I stopped a couple of times to watch the people rafting on the Rio Grande and let me tell you they were out in full force. I finally arrived at my first stop - San Francisco de Asis Church in Rancho de Taos. I walked around and took a few pictures and then went on my mission to find a letterbox - Rancho de Taos by Hi Desert. It was a quick and easy find but I did have to be a little sneaky as there were a couple of people walking around the outside of the church taking pictures, but it wasn't a big problem. I retrieved the box and returned to my car to stamp in. Once I was done it was easy to get the box back in place and I was on my way.I continued my trip through Taos to US64. I turned left here and stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. I took a walk out onto the bridge and admired the view and took some pictures. After about 15 minutes I returned to my car and continued. I drove from Taos to Tres Piedras and through the Carson National Forest (which had a lot of dead trees) and eventually arrived at US84. I headed north to Tierra Amarilla and ended up at Heron Lake State Park. 
Once I entered the park and paid my fees I drove to the Brushy Point Campground West. I parked and walked down to the cove, following the clues for Kretaceous Klam by PetroPunks. It was a short walk along the lake and I found the box without any problems. I took the box and sat on an old log near the water and stamped in. It was a beautiful day and very peaceful - not one other person was in the area where I was sitting. However, there was one problem - noseeums! I hate these little buggers. With each bite I get about a dime sized pink area with a bright red dot in the middle and they itch like crazy. My ankles look horrible - all red and puffy - and I have been putting benadryl cream on to help with the itching, so it is more tolerable today. I can't believe I forgot my Off when I went left the house this morning. Oh, well. After stamping in I returned the box to its hiding spot. It was a really cool box. The stamp was mounted on a piece of stone with clam fossils on it. So after I replaced the box I walked along the shore of the lake looking for rocks with fossils. I found a few but didn't really spend a whole lot of time searching because I still had plenty of ground to cover.
Back on US84 I headed south towards Abiquiu. I made my first stop at Ghost Ranch to find Hi Desert's Georgia O'Keeffe at Ghost Ranch. This was a really quick find. I parked at the Visitors Center and walked a little ways down the road to the Ghost House and followed the clues. The box was right where it was supposed to be. I took it to the next building over and sat at a table to stamp in. Once I was done, I put the box back and returned to my car. Back on US84 and still heading south I stopped at a picnic area at mile marker 217. The picnic area was deserted and it was easy for me to search for the box - another Hi Desert box - Entering O'Keeffe Country. I found it quickly and returned to one of the picnic tables to stamp in. I didn't sit around too long because the smoke from the fires in Santa Fe and Los Alamos was getting worse and I didn't feel like sitting out in it for too much time. I rehid the box and continued my journey. My next stop was Bode's store. I parked, followed the clues and found the box - Forgot the Pickles by Hi Desert. I did have a little trouble with one part of the clue but eventually it became 'cleary'. Once I had the box in my hand and found a good spot to sit and stamp in it started to rain. Not much but a few drops here and there. I didn't care if all my stuff got wet - we really need the moisture. So I kept on stamping - and the rain stopped about 30 seconds after it started. I got the box back in place and returned to my car and put my stuff away. I then went into the store to look around. They had some really interesting and cool things - toys, cards, candy, etc. - I wanted to spend more time but it was around 4pm and I still wanted to make one more stop before returning to Santa Fe. So back on the road I drove south a little further and eventually made a left turn onto NM554 and in a short distance made another left onto CR155. 
I made my way to Dar al Islam and parked. The box I was looking for was Hi Desert's Dar al Islam and when I got the clues off of AQ it was marked unavailable but I decided to stop any way because I like the area - Plaza Blanca - with its white cliffs and spires. So I quickly looked for the box (and didn't find it - I really didn't look too hard since it was marked unavailable and Astro D & rubberpeace had mentioned to me that they couldn't find it) then returned to the parking area and hiked out to Plaza Blanca. It is such a beautiful and peaceful area and a great way to end my day in the Abiquiu area. Now it was time to head back to Santa Fe.
Once I got into Santa Fe I decided to go for one last box of the day before heading home. So I made my way to Amelia White Park and found rubberpeace & rbrhorno's Dessert in the Desert. I sat at a picnic table enjoying the cool early evening and stamped. I put the box back in its hiding spot and then headed home. I had a really fun day driving around Northern New Mexico and letterboxing. The next post I will make will be about our trip to Alaska - WooHoo!
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