Aidan, age 16, in Maine, at the beginning of our cliff walk on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
I will do a separate post later about our travels after we left Knights Key; but, I wanted to let you know where we are today. We have been in Taos, New Mexico since last Saturday. We have already had many adventures. We are resting today because of our kayaking adventures yesterday. We decided to go to the Rio Grande River Gorge. We started out driving South from Taos where we could see the East rim of the Gorge.
Driving down Hwy 68 from Santa Fe toward Taos you could miss the Rio Grande Gorge. Here is where I pulled over, do you see the Gorge?? From the East side it was easy to miss. There is so much beauty to see.
Let me back up a little, first I see this, a river and a lone kayaker. Then I see this...
My interest is suddenly UP!!
Kayaks and rafts!!
Then...
I first see flowers on the side of the road at rest stop. So I pull over...
Doodle's interest is sparked by something across the road...
I see the Gorge!!
Then I see some flowering cactus.
One has to watch where he or she walks, there are lots of things that bite, scratch or sting.
A few days later, we decided to go down and check out the Gorge. What we found was beautiful!!
We make it a point to make new friends at every stop if possible. The Rio Grande River looked like a great place to kayak. So I invited three new friends we made at the campground to go kayaking on the Rio Grande River.
We met Paul because he often walked by our RV site exercising. He introduced me to his wife, Alice. On one of my walks with the PUPS on the PATH in the campground I saw a Class C and a motor cycle that looked familiar. Then I saw Dick. I had met him in the RV parking lot at the Bill Clinton Library when we were in Little Rock. Kind of like what happened with Roger and Diane after the first RV-Dreams Rally in Myrtle Beach, SC, in 2010. A week or so after the rally we see them at Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina. Roger and Diane have a great blog - Travel With Whippets.
Paul, Alice and Dick are new to RVing full-time. They expressed an interest in going kayaking. ...and you know me...
Alice and Evin kayaking on the river in Rio Grande Gorge.
Steve (me) taking the rapids...
Paul and I go by a fly fisherman..
Cactus in bloom on the Rio Grande River... framing two beautiful kayakers - Evin & Alice!!
Evin and Alice steer wide of a large rock in the river..
Evin getting serious about some rapids ahead...
Evin taking the rapids like a pro!!
The same can be said for Alice!!
Survived her first whitewater!!
Dick on the Rio Grande..
Dick leads...
and I follow.
A storm with strong winds came up so we got off the river. Evin and I wanted to show Dick, Paul and Alice the West Rim. We had stopped and looked at the East Rim from the rest stop where Doodle smelled the flowers...
Paul and Alice on the West Rim of the Rio Grande Gorge...
We almost lost Dick...
The wind blew him back, just in time for me to do a painting... see the storm clouds??
The curve in the road!!
A big hole in the ground...
More of the curve...
What a scene...
They are heading to where we have just been...
They are serious about falling rocks!!!!
Paul didn't want to stay under the rocks too long...
There are curves going down as well as going up!!!
Almost back on flat ground at the top of the West rim...
Back on flat ground...
Yes, Bill, there are flowers in the desert!!
A gunslinger took target practice!!
Where we had just been...
Where we should not go!!
Dinner is about ready, so, I will continue later...
It is hard to do new posts when you are on so many adventures!!
Hey.... Good to see your still alive :-). We love the Taos area. If you get into the town, the town square (plaza) gives such a comfortable feeling. Love the adobe buildings. We did the enchanted circle drive -- an all day event. We did an exhausting hike in one of the skiing areas. We spent a beautiful week at the Rihanna Corps of Engineers Campground (right under the Perdinales Mesa) just a few miles from Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keefe did a lot of her paintings. Can you tell we liked it?
ReplyDeleteRight now we are just outside Bryce Canyon, UT. We love it here, too. Take care.
Thank you for the suggestion. We did not know about the Corps of Engineers Riana Campground. Evin and I visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe and had planned to go to Abiquiu to visit her home. Did you go to Ghost Ranch and, if so, did you get permission to go see the stone formations on the ranch? Did you go see the red sandstone formations on South Hwy 86? If so, suggestions. We could have easily missed the Rio Grande Gorge adventures. Really just happened by chance. I took time to go off the beaten PATH!!!
ReplyDeleteAfter Taos and Abiquiu we are heading to Utah and all the National Parks. More suggestions would be most appreciated.
Steve, We did go to Ghost Ranch a few times and hiked a couple of the trails. One went up into the rock formations, the other went into a box canyon. The hiking is free and the dogs can go. They only ask that you register before setting out. Take plenty of water. I am not sure about the stone formations on South 86, too much time has past. You know how the memory goes with age. You could spend a year in the national parks of UT. We spent a month outside of Zion and could have spent another month. We are at Bryce right now for a week, and could easily spend more time here, as well. If you want info on the hikes we did, our blog might be the best source. I will gladly answer questions that you have about the hikes. Tomorrow we leave for Capital Reef for a week. We will then be in Moab (Arches and Canyonlands) for two weeks before heading east into CO. Let me know If I can help with anything. Roger
ReplyDeleteBTW... We went kayaking on Abiquiu, very short drive from the campground. Very clear, very cold water. We had a picnic on a submerged rock near the shore. If you do this be aware that the afternoon winds can make getting back to the car brutal.
ReplyDeleteWinds and storms have kept us from doing much kayaking. Chickened out on doing the Rio Chama.
DeleteGood to see your travels again. I am very interested in going to all the Georgia O'Keefe places. Beautiful pictures.
ReplyDeleteHey Sally. We really enjoyed the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. Seeing the real paintings up close with her brush strokes was unreal. Some great photos of her by great photo artist also. We look forward to Abiquiu and the Ghost Ranch. I am going to try to do better with the blog. Hope to see more posts from you. Good to hear from you.
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