Two Familiar Stops in New Mexico

We left the Arizona  Desert with its many beautiful cacti and spring flowers and headed to the higher desert of New Mexico. Our first stop was a few day stay at City of Rocks State Park, where we have stayed several times. City of Rocks State Park includes unusual rock formations set in a rather flat part of New Mexico near Deming. We got a spot that are butted up next to some of the rocks.

There are 64 sites with a small number of sites with hooks grouped together and the rest set among the rocks. A lot of people come for the day to climb among the rocks or even to do some rock climbing though it was pretty quite when we were there. A fun place to spend some time.

Then we were on to one of our fav spots to stay, Santa Fe. We love this town and even though of buying a small condo near the Plaza area at one time. Anyway, it is a great place to visit with lots to do. We stayed at Santa Fe Skies RV Park, where we have stayed several times. It is just south of Santa Fe and is on a hill with views of the Sangre de /Cristo Mountains and the Rio Grande Valley.I had read in someone else's blog that they had recently stayed here and talked about the spots in the back area which have the best views. Those had been filled when we were here during the busy summer season but we were able to get one of the nicest spot, a pull thru with no obstructed view.

It is an interesting resort with much of its electricity coming from a large array of solar panels right in the park. They also a number of art sculptures throughout the park, fitting for the artsy town of Santa Fe.  Below are just a few of them.

Joe was still recovering from his stomach virus the first few days, antsy to be well enough to sample some of Santa Fe's many excellent restaurants.
One day we took a drive up to Hyde Memorial State Park. It is really for smaller vehicles than our Beast but it was a nice drive. If you continue up the hill it ends at a Ski Resort. It was a nice drive.

Love the southwestern houses that just blend into the scenery. We had a lot of weather most of the time we were here. Lots of wind, thunder, lightning, rain. We went to the Saturday Farmers Market. It was cold and we even got a few small snow flakes. The vendors were shutting up early as it looked like it could rain but we purchased some spinach and a couple of types of potatoes including purple fingerlings. from the part of the Market that is indoors. When Joe felt better, one of the first restaurant trips was to Harry's Roadhouse, a popular restaurant that was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. We have been here a number of times and Joe always get their turkey meatloaf.
We did get a nice day and were able to go walk around the Plaza area. Joe wanted to get a hat but I was the one who ended up getting one. Didn't get a picture of me in it but will probably get one one of these days. I also got some sandals and a new chain for my Spirit Bear turquoise pendent I got in Vail years ago. We had lunch that day at the Blue Corn Cafe, where we have eaten before. Joe, who loves loves hot spicy food had a green chile stew that he admitted was pretty darn hot. I had green chile mac and cheese with chicken. Yummy!! It is also a brewery and Joe had a flight of beers. I tasted a few when not sipping on my margarita. Another day we went to El Farol, Santa Fe's oldest restaurant. It is known for their tapas and during the evening they have flamingo dancers performing. We just went for lunch. It was a little chilly or we would have loved to sit out on their patio. More good food. Our favorite was flash  fried avocado with a lime yogurt sauce. We also had a cheese plate with four different cheeses
( IDIAZABAL lightly smoked sheep milk served with sliced pear

CABRALES Spanish blue cheese with marcona almonds & honey

QUESO de CABRA baked Spanish goat cheese served with roasted garlic & Jamon Serrano

MANCHEGO Spanish sheep milk cheese with membrillo

 We also had chorizo with fig aioli and also  an empanada with salmon.

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the Plaza area as we have a lot from previous trips. Below are some pictures from one of our trips from several years ago.

We spent a lot of time just relaxing in the motor home with the inclement weather. There is lots to do here. Last year when we were here we drove the Turquoise Trail, which is a scenic drive south towards Albuquerque .Other past trips included a day trip to Taos and also to the area between Santa Fe and Santa Fe,where Georgia O"Keeffe lived and painted many of  her famous landscapes of this beautiful area.  We also went to a number of the many museums in town, including Georgia O'Keeffe's and also on what is called  Museum Hill.where we went to the Folk Art Museum and a few others. Of course, there are many Art Galleries and other interesting shops.
While hanging around the RV Park, we took a few walks around the 3/4 mile loop around the park.

Behind this are the garbage containers.

We love this place and kept adding days to our stay which ended up about 10 days. But, we are onto another state. We head north to Colorado.
Oh and the Ducks won the Ducks Calgary series 4 games to 1. They are onto the Western Conference Final, the first time since 2007 when they went on to win the Stanley Cup. GO Ducks!!!!!