Remembering Red River

Anyone that knows me or has read my blog for a while knows that my family LOVES Red River, NM. We have gone there many times, and it has become to feel like our home-away-from-home. So, naturally, we have sweet Red River represented on our Christmas tree.



I have so many memories of Red River...

The first time - I was pregnant, Allie was 2, Corey learned to fly-fish. We went on a hike and ate our picnic lunch in a tree house in the woods. (I don't know who built it or why.) We made s'mores in our hotel room's fireplace, and Allie was terrified of the popping wood. Allie and I made a pallet on the riverbank and told stories in our "pillow-cave" as Corey fished beside us. We all went into the Cimarron Canyon. Allie played on a playground of fallen trees and boulders while Corey fly-fished, and we found the Drinking Log for the first time. Corey & Allie went on a horseback ride on Patches while I sat with my journal beside a lake in the heart of the mountains. True peace.

When Jack was a baby we were on a trek to Colorado and made a detour to Red River. We just could not be that close without stopping and soaking it in. My memories - picnicing in the Cimmaron Canyon, playing beside the river, the best mountain-breakfast ever at Shotgun Willie's, shopping, family pictures on the bridge, and riding go-carts with Allie.

Cooper was 3 months old and typically cried almost every moment that he was in the car. So what did we do? Go on a long car-trip! Makes sense, right? That tells you how much we needed a break from real life! He actually fell asleep, so we drove all night - too scared of what would happen if we stopped as planned. We pulled into town as the sun was coming up. Perfect timing to eat breakfast at our favorite - Shotgun Willie's. Then, we set up camp, and yes... we slept in a tent for a week with a baby. Our campsight was on the river, and the big-kids were in heaven. We hiked and played and shopped and fly-fished. Oh! It was wonderful!

Then, there was this year. There is an insanely long post from that trip in my July 2007 archives. The short-version... A last minute decision to go to the mountains, a short & sweet stop at my grandparents' house, a beautiful campsite on the river, a torrential rain storm, a flooded campsite and a leaky tent, a middle-of-the-night escape into town to find one of only a very few hotel rooms, renting a funny little car for an hour tour of Red River, playing at the park, exploring, reading a book, shopping and fishing (of course), and a stop at the Drinking Log and Cadillac Ranch on the way home.


2005 ~


2007 ~