Category: Outdoor Recreation & Hiking
Another Winter Family Adventure
February 10, 2013 by Diane Berry · Leave a Comment
In my last post, I wrote about an opportunity for winter family fun, cross country skiing at the Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area near Red River, NM. Another ideal outdoor family fun opportunity takes place in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado each year over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. This year, the 40th Annual Chama Chili Ski Classic and Winter Fiesta was held from January 19th-21st . My husband and son spend early winter preparing for the 52K American Birkebeiner Ski Race in Hayward, Wisconsin held the last Saturday of February. Ryan will be completing his 2nd Birkie and Terry, his 32nd in 2013. The support crew and food wagon As part of their training schedule every year, they like to combine regular weekend ski workouts with at least one additional ski race to achieve the optimum training effect. Therefore, it was with great delight that we learned of the Chama Chili Ski Races happening just north of Chama, NM in southern Colorado. However, it was not just a... [Read more...]
A Winter Family Adventure!
February 3, 2013 by Diane Berry · Leave a Comment
Outdoor family fun need not stop when the weather grows colder, or even when the snow flies. Over the holidays this year, we had the distinct pleasure of enjoying the company of all three of our grown children for an extended period of time. In addition to enjoying all of our usual holiday activities, such as playing games, putting puzzles together, cooking, eating and shopping, we had the pleasure of engaging in another favorite pursuit in a new place: cross country skiing. Enchanted Forest Clubhouse/Warming Hut Loving the outdoors, we have long enjoyed the winter activities of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the colder months, near our cabin in northern Wisconsin. Far from there this winter, however, we sought out a new place to enjoy these activities and happened upon the Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area in Red River, NM. We were not disappointed. The girls skied with me Located on NM Highway 38 just 3.5 miles east of Red River, NM, just below the summit of Bobcat Pass... [Read more...]
The Forest in Winter
January 27, 2013 by Diane Berry · 1 Comment
Several weeks ago I wrote a post about hiking the Picuris Peak Trail with our son, Ryan, when he was with us this past summer. During the month of August our youngest daughter Meghan joined us and was interested in spending some time out of doors. More a biker than hiker, we decided to take Meg to the same trail for a bike ride along that forest road. However, the rutted and hilly roads that were simple to navigate when hiking proved much the opposite when operating on two wheels. After about 15 minutes, Meghan called it quits and proceeded to walk her bike back to the car. In my mind, that was to be the end of our time on that trail until the following summer; but I was mistaken. Open Meadow at the beginning of the trail In fall, Terry and I ventured out to that same area of the Kit Carson National Forest to cut firewood for winter. We found the forest road reasonably navigable in our Durango and also noted the abundance of 8-10 foot evergreen trees, suitable for Christmas trees. The day... [Read more...]
A Lookout in Winter
January 20, 2013 by Diane Berry · 1 Comment
Several months back, I wrote a post about a hike we took on the Devisadero Trail near Taos, NM. Devisadero means “lookout” and the trail was originally used by Taos Pueblo Indians to keep lookout for Apaches coming to attack the pueblo from down the canyon. Quite a romantic and historic past. At the top of Devisadero Peak, there are two stone chairs that appear quite ancient and it is easy to imagine early pueblo residents sitting here, standing guard, and protecting their community. One of my favorite aspects of this trail, however, is that it is located on the sunny side of Taos Canyon; thus, the majority of the trail is in sunlight, every day, year-round. This means it provides a delightful hiking opportunity, even during winter months. For our first hike in the New Year, and the first hike since we returned from our two week holiday trip back to Wisconsin (meaning no hiking for at least that long!), we chose Devisadero. The trail did not disappoint. True to form, New Mexico provided... [Read more...]
Snowbird Destinations: WHERE to ROOST?
January 15, 2013 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
Snowbirds are typically retired seniors who have the desire and financial ability to be away from home for extended periods of time. As our population ages the number of people considering this lifestyle increases. The majority of Snowbirds who make Southern California their winter home, head for the Coachella Valley with its 10 desert resort cities—Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs (pictured above), Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Thousand Palms, Indio, and Bermuda Dunes. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved Every winter, more than 1 million RV snowbirds wing south to the U.S. Sunbelt to escape the winter cold. RVers who enjoy the snowbird lifestyle range from retired seniors, who have the wherewithal to journey far from home for extended periods of time, to Baby Boomers dipping their toes in the water. The available options are unlimited enabling snowbirds to design their own lifestyle to suit their financial ability and social preferences. The basic... [Read more...]
