Location: Ojo Caliente, New Mexico
Last night we read aloud to each other the Navajo Code Talker book that we had picked up at the Indian Museum. It was so incredibly fascinating. I'm definitely hooked and now have a new obsession. (To my brother-in-law Eric, I think you'd love this book! Ned says you probably already read it, but I'm saving my copy for you.) Unlike the other nights where we went to bed early, we stayed up late reading chapter after chapter. We went to bed under starry skies and woke up to rain. What a surprise! During our last visit here we spent some time exploring many of the Indian sites. I swear that was our plan this morning, but instead of exploring in the rain we opted for the "al fresco" pancake breakfast. (mmm - I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Outing vs. eating and the eating seems to be winning out). Seriously, if you are ever at Mesa Verde National Park do NOT pass up the pancake breakfast, served outside next to incredible murals. The women who were flipping jacks were hilarious and seemed to be really enjoying feeding everyone. We were surrounded by Germans who clearly were enjoying the all-you-can-eat pancakes with bacon. Oh...these Americans.
It's really fun to be camped at the top of the mesa and the view coming down never disappoints. Don't know if the picture really captures it, but there are snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Since our last visit here a new Visit and Research Center was built. This place is amazing! It houses the gift shop, library and a research institute. The architect did a great job lining up the interior view lines with the mesa. Quite stunning.
I loved looking at the ancient pottery and seeing the shelves of archived old baskets and pottery through the windows of the research institute. We spent some time browsing through the bookstore and I picked up another Navajo Code Talker book. The main character's name is Ned, a Navajo. How could I possibly pass up this book?
The trip from Mesa Verde to Ojo Caliente is one of our favorite drives. It takes you through Durango along the foothills and a meandering stream dropping into Pagosa Springs. From there you drop down into New Mexico driving through colored canyons, among hoodos and mesas. We've done this drive about 3 or 4 times and have always managed to hit it in inclement weather - snow or rain. Still it never disappoints.
We finally arrived at one of our favorite places on earth - Ojo Caliente Hot Springs. We drove through the little wacky town of El Rito, which we can't quite get our head around. Not sure if it's an artist colony or just a funky dilapadated little hamlet. Either way it's an amusing place to drive through. When we eventually pulled into Ojo Caliente we were shocked to see lots of cars. Dang! Every time we have visited here (this is our third) we almost had the place to ourselves. Today it was packed. I think the word is out how magical this place is.
We are camped in our favorite spot and a short walk to the main spa area. If you're ever in Northern New Mexico I definitely recommend spending a day or night here. There are 7 pools, all differing temperatures from 89 degrees to 104. It's beautifully landscaped with indigenous plants, fireplaces burning sage or mesquite wood, hammocks strung everywhere and woo-woo music playing softly in the background. Everyone is supposed to talk in a whisper, but with this many people here today that was not quite happening.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed going from pool to pool, soaking our cares away (cares...really?) and even getting in some laps in the bigger kiva pool. Pure nirvana. Tonight we made reservations at the swanky restaurant. Last time here we sat next to Sam Shepperd. Kinda funny that we started our day eating an outside pancake breakfast with grubby campers and ending the evening with fellow spa relaxed patrons. Yes, submerged in the Land of Enchantment indeed.
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