New Mexico in June? Hey Skippy! ++

[Independent Gal]

We're thinking of taking a 'mini-moon' in New Mexico. We'd want to do some hiking, and maybe see some interesting ruins if there are some. We're pretty ignorant at this point!

So my questions are:

1) Is it crazy to go in June? We're both used to heat and can cope up to about 30 celsius... (what's that in F... 90?).

2) As people interested in history, archaeology, nature, and awesome landscapes, where should we go?

Thanks!

 

[Skippy123]

Hey IG awesome; Belle, Sundial (IndieJones lived here) and FC are from here too. I think Deco came out here too so maybe she will chime in. I love the outdoors so I will come up with some ideas and I think June is great; we have had mild weather weather lately, right now today it is in the 70's. We had friends from Washington DC come out to see us and wanted to see everything so we did lots of things with them so I will post shortly. I am running to the gym now but I will come back and give you more info! You will love it here; so much history, archaeology, and nature for sure!!!!!

How much time do you have here if you come???

 

[FrekeChild]

Yay you're coming to visit IndyGal?! How awesome! What made you guys decide on NM? Are you coming to Albuquerque or were you thinking of somewhere else in the state? (Skippy and I are in Alb, I don't know about belle or IndieJones.)

I personally think June is a great time-it's certainly not like Las Vegas where the temp would already be in the 100s. We'll definitely be in the 90s, but it's a very dry heat. And really the weather is really unpredictable-for instance the past week we've been solidly in the 80s, but last night we had a thunderstorm and now the temp is in the 50s. A month ago on top of the Sandia Mountains there was about a foot of snow-so it can vary quite a bit...

I think you should definitely hit the Crest for hiking, great views and lots of picture taking-and by then the snow and ice should be gone. And White Sands because it's just amazing to see and take pictures of. Hmmm...

Here's the Albuquerque travel website: Itsatrip.org
And the New Mexico travel website: NewMexico.org

I want to see what Skippy suggests...

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/14/2008 11:13:36 AM
Author:Independent Gal
We're thinking of taking a 'mini-moon' in New Mexico. We'd want to do some hiking, and maybe see some interesting ruins if there are some. We're pretty ignorant at this point!

So my questions are:

1) Is it crazy to go in June? We're both used to heat and can cope up to about 30 celsius... (what's that in F... 90?).

2) As people interested in history, archaeology, nature, and awesome landscapes, where should we go?

Thanks!

haha, I couldn't find this thread for a second so I thought was I making things up that IG started a thread on NM??? haha

Okay, I guess it depends on exactly what you want to do and how long you are here. Here are a few fun things; this state is huge but you can do a lot of driving so I would pick an area. I will give you some options and maybe you could check out a book at the library. The southern part of the state has Carlsbad Caverns, Gila National Park, White Sands and more but it tends to be Hotter during that time, just my 2 cents.

I love Northern New Mexico and it would be nicer weathern then Southern NM in the summer. It tends to be much cooler North. Santa Fe is great; they have strict covenants that buldlings can only be a certain height and must be pueblo style. There is the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum because she loved painting scenary from NM and lived out here and the museum has the largest collection of paintings of hers. The plaza is wonderful you can walk around and look at all the shops and the restaurants are great; it feels like nothing I have ever seen before. Here is a little more info you might want to read about the Plaza and Palace of the Governors http://www.frommers.com/destinations/santafe/A4847.html There a lots of gallery's there; I love art so I love to wander in the gallery's off the plaza. You do not need to drive around the plaza you can walk.

Taos is about 1 hr (if I remember correctly, I go often but don't time it) from Santa Fe and it is reminds me of Santa Fe; there is a plaza but on a smaller scale and the town is smaller but the land is vast. The drive from Santa Fe to Taos is quite beautiful because you go through the San Jaun Valley and see the Rio Grande River on your way and you can stop in the small town of Chimayo which is beautiful drive along the way and a backroad tiny detour to Toas; google Chimayo and you will learn a lot about it. There is the Taos Gorge which is cool to see and very different you can schedule a rafting trip. I have never done the Taos box (white water rafting) but my husband did it and it is 1/2 day or a day long and he said it was so much fun. Sometimes in the summer they have amazing lightning shows and great photo op if you like to photograph that.

Chaco Canyon I heard is awesome; I am dying to go there; I heard it takes a day but that would be of great archeological interest http://www.nps.gov/chcu/ Our friends did it and said it was amazing. You need to pack food as there is no places to eat out there our friends told us they didn't know it and ate every single thing they could find in the car.

