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Once again I was off to New Mexico, and as usual and whenever possible, I strayed off the busy Interstates.  On this trip I went to the northwestern part of the state with every intention of seeing as much of Abiquiú as possible, the Chaco Culture National Monument, the Aztec Ruins, Bisti Badlands, Four Corners and Ship Rock.  A lot to see and do but not impossible.

On the drive south on I-25 from Colorado Springs to Walsenburg, where I headed west on CO-160 to Alamosa, I always have the beautiful Rockies on my right, and closer to Walsenburg, the Spanish Peaks come into view.  Of course there usually is the brilliant blue sky above.  The drive through La Veta Pass is always lovely, and at this time of the year, things were verdant and rather lush in parts.  This is quite a long drive but it's one I like doing.

Before I knew it, I was driving through the quaint little town of Blanca, CO.  Now, it didn't strike me as being much of a tourist stop, but I was taken with the lovely wall murals I kept seeing, and the cutest little police station I have ever seen.  I wondered if there was anything to draw me to this town in the future, for a visit perhaps?  Mmmmm, I'll have to investigate.  I loved the abandoned little store which I briefly dreamed could be my little art gallery which would be seen by so many people passing by.

Quite a long drive south on CO-285 took me through Antonito and into New Mexico, through Ojo Caliente and to the junction with NM-84 where I turned right and headed west for Abiquiú.  It was then a short drive to my destination for the night, the Abiquiú Inn.
After checking into the inn, I headed off further along NM-84 to investigate, and my goodness am I glad I did.  It was getting late in the afternoon and I managed to stop in and see the old Pueblo Abiquiú which was wonderful.  This is where Georgia O'Keeffe's home and studio is but it's not that obvious.  There are tours you can take if you want to see where she lived and worked.  The Pueblo itself is pretty rundown with dusty dirt roads, but the lovely St. Tomas Church and grounds are especially pretty.

I stopped at the Rising Moon Gallery for a quick looksee and then took in the beautiful rocky hillsides along the road (NM-84 north) and the magnificant views of the River Chama below.  It's a lovely late afternoon drive up the hill as it were, and you get a wonderful view of this area.  I also got off the beaten track and drove along Road 162 (I think!) along the river, which was charming.  Lots of little farms and homes and galleries belonging to artists.  By this time the clouds had come over, and for most of the rest of the trip, it was cloudy and overcast.  In some places it was downright stormy!

The next morning I was awake at around 5am and noticed that it was just getting light outside.  I got up and opened the curtain and was greeted by this spectacular sight!  Nathan at The Abiquiú Inn told me it was their "Tree of Light".  It resonated with me because I had been painting greeting cards with this kind of silhouette.  Kind of.

After a sumptuous breakfast at the Abiquiú Cafe (huevos rancheros), and a pleasant time watching the many hummingbirds at the feeders, I realized that although there is not much to Abiquiú when driving through, after glancing at the Abiquiú & Around pamphlet, I saw just how much there is to see and do here.  Discovering this little pamphlet has prompted me to remind myself to come back and spend more time in this area.
I chose to have my breakfast on the patio so I could enjoy the hummingbirds at the feeders.  The restaurant is attached to the inn and has a very appealing menu as well as some local wines.  There were quite a few people for dinner the night before, and more for breakfast.  I thoroughly enjoyed my huevos rancheros and this could easily be the best I've had so far.  A little pricy at $11 for breakfast I thought.

I headed off north on NM-84 to the junction with NM-96 which is where I discovered the Abiquiú Lake/Dam, so I pulled in for a short while.  What a gorgeous body of water!  It is a lovely place to relax for a while, or you can hike, fish or even camp.  The friendly young man inside the visitor center told me that I would be missing a show and tell with raptors later that morning!  I walked around the picnic area, took in the view and atmosphere, and spotted the largest bee I've ever seen in the prettiest of pink trees.  I read that archaeological studies reveal that this valley has been active with a "succession of cultural groups over the past 5,000 years, from about 3,000 B.C."

I am so glad that I took NM-96 south to join Hwy 44/550 as this was a truly beautiful drive.  Relaxed and relatively free of traffic for miles and miles.  It was along this road that I noticed a light on the dashboard I had not seen before, and I didn't know what it was.  It looked like a little thermometer in a horseshoe shape.  It wasn't flashing and there was no temperature gauge flashing either.  The car sounded fine, wasn't pulling left or right, so I continued until I was back in cell phone reception and could call and find out what it was.  In the meantime, I still had to visit the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, some miles away.  The closer I got to Hwy 44, I came across some really well-defined striped cliffs.

After a fairly short drive along Hwy 44/550 west, I took NM-57 and followed the signs to the Chaco Culture.  (Pronounced Chukko)

What started off along quite a pleasant road, turned into the Road-I-Never-Want-to-See-Again!  It took me one hour to drive 23 miles.  I drove slowly, and I mean slowly (is 8-11 mph slow enough?) so as not to bang up the rental car, or shake up my insides (I could feel my brain wobbling in my skull) or dislocate any bones.  I wasn't the only one creeping along, there were quite a few regular cars doing the same thing.  Of course there are always those who have to show off and come careening passed in their 4x4 gas guzzlers.  I heard someone say that the road is on private land and is a private road, and if there are too many complaints, they could shut it.  Come on, if you want people to come and visit (and spend money), I'm sure there are groups who could raise a little capital and at least smooth the road out some.  Gravel would have been fine, but the deep grooves and horrendous gullies made it almost impassable, and certainly hard to endure.  I also heard and read that some people are happy with the road as it would "keep people out".  What's the good of that?  This is a World Heritage Site and therefore attractive to people.  Just not to me as I don't think I could stand doing that road again, even though the sights are phenomenal and worth seeing.  Make sure you have enough gas as there isn't any in the park, neither is there any food.  You can camp.

Because it took so long to get to the actual site, once I was inside the park I just drove the 13-mile one-way road and stopped at the Great House and at Pueblo del Arroyo to look around and get a feel for this amazing place.  There was no time to hike around a little, but if I had perhaps been more prepared...  It was quiet at this time of year, thankfully, as I enjoyed the peacefulness and spirituality.  I would suggest you give yourself more than a few hours here, especially if you're going to hike.  This place is immense and so old!

After the one-hour trip back to Hwy 44/550, I headed west to Farmington for the night.  It wasn't too far but the weather was closing in and I had heard the rangers at the visitors center say that people shouldn't hike that afternoon because of the threatening weather that was moving in.  I was watching the gauge all the time, as well as the weather, and just outside Bloomfield, it all went crazy.  Howling winds, dust and rain, and visibility was very bad.  Thankfully I spotted a gas station so I pulled in called a friend who looked up the dashboard sign online and told me it was a tire pressure problem.  I called Enterprise's Roadside Assistance to find out where the nearest Enterprise shop was.  Turned out that there was one in Farmington, not too far away.  But, I was still nervous about heading off into the storm knowing that there could be something wrong with the tire.  I was assured that the office at the airport was open and that I could stop by and see what I should do about the car.  As luck would have it, the airport was about five minutes away from my bed and breakfast for the night, the Casa Blanca Inn, so that was handy.