Monday, October 6, 2014
Today was a recoup day after paddling so far yesterday. I sat outside and worked on my rug. Ted took a walk to the dam and visitors center about a half mile away. When he got back, the couple we had chatted with a couple of days ago stopped by again to admire our kayaks. She had just started kayaking and was interested to learn all she could. He is 6'7" tall, a rugged guy and said there was no way he could fit in a kayak. They stayed for quite awhile and we enjoyed their company.
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| Abiquiu Dam Seen from the Visitor Center |
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| Abiquiu Lake from Near the Visitors Center |
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
We left Abiquiu Lake today on our way to Cochiti Lake, another Army Corps of Engineers controlled lake. It was mostly cloudy but a pretty ride nonetheless. We followed the Chama River for quite a way and the cottonwoods were turning all along the way. Going through the Indian reservations, the overpasses were colorfully decorated with Indian motifs which was much better than graffiti. We came down out of the hills to beautiful flat fields of yellowed grassland before reaching Santa Fe which we took a bypass around.
Cochiti Lake is on the Rio Grande, the fifth longest river in North America, west of Santa Fe and about fifty miles north of Albuquerque. The name comes from the people who have occupied the present site for over seven hundred years. At five and a half miles long and two hundred fifty feet tall, the dam is one of the ten largest earth filled dams in the United States. The lake is a "no wake lake" and we are hoping to paddle it.
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| Down the Hill to the Exit for Cochiti Lake |
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| Fields Approaching Tetilla Peak Recreation Area |
We found a campsite high on a bluff overlooking the lake and the mountains beyond. It is a beautiful site/sight and I sat out enjoying the view while Ted went in to Santa Fe to see if he could get his computer fixed that had a hardware error. He got the information to download a recovery stick and came back with it still not working.
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| Site 13 at Tetilla Peak CG Looking Across Cochiti Lake |
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
We spent the morning talking to tech support from Google to download the recovery disc for his Chromebook only to find that wouldn't work. In the afternoon we drove back into Santa Fe and Ted bought a new computer at Best Buy before going to Albertsons for groceries. What a nice store. When we got back, I made an apple cake that someone had posted on Facebook. Yumm! The days and nights are colder and the weather has been overcast and rainy off and on so we are starting to nest and slow down for winter. I have been cooking more and starting to do more crafts. We need to find warm weather again before we get too lethargic.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
I was looking out the window just before I fell asleep last night and had to get up and take a picture of the moon. We are out in the middle of nowhere with no light pollution and the sky was almost as bright as day with the big round moon shining down on us. Sometime not long after we were awakened by rain beating down on the roof and later than that the wind in the slide top kept us awake for hours making a popping sound that I at first thought sounded like gun shots or fireworks.
We made reservations this morning to fly to Atlanta later this month to see our grandchildren (and Aaron and Titina). We are excited to see them as it has been almost six months since we were there last. We worked on catching up on other paperwork until lunchtime. In the afternoon we went for a drive on this side of the lake. The boat ramp area was the steepest I have ever seen. I was so afraid the brakes would fail and wouldn't let Ted drive too close to the water in case we couldn't stop. We were trying to look up river to see what the paddling would be like. There were dark storm clouds over the mountains so not a good day for kayaking.
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| Looking Up the Rio Grande |
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| Steep Ramp |
There is a winding, dirt road a couple of miles long, that somewhat parallels the lake with side roads that lead to picnic areas and places we could launch our kayaks beside the lake. We drove to the end stopping to take some pictures. The lake looks so different down near it than what we see from the high bluff the motorhome is sitting on. The dam seems to go on forever and the control tower sticks up over twenty stories from the water.
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| Earthen Dam and Tower |
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| End of the Road |
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| High Water Debris |
We drove back to the overlook that is up river from where we are parked. We could see up the river which looks shallow and muddy but much narrower than the lake. We still hope to get on it if the weather ever clears up. While we were at the overlook, we could hear rumblings of thunder and saw several streaks of lightening over the mountains. Later we could see rain showers all around us but we only got a few short showers and some sprinkles. Ted said the park attendant had told him that that is what usually happens. We sat and watched a couple of movies before turning in.
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| RV Up Top |
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| Overlook Viewing Area |
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| Looking Up the Rio Grande |
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| Nasty Clouds Building |
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