Hyde Memorial State Park, Santa Fe, NM

 

There is no cell or internet here, so I am just keeping a daily log and will post later.

Thursday May 24

As we feared, when we arrived at Black Canyon Forest Service Campground this morning, the non reserved sites were already taken, so it was on to plan B. I was a little worried because we didn’t have a plan C, but we were lucky and got the last 2 non-reserved sites a mile and 500’ elevation climb up the road at Hyde Memorial State Park. Since there are only 7 RV sites with electric, and 3 can be reserved, we were surprised to find any open. Except for the fact that Hyde Park Road is very close (that’s where I stood to take the above picture), and there is no internet (which we already knew), we are happy to be here in the middle of the Santa Fe National Forest.

We’ve escaped the heat, at an elevation of 8800’, and it feels like fall. It was good timing to get out of southwestern NM since the 2 forest fires near Mogollon have merged and high winds are blowing the smoke across the state. I think we’ll be pretty sheltered here. For $4/night with the NM State Parks pass ($14 without), downtown Santa Fe only 8 miles down the road, and miles of hiking trails all along Hyde Park Road going up to the ski area, this is a great location. We went to town for dinner at Da Lino’s Pizza ( it was okay), and then did some much anticipated shopping at Trader Joe’s. Haven’t been to TJ’s since last September in Indianapolis, so we stocked up.

Friday May 25

It was windy and we could smell smoke and see haze from the big forest fire, but the wind shifted a bit and the smoke cleared. Hiked a couple miles but at this elevation we are having a hard time whenever we go uphill. It’s nice to hike in shade and cooler temps.

This afternoon Debbie dropped Elliot off at the groomer so she and I also went and got a haircut. Jim went to Best Buy and purchased a new TV, since the original Jensen has had speaker problems for 2 years now and much of the time we were listening in monaural. We’ve looked before but couldn’t find a TV that would fit the opening, other than ordering another 12V Jensen, which costs close to $500. He found a 26” Samsung LED TV with the proper dimensions for $299, and even though it’s not a 12V we will just run it off the inverter when we’re dry camping. Our old TV was only a 20”, so this looks huge and the picture and sound are great. Now Jim just has to drill new holes in the mounting plate to bring it down where it needs to be.

Saturday May 26

Another windy day but we took a hike of about 3 miles.

We started smelling smoke and seeing haze walking back to the campground but it’s not bad so far. We couldn’t have picked a better spot to spend a holiday weekend. It’s quiet, and even though it’s windy there is no dust and we’re protected by the trees. We got lucky this time, but need to do a better job of planning for the 4th of July.

Drove up the road toward the ski area to try to get an internet connection but it wasn’t fast enough. We did get to look at our email and see that our mail arrived at the post office, so I am publishing this from town. Doubt I will post again while we’re here.