Downtown Chama!

Yesterday we decided to take in downtown Chama!  Downtown is about a mile long.  There are shops and galleries, one bank, a post office, a drug store and several very old hotels. The population is 1,199 and the elevation is 7850'!  Chama became an important site on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad just after 1880.  The Cumbres and Toltec Railroad is the remnant of the narrow gauge line which once served the mining areas of southwestern Colorado.  The railroad was abandoned in 1969 but the most scenic part of its route, equipment and buildings were saved and today is the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.  The train carries passengers 64 miles along the New Mexico/Colorado border.  It is America's highest and longest coal fired, steam operated, narrow-gauge railroad!

After looking in the shops we walked down to the depot to look around.

We met a couple other couples in town and had lunch together.  After lunch we finished our shopping and found a $5.00 string of red hot chili peppers made out of cloth.  Jack (one of the traveling supremes) loves his peppers and made pepper poppers several times while we were here.   We bought them and hung them on his 5th wheel.  It took all day but when we came back from dinner he finally noticed them!  I don't think he's figured out who put them up there but he sure got a kick out of them!

Today we got some errands done and had our last group dinner.  Three couples (including us) are leaving for different directions tomorrow.  We are going down to Santa Fe and spend a few days there.  It will be a little warmer in Santa Fe.  We've enjoyed the coolness at Chama!

Enjoying a week with some of the "Traveling Supremes"..."Ain't Life Grand!"

A drive through the forest!

We are still enjoying our potlucks!  Sunday evening after dinner we took a drive through the Rio Grande National Forest.  Just north of Chama and into Colorado.  We went about 7:00 p.m. hoping to see some wildlife.  It is about an 8 mile drive.  We finally saw some deer and elk.  The herd of elk were too far away to photograph, but the drive itself was so pretty!

Yesterday Ted and I took charge of the potluck making the main dish.  It was a Mexican Fiesta!  Ted made his mother's enchilada recipe (of course I did the dishes).  It took about an hour and half for him to prepare them and then another 30 minutes to cook.  There was a taco bar, homemade refried beans, homemade guacamole, jaleno poppers (you can bet I had some of those...right!), homemade salsa with chips.  I brought watermelon for the finale!   It was a great meal and and so we decided we needed to relax our tummies around the fire.  One of the RV'ers is parked right on the Chama River so we sat around the fire listening to the water and digested our dinner!  It was a fun evening.

Ted cooking dinner..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Enjoying an eating festival!

We are in an "eating frenzy"!   The group went to dinner Friday night at the Cliffview Restaurant.  The owners were originally from El Segundo, California and now live in Tierra Amarillo, New Mexico.  This is just a few miles south of Chama.  It was raining with some thunder and lightning but that didn't stop us!  The restaurant is like a little log cabin.  Everyone was very friendly and our steaks were delicious!  The view isn't bad either!

After dinner we headed back to the campground.  We came upon a group of does being fed by a couple of young women.  They offered to let us feed them so Linda and I did!  They were pretty hungry!  On down the road we found the bucks!  They are so bold they just come right up to the truck.  With the size of their antlers, we decided to take pictures from inside the truck!

On Saturday Ted and I went to the El Vado Lake State Park to a craft fair they were having. It was a pretty lake and they said 30' low from the drought. Until the turn of the century there were tons of Ponderosa Pines but the loggers came in and have taken them all down without replanting replacement trees. It is still a pretty park.

It was a very small craft fair so Ted and I looked around and headed back to the campground.  We didn't want to miss another chance to eat after all!  We had a potluck and one of the Lindas cooked a couple of pork tenderloins.  The rest of us provided side dishes and dessert!  Everything was great and we were all full again!  After dinner we sat around the fire and found out how everyone mate their mates.  All four of the other couples have been married 40+ years!  I think that is so great!

Today we had brunch at the High Country Restaurant in Chama.  They cook your eggs and waffle to order and have plenty of side dishes.  Everything was delicious!

