Galisteo Basin Preserve

Yesterday we went out to the Galisteo Basin Preserve for the first time, about 5 miles south of Eldorado. The Preserve is a land conservation and community development inititative of Santa Fe County that is designed to protect and restore 13,000 acres of open space. Fifty miles of public hiking, biking and equestrian trails are planned for the preserve. Approximately 14 miles have been created so far; there are three trails in the public area for hiking.

62% of the preserve will be for public use; 35% is private conservation land, and 3% will be developed into home lots.

I love the Galisteo Basin for the vast sweeping vistas, and scenic surroundings. We will definitely go back there to hike often.


The East Well trailhead:




Out on the trail:




Saw a lot of these tracks; not sure if they were dog prints or some wild animal:




View to the south - looking towards the Ortiz Mountains:










The Cowboy Shack trailhead:

Scenes from the Roundhouse

We spent quite a few hours this past week at the New Mexico state capitol building attending hearings on the Photo Voter ID bill, which Republicans felt strongly is needed in the state, but the Democrats rejected Thursday in a party line vote. I think our strong presence was noted though, and another similar bill is waiting on the schedule to be debated in the coming week.

Anyway..... while we were there, I wandered around and got some pictures of the artwork at the Roundhouse. All four floors are full of New Mexican art, and I will get more pictures in the future.


Looking down at the rotunda floor from above:



Committee Room 307 - where the hearings were held:



Some of the art work in the capitol:




Painting by R.C. Gorman, noted New Mexico artist:

February full moon

The moon has been putting on quite a show for us this week.

These pictures were taken last night from our front portal at sunset as the moon was rising in the eastern sky:

The Jemez at sunrise

John took this picture yesterday morning from our backyard.

The view is looking west towards the Jemez Mountains under a sky of low clouds.

"We The People".......are watching them

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 was the opening day of the current session of the New Mexico State Legislature.

John and I were there with tea party patriots from Santa Fe and around the state to let the legislators know that we are going to be watching them in the upcoming session....and that we want some basic things ... cutting spending, getting the state out of our $500 million deficit, fighting corruption, enacting laws to curtail voter fraud in the state, making New Mexico business friendly again.

It was a cold day, made more chilling by the always-present wind on the west side of the Roundhouse. But the crowd was enthusiastic and hopeful, and it was another successful tea party.




Young descendent of Patrick Henry reading his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech:



Marita Noon of CARE (Citizen's Alliance for Responsible Energy):



Todd Hathorne, activist for reducing voter fraud:



Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson:



Radio guys Bob and Bob from Ruidoso:








Tea Party tables inside the Roundhouse:

Abiquiu in December

We rode up to Abiquiu several days before Christmas. Usually when we are there, the sky is a brilliant blue and reflects on the water of the lake.

Not so several weeks ago. There was a winter sky, with a promise of cold and some snow in northern New Mexico:

Christmas on the Plaza

Our daughter Karin got a good picture of John and I with our grand-children Victoria and Alessandro when we visited the Plaza during the week before Christmas: