Glad we stayed another day

We waited for the bike shop to open at 10:00am and then phoned them to make sure they had the tire and tube I needed. We were going to walk over there, but David offered me the use of his bicycle, so Ruth and I rode over there.

In the plaza near the bike shop is a Trader Joe's grocery store, so we stopped in to pick up a few things. There were about 10 people in line (spaced 6 feet apart), and we almost didn't bother but the line moved quickly.

A very loud POP

Just a lazy day yesterday.

It wasn't planned that way... I got the bikes off the back and we planned on going for a bike ride. The rear tire on my bike has had a slow leak, but not bad enough that I couldn't top it up and it would last for a few hours.

So, I hooked up the compressor and got it pumping up. I heard the tire making noise...creaking, almost... and I knew something wasn't right. I stopped the compressor and started unscrewing the compressor from the valve when... POP!

Walk to downtown Santa Fe

David and Bonnie planned us a walking route to downtown and we set off just after lunch. Hardly any traffic, and although there were a few people downtown with a few businesses starting to open up it was nowhere near as busy as what it would have been on a normal beautiful Sunday afternoon.

But, it was a good walk and we enjoyed the interesting architecture here in Santa Fe.

Beautiful drive, but too many people

We enjoyed our three night boondocking spot in Santa Fe National Forest, but it was time to move on. We were actually headed to visit friends in Sante Fe, but decided to take a round about route to get there.

Highway 4 from Los Alamos to San Isidro looked like a really nice drive, and one of our readers had suggested we go see the Gilman Tunnels. Plus, when you can fill up with gas at $1.30, you don't mind doing some touring!

Forest fire hike

Another beautiful day.

We are parked up at the edge of Santa Fe National Forest near Los Alamos, New Mexico. Across the road is more recreational land, but it's called Bandalier National Monument.

Vacant government land comes under a lot of different jurisdictions here in the United States.

And this is why I love Amazon...

Pretty nice spot we have here in Santa Fe National Forest. The temperature is perfect with highs around 75F (24C) with blue skies and sunshine, and comfortable overnight lows of around 55F (12C).

Oh, and there are no bugs.

Perfect.

Beautiful boondocking spot in the hills

Well, we are now traveling on our own once again, pretty much for the first time in six months. We enjoyed our time spent leading the Mexico RV Caravan Group, and also with Bob and Denise over the last month and a half.

But yesterday it was time to say goodbye.

Hike up to 9,300' and big horned sheep!

We had a 9:00am start for a planned 4 mile (6.5 km) hike up an old forest service road to Cabresto Lake at 9,300'. There is actually a dispersed camping area at the lake, but the road up is 4WD only... not suitable for the motorhomes!

Too bad, because it was a beautiful spot.

"You have to do your research, you know..."

Had a great sleep Sunday night at the Taos airport. Temperature never got that cold, and it was still about 57F (13C) inside the motorhome when we woke up. Got our internet work done using the free airport WiFi and then headed down to the Rio Grande bridge where our friends Bob and Denise had been overnighting at the rest area beside the bridge.

We walked across part of the bridge, with the deck located about 800' above the river. I think I remember reading that this is the 10th highest bridge in the United States.

Into the mountains

We love fresh air and mountain scenery, so we've been looking forward to getting into that type of environment.

Yesterday, we drove through some beautiful mountain passes almost as high as 10,000'. Because it was a Sunday, there were a few other people out and about... but still not what you would call busy.

Capulin Volcano Hike and Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge

Woke up early again yesterday morning after another restless sleep due to the high winds overnight. We had already decided that we would get on the road right away and do enough driving to let Sherman's engine warm things up a little bit.

It was only a few miles to the Capulin Volcano where the entrance road was open as far as the visitors center, but the center itself was closed as was the road up to the top of the volcano.

In to New Mexico

We've been in "old" Mexico many times, but we really haven't spent much time in "New" Mexico. Mostly because much of the more interesting parts of New Mexico are at elevation and so of course it's just too cold in the winter. And normally, we would be back in Canada by this time of year.

So, this is giving us a good opportunity to spend some decent weather months in this part of the world.

3 states at the same time!

Beautiful morning for a bike ride.

Denise and Bob don't have bicycles with them (yet!) so they decided to do the 9 mile (15 km) return walk to the "3 corners" where Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. Ruth and I left after they did because we were doing it by bicycle... with a plan to get there about the same time.

Hike to the highest point in Oklahoma... and another change of plans!

(Just getting caught up after a day without internet access. This is the second post today. You may have missed the one posted earlier at https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2020/05/in-to-oklahoma.html)

We got up at sunrise around 7:00am Wednesday morning, and hit the Black Mesa trail a few minutes after 8:00am.

We are in the far northwest corner of Oklahoma, only a couple of miles from both Colorado and New Mexico. The trail leads up to the highest point in Oklahoma, which is located only a few hundred yards from the New Mexico border.

In to Oklahoma

We left Dumas, Texas at 9:00am Tueday morning. We were headed for the Black Mesa Nature Preserve in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma panhandle is a narrow strip of land in the middle of nowhere. We honestly weren't expecting much from our destination, and in actual fact it was a bit of a detour from our planned route going up through Kansas and Nebraska. But sometimes things happen for a reason.