Still In Chama

This post is to let everyone know that we are still alive and well out here in Chama, NM. I feel like I need to write something to keep the blog going, even though nothing much is happening. On the 4th of July we had barbequed chicken and a salad, then as it got dark, we walked up near the office to a small meadow and watched the fireworks shot off at the fairgrounds about 1 mile away. It is interesting how uninteresting fireworks can be when there is no sound and smoke to go with the sparkles in the air.

Each day here in Chama starts off in the same way. Allan takes the dogs out and makes a small campfire where he drinks his coffee. I stay inside (away from the mosquitos) to drink my coffee and check our friends blog or write a posting for my blog. Then we have breakfast and start painting till about noon. After lunch we read, nap, or paint. Sometimes we take a drive, and a few days ago we took Hwy 17 all the way to Antonito, CO where we had lunch at a New Mexican Cafe before turning around and coming back. On the way over to Antonito we turned off on a forest service road to check out a lake up on top of the pass and there were already many fishermen who had gotten there before us. This view of the lake is above 10,000 feet but the weather was warm and the mosquitos were swarming like flies. The entire drive was extremely beautiful with one green vista after another, creeks bubbling along, aspens flanking the spruce forests, and craggy rock formations....but for some reason, the camera does not seem to capture what we see, only getting small pieces of the view at a time. The wildflowers were everywhere but they were all tiny as the altitude was so high and their season was so short. Next week we will be heading over to Durango for a few days before we continue on over to Oregon where we plan to spend the month of August.