Also, a fun drive to Santa Fe is through Jemez, you can eat at this cowboy bar called Los Ojos; I love that place and on the way we stopped at Bandelier; great for walking, climbing up the cliff dwellings; I loved this and you take tours; I think they run every hour so you will want to find out before hand. Here is a link http://www.nps.gov/band/ Also if you drive on the back side of Albuquerque going to Santa Fe (these are 2 completely different ways to go to Santa Fe) you can go through some neat towns, one is Madrid that is very artsie and the views are amazing. I love going for a drive out that way; there are so many sunflowers if we get good rains.

If you stay in Albuquerque the Tram ride is fun; you can hike the la luz trail which is 7 mile up 3000 feet (I think). It takes 2 or 3 hours if I remember correctly; I did that hike before and you can ride the tram down. Their is a restaurant at the top not the best but good and it works after a long hike. There is hiking all over the state; it is pretty awesome. The views and blue skies you get here are breath taking.

I do have a few pictures in my Who's Who of NM if you want to see and in the TravelEyecandy I think of Santa Fe.

 

[FrekeChild]

Yeah High Finance is at the top, and rather expensive-but impressive too because they have to carry water up from the base of the mountains using the Tram, because there isn''t any running water at the top. Sandiagos is at the base of the Tram, and I think the food is pretty good there.

I immediately thought of Santa Fe too, probably because it''s so typically "New Mexican"-but honestly I *hate* to go to Santa Fe, because it''s SO easy to get lost driving around, because there isn''t any rhyme or reason to where the roads go. Albuquerque is basically laid out in a grid, so it''s easy to get around here, but SF is one giant jumbled mess. At least to me. But I''d go anyway-just take a good map. The Plaza is probably the biggest tourist attraction up there, as for Albuquerque the biggest tour attraction is Old Town...

Blah. How long are you guys going to be here for?

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/14/2008 2:10:22 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I immediately thought of Santa Fe too, probably because it's so typically 'New Mexican'-but honestly I *hate* to go to Santa Fe, because it's SO easy to get lost driving around, because there isn't any rhyme or reason to where the roads go. Albuquerque is basically laid out in a grid, so it's easy to get around here, but SF is one giant jumbled mess. At least to me. But I'd go anyway-just take a good map. The Plaza is probably the biggest tourist attraction up there, as for Albuquerque the biggest tour attraction is Old Town...

I don't think it is that bad as long as you have directions; I use to sort of get lost but I could always bump into the plaza somehow. hehe

It isn't a grid which is kind of cool; I like how there are so many hidden things; at least there are street signs. I just went somewhere where I could not find my way around because there were no street signs.


Here is a picture of Santa Fe so you get an idea IG

here is a sunset from up the tram (this was taken about 2 weeks ago)

 

[FrekeChild]

Here''s the Santa Fe travel site: santafe.org

Skippy, once I drove around Santa Fe for 4 hours, looking for the Plaza-AND I COULDN''T FIND IT. WTH? Anyway...

 

[Independent Gal]

We''d probably only be able to go for 4 or 5 days. Is it better to fly into Santa Fe or Albuquerque?

We''d probably want to spend a day in the city, and then 3 or 4 days exploring smaller town, hiking, etc.

Thanks for the ideas and weblinks! DH is still checking if he can get the time off. June is kind of a critical month for him.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/14/2008 2:48:31 PM
Author: Independent Gal
We'd probably only be able to go for 4 or 5 days. Is it better to fly into Santa Fe or Albuquerque?

We'd probably want to spend a day in the city, and then 3 or 4 days exploring smaller town, hiking, etc.

Thanks for the ideas and weblinks! DH is still checking if he can get the time off. June is kind of a critical month for him.

Albuquerque is our only big airport. Santa Fe is 1 hr away. You're welcome, hope your hubby gets the time off and many congrats!!!

 

[FrekeChild]

Albuquerque is the only city in NM with an international airport. Unless you count Las Cruces and Roswell, which I don't. There are lots of little airports all around the state, but they are tiny and don't really have the big commercial airlines. I would fly into ABQ because you'll need a car anyway. And ABQ is about an hour drive from Santa Fe, and centrally located. Here's an airport link: Link! and Sunport (ABQ airport).

There is an airlines that just started to fly from city to city within New Mexico: Link
Which I think is totally random, but I guess it works. I read that it takes 20 minutes for the flight from ABQ to SF. Which would probably mean that it would take longer to get through security and all that than to just drive the distance.

