A Dark Sky night with the MIlky Way!
On our bucket list was to someday have the opportunity to see the Milky Way in a dark-sky area. We had only to look up right outside our camper while staying at Glorieta Adventure Camps! The night was beautifully dark and the Milky-Way was visible along with thousands of stars! The pictures from our camera phone certainly don’t pick up all that we saw, but we still wanted to record the amazing views we enjoyed. Reminds us of how BIG our God is and how little we are – BUT He cares about every detail of our lives (and yours!)
While we’re in New Mexico we decided to take a trip to Taos! We learned there was a loop that we could take with lots to see along the way. We decided to take the low-road first. It follows the Rio Grande River through the lowlands. So we started out at “river level” and then…
…ended up 650 feet above the river, but hardly any elevation gain! The Rio Grande river runs into and through a rift in the earth’s crust. In this area the rift is named a “gorge” (although the river didn’t make the gorge).
A massive steel bridge was built over it in 1965. This is in the top ten highest bridges in the USA.
It became a bit un-nerving to walk across, especially when those large semi’s rumbled across putting everything into motion. Yikes!~ we got the shakes and wobbly knees! (Those are Lorree’s toes hanging over the edge!)
In Taos we walked the Plaza and had a nice authentic New Mexican lunch at a local Cantina. Lots of flowers decorated the walkways and the Plaza.
We drove the high road back from Taos. Beautiful mountains full of color!. Much like “home” with winding roads and great views. Not long however, we were back down on the valley foor in the desert and rocky plains.
Before we left the high road we ventured over to Nambi Falls and Nambi Reservoir. We hiked up (it was definately UP! – thankful for the many “stairs” they built into the trail) to see multiple falls that are just below the dam of the resevoir.
There was another trail that went to the base of the falls but it required water shoes as some of the trail was in the river – we passed on that since we just had sandles and tennis shoes on.
On the final leg back we saw various rock formations and some very colorful overpasses that highlighted the Indian communities in the area.
We had a great day trip adventure! New Mexico has a lot of unique areas to explore and enjoy. We’re looking forward to seeing what Arizonia has for us next! But first – we’re headed back to the cabin for a week or so – more adventures coming!