Big Sky Country

Our drive from Santa Fe on Thursday was uneventful, but beautiful.  As I mentioned a few days ago, New Mexico has had good rains this spring, and the landscape consists of many shades of green.  Impressive red bluffs near along Hwy 25 on the way to Las Vegas, NM, towered above the Pecos river.

It was along this stretch of road that we passed this man whose long-distance ride is in tribute to service personnel lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Unfortunately, the stretch of road where we passed him had no place for us to pull over and donate in support of his cause.

A little farther down the road, the pinon-covered hills gave way to breathtaking rolling grasslands.  We were truly getting into Big Sky Country.

Mid-afternoon brought us to the NRA Whittington Center just south of Raton, NM.  The campground sits high and has spectacular views.  The weather couldn’t be better.  The elevation here is almost 7,000 feet.  Daytime temperatures are in the 70’s and 80’s, with cool nights in the 50’s.  We love being comfortable without running the A/C!  On Thursday night, we watched the full moon rise above the campground.

Then, this morning we woke at 6:00 a.m. to a sunrise to remember.

Our morning walk had awe-inspiring views in all directions.  (Have I used all the adjectives yet?)

Upon our arrival, the camp host had welcomed us and warned us to be cautious because there are black bears and mountain lions in the area.  We haven’t seen the mama cougar and her two cubs, but our trip to the trash bins this morning left no doubt that Mr. Bear had visited in the night.  

We hope to see him before we leave, but hopefully from a distance!