Abiquiu, New Mexico & Surrounding Area

"The Land of Enchantment"

Wikipedia describes Abiquiu as “a small census-designated place located in Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States, about 53 miles (85 km) north of Santa Fe”.  

                                                       
Population 231, with 213 of those being of Hispanic descent.

It is a very small, rural village with friendly locals. It has it's own post office and a new elementary school.

It appears to me that outside of agriculture, tourism seems to be the main industry.



Local church



Bode's General Store, located on Hwy. 84 is well worth a stop. Besides being the only store in town, it is the only gas station. It is a true general store, selling groceries, hardware, sport, fishing, and some camping supplies, as well as wine and New Mexico crafts. The busy little restaurant is rated as having the best green chile burger, outside of Santa Fe.

 

 

The area is rich with many local tourist attractions, natural beauty and stunning scenery everywhere you look.  Attractions include Lake Abiquiu and dam, the Georgia O’Keeffe home and art studio, Ghost Ranch museums, Rio Chama hiking trails and river rafting etc.


Construction of Abiquiu Dam began in 1956 and the river was diverted in July 1959. Limited flood control operations began in 1962 and the dam was completed on February 5, 1963 at a cost of $21.2 million. Flood control was the primary purpose for this earthen dam.

Visitor Center at Abiquiu Dam

Below the Dam
 

 
Below the dam is a recreation and picnic area.



While visiting the Visitor Center at the dam, one of the staff members suggested that we would enjoy the scenic drive down to the Chama River Canyon. As suggested, we took Hwy 84 north past Ghost Ranch to FS 151, a well travelled dirt road.

The scenery, once again was amazing.

 Stunning red cliffs along Hwy 84, created by erosion

 Rocks & vistas on FS 151

We travelled 5 miles along FS 151, corkscrewing our way down to Big Eddy Takeout on the Rio Chama. The gentle sound of the river rapids were mesmerizing.

 It is no surprise that  artists like Georgia O'Keeffe, and others, not so well known,  take their inspiration from this spectacular backdrop.

 

We encountered two artists, enjoying the warmth and tranquility as they painted this magnificent landscape.



2016/5/12

Oh Oh! We have an uninvited hitch hiker. Last night he/she ran over Alan's foot in the bathroom and we spotted it scurrying under the dash this morning. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that it has found our chocolate stash and has a fondness for the dark chocolate, my favorite.

These chilly nights here in the desert must have encouraged the mouse to seek warmth and shelter, but why us?

His stay will be short lived. We are off to Bode's General Store for mouse traps and poison.

We returned to the coach and set the traps with chocolate and peanut butter, before heading out to visit Ghost Ranch.


Ghost Ranch

The landscape of Ghost Ranch—made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe—encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies.

Leaving Santa Fe, New Mexico and driving about an hour, you enter the landscape of vast vistas, table-topped mesas, tall cliffs, the Rio Chama bordered by huge old cottonwood trees, mountains in the distance and more beauty around every bend in the winding road. “It is not a country of light on things,” said Georgia O’Keeffe. “It is a country of things in light.”

For more than fifty-five years Ghost Ranch has been a national education and retreat center owned by the Presbyterian Church. Numerous tours are offered daily and it is advisable to pre-book. We arrived to late for most tours, and those remaining were booked. We visited the Anthropology and Paleontology museums.

Dinosaurs once walked the soggy wetlands that became the arid high desert of Ghost Ranch. Millions of years later Navajos and various other tribes roamed the valley. The Spaniards settled here and then came the cattle rustlers, the wranglers and the dudes

Ghost Ranch has been used for filming of many movies. City Slickers, starring Billy Crystal and Jack Palance is just one that I remember. As one drives up to the ranch, you will see a log cabin that was part of the City Slickers set.

Visiting some of these movie sets is one of the available tours.

The story of how the ranch got it's name dates back to the era of the cattle rustlers who were hiding their stolen goods in the box canyon alongside Kitchen Mesa. They discouraged their neighbors from looking around by spreading the rumor that the land was haunted by evil spirits. “Rancho de los Brujos” it was called, “Ranch of the Witches,” which naturally evolved into Ghost Ranch.

Mamacita's Pizzeria, Abiquiu, NM
 

We ended our day with cook's night off. After consulting Trip Advisor, we settled on pizza at Mamacita's which is continually rated #1 of 5 restaurants in town. It is located at the intersection of Hwy 84 and 554, and is a gem and well worth the stop, both for great pizza and the opportunity to meet interesting patrons.

It is primarily a take-out restaurant, but does have a few outside picnic tables for those wishing to dine onsite.

Marta at work.
 

 
The kitchen is spotless and was designed and built by the  amazing proprietor/chef, Marta.  This is her retirement business. She retired from banking in Manhattan the day after 911.
She is a wealth of local knowledge and has a passion for her new home and her business.

Our pizza was awesome. Mara has won 2nd place in state completion for her pizza.

A must stop for pizza and people lovers.





2016-5-13

Our last day here at Riana campground on Lake Abiquiu. A quiet day preparing for our trip to Arizona tomorrow.
We had lunch at Bode's General store. I had their infamous Green Chile Cheeseburger. It was unique and very tasty.

Success! We trapped a mouse last night and are hoping it was our only one. Will leave the traps out for a couple of nights to be sure.









Before closing this post, I have to share our neighbor's unique custom trailer. They are true campers, travelling all over the US, trying to decide where they might call home. They retired in New York.

 A good friend and full time RV'er says "we all go to the same places, take the same pictures, and the only thing the only difference is the size of our tent!"

We had several cold nights (low 40's) during our stay, so mornings were chilly! These true blue campers were dressed in their jackets and gloves, sitting in the sunshine, drinking coffee to warm up.
We felt guilty turning on the furnace to enjoy our coffee.
Most importantly, we are both having fun.