Thursday  April 30
by your roving reporter Terry
Updated by Ron... with links, maps, pictures, and some humor.

A left over picture from the RR yards in Chama.  I liked the picture, and decided to throw it in for good measure.  We left Chama NM about 10:00 AM Wednesday morning heading for points East.  This year we are going to take Hwy 64 from Tierra Amirrilla to Taos, this is the short cut over the mountains between the two.  In previous travels we have not taken this road, as it has been closed with snow. as  this section of road does not stay open in the winter.   From the map we were expecting a very narrow, windy road up through some Mtn. canyons and were suprised to find the road very open, usually going up the side of a hill or mountain rather then in a crowded canyon. 

 There was still quite a bit of snow along the higher portions of Hwy 64, with some very nice vistas.  There is a forest service campground at the top of the mountain, and the road crews had cleared the road back to the cattle guard which marked the entrance, from there it was all snow drifts,  It would be an excellent place to stop in the summer. 

East of Tres Piedras on the way to Taos you enter "Earthship land".  The closer to Taos the fancier the Earthships.  These shippers look like little more then boon dockers.  There were several encampments along the road with old Rvs and school busses, affordable housing for the employees of the ski resort and whitewater rafting tours?  I am thinking that the 1960's are still alive and well and living in the bush west of Taos

Down the Road a bit, and in the more desirable real estate we have the McEarthships for the rich and pretty people.  They are supposed to be eco friendly, but they all look like big houses for the rich and gullible. Just look what you can do with a bit of dirt and some old tires.  There is even an Earthship visitors center under construction so the real-estate developer can reel in more customers.  On the South side of the Hwy the developer has stuck with more conventional McMansions.  Something for every taste. Read more about it all right here at Earthship Landing Zone,  many pictures and the history. 

Crossing the Rio Grande Gorge bridge.  The picture does not do the view justice. the gorge is very deep and narrow and the river looks like the white water rafters would really enjoy the ride. 

We Drove through Taos right about noon and This restaurant seemed to be very popular with the local lunch crowd , we may have to go back to Taos in a day or so and check it out.  Another enchilada experience.  so many choices, beef or chicken, red or green sauce, rice or posole and on and on. 

Outside one of the upscale art galleries I found these soaring eagles, some day they will grace someone's garden sanctuary.
 

See a  Rio Grand Gorge Visitor Guide color pdf about 900 MB
Our campground is in the Orilla Verde National Recreation Area.  There are approximately a dozen sites in our campground,  with about a half dozen RV sites,  Water and 50 amp electric for fifteen dollars a night.  We have paid through Sunday and will see what happens after that.  Pilar campground down the road is wired for electricity with many sites for the summer crowd, and  further upstream from where we are at is a couple of more tiny campsite on the river that we may check out after the weekend if the weather holds. We are all set up for boondocking so we should be using it. There are only a couple spots we would fit that are right on the river so we shall see. Our batteries have been in float condition so long they need a workout. 
We thought about Taos Junction campground at the start of the Rio Grande Box several more miles up stream, the farthest point you can get with a large trailer. The road (567) [see map below] from there goes switchback big time and is rough gravel going to the top of the rim. More of a 4X4 adventure. Taos Junction campground is not set up for large RVs. Rio Bravo or Pilar are more RV friendly. You would have to back a considerable distance to get into the sites, and then contend with the extremely out of level conditions and not get much of a view anyway.  If the river were lower, clear and the fishing were in full swing it would be the place to be.  With the river running high and the color of a chocolate milk shake there is not going to be much in the way of fishing for a while.

Our happy home for the next few days.  Had quite a time finding a path to top of the rocks on the east side of the road, then lost track of where I came up and had to do some backtracking to find my way down. 

The view north from the Taos Junction bridge. Looks like someone pulled a small camper into the day use area from the picture. If now open for camping will have to check that area out for ourselves next week. The little gravel road goes up to a dead end. Used to go up the east side rim but closed. 

Pictures of objects sitting out in the sun. Ron [me] and our two potted plants. (The plants are doing good don't ya think.) 
 
 

Monday was moving day,  "On the road again" and all that,  rearrange and stow all of the stuff that has been drug out while we rooted in at Navajo Dam.  Things weren't really that bad, but lots of little things to pack up, and stow for the move. 

Crossing the top of Navajo Dam on the way to points east, We used to think the drive very very scary,  we have gotten over the fear 

We got off to a late start, leaving Navajo Dam about 10:30 am heading for points east. Making  up for our late departure by stopping early in the afternoon at Chama NM (12:30pm), quite the departure from our normal travel habits.  The Usual statement in early afternoon being "its only 12:30 let's keep going",  Throw all the plans out the window along with any researched stopping points and keep moving and moving.  This usually  result is a very overlong day, frazzled nerves and lots of silent cold shoulder. 

Last year on the way North we stopped for the night at El Vado Lake State Park, not far from Chama,  left in the morning for Antinito Co and ended up parked in the fairgrounds at Poncha Springs Co. at 4:45 pm. just in time for a late cocktail hour, after coming much further then we had wanted to, and almost breaking down from a clogged fuel filter on the approach to Poncha Pass.  We were very happy to find the fairgrounds and it was a great place to stay, but we were so far off of our itinerary, the Fairgrounds was a very happy accidental discovery late in the day when we needed it most. 

Remnants of the old D&RGW  appear along the old route.  Here is an old cattle car that was left behind in Dulce, NM at the corner of Narrow Gauge and Jicarille.

Had to reassemble and set up the direct TV dish first thing after we got set up in Chama.  Ron researched the settings while I was leveling and anchoring the tripod.  Rolling a large stone the 50 feet or so to the tripod was a real killer at 8,000 ft of altitude