Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   United States (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/)
-   -   And now a bit of New Mexico (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/and-now-a-bit-of-new-mexico-968815/)

jubilada Mar 1st, 2013 02:25 PM

And now a bit of New Mexico
 
We left Tucson this morning after a final wonderful breakfast at Teresa's. I had huevos devorceados, two over easy eggs one with green and one with red chile sauce decided by delicious black beans we as of Hand served with their homemade corn tortillas. .

We set off for Truth or Consequences, formerly Hot Springs by way of Hatch where we had mango chileilkshakes, one of my favorite sweets of all time in this small town known for its chiles.

We are staying the night at Riverbend Mineral Springs
riverbendhotsprings.com. This is a small establishment which is very quirky and has a variety of shared or private stone mineral spring hot tubs on the Rio Grand.

ElendilPickle Mar 1st, 2013 03:50 PM

Welcome to New Mexico!

Lee Ann

DebitNM Mar 1st, 2013 04:02 PM

Bienvenidos a Nuevo México !

follow_your_bliss Mar 1st, 2013 05:50 PM

How fun. We love New Mexico! How long do you have in the area? A place we love with hot springs is Ojo Caliente, about an hour north of Santa Fe.

Toucan2 Mar 1st, 2013 05:57 PM

That place looks great!

I always love it when hatch chilis appear on the menu.

jubilada Mar 2nd, 2013 05:12 AM

We will be here for a week and have been to Ojo Caliente on previous trips. Not sure as we are based in ALbuquerque and it is far. We did love it but have read they have made renovations which have destroyed it cha. Does anyone have recent experience?

DebitNM Mar 2nd, 2013 05:42 AM

I was there mis summer last year for the first time, so I don't know what it was like before ,but we enjoyed it. Ten Thousand Waves is nice too.

jayne1973 Mar 2nd, 2013 12:58 PM

Was just at Ojo earlier this month. Our second time and enjoyed it very much. I never went when it was less upscale. We splurged on a cliffside suite and now I am spoiled.

My only complaint is that some people don't observe the "whisper zone" signs, making the supposedly peaceful soaks not nearly as tranquil.

jubilada Mar 2nd, 2013 08:03 PM

I think we would not like Ojo as upscaleale Is not what we liked about it. Sigh.

We awoke and took another soak at Riverbend after a good breakfast at the Happy Belly Deli.
We looked around T&C a bit. The highlight
Being the Black Cat a wonderful used way to Albubookstore where we got lost for an hour or so. The owner also sells wonderful coffee and baked goods. She is open Thurs through Sunday at eight a.m. We checked out of Riverbend giving them kudos for everything except our bed which was awful.

On our way to Albuquerque we stopped for a couple of hours of bird watching at Bosque del Apache wildlife area.
Alas the Sandhills cranes were gone by a few days but we saw several eagles, hawks,hundreds of snow geese, some herons cormorants and roadrunners in addition to countless ducks and several large turtles. After AZ it was great to see waterfowl and, well, water!

We arrived mid afternoon at LosPoblanos LosPoblanos.com where we checked into our delightful suite. It is elegant and beautiful without being at all stuffy. The bed will make up for Riverbend. We spent the afternoon exploring the 25 acre grounds and greeting the many goats pigs chickens miniature horses and peacocks which share this land.
We had an excellent farm to table dinner ( details on what's foot dinner thread in the lounge). We cannot believe our good fortune that we have a week here. It reminds me of agroturismi in Tuscany except it is right in the city, which one would never know. We hope to be hungry I time for the sumptuous breakfast served each morning.

DebitNM Mar 3rd, 2013 03:43 AM

Enjoy Los Poblanos! I have always wanted to stay there; every time I drive by, I imagine how tranquil and stress free it must be - all that lavender.

jubilada Mar 3rd, 2013 05:30 AM

Debit, you will not be disappointed if you do.
I now have opinions about rooms so check with me.

ElendilPickle Mar 3rd, 2013 12:47 PM

That sounds lovely!

Lee Ann

Weekender Mar 3rd, 2013 01:35 PM

What a great trip!

follow_your_bliss Mar 3rd, 2013 08:04 PM

Yes, it does sound great. We are jealous. It sounds like Riverbend won't be a place you want to return to?

Dave_Ohio Mar 3rd, 2013 08:18 PM

Keep writing!

We'll be there two weeks from now and hope to hear more of what you think about what to see and do.
<):)

jubilada Mar 4th, 2013 06:03 AM

Fyb, I loved the outdoor spaces and both the public and private pools at Riverbend and the settingis beautiful along the river. The rooms are very quirky which we didn't mind at all and it is very reasonable with a very warm and accommodating staff. We are inordinately fussy about beds so most people would be fine probably. I think I would sleep somewhere else and buy a day pass to Riverbend.

jayne1973 Mar 4th, 2013 09:27 AM

I would love to hear more about Truth or Consequences. Have always wanted to go but still not made it there. Is it worth more than a day's visit?

jubilada Mar 4th, 2013 04:22 PM

Jayne for us one day was enough though we did not poke around in all the stores.

Today after another excessive and delicious breakfast we spent theorizing at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
IndianPueblo.org. We saw an exhibit exploring the impact of state and federal governments on native people and emphasizing the import of maintains cultural values and of living in the pueblos. It was very affecting.
We also were treated to a special exhibit of paintings made recently by Zuni peopleapping their world. Although we had already seen an incredible amount we also explored the permanent collection of artifacts from each of the nineteen pueblos this is an expertly curateduse imbued with spirit. Not to be missed.

We then drove north to the village of Corrales where we gallery hopped, impressed with the general high level of the art. We were too late for lunch at a place recommended by debitNM so will have to return.

We then returned to our neighborhood to go to the Rio Grande state park to look at birds and turtles along the river. The visitor center is set out into the water so it feels like you are on a boat. Will return to walk se of the Bosque trails.

We finally got hungry and ate a late lunch/early dinner at Flyong Star one of a small local chain with an eclectic menu. We liked it a lot and will return Thursday when we attend a reading later this week at the excellent Bookworks bookstore adjacent to the restaurant. They seem to have a constant stream of interesting events. We have been lucky on this trip to find two really fine independent bookstores.

jubilada Mar 4th, 2013 04:24 PM

Zuni people MAPPING. ...

Toucan2 Mar 4th, 2013 05:47 PM

So nice to find any independent bookstores, and especially really good ones.

You know I am jealous of your stops at Bosque del Apache and the Rio Grande state park.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:36 PM.