Weekend jaunt

 We wanted to camp for a long weekend, but it is winter, so we headed south.

First stop: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.  I love that the monuments no one has heard of are not crowded but still cool.

Later we found good BLM camping at Three Rivers Petroglyph site.  We enjoyed the full moon and poking around the 21,000!! petroglyphs scattered among the rocky ridge. 

White Sands the next day was, of course, unreal.  We had good clouds, which made everything more photogenic.

Given that we spent quite a while at White Sands, we decided to stop at City of Rocks to camp, a little short of the next day's destination.  Fortunately there was a good site left amidst the rocks.

The next day Gila Cliff Dwellings was well worth the long windy drive.

And if that weren't already enough weekend fun, we headed over to to see friends just over the Arizona border.  Retirement treats us well.

So many good sunsets

 We are lucky.

What are you doing out?

 I found a friend while making a ski rack.

Snow Play

 We've definitely had more time to get out and play in the snow this year.  Between skiing at the local resort, skinning up the hill on the backcountry skis, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing, there are many good choices around here.

Retired!

Chad has officially retired from Government service!  We took a nice trip back to the Bay Area for the party, as well as seeing friends, biking, and hiking in the fog.  Onward to more adventures :)

Skiing!

Last week, we took advantage of the recent storm and went skiing over near Los Alamos.  Gorgeous mountains!  In the top picture, we were looking into Valles Caldera.

2nd highest bridge

We drove out to Taos to get out and about, and (in addition to finding some fun books and art) took a detour to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, supposedly the second-highest span in the country. It was suitably picturesque!

Christmas Boef

For Christmas dinner, we cooked a large, cheap beef rump in the home-made sous vide cooker for a rather long time (3 days!) and the results were pretty delicious. Loads of flavor, and nicely tender (I sliced it very thin.) Served with a fruity balsamic.

Merry Christmas!

We had Chad’s mom and brother over to celebrate the holiday.