Arriving in Jemez Springs!

So, how on Earth did we decide to go to Jemez Springs, NM?

(Even the town's residents seemed sort of perplexed that we had found our way there...)

Well... before we left the Solar Ark, Nate and I had spent a goodly number of hours at the Three Ravens Coffee House in Tierra Amarilla, using their wifi to figure out an escape plan. 

This is Paul, the owner, who is also a professional musician, drum builder, joke teller, foodie (he was finishing construction on his new brick pizza oven when we were there last), perfectionist in all matters, and defender of Tierra Amarilla real estate interests from big-haired, loud-mouthed Texans (of course, there is a story behind that one...):

Our escape plan was not elegant, nor long-term: (1) run from the Solar Ark; (2) go somewhere with natural hot springs (Nate's idea) where we could soak our disappointment away and feel like we we at last having something resembling a honeymoon; and (3) stay somewhere cheap.

Nate zeroed in on Jemez Springs for its hot springs, and then I found an RV park called "Trails End" that looked more like a tent-camping park in the nearby town of La Cueva.  I emailed asking about site availability since the website said the park was for sale and only open on a very limited basis.  Steve, the owner, emailed us back within a day, said we could stay for the weekend (I told you it was a short-term plan, right?), quoted us a price we could handle, and we said we'd see him Friday (August 9th) afternoon.

We made the drive from MadDog Andy's place to Trails End, which took all of Friday.  Now, on the way from Key West to the Solar Ark, we had had plenty of long driving days that were long and torturous: mile after mile of asphalt with nothing much to look at, and almost constant hills to overheat our poor old Baba G.

But, this drive was spectacular!  Pictures don't do it justice, but here goes anyway:

And then once we turned off of I-550 onto NM-4, the scenery was even more spectacular as we drove past the high desert "Red Rocks" region,

 

a winding roadside river lined with aspen and cottonwood trees,

the Jemez Pueblo,

the quaint little town of Jemez Springs itself (no pics, somehow...), and then up up up into coniferous forest that surrounds La Cueva:

And, at last, we arrived at the camp (with cows, to the chagrin of the cats) that would be our home, not for the next two days, but for the next two months!

Up Next: San Antonio: The Hot Spring on the Hillside