Super fast crash family road trip to Santa Fe
Jul 6, 2015 14:01:40 GMT -5
Original Admin, gingerkid, and 4 more like this
Post by herchenx on Jul 6, 2015 14:01:40 GMT -5
Our oldest son (second oldest kid) is having major surgery this week. We've all been dreading it a bit, feeling both anxious for his health and knowing how tough the recovery will be. He went to camp earlier this summer and got to whitewater raft for the first time, and loved it, so for a last hurrah I thought I'd surprise the family with a last-minute trip and go rafting in Santa Fe.
I'll start off by saying I didn't get to go hounding, although I brought the gear. The only rocking I did was observing as we traveled and going into 4 rock shops during our trip.
We left after an exhausting few days of work (2 all-nighters Monday and Tuesday) - and I couldn't break away until later in the day Thursday. We ended up stuck in horrible rush hour/holiday traffic our entire drive.
That didn't stop us from seeing an amazing sunset in South Park:
We didn't have confirmed plans for a place to stay the first night since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get away. I thought we might make it to Ojo Caliente in New Mexico, but it turned out we wouldn't have made it in time. Also, they wanted an extra $120 for having 2 kids more than their capacity which I was unhappy about (the house they had available was already $400/night for 3 bedrooms, but was only priced to sleep 4?)
I barely had cell signal, and the few places I could get hold of were booked. I don't know how, but miraculously Mt. Princeton Hot Springs came up on one of the searches. I called and they had one house available, that slept 7, and was much more reasonable than the option at Ojo Caliente would have been. I had just enough time to give them a credit card number and then lost the signal. Fortunately they held the reservation and we were able to roll in just after 9pm.
The house was great, everyone slept great, and a super bonus was the hot springs, which were nice. They had several pools open in the evening and we soaked before bed. They also had a really fun water slide which was open the next day.
I didn't get any photos of the springs, but did get some of the house.
We had a slightly overpriced breakfast the next morning at the hotel, and I took some photos of the "Chalk Cliffs" of Mt. Antero:
I'm pretty sure the entire dome in the foreground is rhyolite, and as I told rockroller Roland on Facebook I'd bet there is topaz there, if it isn't all under claim.
We got on the road and finally made New Mexico
We got to Santa Fe by about 4 PM, checked into the hotel and decided to explore a little.
First stop was the Museum. I took this photo and it shows pretty well how everyone handled the drive:
I took a few photos, the art was very southwestern but was also great to be able to look at. Admission was free for the holiday which was a welcome relief to the wallet.
Georgia O'Keefe is a big deal in Santa Fe, and some of her work was in the museum.
We walked through a few of the hundreds of galleries in town.
We had dinner and headed to the hotel for the night.
The morning of the 4th we got up and headed back to the center of town. Art was everywhere.
They were having a pancake breakfast in the town plaza
After breakfast at the Plaza Cafe, I headed toward one of the few rock shops in the center of town. Mama's Minerals (which you may recall I went to Mama's Minerals in Albuquerque earlier this year and wasn't blown away) - and again was underwhelmed. This seemed more like a token mineral shop. The space was small and I'm sure overpriced, so the selection was small and overpriced as well. I won't go back.
After we made it out of town, we headed toward Taos to raft the Rio Grande. We went with Kokopeli rafting out of Santa Fe, and I would go with them again in a second. They were less expensive than the alternatives we looked at, and they were great folks.
Here is a link to a few minutes of our trip. I didn't have the fancy mount for my camera so I tucked it into my vest. I'll beg your apologies for the loud shuffling and obnoxious camera angles. My favorite bit is just after 4 minutes when our youngest (riding center front) gets excited about the rapids.
goo.gl/photos/KPKj53HYwRmryYCB7
After rafting, we came home and cleaned up, then had another of our ridiculously overpriced meals at a restaurant in Santa Fe. We wanted to see fireworks, and the ones I heard of were at the High School. I asked Google how to get there and she didn't let me down. We stood along some random road for a front-row seat to some fun fireworks:
We made it into bed that night satisfied with a really fun day.
Sunday morning I'd wanted to hit the road directly and get to Taos (and hopefully some hounding) before heading home. My wife and kids had other plans so we went back into Santa Fe and walked around. The Palace of the Governors was one spot I'd wanted to see. The local Native Americans set up every Sunday on the porch and were there selling their wares.
We also wanted to see the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to the North of the Plaza. Mass had started when we got there so we didn't go inside, but the building was beautiful.
We got on the road out of Santa Fe at 11 am. I told the family we would skip Taos and just head home since we had work today, but my wife said she wanted to go (in spite of having to be up this morning at 4:30) - so we headed toward Taos, following the Rio Grande along the route we'd rafted the day before.
On our way toward Taos, we came over a ridge and the Rio Grande Gorge opened before us:
I can't wait to go explore this, it looks awesome, and the photos absolutely don't do it justice.
