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Soda Water

Soda Water

The area along NM Highway 4 south of Los Alamos has a number of hot spring spas. Perhaps it’s because the Valle Grande volcanic area is nearby.

One hot spring, rich in calcium carbonate, slowly built the Soda Dam through pretty much the same process that forms stalagmites and

A Matter of Scale

A Matter of Scale

The Earth will kill you.

This green field beckons. People seem to have a hardwired affinity for green. This particular patch is deceptively huge. There are herds of elk roaming down there that look like ants from there I was standing. In fact, the meadow is fourteen miles in diameter.

Visiting Dr. Atomic

Visiting Dr. Atomic

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Prior to the Second World War, there was nothing much to Los Alamos except for a private boarding school for rich Eastern boys and a few homesteaders. When the government decided that Los Alamos was just the place to try to develop an atomic bomb in complete secrecy, the boys
Taos

Taos

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Taos has a reputation far beyond its size. You have to endure a long drive through strip malls that your screaming brain thinks will never end to reach the rather charming old core of the village.

Taos has a reputation as an arts community and if your taste runs to

Cool Junque

Cool Junque

Do you have the Roadside America app for your phone? You should if you like finding quirky stuff as you travel. That’s where I found Camel Rock and that’s where I found this jewel.

This collection of, well, “stuff” sits beside the highway with no explanation of who

259

259

  • Travel

We are not given to returning to the same places to do the same things as a way to relive the past. But when we visit Santa Fe we always stay at The Inn of the Governors.

Painted Desert – Part 1

Painted Desert – Part 1

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Here’s what I don’t get: the Painted Desert covers thousands of acres, but doesn’t merit national park status on its own.

Get Your Kicks… in the Badlands

Get Your Kicks… in the Badlands

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You know why they’re called the Badlands, don’t you? It’s because the area is … bad … land. Having the afternoon temperature pushing 110 degrees – and that’s at 5000 feet – didn’t make them any better.

But I don’t mean to whine about the heat. For someone

Little Sucia Island

Little Sucia Island

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Before we begin, let me ask you this: If most folks call Matia Island Mah-TEE-ah, why isn’t Sucia Island pronounced Sue-SEE-ah?

Just goes to show that you can’t count on anything.

Prior to this trip, I didn’t know that the small Island that forms part of Fox

Poe-tay-toe, Poe-tah-toe

Poe-tay-toe, Poe-tah-toe

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There’s some disagreement about the pronunciation of Matia Island’s name. Most say Mah-TEE-ah but there are diehards who insist on MAY-sha. Then again, there are multiple pronunciations for a lot of things around here.

Matia is very difficult to visit, particularly during the crowded high season. The coastline

Première Ètude

Première Ètude

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We paid a visit to the Nordic Tug factory yesterday to go over options — how many fans? where? Cummins or Volvo engine? where to put the watermaker? — and confirm that they plan to build the boat we think they’re building.

Now comes the part that everyone who has ever

Sedona and Tuzigoot

Sedona and Tuzigoot

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When the weather in Phoenix starts to get hot, people start thinking about heading north to higher elevations. Example: on the day we arrived in Sedona, it was a comfy 70 degrees (21c). Back in Scottsdale the temperature was above 90 (32c).

On the recommendation of a friend, we paid

Étude

Étude

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We started discussing a new boat built to our specifications in late 2020. Like building a house, there are a lot of decisions to be made and a certain amount of financial negotiation. After several years aboard Fiona Bean, a Nordic 26 and Impromptu, a Nordic 32, we had a
More than enough

More than enough

I told myself that I wouldn’t post any more photos of cacti. Then we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix and I couldn’t help myself.

We dropped by the Arizona Biltmore for a drink before dinner. Unfortunately, it’s been closed for a year due to COVID-19