Not missing any meals in Chama..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Chama, New Mexico

We made it to Chama!  Yay!  The new axle, hub, wheel and tire all did well.  The last 20 miles to Chama were heading up to the mountains.  It was a pretty drive so I took some pictures in the Ghost Ranch area on the way to the campground.

It's a nice little campground nestled in the trees a little over 7800 ft.  There are four couples that are still here from the "Traveling Supremes" group we were on our way to meet up with last week.  They had dinner ready, chicken gumbo (as some of the RVer's are from Louisiana) and all the trimmings.  After a great dinner we sat around a fire and gabbed.  It was chilly enough to put on long pants and a jacket!  After awhile we had some roasted marshmallows followed up by a Bailey's Irish cream.  A nice end to a week of getting the RV repaired!

Today we went into the town of Chama, pretty small town and some places have seen better days.  We got our mail from the post office and some money at the one bank in town for dinner tonight.  Our group is going to dinner at the Cliff View House.  It's a small log type restaurant over looking these cool cliffs, or so they tell us!  It's raining right now (thunder and lightning too) but will hopefully stop before we leave and I'll be able to take some pictures!

Successful RV repairs..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Ready to rock and roll!

The axle finally arrived yesterday afternoon.  We got over there at 9:00 this morning and were back at the campground by 3:00, with new axle, hubs, wheel and tire!  It was a long day and pretty hot (90's).  We were able to sit in the shade of our RV with Max and read our books.  They wanted us to stay hooked up to the truck to support the RV.  For some reason, all three of us are pooped tonight!  Don't know why waiting is so tiring????

Tomorrow we leave Gallup and head for Chama!  It is about 300 miles (about 100 miles north of Santa Fe), almost to Colorado.

I took a picture of one of the pots seen all around Gallup.  They have two headed pots and small pots scattered around randomly as far as I can tell.  They are pretty cool!

Getting on the road again..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Still waiting!

It's Tuesday and we are still waiting for the axle to arrive by a semi from Oklahoma.  The rim did arrive yesterday and we got the new tire mounted so we are ready for the new axle!

This weekend we mostly just hung out at the RV; cleaning, washing clothes and reading.  We've had some rain, thunder and lightning and some mosquito bites as well! The wind pops up and then gets still.  The arroyo next to the campground goes from dry to wet to running and back to dry all within a day!

Being bored in Gallup..."Ain't Life Grand!"

A visit to the historic El Rancho Hotel

Yesterday after I had my nails done, I came out of the parking lot and the whole area was blocked off by fire and police.   We found out later than a semi carrying fuel (but fortunately empty) had careened off the road through the grass and up a slight grade onto a parking lot and took out the side and front of a loan company.  They advertised fast loans but I don't think that's what happened.  They said on the news that the driver was killed along with another person inside the building, two others were in critical condition.  They obviously don't know what happened yet.

I made my way back to the campground and picked up Ted.   We decided to visit the El Rancho Hotel.  The hotel was built in 1937 and it was "the" hotel for movie stars filming in and around Arizona and New Mexico.  They had a 2nd floor lobby that overlooked the main lobby with wall to wall pictures on all four sides.  Many of the pictures were signed by the movie star.  Each room is named for a movie star that stayed at the hotel such as the W. C. Fields room, the John Wayne room and the Ronald Reagan room!  It is a rustic hotel that has been lovingly restored with a big old stone fireplace.  It was built by the brother of movie director D. W. Griffiths.

We took a look in the gift shop and talked about having lunch there, but it was pretty crowded!    Driving back west on Route 66 I saw a sign for the Richardson Cash Pawn shop.  This place was listed in the Road Trip USA book.  It has been family owned since 1913 and is crammed with arts, crafts, pawned goods, Navajo rugs and jewelry, saddles, guitars and much more!

We went on down the road to the Sonic, they were advertising Turtle Sundaes, got my attention!  They were actually milkshakes and were delicious!

Milkshakes for lunch..."Ain't Life Grand!"