Our friends thought we were a bit crazy for heading south just as the weather in Northern Washington was getting nice, but Kendra had a method to our madness. Every thousand feet of elevation is roughly equivalent to traveling three-hundred miles north, weather-wise.
When people think of high cities, Denver Colorado, The Mile High City, is the first that comes to mind. At 5.3k feet, it is pretty high up there, but by no means the highest.
Santa Fe, New Mexico: 7k Feet
Early in our travels we passed through Santa Fe and said we needed to return. We arrived in its springtime and enjoyed a week shopping, visiting with friends, hiking, soaking, and consuming a lot of wonderful food. I literally had to loosen my belt. Our site was a nice RV park right in town, so we were immersed in the culture.
If there is a better shopping mecca on the planet, I haven’t seen it. We spent one entire day doing nothing but walking from shop to shop…and eating of course. I am not sure we could have gone in every shop if we had two more days dedicated to shopping. I had no intention of buying anything except whiskey stones and returned home with a new shirt, but no stones. Kendra picked up some jewelry and a hand-crafted coat that is very elegant. I suspect it will come out for our next anniversary dinner.
The hiking was gorgeous but hilly and at that altitude, we found ourselves out of breath often. I highly recommend a visit to this lovely part of the world.
Taos, New Mexico: 7k Feet
I had never been to Taos before, and the only thing I knew before arriving was that a friend had spent years managing a pizza place. Thankfully, for my waistline and the pets, we weren’t in downtown proper but parked in an open field — off grid — next to a cute park with refurbished vintage RV’s.
Taos has an excellent selection of beer, and a Queso with cucumber in it that I am craving as I think of it. Every day was gorgeous, with the wind picking up in the afternoon bringing dark clouds, lightning, and rain on the mountains. I imagine that Dean Martin and Prince visited as they wrote songs about purple rain and light. Thankfully we did not get rained on each day as the mud would have become intense. Cali took a dust bath every day except the one we had mud.
After our week here we said goodbye to a visiting friend and headed north — and higher — into the mountains for three weeks of relaxation with full hookups.
May peace find you.
Torta Log 