New Mexico Hot Springs, Stars and Birds

We decided to take a final trip before the end of the year, and on Wednesday November 12th headed out for a two week exploration of New Mexico. We spent the first night at the city park in San Jon, a tiny town just inside New Mexico. We love these small city parks when traveling, they are often free, sometimes have power and water and are quieter than an interstate rest area. 

We arrived Thursday afternoon at our favorite mineral hot springs spa - Ojo Caliente which is just an hour north of Santa Fe. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening soak in the many mineral pools. We have previously only visited Ojo in July, and it was a lovely to experience the hot waters when it was chilly weather. We really liked the RV park at the spa, nestled in the trees and just a short walk away from the main property. The weather was warm during the day and yellow leaves were still fluttering on the trees. 

Friday was a perfect day! Sara hiked above the spa to explore the high desert area and we soaked in the pools after lunch. We had an early dinner at the restaurant and John enjoyed the excellent buffalo short ribs he had been talking about for months. We had a magical evening soaking in the pools which we often had to ourselves. After several hours soaking and gazing at the stars we walked slowly and contently back to the RV.

The next day after a delightful breakfast we sadly said goodbye to Ojo and headed south. We took the Turquoise Trail south of Santa Fe through the tiny town of Madrid (scene of the Wild Hogs movie) before rejoining the interstate. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and we enjoyed the drive, stopping for the night about an hour south of Albuquerque at a small farm RV park. The owners, Albin and Deb were the nicest people and Deb who also runs a baking business gave us two plates of cup cakes which we enjoyed for the next few days! 

Sunday November 16th we changed our plans a bit and headed west to Cosmic Campground. We had intended to go to Bosque Del Apache wildlife refuge first, but there was some rainy weather coming and we needed a clear night at Cosmic campground for night photography. We drove across a very disserted highway 60, passing the National Radio Astronomy - Very Large Array - an area in the desert with 27 massive telescopes used to monitor a wide range of celestial objects like galaxies, black holes, and pulsars. 

We stopped for lunch in Pie Town, following a tip from one of John's army buddies. The tiny town of less than 200 inhabitants is on the Continental Divide trail and has two restaurants providing great food. We stopped in both restaurants, one for lunch and berry pie, and the second to get food for later. The chicken pot pie and green chili quiche were both excellent the next day!

We continued west on what was now a wet rainy day, enjoying the increasingly mountainous scenery of the Gila National Forest, finally arriving late afternoon. Cosmic Campground is the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in the northern hemisphere and provides exceptional opportunities for star gazing. John has wanted to check it out for ages and although we arrived in the rain the skies cleared and he was able to do some night photography late into the night. It was wonderful looking up at the skies while listening to the coyotes singing around us. The campground was particularly popular with the cats since it was so remote and quiet.

Monday, November 17th we returned east, enjoying the scenery and a surprisingly large number of trees with yellow fall colors. We arrived at Bosque Del Apache late afternoon and explored the gravel roads around the refuge before settling at a location called the Flight Deck for sunset. Bosque is about 85 miles south of Albuquerque and the wildlife refuge is well known for the tens of thousands of sand hill cranes, geese, and ducks who winter there each year. John has visited several times and it has been on Sara's wish list for many years. It was an excellent end to the day, with a great sunset and the sights and sounds of the sandhill cranes, geese and ducks flying in to settle overnight on the water for protection from predators.

It was another chilly night, but we were warm in the RV. John had made insulated covers for all the windows, and once we put them up each night and turned on the small oil heater we were very comfortable. We got up at 5am on Tuesday and drove to Bosque for the main event - the sunrise flight of the birds who leave together to search for food in the nearby fields. 

It was an amazing sunrise and an incredible sight to see the geese leaving in a massive group. Right after the geese flew off the sand hill cranes started to leave in smaller groups, along with other groups of ducks and black birds. We spent hours at the Flight Deck, before finally driving to a different location for a large cooked breakfast and a warmup in the sun. It was a magical morning. 

Click here for the photos and Videos (Increase the volume if you want to hear the birds!)