos.

Walking out on the bridge and feeling it vibrate under the weight of the vehicles driving over it was a little unnerving. There's plenty of potholes on the pavement over the bridge which kinda makes your mind question the security of the bridge.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, locally known as the "Gorge Bridge," is a cantilever truss bridge across the Rio Grande Gorge 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Taos, New Mexico, United States. At 650 feet (200 m) above the Rio Grande, it is the fifth highest bridge in the United States.

We crossed over to the rest stop on the West side of the bridge where I took this last shot, my favorite of the bridge pictures that I captured.

Afterwards, we drove to the Taos Pueblo . After finding a place to park, we walked to the visitor center and then decided not to tour the village as the entrance fee was $10 each plus $5 for each camera! 

So, we went down town and did the tourist shopping thing.

The shops are beautiful and interesting, but after awhile you start seeing the same merchandise repeated in every other tourist oriented shop. It's just not my idea of a good time!

We stopped for lunch and then went to Walmart (not a SuperWalmart) and Albertson's for incidentals and groceries. My neck and shoulder were still bothering me so we picked up a pulsating massager that I can use on my own. It seemed to provide some relief.

Tonight lows are expected to be 38 in Taos with a high of 81 tomorrow.  Love this weather! We never turned on the a/c today.

Travel Day to Taos, New Mexico

June 14, 2010.

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We awoke to cool temps of 64 degrees this morning at 7:00. Yesterday we stayed at the rig and made preparations for our move today to Taos, NM.

After securing the inside of the rig, we pulled in the slide, unhooked the water and sewer connections, put away the chairs and hitched up. We were eager to leave the hot gravel parking lot of Kirtland A.F.B.'s Fam Camp. We are on the road by just after 9:00.

We only had just over 150 miles to travel today. Whenever possible, three hours or 150 miles is about as far as I like to travel in a day. Obviously we have gone further, but when we can we like to go short distances so we don't miss out on this beautiful country of ours.

We passed through several Native American reservations. Some of the overpasses on the reservations were decorated.

We drove along a gorge paralleling the Rio Grande River for a good portion of the ride.

Before long we were passing through beautiful downtown Taos.

Although I would rather not have been towing the fifth wheel through town!

We continued through Taos onto US Hwy. 64 W. towards El Prado and our campsite destination: Taos Monte Bello RV Park.

It's a small family owned RV park with only 19 sites and only 17 of those with full hook-ups. Again it's a typical RV park for New Mexico, a gravel lot however, with some shrubbery between the sites.

We paid for three nights with full hook-ups at $34 a night including WiFi. 

We picked site 19 and my father and Karen are in site 18. 

Some of the sites have 50 amps. We only have 30 amps in our site but it shouldn't be a problem. I don't think we will need to run both a/c's!

Temps were in the low 70's when we arrived around 1:00. 

The elevation is about 7,000 ft. and the views of the mountains around us are just beautiful.

There were quite a few clouds today and rain was forecasted as a possibility.

Temps are expected to drop to the upper 40's tonight...good sleeping weather!