I know I mentioned in my last trip report that there has been a lot of rain out here, and New Mexico and southern Colorado were no exception. Everything was so lush and green, it was really cool to have been able to see how the land looks when there is water.
We hit Taos about 1 PM and I started looking for rock shops. The first, and hands down best, was
Taos Gems and Minerals
637 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur
Taos, NM
(575) 758-3910
There were abundant specimens, and I bought an awesome display piece of botryoidal chrysocolla I will share once I get it unpacked. They had nice tumbled stones and hundred of locally-cut cabs. The kids all got a few bucks worth of tumbled stones, my wife and daughters some jewelry and beads. I picked up some rough psilomelane as well as a few small tumbled aquamarines I thought looked nice. There were 2 ladies tending the store and they were great, patient with the kids and helpful and knowledgable. I will definitely be back and would recommend this to anyone who wants specimens, cabs, jewelry or some of their limited rough.
The next stop was
Taos Rockers
229 Cam De La Placita
Taos, NM
(575) 758-2326
This was also my second favorite shop and I will be back. The folks inside were again helpful, also friendly. I think the lady who was there sensed I wanted something and was very attentive to me. The owners had just returned from a trip to Namibia and had some great specimens. I bought the most amazing piece of quartz I (now) own - smoky exterior with amethyst center. I need to unpack it, too, and get some photos of it, as well as figure out how to display it. It needs light to show it off, but is sensitive to light. I'll do some homework and see what I can come up with.
Our last mineral shop was just around the corner from Taos Rockers, and was
La Tierra Mineral Gallery
124K Bent St
Taos, NM
(575) 758-0101
If I had thousands of dollars to burn there was a chrysocolla specimen and a fluorite specimen I would absolutely buy. I'd recommend a visit, but everything they had was very high end. I don't think it is overpriced, but it was well outside my price range.
After the mineral shops, we perused the town plaza a bit and got some pottery and jewelry. I will be back to Taos. I loved it there, the area is more mountainous and had a more rugged feel. The prices were better for the stuff we looked at, and I'd love to explore the area.
This was the center of the town plaza
We hit the road again and cut East toward I-25. The stretch of road between Taos and I25 (64) was winding and beautiful. It felt a bit slow given how late in the day it was but the scenery more than made up for it.
Angel Fire area, these purple flowers were covering the landscape
some of the abundant rock formations
Once we passed Cimarron, the highway was flat and faster. Here is my oldest driving us home, with some of the myriad flowering cacti dotting the background:
We had dinner in Raton and hoofed it home, pulling in just after 11pm.
It was a whirlwind trip but we all had an amazing time. Our son's surgery is in a couple days and I am really grateful we were able to pull this off before he is restricted in activity.
I'll start off by saying I didn't get to go hounding, although I brought the gear. The only rocking I did was observing as we traveled and going into 4 rock shops during our trip.
We left after an exhausting few days of work (2 all-nighters Monday and Tuesday) - and I couldn't break away until later in the day Thursday. We ended up stuck in horrible rush hour/holiday traffic our entire drive.
That didn't stop us from seeing an amazing sunset in South Park:
We didn't have confirmed plans for a place to stay the first night since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get away. I thought we might make it to Ojo Caliente in New Mexico, but it turned out we wouldn't have made it in time. Also, they wanted an extra $120 for having 2 kids more than their capacity which I was unhappy about (the house they had available was already $400/night for 3 bedrooms, but was only priced to sleep 4?)
I barely had cell signal, and the few places I could get hold of were booked. I don't know how, but miraculously Mt. Princeton Hot Springs came up on one of the searches. I called and they had one house available, that slept 7, and was much more reasonable than the option at Ojo Caliente would have been. I had just enough time to give them a credit card number and then lost the signal. Fortunately they held the reservation and we were able to roll in just after 9pm.
The house was great, everyone slept great, and a super bonus was the hot springs, which were nice. They had several pools open in the evening and we soaked before bed. They also had a really fun water slide which was open the next day.
I didn't get any photos of the springs, but did get some of the house.
We had a slightly overpriced breakfast the next morning at the hotel, and I took some photos of the "Chalk Cliffs" of Mt. Antero:
I'm pretty sure the entire dome in the foreground is rhyolite, and as I told rockroller Roland on Facebook I'd bet there is topaz there, if it isn't all under claim.
We got on the road and finally made New Mexico
We got to Santa Fe by about 4 PM, checked into the hotel and decided to explore a little.
First stop was the Museum. I took this photo and it shows pretty well how everyone handled the drive:
I took a few photos, the art was very southwestern but was also great to be able to look at. Admission was free for the holiday which was a welcome relief to the wallet.
Georgia O'Keefe is a big deal in Santa Fe, and some of her work was in the museum.
We walked through a few of the hundreds of galleries in town.
We had dinner and headed to the hotel for the night.
