Santa Fe, NM

We made an overnight stop in Santa Fe and stayed at Black Canyon, a forest service campground on Hyde Park Rd, on the way to the ski areas. It is only 7 miles from The Plaza, the heart of old town Santa Fe, so it was a great location, and only $10, but no hookups. It is also at 8500 ft elevation, so it got into the 30’s last night, a bit too cold for our liking, and there is no cell service at all.

The campground had recently been renovated, was all paved, and the outhouses were some of the nicest we’ve seen. Hey, it doesn’t take much to impress us these days!

We spent a few hours walking around the Plaza area, looked in some shops, visited St. Francis Cathedral, and people watched.


It was entertaining listening to this homeless person resisting arrest. We never did figure out what he did wrong, but he kept threatening to go to the newspaper the next day to tell his story.

We liked the door on this building, and peeked in the windows. It was full of really old doors of all kinds.

We ate dinner at a great pizza place, Il Vicino, and were joined by Bernie and Martha Marks, fellow Lazy Daze owners who try to meet up with other Lazy Daze owners who pass through town. He is a talented artist, and she is a wildlife photographer and writer. We had a delightful time talking with them, and Martha even gave us a copy of her book, Rubies of the Viper. I started reading it last night and although I’m only a few chapters into it, I am already caught up in the story.
Today we made our way to Coronado Campground in Bernalillo, just north of Albuquerque, where we’ve stayed before. We have some doctors appointments and shopping to take care of over the next couple days, then we’ll head to the Balloon Fiesta on Friday. We could have gone early to the Fiesta, but for $15 a night and no hookups, we opted for Coronado, where we have power and water for $20. It is way too hot here, almost 90, which is quite a contrast to the 30’s we had last night. It’s supposed to cool off by the end of the week, though.