Usually we get late afternoon lightning/thunderstorms starting in July/August that are very predictable once they start(every afternoon around 4) which is great to help cool down the place and we need the moisture, but they could start in June...I mean, we did have one last night...Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[ringster]

i lived in alb for 2 yrs and my parents lived there for about 10.

these places are a bit of a drive from alb but well worth it ( re: alb and Santa Fe, i would actually do either or but not both since you only have a few days --i would hit SF and Taos ). and i actually think that a road trip in NM is a really great experience -- after all Route 66 did run through NM! have a great time and be sure to eat some green chile and sopapillas, though not together!

other places that are very cool and unique to NM

white sands national monument
-- it''s an amazing sight to see -- miles of white white sand

Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world''s great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world''s largest gypsum dune field.

http://www.nps.gov/whsa/


carlsbad caverns
they have cave tours and a bat flight program in the summer - we didn''t make it there in the summer to see it but would have loved to done it

bat flight program

http://www.nps.gov/cave/

i think skippy mentioned chaco canyon - that is also a great place to visit - you really feel a sense of history there

and of course there is ROSWELL, area 51!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident

 

[Independent Gal]

Yay! We''re booked! We''re going! I''m so excited.

The plan is to fly into ABQ, drive to Santa Fe, look around for a day or so, then go somewhere remote-ish to settle in for 3 days of hiking, then back to ABQ to look around there for the day, then fly home.

We haven''t decided 100% where to go hiking yet.

Anyone know of a plushy resort in the middle of good hiking country?

 

[Independent Gal]

We are definitely looking into Chaco and White sands, btw!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/21/2008 12:23:50 PM
Author: Independent Gal
We are definitely looking into Chaco and White sands, btw!

Take pictures of Chaco; I am dying to go there!!! Here is a link w/hiking http://www.explorenm.com/hikes/

Well you could hike the La Luz in Albuquerque; there is also the Piedra Lisa near there and you could stay at the Tamaya Resort http://tamaya.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp and hike here close to Albuq and SF Tent rocks http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/rio_puerco/kasha_katuwe_tent_rocks.html

or hike in Toas and stay http://www.elmontesagrado.com/ at this resort or hike near Santa Fe and stay at a wonderful b&b http://www.fivegraces.com/ or for a spa http://www.lhw.com/property.aspx?propertyid=329&ext=Gpsdsnf&gclid=CN371YqCuJMCFQougwodNjmqCA

YAY, you will love it here! You have to try a mexican restaurant too!!!

 

[Independent Gal]

I am SO excited. I''ve wanted to visit New Mexico for years.

By the way, how do people dress in the cities there? Is it chi-chi? Should I bring pretty sundresses (for non-hiking days of course) or is it more casual and rugged?

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/21/2008 12:36:18 PM
Author: Independent Gal
I am SO excited. I've wanted to visit New Mexico for years.

By the way, how do people dress in the cities there? Is it chi-chi? Should I bring pretty sundresses (for non-hiking days of course) or is it more casual and rugged?

No way chi chi; I think we are the most casual place. I wear jeans most days; if you want to dress up kahki's for men and ladies sundress but locals do not dress up I wear capri's and a polo shirt and sandals. I am excited for you!!!!! hehe

Can you list the places you are going and we can help you w/restaurants and other thoughts if you want??? White Sands, SF, Albuquerque, Chaco, yes?

 

[FrekeChild]

Yay!!! It's rare to see women wearing sundresses or their equivalent around town-although there has been an increase of teenagers wearing mini skirts and super high heels lately.

Honestly most days I'm really casual, sweatshirts, even sweatpants (But I only go to campus and the grocery store-so take that for what it's worth.) It was hard for me to go from NM to upstate NY because NM is so casual-even in the city. Although Santa Fe is more chi-chi than Albuquerque--but not much!

It's been reaching the low 90s the past couple of days, so I'd recommend shorts, and light tops-but I'd also bring a light jacket because it's been cloudy and windy in the afternoon/evening the past few days (almost like the summer monsoon season! Totally weird.), but NM weather is totally unpredictable at best, going from blazing hot to pouring rain within seconds. Of course, we'll have to give you a more up to date idea of the weather when it gets closer...

What kind of restaurants and stuff do you want to go to??

And when waiters at a New Mexican/Mexican restaurant ask, "Red or Green?" You should say one, and hubs should say the other-but get it all on the side, so you can put it on if you want to-and you can taste both. (Plus there is usually a heat difference!)

(Skippy, I'm voting that they should go to Frontier at least once!!!)

ETA: Winds here can be BRUTAL-in combination with the strength and with plenty of loose sand-you can feel like you're getting sand blasted.