Mountain Living Skiing & Snowboarding The Southwest: affordable ski vacations Angel Fire family-friendly New Mexico shovel races ski resorts
by maribeth
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Angel Fire Resort: On Fire with Shovel Racing and Family Fun
Angel Fire Resort
What are you doing next weekend? Down in New Mexico they’re going to be having a helluva time at Angel Fire Resort. Young and old will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of an event that began with the lifties (lift operators) sliding down the hill on shovels at the end of their shifts; they’ll be holding their World Championship Shovel Races on Friday and Saturday, February 8th & 9th. And I bet there are plenty of folks doing warm up laps this weekend, even if it’s on a slope near their house, perhaps on the icy hills of the Midwest.
Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging New Mexico Restaurants Shopping Spas The Southwest: Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging New Mexico Restaurants Santa Fe Shopping Spas The Southwest
by maribeth
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Two Brief Stays in Santa Fe
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assis in Santa Fe, New Mexico
My boyfriend, Steve, and I have managed to visit Santa Fe, New Mexico—an almost six-hour drive from Telluride, Colorado—twice within the past year and a half and we’re already plotting our next trip. (That one will surely include exploring the ski mountain.) Each trip was short—only two nights a piece—and we didn’t even step foot in one of Santa Fe’s amazing museums, but still, we felt far from cheated. For us, it has been enough to just chill and breathe in the heartwarming, southwestern ambiance for which this town is known. Just like going to Paris and whiling away time in a corner café instead of scouring the Louvre, in Santa Fe during both stays we just strolled around and admired the beauty of this magnificent city, the oldest incorporated state capital within the United States.
Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging New Mexico Restaurants Shopping The Southwest Travel: Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging New Mexico Restaurants Shopping The Southwest Travel
by maribeth
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For Off-Season and Year-Round Enchantment: Taos, New Mexico
Contemplating Nature’s Beauty at Hacienda del Sol in Taos, New Mexico
Ahhh-hhh, off-season. Anyone that has lived in a resort town knows the true meaning of off-season. Whether it occurs in the winter or summer, spring or fall, this lull in peak travel times provides a much-needed respite from the busy-ness of high season. In Telluride, Colorado it means tons of available parking spaces, no lines at the Post Office or grocery store and a certain quietude akin to a ghost town, something that delights some and bores the heck out of others.
Most don’t mind this downturn of activity, since many take advantage of our seasonal slowdown (during the spring and fall) to go off and seek fun for themselves elsewhere. Since the mountain closed two weeks ago, we’re in the throws of off-season now, also referred to as shoulder season and in the case of the spring off-season, mud season.
Many people take off for exotic locales for as many as six weeks travel; others find their bliss within a two- to six-hour drive from our southwestern Colorado mountain town. Indeed, we’re located just a few hours away from some of the best recreation around in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, all sunny and warm destinations this time of year where spring arrives with the intensity of the desert sun.
Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging New Mexico Travel: Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging New Mexico Travel
by maribeth
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Light and Luminarias in Taos, New Mexico
Taos Mountain from La Posada de Taos
New Mexican Light and Luminarias by Day
It’s been so unusually grey here in southwestern Colorado lately that I can’t help wondering what it’s like south of us in New Mexico. I love the light in that part of the country-––sort of like America’s Provence-––no wonder so many artists such as Georgia O’Keefe have called this land of enchantment home. The wondrous play of light in the sky and on the raw landscapes and adobe architecture especially enchant us this time of year when the sun is low in the sky. These mystical scenes become even more beguiling at night during the holiday season when luminarias light up the rugged southwestern dwellings like candles on a birthday cake. Today many of these small lights or lanterns have been electrified and bulbs have replaced the candles that were originally set in sand-filled paper bags, but no matter-––the effect is still magical and quintessentially New Mexican.
