We are now in Raton, New Mexico. I picked a rather circuitous route to get here. Trying to stay at lower elevations to get thru the mountains. Our highest elevation was 9100 feet. No brutal climbs for the car and a level I can handle. In fact our campground last night was at 7200 feet and I experienced no real problems. Maybe I am getting somewhat acclimated. We hav been at 5000+ feet for a couple of weeks now.

Anyway, as we came out of the town of Espanola we noticed this small river alongside the road. To our surprise it was the Rio Grande. Stopped at the visitors center and talked to the young man there. He had at one time worked in West Virginia as a raft guide. We discussed sections of the Gorge and what types of rapids there are. He told us about the bridge that crossed the gorge and how to get there.

Drove into Taos and had Easter brunch. Then went to see the bridge. As bridges go the New River Gorge Bridge is much more impressive. But the gorge itself was steep and deep.

Picked up Rt. 64 and continued into and over the mountains. A narrow, winding road. But not terrible. After we crested at 9100 feet it dropped down into the Cimmaron Canyon. Beautiful drive.

But the best part was as we were approaching Cimmaron. A herd of Elk were in a field beside the road. Joyce counted 25 but then we could see more in the shrubbery across the stream. Got some pictures. As we were leaving town there were three mule deer grazing on the side of the road. Next were the prong horned antelope and Bison.  We had been seeing small dead animals being eaten by the ravens on the side of the road. We discovered that they were prairie dogs. At one point we saw about 30 or more doing a face plant on the side of the road. What they were doing was getting salt left over from chemicals for snow removal. Our squirrels in virginia do the same thing.

We have now made the turn for home. Will stop and see friends next weekend.


April 19

Left Cortez and headed south to see the Four Corners Monument. Owned by the Navajo Indians so we pd our money. Went in, looked at it, stood in 4 states and took the obligatory pictures.   Next was Shiprock. A huge Butte that from a distance looks like a sailing ship. There was no road to it, so all we could see of it was from the highway.

From there we went thru Farmington where we stopped for a good lunch. We ended up at Heron State Park , outside of Chama, for the night. A very quiet campground with electricity, water and restrooms. The remarkable thing to us was how much water there seemed to be.