Las Vegas (no not that one) & Ft. Union Natl. Monument

Ft. Union National Monument on the Sante Fe National Historic Trail was our goal for yesterday. Our neighbors told us, prior to our late departure, to be sure to go to Las Vegas, no not that one, and eat at Charlie's Spic n Span. The best Mexican food around.

Since we were late leaving, by the time we arrived near the turn off for the Fort, Dean announced he wanted to eat first, so on we drove to Las Vegas. The recommendation for Charlie's was a good one. Dean had two enchilada's and a tamale, beans and potato's. I had two enchilada's and a chili reano along with the potato's. They also served salsa & chips and fresh made flour tortilla's. Oh my, I never saw so much food and boy was it good. I do think that we will try to get there again before we leave New Mexico for good this year. They also have a bakery, but I was smart and didn't look until after I'd finished eating, so even though everything looked good, I didn't buy anything.

Since we were close to a Super Wal-Mart, we decided to make a quick stop for a few things that the regular Wal-Mart in Taos didn't have. That took an hour, of course. We finally got back on the road to Ft. Union around 2:00 p.m. The drive there took most of a hour so we arrived around 3 p.m. We walked through the museum, watched a 15 min. film and were told a little bit of the history of the fort by one of the rangers. Then we finally started the walking tour. We got to where the ruins started and don't you know, it started to rain. I did manage to get a few pictures, but we had to high tail it back to the Visitors Center. We waited around for a while, but it was obvious that the rain was not going to stop any time soon, so we made the decision to head on back to Eagle Nest.

About 30 miles up the interstate from the fort, the rain quit. The sky's ahead where clear so we decided to take a back road back to Cimarron.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that on our way to the fort, we opted to take a back road as well. That particular back road had about 9 miles of dirt, rock and very little gravel. Parts of the "gravel" road where very scenic but it also spent a lot of time hugging the mountain side. The most scenic parts of Hwy 120 where after it went back to blacktop road. We saw so many antelope, we lost count!

Now, back to our return trip. We opted for the road less traveled, at least this had no gravel parts to it. The closer we got to the mountains, the more scenic it became. We also passed Philmont Boy Scout Camp, supposed one of the largest in the US. We didn't stop because it was around 6 p.m. when we arrived and the Visitor Center was closed. I did get a couple of pictures as we drove by and we hope to go back for a visit. From what I've been told, there are thousands of acres that make up this camp. If we do get back, I'll post more on it.

Coming through Cimarron Canyon we saw several deer right along the roadway. I tried to get a picture of the male's. One turned out! They just move to fast.

We returned home tired and ready to relax the rest of the evening.

Today we stayed home and did laundry - again! We leave Eagle Nest one week from tomorrow and have seen or visited most everything that was on our list. Do check back though, you never know where we may go next.

Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/SchultzTravelPhotos