I do not often eat out at restaurants, as I think it is the least value for money in nearly all of modern society. However, after a very long day of photography and drone video at 40+ rural land properties the day before in the middle of nowhere west of Taos, I thought Jessica and the dogs (well, they at least got free water!) deserved a treat. In our previous trips to Taos, we never got to stop at Overland Ranch, which is really just a very mountain-town looking style shopping plaza. This time we did and in it we found the Farmhouse Cafe with its wonderful outdoor setting.
This rat rod style hot rod at a small car show in Rio Rancho caught my eye for where it was parked, as well as how it looked. I cannot say I had ever seen a parking space marked "SENIOR ADULT" before. Does that mean there must be a junior adult or a senior child space somewhere in the world? This hot rod was about as ratty as they can come, and I mean no offense by that! It looked awesome and make me think I needed a tetanus shot just for standing next to it!
When I first got my DJI Mavic Pro drone in November 2017, the first place I really flew it was in Taos, New Mexico. Driving there I had no idea there was a mini-Grand Canyon just on the edge of the town, so to my great surprise was the Rio Grande Gorge revealed to me! I thought the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge would be a great place to fly the drone, but having such little flying experience and with it being so windy when I visited the bridge, the drone stayed in its case that time. Fast forward to the present, with dozens of flights of experience, having already flown under the Bixby Bridge, with the weather at near ideal conditions I did not hesitate to fly over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge this time!
Networking friend Jennifer has been coming to the JCP Home Studio which doubles as a workout space the past couple of Fridays for a dose of Insanity Max 30 with me and Jessica. After one such workout, I setup a few lights to have fun with some fitness photos. They each picked up a dumbbell and showed their strength!
Those that know me, know that I love cars, well, special cars. Not all have to be as special as my beloved Aston Martin Vanquish (some day!), but even just the ability to go anywhere, do anything is enough. Getting serious speed in a car is not that affordable, especially for newer models. However, getting serious offroad ability is. When I traded in my faithful and much loved Mazda3 sedan in March for the Jeep Renegade Trailhawk you see here, I was giving up great, affordable on road driving dynamics for the ability to drive offroad anywhere a stock vehicle could.
Penny, the 18-year old dog of Cloudcroft New Mexico
My rural land photography work recently took me to Cloudcroft, New Mexico, which is about 30 minutes east of Alamogordo. It is a small mountain town, almost like a place you might think is hiding up in the Alps in Switzerland. The town has a lot of charm and while there I stayed at The Crofting Inn B&B. The is where I met Penny, the 18-year old dog.
When I heard of this ghost town near Hillsboro, New Mexico I was quite excited. Exploring haikyo in Japan (and even here in the U.S.) was the source of some of my greatest adventures. All of these past places were just forgotten and open for exploring. Lake Valley Ghost Town, however, had an admission gate and a museum! Despite this it was still interesting to see an old safe lying open in the desert, wagon wheels leaning against fences, and to listen for old voices. It was useful having actual signs describing what each place was in a past life, even if it took a lot of mystery and imagination away.
