A friend of mine invited me out with her for a wine/scenic tour in Northern New Mexico on one of my days off through New Mexico Wine Tours. This was an all day journey so I’m giving it to you in two parts. The tour was an absolute blast!
We started our tour with a side trip to the Puye Cliff Dwellings. We weren’t there long enough to get any hiking done, but one of the employee’s was very nice and presented us with the history of the Puye Cliffs Pueblo Indians, why they settled there, how long they were here before moving on, and how they lived. The drive out there was absolutely gorgeous and the scenic view when we arrived was awesome.





We drove the least traveled back dirt road up to the bridge and were surrounded by the gorgeous New Mexico landscaping.
The left side of the road we drove up is the picture of the cliff. The right side of the road is the picture of the open landscape.Note: New Mexico is a vast place to live, you really can’t just jump in your can and drive 20 minutes to get to these places, but it is worth traveling on these roads if you enjoy nature and being out in the middle of nowhere. (Verizon is the carrier you want if you need to have a signal on your phone at all times.) I personally don’t have Verizon, but I have a friend that does and I make sure to let people know where I am just in case I get stuck somewhere:)
We even got a glimpse of New Mexico’s native Turkey Vultures.
“The Turkey Vulture is a native of New Mexico, but it migrates in and out of the northern part of the state. It leaves the area the last week in October and returns the 21-25 of March. These big birds are not as predictable as the swallows of Capistrano, but they come close….”
Wow, it was really windy at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, but it has an awesome view and was definitely worth the visit. In the center of the bridge there is a spot where you can step out into the nothingness and take pictures or just enjoy the feeling of floating in the air. Here’s one of my pictures from that standpoint.
The Rio Grande River is right below me.