Picuris Peak 2: The Royal Road!
January 13, 2013 by Diane Berry · Leave a Comment
In my last post, I described a hike I took with my husband Terry and son Ryan shortly after their arrival in New Mexico this summer. They drove out to join me after a long six weeks here alone. We chose to hike the Picuris Peak Trail, near Taos, NM. We had hiked for several hours and were not sure how far to continue, but curious to see what was around each new bend in the road. Our persistence and curiosity was rewarded when, after about three hours, we came upon a large sign proclaiming “El Camino Real.” Here, in the middle of the forest, we had come upon the oldest road in the country. I had seen an obscure reference to the road in the description of this hike, but not being familiar with it at that point, it meant nothing to me. Also, as we had hiked for quite a time by then, I had forgotten the reference in my research. Along the Camino Real… Officially known as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (which is Spanish for “The Royal Road of the Interior Land”) it is part of... [Read more...]
Hiking the Picuris Peak Trail
January 6, 2013 by Diane Berry · Leave a Comment
…AKA a pleasant memory after a trying time. This past July, Terry and Ryan drove the remainder of our belongings and our camper from Wisconsin to New Mexico to join me in our new home, as I waited up all night, anxious for their safe arrival. Once they settled in, we decided that the best way to celebrate being reunited was to spend some time in nature to help us appreciate the beauty surrounding us. We headed up NM 518 to Forest Road 114 to hike the trail to Picuris Peak. It was especially memorable because Ryan was with us, knowing he would be headed back to his summer job in Des Moines in a day or two. He seemed to notice this sweetness as well, stopping to photograph wildlife and the profusion of wildflowers we encountered along our way. Hiking in, the forest road was at first level and quite passable. We remarked that we could have driven in further, as did the trucks passing us heading into the Carson National Forest to collect firewood. But we were there to hike, so hike... [Read more...]
Camping Goals for 2013!
December 30, 2012 by Diane Berry · 4 Comments
It’s that time of year again; time to lay out our goals for the New Year. As many of you know, every year my family and I look back at our accomplishments of the year past, then focus forward and set some goals for the New Year. As I sit here at my computer, I am looking out and watching the snow fall, covering the ground with its glistening white magic. Even our little camper is covered, which brings me to some of the goals we have not met for the year. As I do every year, in this post, I would like to set some camping and RVing goals for the new year to give use something to “shoot for”, as it were. Our “Big Move” Last year, as some of you may know, our goals included selling our home in Wisconsin, closing the mental health clinic we have run for more than ten years and moving ourselves and all of our worldly good to the home we purchased in New Mexico. Another goal was to continue teaching college classes online at Kaplan University. I am happy to say, we accomplished... [Read more...]
Cruisin’ the beach in style…
December 29, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · 1 Comment
Right before Christmas, we spent 10 days out on Padre Island (Texas Gulf Coast). We dry camped out in the National Park campground on the island, and had a great time! We try to spend 2 weeks there every year – it is one of our very favorite places. Every year we try to make sure to do our ‘traditions’ – our favorite things that we have to do every visit, like driving down the beach, hunting ghost crabs, and riding the ferry at Aransas Pass. Every year we try to find some new experiences to do also. One of the things that we did this year was to drive to nearby Port Aransas and rent Beach Carts! I will admit that I was a little nervous about renting a beach cart – well, you know us, we had to rent 2, both 6 seaters! LOL! First, would the cart owner freak when we pulled in and 10 kids piled out of our van? And, beach carts, even if you are just using them on the beach, are subject to the same laws that govern vehicles (meaning seat belts…), so what... [Read more...]
Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming…
December 27, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · 4 Comments
We are so incredibly blessed to be able to travel with our family during the winter. This fall, after leaving our home state of Montana, we took our time getting down to Texas, where we spent much of December. On our way south, we stopped at a few National Parks; NPs are kind of our ‘thing’. We are trying to stop at as many National Parks as we can; at each park the kids complete the educational Jr. Ranger program, and collect the badges they earn as we go (they are small and don’t weigh much at all!). So far, we have been to over 6 dozen of our NPs! This past fall, we came south out of Billings via I-90, and spent the night in Gillette, WY (we like short driving days!). We decided that we couldn’t be so close to Devil’s Tower, located in the upmost NE corner of WY, and not take the opportunity to check it off our long list of parks still to visit! It was about an hour drive (each way) from Gillette. On the way out there, one of the littles asked what it was;... [Read more...]
