Road Trip to Santa Fe

Time to leave Questa, New Mexico, just north of Taos. This area is a very poor area of New Mexico. Most of the population in this area are Hispanics. The only industry is mining or tourism. The area is starting to become more developed in tourism with Taos and the Enchanted Circle drive becoming more popular. As we started to get the Nest ready for the road, Joe told me he was having shortness of breath. I asked him if he has been worrying about our drive today, and he said yes. I told him that the shortness of breath is anxiety. When we drove the Enchanted Circle, two days ago, Joe saw the road we are going on to Santa Fe. It has very steep up and down grades, and he has been concerned about it ever since. When we drove into Blanca, Colorado, we had very steep upgrades, and after we arrived to Blanca, he told me it made him very nervous, because he thought the Nest would not make it up the hills. I told him I was sure the Nest would do fine, just take it slow down the hills because that is when I have anxiety, if he go's too fast down the hill to make it up the next hill.

On our way to Taos and the roller coaster drive.

Going through Taos. Made it just fine on the roller coaster drive. Joe is breathing better. Just one of the Adobe business in Taos, New Mexico. This is new territory. We do not know what to expect. What's around this bend? A beautiful view of the valley and the Rio Gorge. Now down! And down. And down. And down. We have been driving down into the gorge and beside the Rio Grande River. We continue to go down. Look, some rafters in the river. Descending still. And still some more. Joe is fine, I take pictures. The hills don't look so steep when I look through the camera. I am so glad Joe is taking it slow. Where is the bottom? Here it is! We came down 3000 feet. Landscape is starting to change. Less sagebrush and darker green bushes. Less trees. Entering Santa Fe, New Mexico. Population less than 70,000. We drove 80 which took 3 hours! Our new yard for a few days at Rancheros De Santa Fe Campground Lot # 90. We settled in and then I took Joe out for dinner. We were headed for a Mexican restaurant, but on our way, Joe spotted another restaurant. It was a small place with lots of cars, and you could smell steaks from the road. I glanced over and said, " I read about that place in, "500Things To Eat Before It's Too Late", a book I bought about best places to eat around the USA. We decided to turn around since it was so close to the campground and give it a try. We stop at the roadside dinner called Bobcat Bite. There were people standing outside in the parking lot as Joe went in and put our name on the list. There were six parties ahead of us. To make a long story short, we had to wait 1 hour to be seated and 15 min. longer to get our food. They are famous for their Green Chile Cheeseburgers. Their beef has no hormones or antibiotics added and the burgers are 1 inch thick. The place opened in 1953 and has been family owned since then. It used to be on the old Route 66 and bobcats use to come to the back door for treats. It was very good and the Green Chile Cheeseburger was not too hot.