The voyage to Taos took us back into the mountains of southern Colorado – marking our last mountain trek for quite some time. In fact, we were kind of caught off guard by just how mountainous this route was, so much so that we almost ran out of gas! The dash showed we only had 10 miles to empty when we arrived at our destination – the Taos Valley RV Park.
Nostalgia played a large role when we chose Taos Valley RV Park as our campground while in the area. My grandparents owned a travel trailer when I was growing up and regularly took me and my sister on weeklong RV trips. One such trip took us all around New Mexico, including a stay at this very RV park! It was fun to reminisce and think back to all the great times I had on those summer trips. Miss you, Grandma and Grandpa!
Another reason we chose Taos Valley RV Park was because my parents were visiting, and the RV park offered an Airbnb that they could stay in! We hadn’t seen my parents since hitting the road, so it was great to be able to meet, catch up, and just hang out for the week. Their rental came with a fun patio that made for an awesome spot to grill out, chill out, and watch the beautiful sunsets each evening.
Once we were thoroughly reacquainted, it was time for us to venture out into the surrounding area and do some sightseeing. Our first destination was the surprisingly impressive Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.
You would think that it would be hard to miss but, somehow, this giant gorge manages to come out of nowhere. The drive out to the gorge is rather flat and uneventful – that is, until you suddenly find yourself at the edge of a massive canyon. At roughly 600 feet above the river, walking out onto the bridge is quite the sensation. I don’t have much of a fear of heights, but even I had to think twice about getting too close to the railing.
Our next activity with my parents was a ride along the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, an 84-mile loop of the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The most notable stop on this day trip was Red River, a small ski town which my family regularly visited when I was growing up. This was yet another blast from the past as my parents and I really enjoyed exploring the area on foot and recalling all our visits over the years.
Sadly, my parents’ time in Taos was up and they had to head back to Oklahoma. However, before they could leave, they were gracious enough to buy us a new bathroom faucet and help us install it! Here is the finished product (believe me, it looks much better than the cheapo faucet we had before).
Now that the old folks had gone back home, we decided to up the physical difficulty a little bit and do some hiking for our last activity in the area. We settled on the Williams Lake Trail, a 4-mile out and back starting at the Taos Ski Valley and ending at a lovely alpine lake way up in the mountains.
Unfortunately, the hike wasn’t as enjoyable as it should have been. Because we were in the shade for much of the hike, we ended up being a little underdressed (cough, just Sam, cough). However, the end result made it all worth it! After snapping a few pics out in the sun, we got back on our horse and booked it down the mountain in search of warmth.
We originally planned on staying at the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park in southern New Mexico following our Taos visit. Unfortunately, COVID threw a wrench in this plan (more accurately, the state of New Mexico’s response to COVID threw a wrench in this plan). Less than a week ahead of our stay, we received an automated message from the parks service alerting us that our reservation had been cancelled because we were out of state visitors. Let’s just say, this is one of several reasons why New Mexico is our least favorite state along our journey.
Given this new development, we scrambled to find another campground while we were in southern New Mexico. Fortunately, we were able to find a private RV park with availability in Ruidoso. However, as you will see in our next installment, we were thrown another curve ball on our way down there and had to call yet another audible.