We skirted from one Las Vegas to another. Las Vegas, New Mexico, that is. I spent a handful of summers in New Mexico when I was a kid, and was excited to share some of that experience with Woody – it only took us 30 years to get here!
My Aunt & Uncle live in Las Vegas, about 65 miles east of Santa Fe, at the same ranch my brother & I scrambled all over, many years ago. Of course things have changed: the ranch animals, the actual home, even the name of the street; but things are also the same: kittens!, the red dirt, the outhouse, the duck pond we helped build. Fun memories to share with Woody.
During our visit we had warm, sunny weather, and visibility for miles and miles. This time of year is shoulder season, and we missed most of the tourists. There’ll be another swarm coming once the snow hits the mountains.
Lucky for us, we had Uncle Scottie as the tour guide, cousin Bob packed the picnic and provided fact back-up to the many memorie
s and stories, and Aunt Karin was pretty much everything else… nurse (supplying antihistamine), and the elbow to keep us moving along.
Though there are all sorts of architecture in New Mexico, it is fairly unique to New Mexico to see the adobe pueblo style.

One memory I have was of my Uncle making those adobe cuboids, and seeing them dry in the sun, getting brick hard.
The timber & adobe combination I find stunning, add the bright red hatch chillies, and you are in New Mexico!

New Mexico’s nick name is the “Land of Enchantment,” and it’s fitting, you can feel the arty mojo while touring through this high desert country. If you get to land in Taos, or Santa Fe, the art galleries are countless!
But, tell me I’m not alone, it’s hard to shake the Portlandia notion: if you put a bird on it = art.





Hey, who are those bird brains at Tres Ritos? They look like they’re really cold already! And what about that gorgeous view of the Rio Grande? Hope Carlos and his entourage are doing well in Texas or wherever they are now.
You know, my images of the Rio Grande weren’t so grand! But I got a good one of the drone. . .