The morning of the 4th we got up and headed back to the center of town. Art was everywhere.
They were having a pancake breakfast in the town plaza
After breakfast at the Plaza Cafe, I headed toward one of the few rock shops in the center of town. Mama's Minerals (which you may recall I went to Mama's Minerals in Albuquerque earlier this year and wasn't blown away) - and again was underwhelmed. This seemed more like a token mineral shop. The space was small and I'm sure overpriced, so the selection was small and overpriced as well. I won't go back.
After we made it out of town, we headed toward Taos to raft the Rio Grande. We went with Kokopeli rafting out of Santa Fe, and I would go with them again in a second. They were less expensive than the alternatives we looked at, and they were great folks.
Here is a link to a few minutes of our trip. I didn't have the fancy mount for my camera so I tucked it into my vest. I'll beg your apologies for the loud shuffling and obnoxious camera angles. My favorite bit is just after 4 minutes when our youngest (riding center front) gets excited about the rapids.
goo.gl/photos/KPKj53HYwRmryYCB7
After rafting, we came home and cleaned up, then had another of our ridiculously overpriced meals at a restaurant in Santa Fe. We wanted to see fireworks, and the ones I heard of were at the High School. I asked Google how to get there and she didn't let me down. We stood along some random road for a front-row seat to some fun fireworks:
We made it into bed that night satisfied with a really fun day.
Sunday morning I'd wanted to hit the road directly and get to Taos (and hopefully some hounding) before heading home. My wife and kids had other plans so we went back into Santa Fe and walked around. The Palace of the Governors was one spot I'd wanted to see. The local Native Americans set up every Sunday on the porch and were there selling their wares.
We also wanted to see the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to the North of the Plaza. Mass had started when we got there so we didn't go inside, but the building was beautiful.
We got on the road out of Santa Fe at 11 am. I told the family we would skip Taos and just head home since we had work today, but my wife said she wanted to go (in spite of having to be up this morning at 4:30) - so we headed toward Taos, following the Rio Grande along the route we'd rafted the day before.
On our way toward Taos, we came over a ridge and the Rio Grande Gorge opened before us:
I can't wait to go explore this, it looks awesome, and the photos absolutely don't do it justice.
I know I mentioned in my last trip report that there has been a lot of rain out here, and New Mexico and southern Colorado were no exception. Everything was so lush and green, it was really cool to have been able to see how the land looks when there is water.
We hit Taos about 1 PM and I started looking for rock shops. The first, and hands down best, was
Taos Gems and Minerals
637 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur
Taos, NM
(575) 758-3910
There were abundant specimens, and I bought an awesome display piece of botryoidal chrysocolla I will share once I get it unpacked. They had nice tumbled stones and hundred of locally-cut cabs. The kids all got a few bucks worth of tumbled stones, my wife and daughters some jewelry and beads. I picked up some rough psilomelane as well as a few small tumbled aquamarines I thought looked nice. There were 2 ladies tending the store and they were great, patient with the kids and helpful and knowledgable. I will definitely be back and would recommend this to anyone who wants specimens, cabs, jewelry or some of their limited rough.
The next stop was
Taos Rockers
229 Cam De La Placita
Taos, NM
(575) 758-2326
This was also my second favorite shop and I will be back. The folks inside were again helpful, also friendly. I think the lady who was there sensed I wanted something and was very attentive to me. The owners had just returned from a trip to Namibia and had some great specimens. I bought the most amazing piece of quartz I (now) own - smoky exterior with amethyst center. I need to unpack it, too, and get some photos of it, as well as figure out how to display it. It needs light to show it off, but is sensitive to light. I'll do some homework and see what I can come up with.
Our last mineral shop was just around the corner from Taos Rockers, and was
La Tierra Mineral Gallery
124K Bent St
Taos, NM
(575) 758-0101
If I had thousands of dollars to burn there was a chrysocolla specimen and a fluorite specimen I would absolutely buy. I'd recommend a visit, but everything they had was very high end. I don't think it is overpriced, but it was well outside my price range.
After the mineral shops, we perused the town plaza a bit and got some pottery and jewelry. I will be back to Taos. I loved it there, the area is more mountainous and had a more rugged feel. The prices were better for the stuff we looked at, and I'd love to explore the area.
This was the center of the town plaza
We hit the road again and cut East toward I-25. The stretch of road between Taos and I25 (64) was winding and beautiful. It felt a bit slow given how late in the day it was but the scenery more than made up for it.
Angel Fire area, these purple flowers were covering the landscape
some of the abundant rock formations
Once we passed Cimarron, the highway was flat and faster. Here is my oldest driving us home, with some of the myriad flowering cacti dotting the background:
We had dinner in Raton and hoofed it home, pulling in just after 11pm.
It was a whirlwind trip but we all had an amazing time. Our son's surgery is in a couple days and I am really grateful we were able to pull this off before he is restricted in activity.