Monday November 4, Espanola, New Mexico

Late afternoon on the New Mexico hills.

Left Andy and Julie’s this morning as they headed off to work and we went downtown for our hair appointments….we were looking pretty shaggy and needed a spruce up before the wedding on Saturday.

Ian told the older chap that he just wanted a tidy up….but guess their ideas were different, he now has the shortest hair cut in years…guess there will be a few in the family who will be happy!!! I was really happy with my cut!

Checked out a few stores in town and it was late morning before we left, we wanted to head south as a storm was coming in that was bringing snow to Durango and the surrounding areas. The temperatures were much cooler, only got to 12 degrees C today.

First stop was in Pagosa Springs, we opened the door and thought we were back in Rotorua, NZ….there was the smell of sulphur from the hot springs. It’s also a big ski area and has lots of new developments going on.

The old Spa Hotel in Pagosa Springs

Really wintery and the storm was getting closer.

Sara, a delightful English girl in her antique store in Pagosa Springs

We travelled through a lot of forest land and the hunters were everywhere, decked out in their camouflage gear, this is peak season for deer hunting.  Crossed the continental divide and down into New Mexico, with some fabulous cliffs in the late afternoon light.

With daylight saving ended it is getting dark soon after five so decided not to drive onto Santa Fe but find somewhere in Espanola. Turned on the wifi and only found a couple to choose from, navigated to the first one with a few hiccups but found it to be pretty “seedy” with a massage parlour at the entrance! Back out onto the highway and off to the other one, which turned out to be only a little better. Couldn’t find where to check in, but got a number from the service station nearby and the guy told us to park and he would be around to collect the money. Managed to get him to drop the price from the $30 he was asking to $20 when I suggested that it was pretty basic! Anyway finally settled in for the night, thankfully just as the storm arrived, with thunder and lightning and some rain.

Then spent ages on Skype with our bank (ANZ) after receiving an email reminding us that our travel card which we had preloaded with American Dollars before we left would be closed off in a week’s time, and replaced with their new one!!!! This was the first we had heard about it. As you can imagine we were not impressed. Finally spoke with a girl in Auckland who was most apologetic, evidently the change over had started in June and our bank in Rotorua should have given us the new card when we were dealing with it in August! Thankfully she was able to make arrangements to keep ours active until we return home…what a drama. It has been quite a night, won’t forget Espanola….enjoyed a wine after all that!

Loved this roadside stall in the small town of Chama.